Page 33 of Club Blood
“I do noteatpeople, darling Cecelia. I merelydrinkfrom them. I’m not an animal, even if I do like to play hunter and prey. Though, that’s usually in very different and consensual circumstances, I assure you.”
A small laugh broke free despite myself, which earned me another grin from Warren. He relaxed against the chair, draping an arm over the back.
“I’m not going to hurt you, I promise. I was here to see Mercy and she sent me off to do some business, but I saw you and had to come and say hello.”
I narrowed my eyes on him. “Why?”
“Because Mercy, against her better judgment, sees something more in you than just a way to quench her thirst. And anyone who is important to her is important to me. So no, I won’t hurt you.”
“Oh.”
Was he being honest? Even though me and Mercy had transitioned into some complicated version of captor and captive, I was under no delusion that I was expendable. There was always fun in danger, and what was more dangerous than fucking something you could so easily break?
I crossed my arms across my chest and waited for him to say something else. I didn’t know him and I didn’t know what angle he was playing at.
“I am concerned, however, that you didn’t even sense me coming. What if there was someone less kind than me, searching for something to feed on?”
“Mercy told me I was safe within her walls.”
Warren bit his lip, his fang toying with the skin. “Look, Mercy will have my heart for being so brazen, but you aren’t as safe as she would like to imagine.”
I was glad to be wearing a tracksuit at that moment. It meant that Warren wouldn’t be able to see how cold my skin suddenly got, the hairs on my arms standing to attention.
Leaning forward onto his arms, resting them against the edge of the table, Warren looked at me conspiratorially and lowered his voice. “You and I both know that Mercy’s vicious little bitch of a second is way more insubordinate than Mercy thinks.”
“Narcissa? You don’t trust her?”
He shook his head. “Cissa is cold and calculating which makes for a great Second, especially when she has as much devotion to Mercy as she does. However, she is also devious and possessive and wants Mercy all to herself. She doesn’t understand how things work.”
He must have seen the puzzled expression on my face because he continued on. “Mercy is our leader, our Queen. I’ve known her for all of my coldblooded life, and I have always known that she was destined to rule. All these years, all this bloodshed, has been leading to that. And our job, everyone else around her, is to kneel. To obey and serve. To do whatever she needs because Mercy is the one in charge, the one who has anddeservesto have the power. Do you understand?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I get that. But how does it connect to Narcissa and me being in danger?”
Worrying his lip some more, Warren tapped his fingernails against the metal of the table. “Uh, Mercy is going to kill me for telling you all this.”
Tap. Tap tap. Tap. Tap tap. Tap. Tap tap.
The sound was driving me crazy, making my teeth grind together. Before I knew what I was doing, I slapped his hand away from the table.
“For fuck’s sake, Warren. I’m not going to run and tell Mercy what you’ve said. Here’s the thing: my whole life has been royally fucked up by all of you Known. I watched a murder, I waskidnappedand I don’t know what the fuck happened to my best friend and I can’t let her know I’m okay.”
I let out a wracking sob, tears spilling down my cheeks as I let my emotions seep through the cracks in my walls. Warren opened his mouth to speak but I held up my hand to stop him. Wiping my cheeks, furious at myself for acting so weak in front of a creature who already thought I was overly fragile, I continued on for fear that I wouldn’t be able to find the words if I stopped.
“I’m being held captive by a bunch of psychotic vampires and I have no way to defend myself. So I am relying on Mercy to be able to protect me as she offered after completely upending my life. I am a human living in a compound full of Known, and there is not a fucking thing I can do about that.
“So, if you know that I am in danger and Mercy can’t protect me, I need to know. Because I would rather die trying to escape than let myself be torn apart by Narcissa as some sort of twisted game. Doyouunderstand?”
Staring at me with a slack jaw, Warren shifted in his seat and blinked to compose himself. I found myself taking in gulping breaths, allowing air to reach my lungs again.
“First of all, you’re kind of a badass. Secondly, yes, I understand. Look – Narcissa is batshit crazy. She wants to be side by side, Queen Consort, and all that other dramatic shit. But she isn’t Mercy’s equal and Mercy keeps trying to remind her of that. She’s been her Second and her fuckbuddy for years, but it was more a means to an end for Mercy. There’s nothing like fucking someone almost as powerful as you.”
He said the last part wistfully and I clicked my fingers in front of his face to bring him back. He smirked and looked like he was about to make a joke before remembering the importance of our conversation.
“Perhaps it’s my little, stupid human brain,” I started, earning a soft chuckle from Warren, “but I still fail to see how this leads back to me.”
Warren rolled his eyes. “You’re not stupid, but human brains for sure work slow, huh? It leads back to you because Cissa is jealous of you, darling Cecelia.”
It was my turn to roll my eyes and I let out a bitter laugh. “Yeah, sure she is.”