Page 64 of Our Sins in Silver (Coven of Sin 3)

Was I hearing this right? Sapphire Lockheart, fated—no, cursed—to be mated to the vampire king? This was a bomb drop that had gone unmentioned by Sterling, to my infinite irritation, but...shit. It made sense. So I was more annoyed with myself for not putting the pieces together than I was angry at my mate for omitting another piece of what I would consider pretty important info. It was also possible that he was just making shit up to get a rise out of his master and distract him for me.

As much as I wanted to believe it was a lie, I knew it wasn’t. It made too much sense. The few fragments I had of my parent’s forbidden affair were coming together with these last few pieces of the puzzle.

If my mom had reacted to Thomas Knight in the same way I had when I first met Sterling, it explained why she walked up to the manor and surrendered with the batshit plan of seducing the king to get close enough to slay him. The only problem was, she never killed him. And he never killed her, even though a Helsing’s presence in the manor put the entire coven at risk. Not to mention the Elders’ extreme discomfort with the whole situation. Why she had never made any real attempt to escape until she found out she was pregnant with me was beyond my understanding.

Sterling had said that my mother was full of life, a source of light that beguiled my father. A light that he resented craving.

I’d never considered that maybe he was a darkness for her... One she couldn’t help but crave in return.

And if that shit was hereditary, well, that explained a lot about me and the Knight progeny.

My mom was the first female Helsing. So it wouldn’t have been known that women in the bloodline were compatible with Knight males. Jeez. What a gut-punch of a plot twist. That kind of put a hitch in the whole Knight slaying thing.

Sapphire Lockheart’s mission had been a flop from the very beginning.

The question was, could I finish what she started? My mother might not have been able to go through with slaying the male meant to be her mate, but as far as I knew, there were no magical laws preventing me from putting that fucker back in the ground.

Stealing a peek from behind the bookshelf concealing me, my attention landed on my father, who stood a few meters from Sterling. He wore a look that made my insides churn. Rage and desire flickered behind his cold, dark orbs. Those were crazy-ex eyes if TV had taught me anything.

“Sapphire Lockheart was never my mate,” the king spat, venom dripping from each syllable. “She never carried my mark.”

Sterling lounged against a table, crossing his arms over his chest in a casual position that surprised me at first. When I caught the way a vein throbbed in Thomas Knight’s brow, eyes shrinking to deadly points, I understood. The vampire king didn’t like seeing his progeny so relaxed before him. It was all to set him on edge and loosen his attention on holding the spell.

And fuck me, Ster was still shirtless, wearing nothing but bloodstained sweats and an expression of disdain that I could practically taste. Like the cunning prince of Hell that he was, ready to pry the keys of the kingdom from Daddy Satan’s corpse.

“Come now, Master. You know full well when our deepest instincts select a mate, the lack of a mark won’t stop the heart, mind and soul from pining. In fact, I count it a blessing that you never marked her. No matter what fate she met, at least she’ll never know the hell that is serving as the vampire king’s bitch.”

“Hell, was it?” The king took a step forward. “Was it hell to be known as the second strongest vampire in all the world?” Then another step. Sterling didn’t move. “Hell that I gave you a seat on my own council, making laws that would turn large, traditional covens against us? Like what you did with Thorn’s?”

He was so close to Sterling now. Just a few feet away.

“Was it hell that I gifted you with life everlasting? Hell that I kept you close?” He stretched his hand out, almost as if to touch Sterling’s throat. “Hell that I made you mine?”

The priest’s Adam’s apple quivered with a heavy series of swallows, and even from here, I could make out his shoulders tensing as the king came close to touching him. At the last moment—inches away—Thomas Knight’s arm dropped, and his hands balled at his sides.

“What will be hell is the punishment I give you for allowing another to cover my mark. And my own daughter. Even if your little theory is correct and Helsing females are fated to mate Knight males, you let her. You didn’t fight her like you fought me. You gave her your heart. Something you never gave me. Why?”

“Because I love her.”

“You love her,” the king said with a placid cant to his tone. “She is a little girl. But me? I am the father of our kind. Son of Satan. The Eternal Lord and Master of Hell on Earth. King of the Dead. I may not be capable of the love those enduring human sensibilities of yours crave, but you and I are above that. I, as your mate, offer you so much more.”

The king lashed a clawed hand at Sterling, swiping for him. The priest dodged, carved muscles rippling as he made the simple act of ducking out of the way look like a well-executed dance. Rolling backward over the table, he sent a kick toward his master’s head, who side-stepped with a low snarl.

Sterling flipped back into a standing position and braced his hands against the edge of the table that was now between the two vampires. His lips pulled back in a venomous sneer that sunk straight to my core.

God, I was fucked up.

“Offer me more? And what is that? A life of misery and humiliation? Days filled with nightmares and nights constantly suppressing the monster you created? And when I finally meet true death, my reward for serving as your dog is what? That damn white coffin laid out neatly beside your own? Ruby is my salvation from that coffin, Thomas. And she’ll be the nail in yours.”

My father muttered something beneath his breath. Latin—I couldn’t translate it. Whatever it was, he spoke with all the conviction of a witch’s curse, each word weighted like that of a jilted lover.

“I used to fear you, Thomas,” Sterling said with a slight lilt to his voice. “Now, all I feel when I look at you is pity. Not for you, of course. You’d never deserve such an emotion, certainly not from me. I pity the fact that Ruby will never know the love of a father. Fortunately, none of your progeny seems to be ‘above’ loving her.”

Sterling’s lips stretched into a lecherous grin. “And if you’ve looked into her memory, you know just how much we excel atgivingit to her.”

The next thing that happened could have been missed if I’d picked that moment to blink. Writhing shadows coiled around the king’s wrist and formed a whip made of dark glowing bramble with cruel barbs, the same kind that covered the tunnel of buried memories.

He lurched forward, cracking the whip. Its tip flew toward Sterling, hissing through the air, and my prince was a fraction of a second too slow. It hooked around his neck and snaked around a few times to form a brutal collar. His brow contorted, and he let loose a cry as the magical thorns latched into his flesh like biting ticks.

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