Page 41 of Her Blood Revenge

‘Yeah. And you fucking died, Pix. As I said. Lesson learnt.’

‘I died because Neve snapped my neck.’

‘Because you brought her back from the dead by using that grimoire.’ He shakes his head. ‘Nope. No way.’

I reach into the pocket of Dorian’s coat that I’m still wearing and slam down Cole’s severed hand between us.

‘Strange thing to keep in your pocket, Pix.’

‘The grimoire contains spells. I could use his hand to track him. Or maybe even hurt him or kill him. I don’t know, but I’m sure I could use something in there. If we find him, we find Neve.’

‘And then what?’ he asks simply. ‘You take on the blood queen and the earth coven leader, along with an army of unseelie creatures? With blood magic?’

‘I’ll use earth magic.’

‘Then use the earth grimoire when we get it back.’

‘We kill Neve, and the unseelie will go back underground.’ He scoffs at my words. ‘We can’t just sit here and wait for them to strike. Again. Or she will go after the covens or the humans. And when she does, people and witches will die.’

‘That’s what people and witches tend to do. They die. But I’m not slapping a bow on your head and handing you over.’

‘But-’

‘It’s gone, Pix! Okay?! When Neve attacked, she got a hold of the blood grimoire. She took it. It’s. Gone!’

My breath catches, and I run cold from my head to my toes.

Gone? The blood grimoire is fucking gone?!

‘We didn’t want to worry you. Okay? We promised we would protect you, and we let you down. Again. Neve has the grimoire, and that’s the end of it. I can’t give it to you, and even if I could, I wouldn’t.’

The next thing I pull out from the pocket is the dagger. It rattles as it hits the floor. The hilt is encrusted with my blood. He pales a little as his eyes slowly lift from that to me.

‘He wasn’t trying to kill me, you know,’ I tell him. ‘That’s not what stabbing me there was all about.’ He can’t even look at it. ‘He did it to ruin me. To damage my womanhood because that’s all the earth coven sees in females. Breeding and fucking. Take that away, and we’re pointless. He probably doesn’t know I heal as I do, so he’s sitting somewhere, smug as shit, thinking he has taken away my worth to you. That I will never want to be touched again or that I’m so torn up you won’t ever want to come near me.’

‘Well, that’s not true. I’d fuck you even if your kitty cat were inside out and upside down.’

‘My “kitty cat”? What the hell are you talking about?’

‘Yeah. You know.’ He nods down. ‘Your foof. Your honey pot. Your secret flower of delight.’

‘I have no idea what you are talking about.’

‘Your pussy, Pix. I’m talking about your pussy.’

‘Please never refer to my vagina as a kitty cat again. The only cats I knew at the coven were stinky, wild and flea-infested things. I don’t want that image in my head when we’re talking about my bits.’

His nose scrunches up as he looks between my legs.

‘Fair point.’ He looks up at me, his brows raised. ‘How about-’

‘Whatever you’re aboutto say… no. Just… No.’

‘Well. I love it no matter what.’

‘Well. I appreciate that, Wolf. I do.’

‘Anytime, Pix. And quit calling us by those names, would you? It’s demeaning.’