Page 33 of Blood Bought

Perks of being a bloodwhore for a psychopath?“You’ll have a place to live literally until you die, they’ll turn you into a vampire if they ever accidentally kill you, the food is good, and... I don’t know. I’ve never been fed on or had sex, and I’ve never met Ciro either.”

Tamsin stood up and paced slightly, giving all of it real thought before she gave me any sort of response. “Do I have to get turned into a vampire? Could I just... stay dead?”

“From what I hear, yes.”

“Okay. And if I hate it, can I leave?”

I suddenly became very interested in the ground. “No, probably not.”

“Well, that blows,” she scoffed. “So I stay here and hate life or I go there and probably hate life but I might actually end upnothating life and I’ll have a roof and food without needing to keep a job?”

“Um... yeah, actually. That sounds about right,” I laughed. “I went from loving my life to hating it to being extremely confused by it, if it’s any consolation.”

“Confusion is better than hating. Does a super-hot Heir that cares about consent have something to do with it?”

She smiled in a way that made her feel like an old friend, and for once, I knew I could trust the person I was talking to. She had no affiliation to Alaris and hopefully never would, so I nodded. “Logic tells me to hate him, but there’s something so... alluring about him, I don’t know. His manners feel a little archaic sometimes but even just being around him feels unlike anything else. Maybe Ciro will be the same,” I offered, knowing that was an empty hope — but it seemed to do the trick.

“Okay. Maybe we’ll both have hot Heir boyfriends to swoon over and talk shit about when they piss us off.” She shrugged like she didn’t have anything better to do, and then backed away. “I’ll get my things. Don’t have much anyway, so I’ll be done in like five.”

I stood up and nodded with a forced smile. “I’ll be out front when you’re ready. Take your time.”

My limbs felt heavy as I walked back out to tell Kiev I was taking her, and even heavier as I joined Malik and his lumberjack friend outside. “She’s coming. I wish she wasn’t, and I think she deserves better than whatever Ciro is going to give her, but she’s coming.”

“Good. It’ll be fine, Adalind. Ciro’s just... really misunderstood.”

I hummed, acknowledging what he said — but somehow, I really, really doubted it.

Chapter Fifteen:

Handing Tamsin overto Ciro was hard, but Malik promised me he’d keep me updated on how she was, so I tried to put it from my mind for that first night. In the morning, I gathered Alaris’ breakfast from the kitchens and let myself in his room without knocking or announcing my presence at all — and he just so happened to be alone... and naked.

“Good morning to you too,” he said with a grin, and unfortunately all I saw was that perfect ass once again as he slid up some boxer briefs. “Want to have sex?”

I nearly dropped the tray. “Just going right for it now, huh? Not even trying to seduce me?”

“I just did. I saw the way you looked at my ass.” He didn’t bother with more clothes as he made his way to sniff the food, ghosting his hand along the small of my back as he passed me and took the tray to the dining table. “Eat with me.”

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