Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
“You mean that old hag and her gang of vampires? Yes, they beat me and Sven black and blue, but I thought they might have the decency not to brutalize a young woman all on her own.”
“You’re talking about decency?” I scoffed, incredulous.
He leaned back a fraction. “I see you still have your assumptions about me.”
“They aren’t assumptions. They’re facts. And you need to get it into your thick skull that just because we’re stuck in here together doesn’t mean we’re going to be allies. I might get beat up every now and again, but as I said, I can survive well enough on my own.” I was only partly acting as I spoke. I knew my mission involved getting close to Vasilios, but my gut instinct was to keep him at a distance, and it was hard not to follow that instinct. I began walking, and he kept in step with me.
“At least take my arm. That limp is heart-breaking.”
I turned on my heel, steam ready to start blowing out my ears. I knew he was lying. My limp wasn’t heart-breaking to him. In fact, it probably made his heart deeply satisfied. “No,” I grunted. “My limp will heal. Eventually.”
“Not without sustenance. I can see you’re already starved for blood.”
“I’ll figure that out when it comes to it.”
“Or you could feed from me and get your strength back,” he said, and I stared at him in disbelief. The part of me that hungered for blood awoke, eager to step forward and bite him. It was an urge I struggled to keep under control.
“You’re offering me your blood?”
There was a brief conflict on his face before he reluctantly nodded, “You’ll need to be strong once it gets dark. Macalister will come for you again, just as she did for Sven and me.”
I stared at him, worry forming. “What do you mean? She attacked you twice?”
Vasilios nodded. “The second time, I was ready for her. I managed to fight off her gang of thugs, and they left me alone after that. She’ll keep coming back until you show her some teeth, and you’re in no fit state to do that right now.”
I straightened my shoulders. “I’ll face whatever’s coming to me.”
“They’ll kill you,” Vasilios warned. Again he had the audacity to pretend he cared about me. How I wished I could confront him with the truth, throw how he had me framed for murder in his face.
“Then I’ll be dead, and Belinda and I will both be ghosts. Hey, that could actually be fun. We’ll haunt and terrorise you and Sven for the rest of your days.”
“Darya, you need to take this seriously.”
“And you need to understand that I’ll never feed from you. Besides, my sister told me how awful demon blood tastes. Thanks, but no thanks.”
“That’s only true of demons from this realm. Sven and I have blood that tastes nothing like that. Believe me, it’s why those vampires attacked us a second time. They were ravenous for our blood. I think it has an extra charge to it because we come from Oreylia.”
That gave me pause. It made sense that they’d have different blood. They were, after all, an entirely different kind of demon. “Even so,” I said at last, “I don’t want anything from you, Vasilios.”
My tone dripped with disrespect, but weirdly, something about me saying his name, his real name, made his eyes flare for a fraction of a second. I didn’t know how to feel about that, so I endeavoured to ignore it.
“What’s your cell number?” he questioned.
“Like I’d tell you that.”
“If you’re determined not to drink my blood, then at least tell me where you’ll be sleeping. That way, Sven and I can keep guard over you and chase off the vampires when they come.”
I studied him. Was he being serious? It struck me as odd that he’d be prepared to defend me when he’d written me that ominous letter all those months ago.
“Why are you trying to help me? What’s in it for you?”
Vasilios moved closer, his eyes alight. “Numbers are everything in here, and though Sven and I have managed to command respect with just the two of us, we could always benefit from a third.”
“Is that all?” I asked. It seemed like there was more he wasn’t saying.
“Of course, that’s all.” He paused as though to contemplate me before continuing, “Please don’t imagine I have any affection left for you, Darya. That ship has sailed.”
I scoffed, well aware of his distaste for me. “That’s not what I was insinuating. What I mean is, don’t you want revenge for what I did to you? Why the change of heart?”
His gaze travelled over me, and my pulse stuttered. What was going on with me? Why was I reacting to him like that? One offer of protection, and I was softening toward him already. Maybe all the blood loss had weakened me in more ways than one.