AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I set down my now empty plate and filled a goblet with pink water from the jug on the table in front of me. Smiling, I downed the whole goblet, and I could have sworn Locke’s eyes darkened further. If such a thing was possible. Was he aware I knew the truth of why I needed to drink it?
Something rumbled in Kade’s chest where he stood close to me.Goddess, what was I doing?
I’d just set down the goblet, when Locke’s gaze shot to the room’s door, and he moved faster than I thought possible, stopping to stand in front of me. As if his movement was a signal, Kade copied his stance, moving beside Locke, and Darian stood, his back straight and muscles tensing as he glared at the door.What the hell?
The door opened, and I peered around Locke’s legs to see a tall male stroll into the room. The male looked only a few years older than Locke and the others, perhaps mid-thirties, with a long button up coat covering his lean frame. His raven-colored hair was sleeked back from his gaunt face, and his eyes were black like Locke’s, but they were colder, lifeless.
The newcomer’s gaze locked on me, and my pulse quickened as a smile stretched across his face, his pale lips widening. There was something in the way he looked at me that made me feel like he’d been searching for me, and he was delighted he’d found his next victim. I stood, stepping around to Kade’s side.
Every instinct screamed at me to run. Told me that this male was a predator and this was a fight I couldn’t win, but I wasn’t going to hide.
I eyed Kade’s sword, which rested on the table where he’d been sharpening it. When my gaze went back to the strange male, excitement had sparked in his black eyes. Like he knew I wanted to grab the sword, and he wanted me to do it. I suppressed my shudder.
“Warrick, what are you doing here?” Locke said, his voice icy.
The male, Warrick, stopped in the middle of the room and opened his arms wide, finally taking his gaze from me to stare at Locke.
“Ah, my son, is that any way to greet your father?”
Father?Now that I was aware of their connection, I saw the resemblance. The angular shape of their faces and lean, muscly builds. Except unlike Locke’s, the angles on this male’s face were harsher, sharper. He was attractive, but the cruelty shining in his eyes made my stomach roil. I’d thought Locke and the others were monsters when I’d first seen them, but they didn’t have the same aura this male had.
“There are worse monsters in this mountain than us.”Kade’s words floated through my mind. I’d believed him when he’d said it, and the fight with Zacal had already opened my eyes to the truth of it, but it was now, staring at this male, that I truly understood. All the monsters the elders had told us about as we’d grown up. Beings that delighted in tearing apart humans, torturing them just to hear their screams. They did exist.
Sweat slipped between my shoulder blades.
“You know better than to come to my personal rooms,” Locke snarled, hatred dripping from his words.
My gaze slid to the sword again, though I knew it would be futile. Could Locke, Kade, and Darian take this monster on? They were powerful, all of them, especially now that I had seen what Kade’s wolf could do, but the confidence radiating from this male, Locke’s father, gave me pause. If he was like Locke, that meant he had to be the same kind of monster, right?That means he drinks blood.I swallowed.
As if he’d heard my words, Warrick sniffed the air and smiled, his eyes landing back on me. He took another step forward, and a growl ripped from Kade’s throat. Kade shifted closer to me until my shoulder brushed against his arm.Oh fuck.
“There’s no need for that,” Warrick said with a casual wave of his hand. “I just had to take a look at the new shifter, the last to turn out of this round of humans.”
Shifter blood.I remembered the shifter, Lyr, giving Locke vials of her blood. This male had to be part of the Taratun. Did he believe that Lyr’s blood had come from me? Something in his eyes told me he didn’t.
Locke’s gaze didn’t falter as he stared at his father. “You’ve seen her. Now leave.”
Warrick’s gaze found me again, and I squirmed under his attention. “She certainly is pretty to look at. I can see why you four have decided to keep her away from the others. But you know you’re not the only ones who will want their chance to have some fun with her.”
Kade snarled, claws beginning to peek from his fingertips, but he didn’t move toward the male.
“This one’s ours to play with until she joins a house. You have your blood,” Locke said, his jaw tight.
Warrick stared at him. “It’s a shame she didn’t turn into a vampire. It’s time you took your place as alpha of the House of Nesarin, son. Fighting for the right to claim her would have been a great show of power. Still, I can see now why you didn’t want to hand her over.”
At that moment, Asher exited the washroom, a towel wrapped around his waist as he used another to dry his hair. He stopped as he took in the scene. “Oh hell, what am I missin’?” he said, his tone light, though his body tensed.
“Go back to your lab, father,” Locke said, ignoring Asher, his voice low and lethal.
Warrick stared at me again, and the eagerness in his eyes had fear coating my tongue. “I look forward to seeing you fight,shifter,” he said, emphasizing the last word as if it was a joke.
I didn’t answer. For once, I was smart enough to keep my mouth shut. We all watched as Warrick glided from the room, closing the iron door behind him.
No one moved for a few heartbeats after he left, but then Locke whirled toward us. “We need to get her to change, and we need to do it now. Warrick’s suspicious, and that isnota fucking good thing. Raine needs monster blood so we can satisfy his curiosity and get her off his radar.”
I didn’t bother asking why Locke was so worried about me having his father’s attention. If it was concerning him, it was probably better if I didn’t know what Warrick did with his curiosities.
“Fear and pain are the best ways to get her to turn. Warrick will take her apart piece by piece if she doesn’t change soon. If she dies, we die.”
