This is a good thing, I tried to tell myself. This is part of what I’m fighting for. This was a reminder of why I had to take down Thomas Knight. So he couldn’t hurt anyone I loved ever again.
If that was going to happen, I’d have to put up the fight of my life. Too bad right now, I barely felt capable of breathing. Of doing anything but stumbling out the front door to cling to the Cross’ porch railing.
I normally didn’t get panic attacks. But the pressure was mounting, and I felt ready to combust if I didn’t relieve some of this stress soon.
“You gave them your blood?” my father roared from inside, followed by the gut-churning sound of knuckles striking flesh. “You are the king’s blood bag, hybrid! How dare you feed your royal blood to humans!”
I squeezed my eyes, trying to center myself. When I felt a hand clamp over my shoulder, I freaked. Seconds away from shifting, I captured a man’s wrist, wrenching it backward.
“Ow, fuck! Easy Red!”
I blinked rapidly, Corry Cross filling my vision the second my fight instincts ebbed away.
“It’s me. It’s just me, babe.”
Chapter twenty-six
Youngblood's Embrace
Ididn'tknowhowlong I stood there, wrapped in my youngblood’s arms. I could stay like this forever.
Breathing in his scent. Basking in the way he held me.
He pressed his cheek to the top of my head, and his nose nuzzled my brow. “Thank fuck you’re safe. We’ve been so worried. We know you can take care of yourself, but Christ, having you so far away hurts.”
He stepped back, rubbing his mark with care, like a wound that had just begun healing. “It feels like your mark is on fire. But that’s better than feeling nothing for the last day that you’ve been gone.”
I almost forgot that I’d been gone for only a day in real time. It had felt like it had been forever since I was in the arms of Corry Cross. “I missed you.”
“I missed you. The coven isn’t the same without you, Red. It’s a total suck-feast now that you’re gone.” The prince flashed me a crooked, half-dimpled grin. “No pun intended. It’s especially shitty because the Elders are planning on sticking around for a while. Not to help with the war or anything. I think they just want to watch the shit show that’s about to go down once the vampire king turns up.”
Corry turned his focus to his parent’s house, his smile evaporating as the voice of his master carried from the inside. From the sound of it, the king was locked in a heated debate with Sterling on whether or not to allow the Crosses to live.
“Speaking of total vibe killers, let’s get out of here. This memory blows. Ster said something about you pushing both our brains together or something like that.”
“Something like that.” I smirked and took his hand to lead him down the street, out of this memory and into the next.
I rushed us through this memory when I realized it was of the strip club where I saw V, the half-demon in Corry’s biker gang, straddling my mate’s lap.
It made sense why this memory so closely followed the last one. After Cor’s breakdown, he’d sought a way to sate his bloodlust through other means. That’s where Corry’s succubus friend had come in.
“I promise I’ve got other memories beyond all this messed up shit. These were just a few bad months of my life. If we take a detour, maybe we can take a walk through my memory of your birthday night. The one where you mounted me in front of the mirror.” He groaned at the thought. “Seeing you all spread for me…”
I whirled to face him with tears in my eyes. He clamped his mouth shut, and for a long beat, we just stared at one another. Things were normally so natural between us. But there were a couple of elephants in the room that needed addressing, and it couldn’t wait a second longer or I’d scream.
“We need to talk, don’t we?” He winced, rubbing the back of his skull with his hand.
“Yeah, we do. The night in the graveyard, when you found me with Vincent’s monster…”
Corry’s mien went uncharacteristically cold as a dark cloud seemed to fall over him. “I thought he’d lost total control, Red. I never hated him before. But in that moment, I wanted to gut him.”
“He didn’t rape me.”
“I know that now. But he still took advantage of you. He’s the older hybrid. All of us have to exercise willpower. After what you saw back there…” He passed a glance over his shoulder to where we’d exited the memory of his parent’s house. “I know I’m not one to talk. But when it comes to you, he should have tried harder to keep a grip. You’re our future, Ruby Red. And you’re the best tool we have at killing the vampire king.”
“Actually, that’s why Sterling wants us both to meet in his mind. He’s done research on your blood magic and has something to tell us about his discoveries. I think it has something to do with your magic and how it might be able to help us defeat my father.”
“I don’t want to be a blood mage, Ruby. It’s dark demon magic.”
