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Chapter 21
Piper
Ihad to admit I expectedmore to happen after I drank the vial of Wynn's blood, but there I was, putting away books in the library later that evening, hand healed and nothing else.
Turning my hand this way and that, I muttered to myself, “You'd think I'd at least get super strength or heightened senses from drinking vampire blood.”
With my arms full of books, I made my way over to the shelves. Someone had been binge reading and leaving them out for me to put up, out of character for the usually neat and tidy vampires I'd come to know.
Bet it was Rayne. He was no doubt planning my demise or, in the very least, a way to make my life there a living nightmare.
I snickered, remembering how Wynn had tossed him across the room so easily, then frowned at my hand. Damn. I wish I could do that. Maybe I could find me a pair of brass knuckles or maybe a boxing glove. There was little doubt in my mind that there wouldn't be a next time. Rayne was young and arrogant even if he was several decades older than me.
Sitting my pile of books on the nearby end table, I went through the stack. Greek mythology. My eyes scanned the shelves looking for the label for the myths.
There it was.
Shoving a few books onto the shelf, I moved to grab some more when my eyes caught the word vampire on the spine of one of the books. Reaching up onto my tiptoes to grab the book, I strained to get a hold of it. After a moment, I sighed and gave up, sinking back to my heels and turned to look for a stool.
“Shit!” I cried out, my hand going to my chest. A large figure stood inches from my shoulder. Once I got my heart to calm down, I glared at the large man with his intense gaze and buzzed haircut. Marcus. “Jeez, wear a bell or something. You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
Marcus stared at me with increasing interest, his large muscular arms crossed over his chest pulling his dark green t-shirt tight over his pecs.
I waited for him to say something, tapping my foot impatiently, but when he obviously showed no intention of speaking, I threw my hands up and huffed, “Well? Did you need something?”
He stepped forward, and I froze, suddenly terrified I had offended him in some way. My feet backed up until my back hit the bookshelf behind me, making it slightly wobble. Breaths coming in and out like a frightened mouse, I squeezed my eyes shut and prepared myself for the worst.
A dark shadow fell over me, and for a moment, my senses were filled with lilacs and rain before it was gone. A few more moments passed, and I was still not dead or at least vampire chow, so I dared to open my eyes.
The first thing I noticed was the book, the exact one I had been reaching for, held out in front of me. The second thing was the amused hint of a smile on the edges of Marcus's mouth as his surveyed me.
Glancing between the book and then him again, my lips pursed tight. I hesitated before taking the book from him, clutching it to my chest. Bopping my head, I breathed in astonishment, “Thank you.”
I thought he would leave after that, but he stood there for a moment before, in a low, gravelly voice, he asked, “You're staying?”
I arched a brow at him. “Uh, yes?” I didn't know why I made it a question. Like his opinion on it would change anything. My staying was between Antoine and myself. Okay and maybe Wynn, but he didn't need to know that.
Marcus nodded, a small jerky movement. “Good.”
He didn't say anything else. Marcus turned on the heel of his combat boots and walked away. I couldn't help but let my eyes drift down to his backside where his jeans hugged his ass. I had to give it up for these vamps, they all have fabulous gluts.
Shaking my head, I laughed at my own lack of self-control. I glanced down at the book in my hands and moved over to the nearby couch. Checking to be sure no one else was going to sneak up on me, I cracked the book open. Of course, it was in Latin. A language I only recognized because of all the -uses.
I clapped the book shut and leaned back on the couch with a sigh. Just when I thought I might get some answer, I find the one vampire book that's in a dead language. Well, not like I had a lot of experience with vampire books. Not unless they involved shirtless alphas and whimpering damsels.
Wait a moment.
I was in a freaking paranormal romance.
Six sexy vampires with way more testosterone than any master vampire, and I'd already had more than one breathtaking encounter with them. All I needed was a display of jealousy that ended with us naked and sweaty.
Pfft. I should be so lucky.
Pushing off the couch, I went back to the shelf. Not bothering to try and reach that high up onto the bookshelf, I sat the book down and grabbed the nearby step stool. Of course, the one shelf that had something I wanted to read on it wasn't connected to the rolling ladder.
Sighing, I climbed onto the stool and put the book back where Marcus had gotten.
“You know I could read it to you if you only asked,” Drake announced, startling me. My foot missed the step on the stool, and my arms went out to my sides trying to grab onto something. Large arms wrapped around my waist and I found myself staring up at Allister. I only knew it was him because Drake stood behind him with a shit-eating grin on his face, his dimples flashing at me.
