16. Sixteen

Iwas getting drunk.

It was the only explanation for my newly found love of tormenting Atreyis. There was something freeing in the act. The words flew from my lips, and if I didn’t know any better, he was blushing now. And I reveled in it.

He’d readjusted himself countless times and rubbed the back of his neck. It was no secret he found me attractive. The man had been coming on to me since the penitentiary.

“So who was it then?” he pried.

“The last encounter?” I feigned ignorance.

“What did they look like?” He blinked his thick lashes at me.

“Some things are meant to be private.”

“Oh, come on! I told you mine.”

“I heard yours. The entire brownstone and neighborhood did.” I snorted, shaking my head.

“At least tell me, was it good?”

No.

Nodding slightly, I noticed the tavern had mostly been cleared out by now. Dawn was near again. “We should retire.”

“This sun thing is a real piss stain.” He slurred and slid from the bench.

After the second bottle, I should have stopped him, but he slapped my hand. That—and he just burned his home and mother, so I cut him some slack. As he stood, his knees buckled, and he belched. He was giggling and holding his arms out.

“Where is our room, drunkard?”I teased him.

“You’re the tunkard.” He waved his finger in my face.

“Perhaps I’ll have to go woo the Innkeeper for this information.”

“Don’t you dare! It”s—well, I don”t know. Up there somewhere.” He pointed to the front door.

Chuckling slightly, I got to my feet and grabbed his waist. Aiming him toward the stairs to the bar”s left, I reached into his pocket for the key.

“Hey now, don’t get him all riled up.” His breath was hot in my ear. It was a combination of whiskey and savory spices, with a hint of tobacco since he insisted on having a cigarette.

“Move it,” I nudged him forward, and he walked with his eyes closed.

We made it two steps before I was all but carrying him. Atreyis rambled nonsense about tulips and hemorrhoids. And on top of it all, he stroked my hair and kept calling me kitty.

“Your fur is so soft. Kitty, baby kitty.” Then he smelled my hair.

I just needed to get him safely into a bed and let him sleep it off. Then, we could figure out our next steps afterward, which I was finding less and less of a reason to do so. Even though Atreyis was a handful, I enjoyed joking and talking with him that night. There was no denying that I was also finding more excuses to touch the man.

Locating our room was easy, but I froze in the doorway when I saw a single bed. Sure, we had slept in the same bed before, but this was different. Anxiousness flooded me as I laid him in it, and then I went to step away to locate some pillows for a day on the floor.

“And where do you think you’re going?” He slapped his palm on the mattress.

“I’m getting pillows?” I cocked a brow.

“The fuck you are. Get in this bed.” The slapping continued.

“Atreyis, you’re drunk, and I—”

“Do it now, or I’ll scream.”He cocked his eyebrow in an attempt to be serious, but all it did was make him oddly boyish.

Folding my arms across my chest, I narrowed my eyes and said, “Fine. Scream then.”

And by all the gods, he did. “Help! They gave me a shit lover, and he”s going to drug me up! Not the good kind! Help me! Someone! Anyone!”

I cupped my hand to his mouth in a flash, silencing him. The feel of his lips against my palm sent a shiver down my spine and a surge of want. When he grabbed my arms and tugged me down, our hips collided. I stared at his face, fascinated at how he”d somehow wormed through the walls I”d built to keep this sensation from happening again. When he bit his lip, fluttering his lashes at me, I immediately rolled off him. I didn”t get far before he turned on his side and wrapped his arm through mine.

“I just want some cuddles. Relax, cherub.” He yawned loudly, buried his face into my hair, and fell asleep in seconds.

I am back in hell, and now I’m burning.

It was difficult to explain how my heart lurched from my chest when I not only woke to a woman glaring at me from the bedside but to find myself curled up against Atreyis. At some point, I must’ve pulled him to me and held him there. So, to say that I yelped so loudly that it woke Atreyis up was an understatement. With force, he flew from the bed, crashed into the small nightstand, and the wood splintered beneath him.

“Fuck!” he growled and held his forehead.

