Page 24 of Savage Torment

“I’ve heard a rumor.”

“Which is…”

I can picture him now, running his tongue along his teeth, stretching out the moment to ensure his superiority is known. “That you're hiding my lunch.”

“I don't know what you're talking about,” I answer, using every piece of my focus to keep my voice neutral.

“I want access to your room.”

“Well, that's a hard no,” I grumble, and he snorts.

“I think you're forgetting how this works.” The threat is clear, the challenge more so.

“I recall perfectly.”

“I want you back herenow.”

“No can do,” I reply, and I can feel his anger burning through the phone

“Blaze, do I need to remind you?—”

I hit the red button and tuck my cell phone away before I have to listen to any more of his bullshit. I understand the hierarchy of vampires. I understand how all this is supposed to work. But fuck that if they think I’m just going to accept it.

Exhaling, I turn to look through the window beside me. It doesn’t look into Polaris’s room, I've made sure to close her blinds for privacy, but the blinds in the next room stand wide open, offering a view of the motherfucker I put there: Terence, or The Cunt, as I prefer to call him.

My ears prickle with the light footsteps of someone approaching, and when I peer to my left I find the nurse heading toward me.

She clears her throat. “Have you decided what you want us to do with him yet?” she asks, and I turn back to look at the motherfucker hooked up to more leads than he deserves.

“No.”

I can sense her shuffling nervously from foot to foot before she speaks again. “There's only so long I'll be able to keep him in here like this. More than that, some girl just showed up trying to speak with you.”

It was bound to happen eventually. Especially if he knows where I am. A minion will come hunting soon enough.

“He stays how he is until I say otherwise,” I snarl, directing my anger at the wrong person as a gasp rings out.

I snap my gaze to the left. I was so consumed with my rage for the man in the bed before me, and the hierarchy of the vampires creeping up on me, that I allowed my defenses to slip. It’s too late for me to avoid the inevitable as Polaris comes to a stop beside me in her medical gown with her hand plastered against her lips, eyes wide as she mutters one single letter.

“T.”

I grunt, nostrils flaring as I follow her line of sight. “Don't feel sorry for him.”

She turns to me with disbelief shining in her eyes. “Don't tell me what to do.”

I snort and drag my hair back off my face. “The one good thing the world has done is make sure he knows his place,” I state, and she gasps again.

“Don't be heartless.”

I spin to her. “Don't be naïve. Are you forgetting that he wanted to feed on you?”

She shivers, but I need to drive the point home. “Imagine what the wolves would say if they knew that fact. What do you think they would do to him? We already saw what happenedwhen Lincoln realized he wanted to be the one to take your purity,” I rasp, watching as her eyes widen.

“You're lying. T wouldn’t choose to take my…” Her words trail off as she remembers where Benjamin is and why.

I cock a brow at her. “Your inability to finish your own sentence tells me you know I’m not.”

She purses her lips, giving me a narrowed glare before she turns away from me, refusing to admit how in the wrong she is. “How long has he been here?” she asks, lips twisting nervously.

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