Milo snorts and rolls his eyes at the absurdity. “The poison in your blood will kill you in a few hours, if not sooner. You’re already shaking, and it’s not from blood loss. Even if a vampire tries to turn you now, he’d need to bite you to do it. The toxins in your blood would cause him to turn feral long before he could finish the job.”
A hint of doubt has her hesitating, then her face morphs into a superiority that only stupid people stuck in denial can pull off. “You’re wrong. He gave me his word.”
Stanton roars in the distance, and I hear a thundering of feet. I act without thinking, lunging forward and snapping her neck in one smooth move. I’m so fast, the misguided fool doesn’t even have time to lift her hands up to fend me off.
The sound of bones cracking echoes in the room, and I swear I can feel the crunch reverberate deep in my own bones. Her body crashes to the floor with athud, barely landing before Stanton tears into the room. He drops to his knees beside her body, gathering her up in his arms, and I’m gutted by the display of such devastating loss.
He sniffs at her neck, and I almost expect him to tear into her throat to get at her blood. I don’t realize I’m backing away until I smack into Milo, and his arms come to rest around me. He murmurs into my ear, “It’s done. Once the body dies, the blood sours almost immediately. Even if he’s still craving another taste, the toxins will already be curdling her blood.”
Stanton growls in frustration when he sniffs her neck, and I know Milo must be correct. That doesn’t stop Stanton from checking every inch of her, trying to find an untainted source and becoming more and more agitated at being denied.
“What’s wrong with him?” Even though he chose to feed from the other woman, I can’t help worrying about him.
Milo snuggles closer, pulling me tighter against him as Stanton becomes progressively more frantic. “He’s lost to bloodlust. He’ll go through detox as the blood wears off, but it will leave him slightly feral in the meantime.”
I’m stricken that he’s forced to go through that because I let the bitch into my house. “Why would he feed from her? I thought you both had your own blood supply.”
“You didn’t smell it?” Milo nudges my chin up, forcing me to look at him.
My nose wrinkles at the reminder of the horrible rot. “Yeah, it was nasty.”
Milo stares at me blankly, then he blinks a few times as he processes my words. “The moment we entered the room, I smelled some sort of pheromone. If I didn’t have your blood, I would’ve been compelled to drink from her as well.”
“But he’s an ancient,” I protest, not understanding how someone as strong as Stanton could be fooled so easily.
“That’s why it’s so dangerous—by the time he sensed the toxin, it would’ve been too late.” Milo points the knife he’s still holding at the blonde’s dead body. “She only needed to nick herself. Just one drop of blood would’ve been enough to make him lose his mind.”
A chill goes down my spine at the carefully crafted ruse. “It was a trap.”
“Probably.” Milo nods, his expression grim. “They timed it so we would show up at the gathering partially feral and weak.”
“I would’ve been helpless to defend myself while the vampires decided who would claim me.” A heartbeat passes, then my stomach churns like a flock of vampire bats are feasting on my insides. “I would’ve become nothing more than their personal whore. My house would’ve fallen without even a fight, and I would’ve been helpless to do anything.”
The shifters file into the room, battered and bruised, each wearing a grim expression at hearing our conversation. Dread weighs down my shoulders, then I wilt under an almost overwhelming grief. “They would’ve killed everyone I brought with me.”
The thought of something happening to my mates leaves a gaping hole in my soul. It lasts only a second before it fills up with such fury that the last of the humanity I’ve been clinging to finally burns away to nothing.
I step away from Milo, and my eyes drop to the knife in his grip. An idea stirs in the back of my mind, and I hold out my hand. “The knife, please.”
Milo hesitates, worry clouding his green eyes, but he reluctantly obeys. Castle doesn’t even blink at me being armed, while lust darkens Tobias’ blue eyes. Furrows appear between Bryce’s brows, as if suspecting what I’m about to do, but Kenny seems more concerned about inspecting a rip at the bottom of his shirt.
Without giving anyone a chance to stop me, I run the edge of the blade along my forearm, forcing the knife nearly to the bone to prevent the wound from healing too quickly.
Fuck!
Why did no one warn a girl that vampires still feel just as much pain as humans?
The sharp shock of pain fades almost immediately, my body getting used to it after the torture of the last few months. Bright red blood spills down my arms and splashes against the floor. The men curse, each of them taking a step toward me, but I hold up my other hand to ward them off.
My eyes are focused on Stanton.
The instant he catches my scent, his whole frame stiffens and locks up tight. When his head lifts, his eyes are drowning in darkness, the predator in him having taken over completely. Then he moves so fast that he’s just a blur. I don’t even have time to brace myself before he’s on me.
His weight takes me to the ground with a thump that knocks the air from my lungs. Guys are yelling, their feet thundering across the floor to get to me, but it’s already too late. Stanton latches on to my arm, his fangs savage as he sinks them deep into the wound, his jaw worrying at my flesh like a dog with a bone.
A jolt of agony shoots up my arm like I’ve touched a raw current of electricity. The bastard is so lost to his hunger that he didn’t even bother to release his venom to make the bite pleasurable. His normal soothing mint scent is so sharp that it stings my nose, and I cringe away from the bitter smell.
“Fucking hell!” Milo drops down at my side, his eyes wide with panic. He waffles for a fraction of a second, then reaches over to pry Stanton off me. The hungry vampire bites down harder and growls at the thought of his meal being taken away, and I grit my teeth to hold back a whimper.