“I’m sorry!” Before I could stop myself, I was off the bed, helping him to his feet. I held his waist, feeling my heart beat louder as I took in a greedy inhale of his masculine fragrance.

“Well, isn’t this adorable,” the woman said from behind me.

The shock of the rude awakening didn’t spare me a second to take in her scent.

An omni-shifter. She walked over to the bed and plopped down like she belonged there.

“There isn’t any evidence of your swordplay, is there?” She lifted the blanket.

“Damnit Alora. This time I did piss myself.” Atreyis was bright red.

And sure enough, the faint smell of urine filled my nostrils, infuriating me.

“You know this woman?” I scolded him as he stepped away from me.

“Unfortunately.” Then he slid off his pants.

In a series of quick motions, I managed to advert my gaze anywhere other than at his cock, rip the sheet off the bed, and hand it to him. Instead of covering himself, he used it to wipe everything down. Alora chuckled and shook her head.

How dare she intrude like this? And better yet, how long had she been there? Was she disguised as the bloody wardrobe?

Burrowing holes into the floor, I waited and waited for Atreyis to get something over himself, but he stood there pantless with a hand on his hip.

“You bailed again.” She looked past me.

“Shit came up.” He tossed the sheet.

“Well, this is fucking important. For the sake of the gods, put your cock away.” She threw a pillow at him.

Angling it over his groin, he walked in front of me, so now I was staring at his perfect ass. Hell. Actual hell.

“Chop chop.” He snapped his fingers at her.

“Don’t make me hit you.” She gave him a knowing stare.

“Do it; I might like it,” he sneered.

“Enough!” Humiliation, anger, and, most of all, thirst overtook me. I”d gone too long without sustenance.

“He’s cranky because he needs a blowjob and a cupcake.”

Excuse me?

“You can facilitate at least one of those,” she said as if I wasn’t standing there fuming from my ears.

“Maybe later. Tell me, dear, what was so important you needed to rouse me from my slumber?” His tone shifted. He was no longer irritated but spoke like she was someone he cared about.That didn”t help my mood in the slightest.

Her eyes softened. “Well, darling, your little fiasco with the blood ring made waves. And guess who’s ship got rocked?”

Blood ring?

So he knew.

He knew this whole time.

Atreyis made me believe he wasn’t aware or, better yet, didn’t care. I thought this wasn’t about him trying to sell me out purposefully. He”d said Mr. Darcy had lied to him. Gods, I was wrong.

So wrong. I couldn”t believe how fucking pathetic I was. I allowed myself to think that Atreyis wasn’t like the rest. I allowed myself to believe that he truly didn’t know who or what I was. Even though he was selfish and twisted, he wouldn’t use me like they did. I peered out the window to the right; it was close enough to dusk that I could manage without the shelter of that Inn.

By then, I’d blocked out what they were saying. Too fueled by my pain to register their words, and before either of them caught on, I left. I’d never stop running. Never quit until the Queen forgot the Nova Born existed.

The following events could only be described as meaningless carnage.

When I stood in the mostly vacant tavern, scanning for the first vein, I located a man hunched over a crate. I barred my fangs and pinned him against the wall. He might have tried to fight if I wasn’t so quick. He might”ve begged for his life, but I took it without hesitation.

The hot, thick liquid was not nearly as welcoming as Atreyis’, but I drained it nonetheless. As his heart stilled in his chest and the source ran dry, I let him drop. The crate of bottles rattled under the impact.

Taking a deep, slow breath, I listened. Upstairs, several hearts thumped, but the one dancing in that bar caught my attention. Smelling the air, I scented female pheromones and honed in on the source.

Crouched under a table in the far corner was a teenage girl. The resemblance to the man I just killed was undeniable. I should have walked away then. I should have taken this as my opportunity to get as far away from this town as possible.That wasn”t what I did, though.

I was angry. Hurt. Jealous and betrayed. But most of all? I couldn”t stop.

Leaning down to peer under the table, I watched as her eyes widened to their full width. “Run for me. Run as hard and as fast as you can.”

She scrambled out from under the table and burst through the front door. I counted back from ten, and then I was gone. She wouldn’t get far, and this was only the beginning.

It was time to hunt.