AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“There’s Brien,” Cain had interrupted. “Something must be up.” They’d returned the way they’d come.
“I’d only just found out I was pregnant,” I told Rio. “He—I felt like I’d been sucker punched.” Remembering, I pressed my arm to my stomach. “So yeah, I wanted to hurt them, especially Talon. I’m not proud of it, but… Anyway, then this guy came to me, asking if I wanted to make some easy money. All I’d have to do was pass a note to a new thrall—who turned out to be Twilight. I had second thoughts, but by then it was too late. He told me that if I didn’t do exactly as he said, he’d out me to the old primus and his lieutenant. If he had, I’d probably be dead now.”
“Christ.” Rio reached out and squeezed my hand.
“Yeah,” I said grimly. “The old primus—Brien’s father—was going blood-mad, although the syndicate kept it quiet. If he’d gotten his hands on me, that would’ve been the last anyone saw of me until my body washed up on a beach somewhere, drained of blood and chewed on by sharks.”
“No wonder you ran.”
“Yeah.” I studied the remains of my breakfast. “Before that, I thought Talon was starting to like me. You know, really like me. He treated me different than the other thralls, you know? That last year, he took me as his special thrall, told the other vampires I was his. I was even thinking of asking him if he wanted me to stay with him after my contract was up. God, I was an idiot. Only outcasts mate with humans. And their spawn have low status because they’re only half-vampire.”
My friend was silent for a couple of beats. “But those three brothers—you know, the Dark Angels—wasn’t their mother a human? So they’re dhampirs, right? And they say the oldest one is going to succeed his father as Kral primus.”
“That’s what I’ve heard. But their father had to strongarm his people into accepting them as his heirs, and he’s a primus.”
“Seriously? That’s fucking medieval.”
I huffed a humorless laugh. “Welcome to my world. They’re not like us—they’re more…primal. Like a wolf pack. Status is determined by raw power, and the more vampire blood you have, the more powerful you are. All I know is Talon never wanted to sire a dhampir.” I paused, the pain still sharp and bright. “And I was damned if I was going to stay where me and my baby weren’t wanted.”
A groove formed between Rio’s dark brows. “So why did you accept his blood bond? It’s permanent, isn’t it? You can’t ever leave without his permission.”
I moved my shoulder in a despondent shrug. “Because it’s the only way I can make sure I stay with my baby. And yeah, he pretty much told me that.”
And because if I hadn’t, he’d never trust me again.
“Fuck. That’s cold.”
I barely heard Rio’s muttered comment through the ringing in my ears. I’d just realized I was still hoping, still trying to win Talon’s love.
And it would never happen. He didn’t care for me in that way, and the sooner I got that into my head, the happier I’d be.
10
Talon
“You sent for me?” Eden hovered in the doorway to my apartment.
When she’d been my thrall, she’d dressed in tight, sexy clothes, usually in a fuck-me red. Kept her blond hair long because I liked it that way. And her makeup had always been perfect—not too much and not too little, her lips a hot scarlet.
Tonight, however, she’d shown up in another slouchy sweater, this one a soft blue that reached to her thighs. Her jeans had the knees ripped out and her purple-and-white Adidas trainers looked like something Rio might wear.
Combined with no makeup and the new, boyish haircut, it felt like a subtle up-yours. Or maybe a message: This is me. Take it or leave it.
If so, I was definitely taking it. On Eden, edgy was sexy as hell.
“Shut the door.” I closed my laptop and moved it to an end table.
She obeyed and leaned against the thick, silver-reinforced wood, arms crossed, her expression composed, her emotions a difficult-to-read jumble. “What’s up?”
I sat back, spreading my arms along the couch’s leather back. “Come here.”
She didn’t like that. Her eyes narrowed, but she uncrossed her arms and left the relative safety of the door, stopping a few feet away, her unpainted lips pressed together, the challenge on her face irresistible.
I shouldn’t enjoy that challenging look so much, but I did.
This is about teaching her a lesson. About establishing control.
I schooled myself to remain tough, reminded myself what she’d done. How she’d left even after she’d known she was pregnant. That she was only a thrall.
