Page 48 of A Bond Beyond Blood

“On the contrary, pet,” Eli said, “you’re the first to stake me.”

Vinny’s eyes widened slowly as he looked back and forth between us, trying to make sense of the conversation he was only hearing half of.

Eli’s platitudes meant nothing; I’dmissed.

The weight of my failure sat heavily in the room, a presence I couldn’t ignore any more than I could ignore the two vampires staring down at me.

I’d failed Vinny.He’d taught me everything I knew—and it hadn’t been enough.

Elitsked.“Vinny,” he said, his voice holding a hint of amusement and curiosity.“You’ve been training the girl to fight me.”He clasped his hands at his chest, looking down at us both with a mocking lift of his brow.“How very bold of you.”

“Get out of my head,” I growled, though the words were muffled by the swelling of my jaw, and speaking sent a rush of pain through my skull.

“If only it were so easy.”

Vinny’s eyebrows pulled together as his eyes narrowed, then, ever so slowly, his eyes widened as he put the pieces together, searching my gaze with a mix of concern and confusion.“No,” he whispered, shaking his head.“That’s not—”

“Possible?”Eli asked with a mocking snort.“Right.And yet, here we are.”

I moved to push myself up into a sitting position, but a lightning bolt of pain shot up my spine from my tailbone, and I squeezed my eyes shut as I waited for the agony to subside.I must’ve broken my ass; I’d never felt anything this excruciating before.Breathing deeply, I braced myself with one hand on the couch cushion and the other on the arm of the couch, then tried again to shift positions—

“Ah!”I cried out, gritting my teeth as the pain, hot and swift, immobilized me.Fuck.

“What did you do to her?”Vinny forced through clenched teeth, still staring down at me.

Elitsked, and Vinny was over the coffee table in a flash, standing before Eli with murder in his eyes.

“She does seem to be in a bit of pain,” Eli confirmed.

I winced but didn’t open my eyes.In a bit of painwas an understatement.Excruciating agony radiated outward from multiple points in my body; my ass was the worst, though, with searing lightning bolts of pain shooting out from my tailbone at random intervals and a throbbing ache that made any position damn near unbearable.

“Poor thing thinks she might have broken her tailbone; isn’t that right, love?”

Fuck you.

“Now, now,pet, don’t go making promises you don’t intend to keep.”

I closed my eyes again, ignoring Eli to focus on my breathing until the pain was at a level I could tolerate.Tears ran down my cheeks, but I didn’t make a sound as I waited for my body to forgive me for attempting to move a moment ago.With every minute that passed, the pain became worse, each ounce of fight-fueled adrenaline seeping away until nothing but agony remained.The rush of the battle was over, and now I had only defeat.

And the bitter taste of failure in my mouth.

When I opened my eyes again, both vampires stood shoulder to shoulder on the other side of the coffee table, watching me with matching concern in their eyes.

My heartbeat thumped wildly in my chest as my gaze flicked back and forth between the two of them, my brain struggling to make sense of the scene before me.

Vinny’s concern was expected, even though he’d just bowed to the monster responsible for my injuries—which he’d soon have to explain in detail—but Eli...I narrowed my eyes as I focused on Eli, but when I tried to lift my head, I quickly gave up, squeezing my eyes shut as even that small movement hurt like fucking hell and sent nausea rolling through my stomach.

Too worn out to do much but lay here and wait for death, I thought,Why pretend to care when you’re the one who did this to me?

When Eli didn’t respond, I opened my eyes in time to watch him settle into a worn, brown leather chair on the opposite side of the room.

Grief wrapped cold fingers around my heart.No one had sat in Dad’s La-Z-Boy since he died.

Eli’s gaze caught mine, and his eyebrows lifted just a fraction, then he looked down at the arm of the chair and trailed his fingertips over the soft leather.A hint of melancholy softened his features before he quickly stood and moved toward the kitchen, disappearing from my line of sight.My eyes drifted shut again as cabinets opened and closed, the vampire searching for something in my kitchen.

“Whiskey,” he said in response to my thoughts.

Above the fridge.

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