Page 13 of Blood Bound

He looks up at me with anguished eyes, then frowns. “Please tell me you killed those fucking hunters,” he says, but I flash him my eyes and see the disappointment set in.

“Even better,” I say, grinning and holding out my hand to him, then pulling him to his feet. “I’ve got their fucking leader.”

Anguish is replaced by bloodthirstiness, and his brown eyes shimmer blood red.

Out of the three of us, Church is the most hot-tempered one, while Valentine is more of a pacifist; I’m in between, depending on the situation.

“Is she dead? Did you make it painful?”

I shake my head, but he interjects before I can explain. “No–”

“What the fuck do you mean ‘no?’ She killed Myrcella, Gabe; she deserves to fucking die!”

Growling, I pinch the bridge of my nose and breathe out before I rip his head off. “As I was fucking saying, I have something else planned for little Katherine. You can stop looking at me like I just spat on your food; I kept something for you to take your frustrations out on,” I say, then cock my head for both of them to follow me.

He looks at Valentine, who shrugs and gets to his feet while he wipes the crimson tears from his face.

I knew that Church would pitch a fit if I told him that I kept Katherine alive, so I knew that I would need to placate him one way or another.

We walk down the basement steps towards the ancient wine cellar, and I throw open the door. There’s no sound, but I know what she would do the second I open the door; she lunges at me with a withered piece of wood that splinters the moment it meets my skin.

I chuckle and twist her arm behind her back, eliciting a groan of exasperation from her when I turn her to face the other two. Have to admit, this is a tough one; no wonder she’s Katherine’s second officer.

“Meet Xenia; she’s second to the leader and a handful,” I say, noticing the predatory grin on Church’s face.

“Fuck you, you piece of shit!” she cries out. “Let me go!”

Church laughs and crosses his arms, then walks towards her. “You’re a little hellcat, aren’t you?” he says, bringing his face closer to hers. “I think I’ll enjoy you.”

She rears her head back and is about to land a headbutt when Church chuckles and moves out of the way. He grabs her by the throat, and I let go of her, so he holds her aloft. “Keep fighting; you’re just making this more fun for me.”

The disgusted look on her face is priceless, but I slap him on the shoulder and shake my head.

“They’re pumped full of the baobab shit; give it a few days before you start with whatever you have planned,” I say and chuckle at the disappointment on his face.

“Shit,” he says, then throws her to the ground, where she coughs and sputters. “Guess you’re in luck, hellcat.”

“Go fuck yourself,” she says through gritted teeth, but it only causes Church to laugh louder before we walk out of the wine cellar, leaving her there in the dark.

We converge in the living room, and I look around, surveying the broken tables, bullet holes in the walls, and coagulated vampire blood on the floor.

It seems like Valentine had the place cleaned up as best as he could, but the carnage was still there.

For centuries we’ve been able to keep the Death’s Temple from finding our nest, and now I’ve led them right to us.

My father would be so fucking disappointed in me for what I’ve done, but now the only thing I can do to make it up to him would be to kill that entire fucking guild.

“Where do we go from here?” he says, falling down on the two-seater sofa with his leg draped over one of the arms.

“We wait five days for the baobab to leave their systems and turn them into toys. Fuck knows that I would rather stick my hand into a wasp nest than touch a human, but this time I’ll make an exception,” I say, as the memory of tasting Katherine comes to the surface and I shake it off.

I didn’t lie when I told her that she tasted sweet; she tasted fucking exquisite, and I would gladly have taken my fill of her even though I don’t fuck humans.

Just being close to her, inhaling her intoxicating scent, made me want her to submit to me on her knees. The look in her eyes this morning told me that she felt the same, and I was close to getting her to snap too.

But this was before Myrcella’s demise; this was before I knew any better.

“They know the location of our base, so what exactly do we do if more of them attack?” Valentine asks while playing with a fang.

---