Page 24 of Property of Mako
“We got a lead on a few places they may be holding the girls for the auction. My brothers and I are going to check them out. Then, I’m going to burn them down—brick by brick—until we get her back. I refuse to let them win again.”
Worry drew my brow tight.
“They marked her? What do you mean?”
His tortured gaze found mine again. “They set something in motion that cannot be undone, and for that, I am truly sorry. We will find your sister, but you need to be prepared because this will change everything for you.”
Chapter 8
The Line I Shouldn’t Cross
Mako
Yes, I’d killed before.
Hell, I’d lost count over a century ago.
This was the second time she’d witnessed what I was capable of, but something about ripping that bastard’s heart out while Lyra was watching… that stayed with me as we drove back to her place. I wasn’t ashamed of it—he’d earned every second of what I gave him—but I hated that she’d again seen what I really was capable of and without warning.
Not the charming, “brooding” vampire she seemed to think I could be—the monster. A killing machine.
The rain was light, tapping on the windshield, but my hands were still slick with blood in my mind. Her silence was a weight between us the whole ride home. I kept glancing at her in the passenger seat, half-expecting fear. But she wasn’t afraid.
She was looking at me like she saw through me—through to a soul I no longer possessed.
And that terrified me more than fighting off every Covenant enforcer in existence.
We got inside, and she immediately kicked off her boots. I stayed near the door, watching her move around like she needed to burn the adrenaline out of her system. It was late, but she made herself a cup of coffee.
“You should rest,” I finally said.
She shot me a look. “And let you just… brood in the corner all night? Not happening.”
That almost made me laugh. Almost. “You’re bleeding.”
Her hand went to her arm, where a shard of glass from the chapel had cut her. I was beside her before I could think, fingers curling around her wrist to check. The scent of her blood hit me like a freight train—warm, human, laced with something that was hers alone.
I swallowed hard, forcing the hunger down. “It’s not deep.”
“You sure? Because you’re staring at it like you’re about to?—”
“I’m not going to bite you,” I assured her, my voice lower than I intended. Then guilt hit me because she had no reason to believe me—I’d done it before. “Not this time.”
Her lips parted, but she didn’t move away. A damp ringlet of fiery red hair fell over one eye.
Inwardly, I groaned at her fearlessness. That was the problem. She wasn’t afraid.
And every second I spent this close to her made me more aware of how badly I wanted to close the gap.
“Let’s get you taken care of,” I said as I pointed toward the kitchen where I knew she kept a first aid kit.
After washing the gore from my hands, I patched her up at the kitchen table, my fingers steadier than they felt. The whole time, her eyes stayed on me. I could feel the heat radiating off her, the thump of her pulse under my fingers.
“You’re quiet,” she murmured as I gathered up the trash and disposed of it.
“I’m thinking.”
“About what?”
