Page 13 of Death Comes for Her
“Leave us,” a cool voice drawled.
She scampered from my side without hesitating. I watched her reflection in the window until it vanished. Even when the door shut, I remained facing the window, staring out at the red sky and expansive lawns of the manor.
“You know, it is customary to thank your hosts for their hospitality.” A deeper, rough voice sounded all too pleased. “Isn’t that right, brother? That sounds like some poncy shit you’d say.”
“It would be customary. However, I don’t expect polite manners from a wild thing,” the pale one sounded bored. His apathy was almost worse than the insult.
“Don’t expect anything at all from me,” I snapped. Catching myself before I turned around, I gnashed my teeth, fist clenching at my side.
“Ah, she speaks!” The dark-haired vampire moved into my periphery, lurking between me and the fireplace, but inching closer.
“It’s insolent.” Then the pale one snapped into existence at my side, angled between me and the other vampire. A startled yelp escaped my lips as I stumbled back. “Tell us your name.” An order, not a question. Like he deserved the information.
“Bite me!” I spat, hackles raising like a cornered cat.
“That can be arranged,” a deeper voice murmured.
“Who are you?” Cold eyes narrowed into blade thin slits.
“She won’t tell us, brother.”
“She will if she knows what’s good for her.”
“I don’t think she knows. After all, they found the pretty little thing out in a devastatingly small nothing village. If she was raised in a barn… well.”
“She will learn to respect her masters—her betters.” Simon’s haughty tone made me want to stake him through the heart.
“I’ll never respect a vampire.”
“Brave and arrogant for a fairy presumably raised in a barn,” Simon noted, stepping closer.
I shifted back.
A solid chest stopped me. The taller, mountainous undead had maneuvered behind me when the pale one distracted me. Effectively trapped between the two men, a rush of fear cascaded over my skin like claws of ice.
Without the influence of exhaustion and vampire venom obscuring my mind, I clearly assessed the men caging me in. The bigger, louder one at my back, Lord Dante Ambrose, was as I remembered. Dark hair, hazel eyes, and intense scars across his face that reached across his mouth, nose, and one eye that didn’t take away from his looks.
“We could teach her a lesson,” he offered.
The one in front of me, Lord Simon Ambrose, I got a better view of than last time. With his face leering at me inches away, I took in every detail. He was slimmer than Dante, but even his well-pressed black clothing didn’t detract from the muscle on his build. His eyes, glaring down at me, were livid pools of ice, each blue fragment as sharp and clear as a glacier. A few stray strands of snow-white hair had fallen over his forehead, but the rest remained in place. Shorter on the sides and finger length in the front.
It looked as soft and cold as icy silk.
“That we could,” Simon agreed. “After all, she’s going to be here with us for a while.” He leaned back, unimpressed with whatever he’d found of his assessment.
Two iron-like hands grabbed my arms, yanking me into the chest at my back. Adrenaline surged through me as panic flared through my belly. I squirmed against the vampire holding me.
“No! I’d rather die than let any more of you filthy, fucking undead bastards get your nasty mouths on me!” I screeched, flailing like a rabbit in a snare.
“Well, you see, the thing is, we don’t want you dead,” Dante stated.
My leg flew up, intending to kick Simon in the chest and force distance between us. He deftly caught my ankle in his cold, long fingers. The strength of his grip halted my leg mid-air.
He quirked one pale brow at me, and the corner of his lips twitched before he smoothed his expression back into one of indifference. I almost missed the change.
“On the contrary.” Simon kept his grip on my leg.
“You just want to feed on me over and over again for as long as you like, is that it?” I tried kicking the other leg, but the pale vampire caught that one, too. Now dangling between the two men, I screeched like an unleashed, infuriating banshee.
