Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 110809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
“I told you. Vampires have a keen sense of smell, especially when it comes to humans. Mine is even keener when it comes to you.”
My mouth drops open when I realize what he’s getting at. “Are you saying you could smell my blood?”
He gives me a wolfish smile. “From the ground floor.”
“That’s … gross.”
“As you like it,” he says airily.
“Why did you stop me?” Maybe this is a chance to get some information from him. “What would’ve happened?”
His face goes stern. “You can’t mix your blood with the samples I give you. It’s not safe.”
“Why not?”
He simply stares back at me with that cold expression.
“If you won’t tell me, I’ll just try again.” I shrug.
“You will not.” His tone is sharp.
“You can’t be here all the time,” I taunt. “Don’t you have to report back to Gregor?”
“Doctor.” The word is a growl. “You must listen to me.”
“I’m listening. So tell. Me. Why,” I say pointedly. Then I have a thought. “Is it because of the different bloodlines?”
His eyes narrow.
“It is!” I crow. “There are three, aren’t there? Dragonis—Hey!” I scream when he lifts me off my feet and takes my arm, pulling me down the hall. “What the hell? Let go!” I struggle to get out of his grasp, but he holds tight, my efforts not even making him break stride.
He passes the elevator, then shoves through the door to the stairs.
“Valen, let go!” I yell as he tosses me over his shoulder and descends the stairs, then pushes through a door and enters another set of rooms. “Put me down!”
He drops me into an armchair and leans over me, hemming me in. “Don’t ever say those things. Not in your apartment, not anywhere in this building. Do you understand?”
“What? Why?”
His voice is low. “If Gregor finds out that you have this information, he will kill you all. Fuck!” He gnashes his teeth, the fangs lengthening. “It was the captain, wasn’t it?” The chair groans as he crushes the fabric and wood in his grip. “He put you in danger.”
“He was trying to help me. He told me—”
“He was trying to help himself!” he snarls and turns his head, as if he can see the object of his ire through these walls and whatever miles are between them.
I realize I’ve never seen murder in another person’s eyes. I see it now, and it’s a look I won’t forget.
“What’s the harm in me knowing?” I say far more meekly than I intend.
He snaps his attention back to me. “The more you know about my kind, the more of a danger you are to Gregor. He doesn’t allow threats to live.”
“I don’t understand.” I’ve been studying his kind for weeks, months now.
He eases up on the chair, but he doesn’t move away. He’s still close, so close I can smell his sandalwood and soap scent with the slightest hint of smoke, feel his breath against my cheek. “I have to get you back. They’ll know you’re gone.” He stands and runs both hands through his hair. “A mistake.”
“Tell me why I can’t use the blood.”
He stands silently for a while, considering me. Then, slowly, he says. “There are three bloodlines—Dragonis, Corvidion, and Tantun. All three great vampire houses. The blood in that vial was Tantun. If you’d mixed it with your own, you would’ve lost your arm, maybe even died.”
“No, that’s not possible.” I stand and cradle my aching arm. “I checked the sample. There was nothing in it that could harm me.”
“You checked it with your science, yes?” he scoffs.
“Well, yeah. What do you mean?”
“I mean that there are things in this world that can’t be seen under a microscope.”
Now it’s my turn to scoff. “There was nothing harmful in that blood.”
“If you’d put it on your wound, the Tantun venom would’ve poisoned you. Never try that again.”
I try to pick through the bits of information he gives me to find the truth. “If Tantun blood is poison… You’re Dragonis. Not Tantun or Corvidion. Does that mean all Dragonis blood heals?”
“No.” He takes my good arm more gently this time and leads me toward the door. “You have to go.”
“No!” I dig in my heels. “Tell me more. Tell me what you did to me—what you’re doing to me,” I correct myself.
He stops, his stony gaze finding mine. “What did you just say?”
“You’ve been controlling me. Making me want …” The pure ire in his eyes makes my words evaporate.
Then his glare turns to a taunting smirk. “You think I’m controlling you?” He laughs, the sound raw and harsh. “From the moment I saw you, you’ve been in every fucking thought, every moment. I can’t escape you, and I sure as hell can’t control you, no matter how much I wish I could.”
My mouth hangs open. None of this makes sense. “I don’t unders—”