“And in the future, I will letyoutake the lead in the bedroom,” he said, but his words didn’t match his blazing gaze and steel jaw.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, suddenly wondering if he was mad at me.
Sawyer stood. “I’m going to need the name of the guy left alive from that night, Demi.”
My mouth popped open. “What? No wa—”
Sawyer’s chest started to heave up and down, fur running down his arms. “I’mgoingto need that name, Demi.Now.”
The bossy alpha was back. I stood and so did he as I butted my chest up against his. “My parents filed a complaint with Vampire City, but they said since I was banished I had no protection.”
Sawyer fled from the room and then there was a crashing noise in the living room.
Holy shit, this man had a temper.
I hobbled out to see that he’d kicked the coffee table in half. It lay in a splintered wood pile at his feet. He looked up at me, barely holding on to his humanity. “Demi, I need that name before I go and light the entirety of Vampire City on fire!”
My eyes nearly fell out of my head. “Sawyer, it was five years ago—”
“Name!” He fisted his hands and they shook. I’d seen my father like this once in my life. The night I told him and my mom about my assault. He’d barely been able to keep his wolf inside, even with the cuffs on.
“Fine! It wasfuckingVicon Drake, okay!” I screamed, and he went very still.
He raised one eyebrow. “PrinceVicon Drake?”
I nodded once. “I didn’t know that at the time, but yeah.”
They’d gotten Raven so drunk she’d passed out in the basement, but the boys were stupid enough to brag to us all about their rich and powerful families.
“I’m a Drake, I can get away with murder,”he’d said earlier that night after telling me his first name was Vicon. Only later, when my parents had made the formal complaint, did I find out he was prince to the coven that ruled the entire city.
Sawyer grasped me by the arms and leaned in to kiss me chastely. “Call Sage and have her sleep over. I’ll put Eugene on the front door, with the rest of my guys walking the perimeter.”
I shook my head. “What?”
He released me and started to walk to the door, gray fur rolling down his back. When he reached the door, he looked over his shoulder at me with yellow eyes. “I might be gone for a few days. Just go to class, pretend like everything is normal, but sleep at my place with Sage. It’s safest.”
“What are you saying? Where are you going?”
Sawyer’s jaw clenched. “The only person who should have survived that night is you, Demi.” Then he slipped out into the daylight like he didn’t just drop a hint that he was going to attempt to murder Prince Vicon Drake.
Oh fuck. That’s not how I saw that conversation going.
Three days.Sawyer had been MIA forthree days. I’d been forced to tell Sage about my attack five years ago, because she was wondering why we were sleeping at Sawyer’s and he was gone. He must have told his parents, because they didn’t issue a missing persons alert; everything was just very quiet. I went to class, I ate lunch. I looked normal on the outside but inside there was a war going on. Where was he? Was he safe? Did he kill Vicon? Or maybe he was just going to mess him up a little, or scare him by leaving dead rabbits on his bed or something. Yeah … but then I remembered when he said that I was the only person who should have survived that night and fuck, I couldn’t sleep very well or eat very much, I just wanted to know he was okay. All I knew was that Walsh was missing too and there was comfort in the fact that he wasn’t alone.
The females on campus were a ball of nerves as well. The day after Sawyer left it was announced that he’d chosen his future mate and wife early, and would be announcing it this weekend at a special ceremony. I hadn’t really put two and two together and realized that by picking me we had to get married … or his entire family woulddie.
No fucking pressure.
Basically it was just another Wednesday.
I tapped my foot, finally all healed and sans walking boot, as Sage chewed a fingernail.
“He said a few days. It’s been three,” I whispered.
Sage nodded, leaning into the table. “He’s probably staked out where that asshole lives, where he works, stolen a keycard so he can get into his place of residence without breaking in… It’s a lot of work to covertly assassinate vampire royalty.”
My eyes widened and I blinked at her a few times. “You think he really is going to … kill him?”
