Page 2 of B Negative
A low growl came from Julian’s direction, but somehow I kept two steps between Titus and me without losing my balance, while also not giving Julian a second glance.
He didn’t get to growl because of me anymore.
I matched Titus’s threat with a growl of my own. My attention fully on the evil king. Well, the more evil one. Neither king was in good standing with me.
“Sunny hates you. She escaped you. There’s no way in hell she’s going with you.”
Titus’s eyes went full dark as we ascended from the recessed courtyard to the ground level. Thread-like veins at his temples darkened, snaking down his face and neck, across his throat, to disappear beneath the collar of his shirt. He took a deep breath, scenting the air and blurred to me faster than I’d seen even Julian move.
I froze in place, clutching Sunny closer still as Titus reached for her dangling arm.
He gently encircled her wrist, brought it to his nose, and inhaled deeply before laying her arm across her body.
He stared at me, eyes black, spider-webbed veins pulsing. “You know just as well as I do what’s going on here, Eden. Sunsiray must return with me to my tower for her transition.”
I shook my head. “Look, I don’t know what you think I know, but tonight clearly proves I know fuck-all about any of this. I’m getting myself and my friend out of here.” I turned on my heel, steeling myself against the glacial glares at my back coming from two kings before tossing my head over my shoulder and doling out one last remark. “You two can continue with your incursion game without me.”
There, that ought to shut them up.
“I’m calling this incursion off.”
I stopped dead in my tracks.
“That’s an immediate forfeiture, Titus,” Julian said from the courtyard below.
I turned back around, wanting to see exactly how this played out.
“Yes, Julian, it would be under any other circumstance.” Titus’s back was to me, but I could still hear the smile in his voice.
“No.” Julian’s voice was barely audible.
The rest of the crowd broke out into murmurs and hushed whispers.
“Sunsiray of the Rivers line is my true mate. As such, I’ll be invoking mate’s rights for the remainder of this incursion. I’ll call my men back to my tower at once.”
My arms shook. Not at the burden of Sunny’s weight, but with undiluted rage.
“She hates you,” I spat.
Titus turned slowly, meeting my venom with a charming, disgusting smile. “I’m well aware. But that doesn’t negate the bond, Ms. Vaughn.”
I lowered my head, giving Titus the same Kubrick stare he’d given me. “You’re not taking her.”
Julian approached, taking the steps two and three at a time to make it to the ground level. “Eden, you cannot interfere with—”
I rounded on him, spinning to meet him so fast he backed up a fraction of an inch.
“Do not speak to me, vampire.” My chest heaved, each breath ragged in my throat as I found the words to give voice to the shroud of anger and betrayal swirling within me. “You of all people have no right telling me not to interfere in a mate bond. That’s all you did from very the start.”
That first cup of blood. Those ridiculous little bats.
“You fed me your blood, dosing me against my knowledge with that very first Starbucks cup. All the while preaching about how imperative it was that the bond set, and we performed the steps in order.”
Julian’s posture collapsed inward, though his gaze remained on me. “Everything I did, Eden, was to protect you.”
“Everything you did violated my trust, my free will.” My chest ached. Like that cement hand in my throat had moved around my heart.
Lines creased the corners of Julian’s eyes and forehead. Lines that hadn’t been there before. “You know why I did what I did, Eden.”