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I must have expressed some shock because he suddenly chuckled.
“I am very old, Kali,” he informed me. “It will take more than that government lotion to hide the scent of blood from me.”
My face paled. Gia was decades old as a vampire, and the lotion even fooled her. What else did his age allow him to do? Would my tattoo be enough to keep him from entrancing me?
“You know who I am,” he stated, his amusement growing. “All humans fear me. As they should.”
“Yes,” I answered, finding my voice. “I know who you are.”
“Are you scared of me?”
“Yes,” I answered honestly, digging deep for my courage. “And like every other human, I also hate you.”
I couldn’t see Zan, since he was standing behind me, but I could feel his burning stare on my back. Pax’s mouth parted in shock, and Viggo nearly choked on air as they both gawked at me. Tim hadn’t moved a muscle, his eyes not leaving Amaros.
A laugh erupted out of the deadly vampire, but it wasn’t joyous. It made chills crawl down my spine as my shoulders tensed. Every moment I was in his presence, I was waiting for his fangs to appear. I expected him to either feed on me or kill me. Or both.
“How old are you?” was his next question.
“She turned twenty-five about four months ago,” Zan answered for me.
I was aware of every muscle on my face, and I fought to keep my expression the same. He lied about my age. Why?
“Really?” Amaros’s intense stare swept over me again. “Are you sure she’s not a Shadow?”
“I’m positive,” Zan said, his usual confidence back in place.
“Interesting,” Amaros murmured. He moved, slowly circling me. I kept still, watching him out of the corner of my eye until he disappeared behind me. Even all my training couldn’t help me control my heartbeat. Having a monster at my back had my nerves more on edge than they’d ever been. A couple of seconds later, he reappeared, taking the same spot in front of me.
My breath hitched when he reached for me. He tugged on the chain of the necklace, pulling it out from under my shirt. I stayed completely still as he ran his thumb over the oval charm, staring at it before lifting his eyes to mine.
“Do you know what this means?” he asked in a low voice. “And this time, I want her to answer.”
His warning for Zan was perfectly clear, and no one else spoke in the room. My pulse thudded in my ears, my mouth going dry.
“It means I’m Zan’s,” I said in a hissed whisper.
“And?”
His question had my head turning to look at Zan, but fingers roughly grasped my jaw. Disgust tore through me as I was forced to look back at Amaros. He didn’t release me, his hold firm but not painful.
“Answer me,” he ordered, his voice menacing.
“It means I belong to him,” I forced out, repeating the words that Zan had told me the night he locked it around my throat. “The other vampires leave me alone.”
“That’s it?”
“Yes.” It came out almost like a question because I had no idea what else he expected me to say.
“Do you like Zan?”
He was speaking softly, but this was an interrogation. And after Zan had lied about my age, I didn’t know how to answer. What else had Zan told him about me before this? If I got caught in a lie, what would Amaros do to me? Fear rattled through me, but I stood firm, keeping my eyes narrowed at him as his grip tightened slightly on my jaw.
“I like him better than you.”
Again, I could feel Zan and his brothers staring at me from my answer. Amaros’s lips quirked up, as if I were entertaining him. Better than him ripping my throat out. I was half convinced that I wasn’t going to survive tonight, and I wasn’t about to spend it begging for my life.
“Feisty,” he murmured before turning around and looking at Zan. “How long have you had her?”
