Page 14 of Crimson Shifter

Joffrey hoisted the human over his shoulder like he was nothing more than a pile of trash to be cleared, and waltzed back into the house, no doubt to the kitchens where the rest of his blood would be used and his body discarded later.

My heart clenched, empathy and guilt sloshing together at the way my parents still operated. There was no need for the way they treated humans, but speaking out now or doing something silly like trying to save the doomed creature would only blow our cover. And put thousands of innocent lives at stake.

I swallowed down the hate and the shame and raised my glass as my mother did, clinking them together before taking a sip. The blood was still warm, filling my mouth with its sweet taste.

“Almonds,” I said, nodding to my mother in what I hoped she would perceive as a respectful show of gratitude.

“Quite delicious, isn't it?”

“Quite,” I said, taking another sip, every swallow feeling like some sort of damning sentence. It didn’t matter that I knew the humans who came to the island came of their own free will. Hell, there were many desperate souls who practicallyfoughtfor the position to be selected as one of my parents’ harvested.

They were well-compensated, the money going to the families of those who volunteered. It was as much of a business transaction as any, and the agreeing parties’ participation definitely kept the king and his assassins away from their door for centuries.

Alek would never condone something as heinous as cold-blooded murder just to feed. But my family had found a way around that, like they so often did. Vipers indeed.

I took another mouthful, knowing that not doing so would raise more suspicion than anything. And that's the last thing I wanted. We’d already been here three days but it felt like three months. Every second spent in my mother's presence was one of harsh critique and conflicting ideologies that I couldn't even express.

No. I had to sit here, back ramrod straight and hands delicately placed in my lap if I wasn't raising a glass. Had to sithere silently and nod at any archaic shit that rolled from her tongue.

It was a new form of torture. And I was no stranger to torture. The closet painted with nightshade-laced paint practically had my name on it, no doubt unchanged since the day it was constructed, just waiting for me to get thrown in it again.

Anxiety clawed at my throat, threatening to make me choke on the blood I was trying to get down. The free hand in my lap trembled, and I instinctively reached down to pet Shadow’s fur.

Not Shadow’s.

Talon’s, I mentally corrected myself, but it didn't matter. To every outsider it was my panther, laying dutifully at my feet, just a bit of her massive body sprawled out over the floor-length gown that splayed at my feet underneath the table.

Talon lifted his panther head, leaning into my hand in a comforting, supportive gesture that I knew he’dnevergive me if he was in his human form. Chalk it up to playing his role incredibly well, the male had absolutely embodied Shadow, who I missed so terribly.

And despite knowing it wasn't really my cat, I was able to pretend just enough to combat the anxiety that threatened to ruin us all.

I had no doubt he could sense the anxiety in me, the bond between shifter and companion he’d created that first day sending him every little emotion as I felt it.

I could easily feel how hungryhewas, and that guilt hit harder than watching the innocent human be used like a spigot.

Talon’s hunger was relentless, an incessant ache that made me wonder just how much he enjoyed feeding—it had only been a few days and I’d heard ancient vampires like himself could go months without feeding before descending into bloodmadness. And yet, he seemed to be riding an edge that leaked into my very bones.

I desperately wanted to take that decanter back to my room and give it to him, but I knew my mother had no intention of leaving this table until we’d gorged ourself on every drop. The evidence only further backing up my theory as she poured me another glass the second I finished the first.

I tried to shove my feelings away, both mine and Talon’s. His hunger was incredibly distracting, almost as much as the memory of his mouth on mine. The bastard could probably tell how much desire fluttered through me at the memory, and I honestly couldn't remember a time when I’d been kissed like that.

I'd had my fair share of conquests, but none had ever been so...raw. There was no love shared between Talon and I, that much was clear. We didn’t even have a mutual respect for each other beyond the forced pairing of this mission.

The physical chemistry was undeniable, and I’d been denying myself for soverylong.

I was half tempted to beg him for a release just because it’d been so treacherous these last few days. We could both use some tension relief, but knowing him, he’d probably use the request as some kind of ammunition against me.

That’s last thing I needed.

My mother had been throwing around enough of that for a lifetime and it’d only been three days.

“So, you haven't had any luck with anyone else after your utter disaster of a failure in pairing with Alek?” my mother asked as we started our third glass of blood.

My stomach felt sloshy, so much so I had to set the half-full crystal goblet down on the table.

I slid my finger around the rim of the crystal coupe, doing my best to be slow to react to the insult posed as a question.

“There have been many interested suitors,” I said, rattling off a few names of the dukes and earls who’d tried to seduceme recently. “But none have offered the standing in which our family demands.”