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Chapter 23
Piper
“Oh, my god.” I closedmy eyes and moaned around the mouthful of chicken overtaking my mouth. “Dear Lord, Gretchen you've outdone yourself this time.”
The older woman chuckled, wiping her hands on a dish towel. “Why thank you, Piper, but honestly, it's the same old chicken I always make. The masters don't really seem to want much variety in my dishes.” She and Darren, who sat next to me at the countertop, exchanged a look.
I shook my head and cut a larger piece of the succulent meat. “I'm telling you, I've had your chicken before, and this is so much better.” I popped the piece I'd cut into my mouth, rolling it around as I chewed. The juice and seasoning filled every inch of my mouth. “It's like an explosion of flavor.”
The two of them watched me with growing interest, but I ignored them and continued eating. Who cared if they stared? I liked food. Good food. And I've never tasted anything so good as the chicken before me. Maybe because it was the first real thing I'd eaten since waking up from my nap. Strangely enough, I hadn't been hungry after drinking Wynn's blood, a concept that still weirded me out.
“You seem in better spirits today, all things considering.” The caution in Darren's voice made me pause. Was he afraid I'd run screaming into the night?
I lifted a shoulder and dropped it, tucking into the roasted potatoes next. “I don't know what you expect really. As long as they keep their fangs to themselves and aren't killing anyone, it's not really any different than the rest of the weirdos out there.”
Gretchen laughed, a full belly laugh. Rubbing her eyes with the back if her hand, she bobbed her head. “I'm glad you feel that way. We've lost plenty of good maids because of the masters' peculiarities,” she drew out with a wink.
Darren snorted. “More like had to get rid of them. Either they were too terrified to stay, or they wanted to be one of them. I blame the media. Too many glittery vampires and angsty teenager books and movies. Takes the real fear out of what they should be wary of.” He gave me a pointed look.
I swallowed the potato in my mouth and picked up my glass of water. “Believe me, I'm wary, far more than you know.” My eyes brows rose, and my eyes rolled, remembering my few encounters with the masters. I'd have to be stupid not to keep in mind what they were or take the chance of turning into someone's chew toy.
“It's not just their teeth you have to be aware of,” Darren started but then clipped his mouth shut. He spun around in his chair and greeted Rayne as he walked into the kitchen. “Can I get you anything?”
How he knew Rayne was coming before he even appeared, I chalked up to having something to do with that blood bond keeping him young and healthy. However, the total disregard Rayne had for Darren pissed me off. The redhead moved into the kitchen, his eyes flickering to me for a millisecond, the heat in them scorching me to the bone. He stopped in front of the fridge and jerked the door open. Rayne stared in there for way longer than needed before grabbing his usual silver container.
The rest of us were quiet all the while, watching him and waiting to see if he would deem us worthy of his notice.
Gretchen smiled at him as he turned around and offered him a plate. “Would you like some chicken to go with your drink?”
Twisting the cap off, Rayne ignored her and met my gaze, leaning against the counter as he chugged the liquid.
Not wanting him to know he affected me, I returned his glare with a quirk of my lips and an arched brow. To my delight, his eyes narrowed, and he lowered the container, dark red dripping from the side of his mouth.
“You have some...” I pointed at the side of my mouth. “Right there.” Having a death wish, I picked up my napkin and threw it at him. His hand shot up and caught it in a tight grip, probably imagining my head was the napkin.
Wiping his mouth quickly, he slammed the container on the counter which made Gretchen jump, her brows furrowing and a deep frown on her lips. Darren stiffened beside me as Rayne stomped over to the island.
“Your hand.” He stared down at the hand I had thrown the napkin with, the one with the wrap around it even though I didn't need it.
The one he had broken.
“What about it?” I stabbed a potato and popped it into my mouth, the edges of my eyes crinkling.
Those amber eyes zeroed in on it, and before I could register it, he had moved. Rayne had my hand in his grasp and jerked me half way across the table, my plate getting shoved to the side.
“Hey, let go!”
Rayne ignored me and turned my hand this way and that as if it were some kind of medical wonder. “Why isn't it still broken?”
Gretchen made a small sound in between a gasp and a cry, her eyes darting to me. I shook my head as if to tell her I'd talk to her about it later. I didn't want her to get in trouble with the dick head, not because of me.
“Wynn took care of it, no thanks to you.” I jerked my hand out of his partially, surprised he let me, and sat back in my seat. My lips twisted into a grimace at the mess my shirt had turned into.
Rayne stared at me for a moment, not understanding what I meant until his brows shot to his hairline and he snarled. “He gave you his blood.”
It wasn't a question, so I didn't answer it, focusing on cleaning myself off the best I could.
When he appeared at my elbow, I didn't have the chance to argue. His hand clamped down on my arm and pulled me once again out of my seat, except this time, he practically dragged me across the kitchen and into the dining room where the other brothers sat at the table.
