Vengeance (The Prince's Games Book 1) by Rebecca Grey (electric book reader TXT) 📕

mold and dust. It tickles at my nose and catches in my sinuses, making the urge of a sneeze build inside of me. But I can't breathe, can't move under the restriction of the monster’s hold. Somehow, I register the bolt of a lock clicking into place.

Teeth, sharp and pointed scrape against my skin without breaking the surface. No, not teeth. Fangs.

Vampires.

"It's been so long since we've had pure Human blood." A voice so scratchy it sounds as though it's been too long since they've spoken out-loud hums against my skin. The man inhales deeply. Then a feminine voice chimes in. "Someone has already eaten from the pot."

Nails touch gently over the small scars at the base of my neck from where Joss had repeatedly bitten me. The hand continues further to pick up my wrist and examine the white marks there, too. If I was undressed, they'd find more. Scars dot my thighs, the curve of my hips and the sides of my rib cage.

Wood cracks as the front door flies open. Light floods the space and I can see the way their yellow nails curl against my clothes. Marcello lowers his boot into their house, wrinkling his nose as he looks around. "Now, is that any way to treat your guests?"

"Are you guests, or intruders?" The woman lowers her head to rest against mine. A strong floral scent from her hair covers the smell of dust. She smells amazing, so much so I find myself thinking about what it would be like to bury my face in her hair and breathe her in deeply. I start to tip my face toward her, but force myself to stop.

I squirm under their touch, trying to pull away, but they hold me tight. Marcello's gaze narrows. Does he know what sort of spell Vampires can put Humans under? Is he aware of how even when I'm loathing the nearness to them, I'm fighting the urge to melt at their feet?

Vampires aren't charming, and these two are no exception. Yet, it's in the making of their being that they attract Humans. Joss always smells like spices, good enough to get drunk on. And I often did. But not without the guilt that plagued my every step. I couldn't allow that now. These two have little to no reason to keep from draining my entire being until I'm just the husk of my Human shell. The thought spikes my pulse.

Marcello slips another step closer. His hand crawls under the buttons on his black vest and he pulls two vials out. Dark red, so deep it's almost black, sloshes inside the clear bottles. "I have no doubt that Nilsa can get herself out of this situation on her own." His throat bobs. He's right though, the closer he's gotten the looser their hold on me has become. My fingers are already moving under my cloak, moving under the hem of my shirt where the long hidden necklace dangles from my neck down to my navel.

Wood grazes my fingertips. I wrap my hand around the pendant and rip the breakaway chain from around my neck. It pops quietly and the Vampire's shift. The press of the woman's cheek on top of my head lifts. The hard wall of the male’s form behind me lessens. Their hands slip off of me, like snakes slithering back into their holes. I spin, pressing the necklace into the nearest bit of flesh I can grab.

The woman hisses through her teeth. A large red mark of my wooden cross burns into her skin. Whatever the cross had meant at one point had been lost over time, but its effectiveness has not.

My chest heaves forward, Marcello moving so fast I'd not seen him as he pulls me by my collar and shoves me behind him. He presses against me, the hard muscles of his back... of his ass crushing against the front of me. Juilliard takes a step closer until I'm sandwiched between them. The Vampires snarl at our little group.

The flowery scent that makes my thoughts cloudy, makes it harder for me to concentrate on killing them, slips away. Replaced by Marcello's minty musk.

"Get off of me," I growl behind him, standing on the tips of my toes so I can hiss it directly into his ears.

He doesn't answer me as he extends his hand to the Vampires and wraps his other arm behind him, around my body, holding me to him. "My apologies for the girl. Sometimes we fear that she's gone rabid. But I'd like to propose this offer. Purist Human blood, aged like fine wine, one with each of your names on it."

In theory I knew what he was doing. If these two had been alone for as long as they have, smelling me must be totally maddening. Bloodlust must be consuming their bodies and Marcello's just doing what I've done most of my life. Covering my scent. That's why Juilliard's closer too. They’re hoping that between the two of them they can drown out my smell long enough to be sure the Vampires don't rip me to shreds.

Marcello's fingers splay against my back. Through the layers of my cloak, my shirt, my vest, the heat of his touch sears into my skin. If I shift at all my breasts will rub against his back. If I shift at all, who knows how tightly he'll try and hold me? My already sore calves beg for reprieve as I lower off the balls of my feet, ignoring the way the curve of my body catches against his. His hand tightens, holding me closer still.

I can hardly see over his shoulder, the smallest line of my vision able to land on the two that had dragged me into their musty home. The man is tall, lean in the same way Juilliard is with long, lanky muscles. His mousy brown hair is