She blinked in surprise, not certain she actually had the ability to do that. Tristan must not have believed she would actually try anything forward, which meant Maggie could get people to underestimate her due to her innocence and her looks. Without waiting for him to comment on her action, she proceeded to start ripping up the results.
"What the hell are you doing?" he asked, staring at her like he still wasn't sure what she was doing.
"Whatever you think I am, it doesn't matter," she told him. Her heart was hammering away like a jackhammer but she refused to stop. She kept ripping everything up until the papers were in shreds on the floor. "I am Christian's."
"You are not," Tristan snapped, his eyes on the remnants of the papers. "You know I will just draw your blood again and send it to that lab myself." He licked his bared fang, his eyes gleaming with an idea. "Or I could just taste you myself."
“You wouldn’t,” Christian said. His words were carefully enunciated but there was a glimmer in his eyes, a lethal warning that promised bad things if Tristan dared even contemplate doing such a thing.
“Don’t push me, boy,” Tristan said, but he kept his eyes focused on Maggie. Every breath she took, every move she made, he registered it, calculated it, set it aside for a moment. “I know what she is, just the same as you. It’s no wonder you’ve been hiding her away. You’re a fool, however. You trust the wrong people.”
“What are you talking about?” Christian asked, furrowing his brow.
Tristan grinned, his lips curving up to meet Christian’s eyes, but only for a moment. “Who do you think alerted me to her in the first place?” he asked. “That very first day in your office. Who do you think brought her here, right now? It wasn’t me. I would not have known about her.”
Christian clenched his jaw but there was something in his eyes that indicated he knew. A flash. Something there. His eyes filled with shock and hurt at the betrayal, but he grit his teeth, resisting it. He wasn’t going to believe Tristan without some proof. Maggie felt a pang of admiration for his loyalty. Barry didn’t deserve him.
“Why would Barry betray me?” he asked. “He took you turning him over a normal life out of his loyalty to me.”
Tristan laughed. “And you genuinely believe that?” he asked. “Certainly you’re more intelligent than that, Christian. Barry has always been jealous of you. You are the epitome of masculinity – tall, strong, fierce. He is not – he is short, lean, and timid. His mouth has more strength than his fists. Being a vampire was a gift. He’s now stronger than ever. But he has not gotten over his jealousy.”
“I don’t believe you,” Christian said, though he appeared to know exactly what Tristan was talking about. That maybe he didn’t like to hear it, it still made sense.
“Ask her,” Tristan said with a tilt of his head. “She will tell you the truth.”
When Christian’s eyes found hers, her heart stopped. She didn’t have to say anything. He knew. He knew.
“He wants her,” Tristan said, nodding his head at Maggie. “Once he saw her with you, he wanted her for himself. I told him in all due time. I get first taste.”
Before Maggie even knew what was going on, Tristan lunged for her and slid his fangs into her throat.
Chapter 19
“Don’t fucking touch her.”
When Tristan ripped his mouth away from her skin, spitting up black liquid and dropping to his knees.
“I was wondering when you’d arrive, Nephew,” he said. “You didn’t tell me your donor was a fairy. Did you really think you could keep this from me?”
“How did you find out?” Christian said through clenched teeth and narrowed eyes.
“You know your good friend, Barry?” Tristan asked, tilting his head back but keeping a tight grip on Maggie. “Well, he’s a better friend to me.” He furrowed his brow, looking at Christian and shaking his head. “You’re not very bright, are you, boy? Drawing her blood and sending it to a lab I own? Did you not think I wouldn’t find out eventually? Of what she is. Of what this could mean for our entire species? We could synthesize her blood, monopolize it. We could sell her to the highest bidder. We could-“
“I told you,” Christian said through clenched teeth. “She’s mine.”
Tristan snorted. “Don’t play me for a fool, Christian,” he snapped. “I know you haven’t completed the ritual. Claim her all you want in name; that doesn’t mean she’s yours. I can still claim her.”
“No, you can’t,” Maggie said. Her voice was small and meek, but the fact that she managed to find her voice at all was a miracle. She felt a strength swell up inside of her, a strength she didn’t know she had. It allowed her to lock eyes with Tristan and not look away, even when his eyes clashed with hers. “I’m Christian’s. We haven’t had time to perform any ritual, that’s true, but I am his. He’s just waiting for the right moment.”
Tristan laughed. “You humans and your right moments,” he said, rolling his eyes. “You are a blip in our timeline. The right moment for us doesn’t exist because we have many more moments. You romanticize everything. You think that Christian – a vampire who has turned men and women for his clan, for me, whether they liked it or not – is worth entrusting your entire life with? Do you not know who he really is? He killed his parents in a fit of rage!”
“I killed my parents because you transformed me into the monster I am and I couldn’t control myself,” Christian said. His eyes were glassy but no tears fell.
“You wanted power so you took me from my parents and forced me to be this thing without giving me any sort of warning about what to expect and how to control myself,” Christian snarled. “The only thing you did for me was you kept that bit to yourself. But only if I would convince the clan to turn. Because you needed the people to rule over. What good is power if no one follows you?”
