Page 53 of A Trial By Blood

The man studied Ronan again, then finally stepped back and opened the door wider for us to come in. He turned his back on us, another obvious power play, letting Ronan know he saw him as no threat. I felt the muscles in Ronan’s arm tighten. He hadn’t missed this, and he didn’t like it.

The male turned back and held out his hand. “Clay St. James.”

Ronan took it. “Ronan.”

“I’m not sure what I can tell you,” the other male said. “I was away at the time. Someone broke in and took one of my effigies. It belonged to my grandfather…” He grinned, his eyes bright as they slid back to me, and winked. “The collection was his thing, not mine. So there’s nothing I can really tell you about it.”

“Do you have a picture of it?” Ronan asked.

“Yes, my grandfather cataloged all the pieces of his collection.” He moved to a bookshelf and ran his fingers along several leather spines before pulling one of the volumes out. He leafed through it. “Here.” He showed us the picture. It was ugly. A carving of a demon similar to the one we’d seen in his basement. This one had its tongue poking out.

“It was made of wood?” Ronan asked.

The male nodded. “Yes, carved from the branch of an ancient tree.”

“Do you know what it was used for?”

“No clue. He collected what he liked but knew little of what they did.”

Ronan turned to me. “Take a picture of it, Rose.”

I pulled my phone from my back pocket and snapped a couple of pictures.

“Rose,” Clay said. “A beautiful name for a beautiful female.”

I shoved my phone back in my pocket. “Thank you.”

Ronan tensed, his lips peeling back, his fangs extending. “Do not address my female. In fact, I’d prefer it if you didn’t look at her.”

I turned to him in shock. Okay, wow. He looked pissed. He wasn’t acting. He felt territorial over me for real. I wanted to ask him about it, but I wasn’t sure I should. He already seemed to be struggling with his emotions, and I didn’t want to confuse him even more.

The other male’s nostrils flared, and he turned to Ronan. “I meant no offense. You’re a lucky male, but you obviously know that.”

“I do. We’ll be leaving now.” Ronan’s arm was tight around me as he turned and led me to the door.

“You’ll let me know if you find my missing piece?” Clay said, following us to the door.

Ronan nodded and strode out of the house and down the path.

He didn’t let go of me, not even when we reached the car.

“Are you okay?” I asked, because we were standing there, and Ronan was holding me tight, and I could feel every muscle in his body was tense.

No, this definitely didn’t feel like an act anymore.

CHAPTER 17

Rose

Ronan shook his head. “I didn’t like the way he looked at you.” His lips peeled back again, and his eyes darkened as he curled his fingers into a fist. “Fucking reptiles. I should have taken his fucking eyes out.” He yanked the car door open for me.

Ronan never cursed. Not once. And for obvious reasons, besides that night in the forest, I’d never seen him angry. He was angry now. No, he was furious. “Ronan?”

“We need to leave. Now.” He glanced back at the house and his fist clenched tighter. “Or I’ll go back through that door and I’ll tear his throat out.”

Oh hell. “Ronan—”

“Car, Rose. Now.”