Page 27 of Our Sins in Shadows (Coven of Sin 2)

An Unlikely Friend

Neverinamillionyears would I have ever imagined a day inside the BC headquarters, with Lavinia of all people. I hated that our escape plan couldn’t start until sundown, and the day spent inside the immortal girl’s room doing pretty much nothing was just as awkward as I would have expected.

The suite provided to Sharpe’s progeny was comically large, decorated the same as the room where I had met Dagon. It made the place feel so artificial, so soulless.

It didn’t matter how colossal the building was, or how many people lived in it. Everything about this place was so damn empty. It made every minute of daylight drag by at an excruciating pace. The sooner we got out of here, the better.

I spent a good hour pacing in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked the city, watching as the sun dipped lower and lower toward the horizon.

“You’re going to drive yourself crazy if you insist on counting down every second,” Lavinia muttered from behind me.

Peeling my attention from the glittering Boston skyline, I glanced back to see Lavinia sprawled on the bed, her frilly skirts fanned around her as she flipped through a magazine.

“What are you reading that’s more riveting than this view?” I jerked my thumb toward the window, pointing to all the lights, traffic, and construction.

Without bothering to look my way, the girl held up the magazine to flash me its plain white cover stamped with black lettering that readThe New England Journal of Medicine.

“How is that more interesting than the sun? Isn’t it crazy you can just look straight at it without burning up?”

“I find it more disconcerting than anything,” she sniffed as she flipped a page of her magazine. “Erik has all the windows wired so that he can open them if he desires. It makes it easy for him to expunge members from the coven with the press of a button.”

“What?” I thought back to the Knight Mansion’s windows and how they were fitted with padlocked metal shutters. Everyone had the key to their own window. It was old-fashioned, but it put the power in the individual’s hand, not the coven leader. “The Boston vampires are just cool with Erik having the power to burn them to a crisp at a whim?”

The girl finally glanced up from her reading, her eyes narrowing into thin slivers. “Don’t tell me you’re the least bit surprised. This coven isn’t exactly known for its healthy boundaries and protocols. If it was, it would be under the jurisdiction of the Elders and vampire law. Nor would they be trying to get a king on the throne who will treat us all as his puppets the moment his ass hits the seat.”

“And you were about to join this cult?”

The immortal teen pursed her lips in thought. “Well, they do have a medical facility with all the modern bells and whistles and a larger assortment of blood whores at their disposal.”

I was sure she was joking, but it made me queasy all the same. “Yeah, freedom versus more variety in blood types. I can see how it would be a close call.”

Lavinia rolled her eyes as she pushed herself into a sitting position. “Even when you’re crowned as queen, you’ll mostly be a figurehead. You’ll need to accept the dark reality of our world. Especially the parts that you’ll have no power to change.”

I didn’t bother arguing with the girl. She was dead wrong. I refused to be some figurehead. I wasn’t going to survive this bullshit all for a pretty crown and a title. I’d claim my power, even if it meant dismantling the Elders with my bare hands.

Lavinia cleared her throat. “I’m absolutely parched. Want something to drink?”

At the mention of sustenance, I nodded eagerly. It’d felt like forever since I’d had anything to eat or drink. My throat was as dry as sandpaper and my stomach rumbled in protest. Blood or human food, it didn’t matter what they brought me. At this point I’d take anything.

Lavinia leaned over her nightstand and pressed a button on a control panel built into the wall. There was a click and a second later, a female’s voice sounded over an intercom.

“Would you like to order dinner, Miss Sharpe?”

“Yes. I need blood for two.”

“I’ll send a thrall to your room immediately. Male or female? We also have a minor available, if that would please you, Miss Sharpe.”

Did I just hear that right? A minor? I took a few steps toward Lavinia, dropping my voice to a hiss. “A child? That’s fucked up.”

Lavinia waved me away with a flippant snap of her wrist. “Just send a thrall up with a couple of O negative blood bags. Thomas Knight’s daughter is currently in my charge, and we all know how the covens under the thumb of the Elders get all uppity about thralls.”

“Very good, Miss Sharpe. I’m eager for Lord Dagon’s demonstration. Whatever our Lord has planned, I’m sure he’ll put her in her place.” The lady laughed callously, making my stomach heave.

Suddenly, I wasn’t so hungry anymore.

To my horror, Lavinia joined in on the cruelmake the princess feel like a worthless piece of meatfest she was having with the woman on the intercom. The laughter finally died down, and my gut tightened when Lavinia requested to have my “outfit” brought up along with our meal.

The moment the call ended with another click, I was on the bed, looming over the girl with my hand fisting the collar of her dress.

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