Maggie’s eyes kept shooting between Christian and his uncle. She couldn’t believe what Christian had gone through. No wonder he wanted no attachments. No wonder he hadn’t turned anyone into a vampire. No one showed him how to be one. The fact that he had been able to control himself around her was like a miracle unto itself.
"And now you're here to try and... what? Take Maggie away from me? After I've claimed her?" His eyes were hard and deep. Maggie felt fear bubble up throughout her body. Not that Christian would ever harm her, but at the fact that he was intimidating. And she never wanted to be on her bad side. "Maggie is mine."
"You cannot claim a fairy, boy," Tristan pointed out, his voice raw, his beady eyes narrowed. "You know that. Perhaps you think you can but the truth if the matter is, you can't. You will never be self-disciplined enough to control yourself. Eventually, you will succumb and you will drain her until she is nothing but a lifeless mass of skin and bone. Think back to what happened with your parents. Think of how uncontrolled you were then. You realize the same will happen to Maggie. You realize it won't be long before you kill her, too."
"Stop it."
Both Christian and Tristan's eyes snapped over to Maggie. She felt foolish, standing in a tattered dress, her hair a mess, mascara streaks running down her face. She didn't care. She had never been afraid more in her life. Everything she had worried about before seemed small and insignificant. Truth be told, she wanted to laugh at how ridiculous it all was. But now, she could say something. And maybe it wouldn't do anything but at least she was fighting. At least she wasn't running away.
"He will do no such thing," Maggie announced. Her eyes were only reserved for Tristan, however. There was nothing but darkness in her irises. She could feel the hate coursing through her body, tearing at her muscles. "Christian has tasted me multiple times and he will continue to feed on me until we both come to the conclusion that we are ready to part ways. I, for one, hope that doesn't happen. You, on the other hand, cannot do anything to me. It is why you tried to taste me but nothing but poison touched your tongue."
Christian's eyes narrowed at his uncle. "You, what?" He looked back at Maggie. "That was
why I felt your heart stop."
"Something in my blood made him recoil," Maggie told Christian. "I don't know why but when he tasted me, it was like he was being burned from the inside out."
Christian furrowed his brow and shrugged, indicating he had no idea why that would happen. He still seemed furious that his uncle tried to taste her in the first place.
"Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now," Christian said, his eyes never leaving Tristan's.
"You kill me, you die," he pointed out, his lips still curved into a grin despite the fact that Christian looked absolutely lethal. Christian took another step towards his uncle, and even though his uncle had a couple of inches on him in height, Christian still took Tristan's collar in his hands and lifted him up with ease. "You dare put your hands on me? You think she's worth risking silver through the heart?"
Maggie had no idea what Tristan meant. Why would Christian be punished for defending her? Was this some kind of vampire code thing that didn’t apply to the general law for humans and supes alike? She wanted to ask but didn’t want to seem like an ignorant human who didn’t understand other cultures. Instead, she pressed her lips together. She needed to figure out how to stop these two, how to stop Tristan from hurting Christian, but she had no idea what that was.
In fact, something in her blood system hated Tristan as much as she did. Something in her repelled him from actually sucking her blood. She had no idea why that was. She had no idea that was even possible. But it saved her life. She knew it saved her life. If Tristan hadn’t thrown himself from her, Maggie knew that he probably would have sucked her dry. If Christian had barely been able to rip himself away from her the only time he fed on her, Tristan would not do so at all.
“She’s worth everything,” Christian replied as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “You wouldn’t understand because you’re a selfish piece of shit who just cares for himself. You don’t understand what it’s like to truly care for anyone.”
Tristan sneered. “You are a fool,” he said. “Why do you think I turned you, boy? Being a vampire is an honor. Besides the long lifespan and the power coursing through your veins, it is the only way an entity on earth can play God.”
“I don’t want to play God,” Christian snarled. His eyes were shining with desperation. “I never wanted to. I wanted to stay in my clan, fight for my people, rule over them, have a family, produce strong sons. I never wanted eternal life.” He clenched his teeth together. “You’ve ruined everything. You took that away from me, even though it was not yours to take.”
“Then why not kill me when you had a chance?” Tristan asked, his eyes sparkling as a smile danced against his lips. He was enjoying this, tormenting his nephew. “Because if you did, you would have to explain the deaths of your parents. And if you tried to tell the truth, your friend Barry would have backed me. You know that, don’t you? You know I’m right. You know if you had done anything to me, your people would have found out and they would have killed you, too. Clearly you did not want to die or else you would have done just that.”
Maggie held her breath. She didn’t want to make any sound that would distract from this conversation.
“Because you like being a vampire,” he said. “You like feeding off the helpless, you like living forever, you like being able to crush someone with a single blow. You like it. Why deny that part of you, Christian? Why risk it all, why hurt your family, for a silly girl?”
