“Where is he?” I repeated.
“He went to get something.”
“What?”
“We’re not sure,” Sterling answered. “But he did excuse himself after Lavinia informed us that Vincent needed more blood. Powerful blood. As a monster hunter, Eros keeps a few exotic samples in the basement. So my guess is he means to bring Feral something potent to accelerate his healing.”
“After the stunt Feral pulled, I’m surprised Deathwish is doing fuck all for him,” Corry muttered, burying his nose into the crook of my neck.
Sterling stiffened, the cords in his slender neck pulling at the collar of his black button-up. It reminded me of the shirt priests wore, only it was missing the white collar. Damn, would he look good in the full priest get-up. “You shouldn’t be surprised in the slightest. He’s one of our best warriors. Eros wouldn’t let him die simply out of spite.”
That and Eros has feelings for the fae.Dark and complicated feelings that were going to be next to impossible to unpack when the time came. But feelings all the same and enough to want to keep the hybrid alive.
As if I’d called the Devil, the door cracked open, and Eros appeared. “Sleeping Beauty’s awake,” he murmured through the most luscious smile, his snake bites gleaming in the dull light of Vincent’s room. “You had us really scared there for a hot minute, Baby Doll.”
Getting out from under the covers, I crawled to the edge of the bed on my hands and knees, gripping the headboard and tipping my lips up.
Stepping forward, he took my offering, his lips covering mine in a heated kiss. His chest rose with a big breath, and he purred a growl into my mouth. “Fuck.You smell so damn good. Like, like…”
“Like sex and misfortune?” I giggled as I repeated Sterling’s words.
He pulled back, both his brows raising. “Well, yeah.”
Corry joined us at the headboard, peering at the bottle Eros held in his hand. “What’s that?”
“Oh, this?” Everyone tensed when Eros tossed the bottle high in the air to catch it again in his other hand. “Only the rarest monster blood in my collection. I brought it as a gift for Feral. As thanks for bringing our girl back in one piece.”
Before any of us could process the fact that Eros was making a peace offering to Vincent without being strongarmed by Sterling, pestered by Corry, or tempted with a three-way by me, he was at Vincent’s side, uncorking the bottle.
I wasn’t sure why, but something about that bottle had me on edge. I climbed off the bed, tugging Corry with me. Sterling seemed to pick up on the bad vibes, too, a hair’s breadth after me. He set his book down on the dresser and rose to his feet, pushing me behind him and Corry.
“Eros. What creature’s blood is in that bottle?”
The sadist sat on the edge of Vin’s bed and passed the bottle beneath Vin’s nose like you would with smelling salts. “It’s incredibly rare blood. Dark fae.”
He glanced back at us, brandishing the wickedest of grins. “Fae King blood, to be exact.”
Chapter thirty-six
The Priest's Authority
“Dude,whatthefuck?”Corry flung his older den brother a sharp glare. “We get that you two have some sort of fetish for pissing the other off, but this feels like a little much.”
It was “a little much.”
But I had a feeling Corry was getting Eros’ intentions twisted. This didn’t feel like an act to anger the hybrid. I’d seen Eros do that before, like when he’d cuffed me to his torture bench in his den and took a picture of me to send to Vincent.
Eros had been antagonistic to his rival but never evil. Eros had killed the fae king a decade back because he was just doing his job as a monster slayer. If he’d bottled the blood to shove in Vin’s face as a “fuck you,” he would have done it years ago.
Fae blood was valuable, rare. A precious healing item that could pull anyone back from death’s door. Eros was much too methodical to use something like that for something so mean.
This felt more meaningful. Like not just a peace offering but a gift as well, the mark of a new era for these two.
It was also possible that I was way overanalyzing this.
Corry slid his hand over his face, groaning into his palm. “Vin’s gonna tear you to pieces.”
Eros snickered. “He can try.”
