Desi’s tongue slid out between his lips, and only then did her eyes dip down to his raised leg.
He struck then. He launched his boot at her, landing the kick firmly against her bare abdomen. He shoved as hard as he could, and she was forced to let go of him as she flewbackwardinto the bath.
Water flew everywhere as she went completely under. Just then, Ludovica let out a loud growl and moved. I watched her sweep her foot under her attacker’s ankle. He stumbled, and she took that opportunity to shove him down and hurl herself at his fallen body. She crouched and reached into her tall boot, pulling out a pink-hilted dagger.
The Ginata impersonator was splashing in the bath, trying to get her balance. The other boyfriend she had called for offered her a hand, but before she could grab it, Desi walked over and snatched him back. He shoved him against the wall and quickly pulled out his own knife. It was wet and dripping red. What had he done before coming here?
He flicked it open and brought it up to eye level. Fleck stood still as a stone, eyes wide and body in apparent shock as he stared at the bloody knife.
Desi flicked his tongue across the metal. I cocked my head and leaned against the doorway. A waft of air came through, and I smelled the blood coming from the knife. It was from a vampire.
That could not have tasted good.
I was right because he cringed, then quickly turned it into a laugh instead. “You guys taste so bad. It almost makes killing you not even worth it.”
“You’re going to kill me?” Fleck asked, his voice shaking. Desi shrugged.
“I think it would be kind of silly to leave you alive. What if you tell the others that I killed your fearless leader?”
“You can’t kill Ginata!” Panic flew threw her lover as if Desi had already hurt her. He shoved my boyfriend, and Desi took a few steps back. “She’s too important!”
“Well, for one, she’s not Ginata.” Desi glanced at the woman still in the water. “She’s pretending to be someone she’s not. Not entirely sure why. Being a Seven Sin comes with a lot of baggage.”
“You’re a Seven Sin?” Fleck asked, looking from Desi to Fake Ginata. “And you?”
“No.” Desi reached out and snatched his chin, forcing him to look at him rather than at the woman he was going to sacrifice his life for. “I am Wrath. She is nothing.”
“That’s not true. She is one. I know she is.” Fleck nodded as if saying it enough could make it so. It broke my heart to see the devotion so clearly in his blood, tears sliding down his cheeks. Desi squeezed his lips together tightly and shook his own head.
“No, but believe me, before she dies, she will tell me who she really is.”
Laughter rang out from the other side of the room. “Is that so? You think you can just waltz into my world and take everything I’ve worked so hard to build just like that?”
Desi let go of the Bloodshed in his hands and turned to see the redhead. She was stepping over blood puddles being made by Ludovica feasting on the human boyfriend. The noises she was making were ignored by everyone as the phony sauntered over to a rack and pulled a robe down. Slowly, as if she had nowhere to be, she put it on, adjusted it, and then tied it around her waist. Only then did she look at me. She smiled, then returned to Desi.
“I may not be the person you expected to see today, but that doesn’t change the fact that you stormed into my territory, tried to steal my ward, and killed multiple vampires in my coven.”
“You really consider hundreds of people your coven?” he smirked.
She sighed, her tone and face revealing boredom as she examined her nails and shrugged. “I don’t have to explain anything to you. Why don’t you leave before you don’t get the option?” She flicked a glance at me, her red eyes blazing. “You’re certainly not leaving with the Young Blood Priestess.”
“You’re a fucking cult,” Desi sneered.
She ignored his words. “You know, I had heard so much about you all. She would tell me story after story of the things you used to do together. She really liked you.” She stepped over the pair on the floor again and came over to me.
I crossed my arms and stood up straight. “Who are you?” I asked.
“That’s not important. What is important is who you are.”
“I’m no one.”
My gaze shifted as I heard something. Desi’s voice. But— not.
He hadn’t said anything. I knew he hadn’t because he wasn’t looking at me. He was staring down at his feet. But… I had heard his voice.
“You’re someone to me.”
I blinked, trying to wrap my head around it. Could we—
