Page 28 of B Negative

“Of course it isn’t. What kind of long game do you think he’s playing, Eden?”

“I don’t know, but I know he’s the only one who’s been honest with me. You lied, Sunny lied, B would have if you’d asked him to.”

“Eden, listen to me well. Do not trust that vampire. His only interest is collecting rare and valuable things.”

“What does that have to do—“

Julian looked toward the ceiling as if asking for strength. “Bloody hell, Eden, you are a made vampire mated to a king. It’s never happened before. Not once. And to Titus, you’d make a wonderful addition to his collection.”

Something broke inside me. “You’re telling me you knew I planned to go to his tower where he might want to acquire me and you still didn’t tell me the whole story?”

“It’s hardly the point, Eden.”

The dam I’d built against my emotions broke in two and a flood of fire filled me. “It’s exactly the goddamn point, Julian! It’s what I’ve been trying to get through that thick skull of yours this entire time.”

Julian remained silent, taking in my blustering anger. “I see that you’re upset about my choices, Eden. But I stand by each one so firmly that I’d choose them all again.”

His words didn’t fan my flames of anger. No, his admission was like a bucket of ice water, cooling me off. Allowing me to see things clearly.

He’d never apologize.

He’d never be able to see how he was wrong.

How he’d hurt me by not trusting me.

I stepped back.

“I need to go,” I whispered, and walked around him to the exit. “You know, as good as we are at fucking, we’re fucking awful matches in every other way that counts.”

My words hit their mark, and the pain on Julian’s face hit a sick part of me that enjoyed hurting him the way he’d hurt me.

I knew it was fucked up. I knew it, but I still relished that small moment of anguish I’d caused. Because that pain, it was just a fraction of what he’d done to me.

I stormed upstairs to collect myself, but instead, I found myself staring at the stupid fucking cup wall.

The thing I’d thought was so sweet, so thoughtful. The cups that once he discovered I’d loved, he’d gone out of his way to not only procure but build a whole shelving unit.

I pulled a sparkly orange one down, squeezing until the acrylic snapped and cracked in my grip. I smirked as plastic shards fell from my fingers.

It felt incredibly good.

I snatched another, a metal one this time, and crushed it between my palms like a soda can.

That felt even better than the first one.

I surveyed the wall, counting how many cups there were. I stopped at forty-seven, deciding I didn’t want to be here as long as it would take to crush each one individually.

Instead, I Hulk Smashed them all right off the wall, stomping, squeezing, destroying every one in a flurry of blurred movement.

When I’d finished, and all that remained were shards of wood and plastic, I grabbed my phone and left the mate suite.

I didn’t stop until I was out of the compound without a single word to Julian. He could shove his fucking cups up his kingly ass.

---