--
Christian couldn’t believe he was still breathing. Tristan had tried to bite her, to taste her. He couldn’t control himself anymore. Without warning, he ran at his uncle, sinking his fingers into his uncle’s throat. It was difficult for Tristan to breathe. Christian didn’t care. He had no problem killing his uncle, especially after what he did to Maggie.
“She’s worth everything,” Christian told him, his eyes hard.
Tristan put his hands on his nephew’s forearms and pushed down. Tristan was much stronger than he appeared and the blow removed Christian’s arms from his throat.
“You’re a goddamn fool,” Tristan said through gritted teeth, his blue eyes nearly black as they narrowed in Christian’s direction. “You know what happened to your parents. Don’t you think the same thing will happen to her? You’ll lose control, just like you did with your parents. Especially since she’s a fairy.”
Christian clenched his teeth.
“It’s why you’ve pushed her away,” he said. “You look pale, Christian. Paler than a vampire should.” His lips curled up into a mocking smile. “Haven’t fed in a while, have you? I wonder why that is? Perhaps it’s because you know I’m right, hmm? Because you know I’m right, boy. You know I’m right. Your parents are gone because of your blood lust while this girl-“
“I’m here,” Maggie said.
Tristan stopped mid-sentence to glare at her for interrupting. Maggie didn’t care. Her gaze was only focused on Christian. He was all she could see and she needed to get him to only see her. When his eyes finally found hers, she latched onto him, pushing her brows up and pleading with him to not look away.
“I’m here, Christian,” she repeated, her voice firm and unwavering. “You didn’t lose control when you fed on me. You pulled away. You did that. Not because I told you to but because you’re in control of yourself. Don’t listen to your uncle. Focus on me.”
Tristan started laughing.
Maggie kept going, ignoring him. “Look at me, Christian,” she told him. “I love you. I wouldn’t love a monster. You are not a monster.”
“She doesn’t love you,” Tristan pointed out. “How can she? She doesn’t know you.”
“Yes, I do, Christian,” Maggie said. “You are not a monster. I am in love with you and –“
“She’s as crazy as you are!” Tristan shouted.
“You don’t get to talk about her in that way,” Christian said.
He didn’t even get a chance to speak before Christian reached behind him and pulled out a silver stake, slamming it in his uncle’s heart.
Tristan turned into ash immediately, scattering across his office and leaving Christian and Maggie alone. Christian dropped the stake, his hands burning just from touching it before he, too, collapsed.
Christian wasn’t out of breath. His chest went up and down, his eyes looking at the ashes he could pick up with his sharp eyes. He felt… nothing. No regret. No pain. No sense of loss. He would kill Tristan again and again and again. He had wanted to do it for a long time. Now he finally had a reason to.
If that didn’t make him a monster, he didn’t know what did.
Chapter 20
“You need blood, Christian,” Maggie urged him once they got back to his place and all the doors were locked shut. She helped him to his bedroom but it was difficult carrying a two-hundred and twenty-pound vampire that was solid muscle. “You need to feed. You’re weak.”
“I’m fine,” Christian said as he stumbled up the stairs.
“You’re not fine,” she told him. “Come on. You can barely stand up straight.” She clenched her teeth together and looked away before looking at him once more. “If you won’t feed on me, at least consider synthetic blood. Or I can contact the agency on your behalf. Yeah, I’ll probably get let go from the agency because I’m not doing my job but at least you’ll be –“
“You’re babbling again,” he mumbled. “Stop. I don’t want anyone else’s blood.”
“Christian, I don’t know how this happened,” Maggie said, all but dragging him to his bedroom. “I have no idea where we went wrong.”
“Wrong?” he asked. “What are you talking about now?”
“Maybe I should quit,” Maggie said. Now she was talking to herself rather than to him. “It’s not like we can go back to being ignorant around each other. You know what I am. I know the secrets you have. We either go all in or all out. You either claim me or we go our separate ways and we never see each other again.”
“Maybe we should talk about t
his at a different time?” Christian suggested in a weak voice.
They got to his room and Maggie helped him to bed. “Please, Christian,” she told him. “You need to eat.”
“I don’t,” he insisted.
“You’re going to die,” she said. “You’re going to do die because of your stupid pride. Well, congratu-fucking-lations, Christian, your uncle just won. The man you killed for me just won. Are you happy?” She popped her jaw and looked around the room. This was getting her nowhere and Christian was losing time.
Maybe she could catch more flies with honey.
Her eyes flitted around the room. When she saw a discarded pair of scissors on Christian’s desk, an idea popped into her head. She glanced over at Christian. He was breathing deeply, but his eyes were still closed.
No matter. She would have them open in a minute.
She grabbed the scissors and cleaned them in the attached bathroom’s sink. Then, she removed her clothing so she was completely nude. From there, she crawled into bed, over the covers, and brought the scissors to the inside of her thigh. She sucked in a breath, slightly hesitant. One look at Christian was all the motivation she needed to get her butt into gear and go through with it.
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