Page 51 of A Bond Beyond Blood

“Ah ah ah.”Eli made a sound of disdain deep in his throat.“I don’t require formalities, but you will remember your place in my presence.”

Your majesty?

My eyes widened and Eli caught my gaze, winking before he returned his focus to Vinny, face hardening so quickly I might have imagined the playful wink.Hell, after everything I’d been through, maybe Ihadimagined it; I could still be asleep for all I knew.

Vinny inhaled a deep breath as he lifted his head to look up at Eli.“You don’t want me to address you as your birthright demands, but you expect me to kneel—”

Eli was behind him in a flash.His long fingers curled tightly around Vinny’s neck as he lifted him to his feet then turned slowly until they both faced me.He brought his lips to Vinny’s ear as he spoke in a low, threatening growl.“What Iexpect, Vincenzo, is for you to respect the order of things,” Eli snapped.“Youreldersat the top of that list.”

Vinny’s eyes were wide, and a vein bulged in his temple, thrumming with each beat of his heart as Eli held him immobile with just the strength of one hand.Vampires didn’t need air to breathe, Iknewthat, but old habits die hard, and breathing came naturally to humans—something many vampires continued to do by habit long after they were turned.The way Vinny fought to breathe was evidence that, in this moment, he’d forgotten that bit of his lore.

But it wasn’t Vinny’s lack of oxygen or his obvious distress over his inability to draw breath that had me sitting up and pushing to the edge of the couch even as my battered body screamed in agony from the movement; it was what those long fingers on that strong neck signified.

Eli was impossibly strong—even by vampire standards, I’d discovered when we fought.

Should he decide Vinny was more headache than he was worth, he could snap his neck without breaking a sweat.In the time it would take me to blink, Eli could, once again, rip another man from my life.

Eli’s lips curved downward.As he held my gaze, that glacier blue seeped back into his eyes, replacing the hellfire red until they returned to normal.

“I’m disappointed you think so poorly of me.”

You’ve given me no reason to think otherwise.My eyes flicked to Vinny and I whispered, “Please don’t hurt him.”

He tightened his grip around Vinny’s throat as he whispered,“Take care of our girl until I return.”Then he released Vinny, who bent over and gasped for large lungfuls of air he didn’t even technically require.

As if I’d just imagined the entire exchange between the two of them, imagined that dangerous moment when Eli held Vinny’s life in the palm of his hand, Eli stood beside my now-open front door with one hand tucked casually into the pocket of his slacks and the other on the doorknob.His practiced nonchalance had returned full force, and keeping up with his epic mood changes left me feeling off kilter.

He cleared his throat and I lifted my gaze to his

“To be clear on one earlier point, Jack,” he said, “vampire bloodalreadycourses through your veins, if you recall.”He waved his hands in a flourish of presentation.“Mine.”

I grit my teeth against that.It was the second time he’d said as much, but I didn’t have to believe him.Didn’twantto.

Eli rolled his eyes.“Stubbornness does not alter reality, Jacqueline; it simply delays acceptance.No matter.We’re not finished,petit colibri, but I will give you a fortnight to heal before I return.The way I see it, you belong to me—”

Vinny growled, but Eli’s attention remained on me.

“Be it by blood bond or bloodshared, I feel our story has only just begun.”He winked, and then he was gone.

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