“When the deal was made there were no rules given,” I reminded him. “I am more than willing to give you guys my blood, but how I go about doing that was never stated.”

“She killed my child,” Pernis interjected. “I will drink from her vein.”

I was smiling at finding a loophole in the VC’s blood gifting procedure and hoping like hell they would honor it.

“I have a proposal for you,” Aaron said, holding his hands behind his back. “The five of us will accept the vials, but Pernis is allowed to drink from you as payment for killing his child.”

I eyed Pernis. He looked down at me over the slope of this thin nose. His brown eyes were tinged in black either from anger or hunger. My guess was both. One of his hands was in his trouser pocket while the other arm hung limply at his side. All of the La’rues looked young, having been turned so long ago. Pernis seemed to between eighteen and twenty, but his eyes were wise beyond his face’s age. It was bizarre to be in a room full of teens, yet feel like the most inexperienced in the group.

I sucked in a breath to calm my beating heart. Aiden was the first vampire to ever drink from me, and I didn’t want another tainting the memory like Ian had. I would always associate a vampire’s bite in the intimate sense. As I look at Pernis a shiver of disgust rolled over my skin.

“The NAWC have been working on resetting the spell,” I said. “It could already be fixed which means drinking from me won’t offer the high you’re all expecting.” I was praying that Charles just hadn’t called me back to inform me as such due to being busy with the hype at the castle.

“We’re not Brew addicts, Ms. Sparks.” Aaron smiled. “We just…appreciate the taste pallet of your blood.”

In my lifetime I’ve gotten random compliments, but this was by far the creepiest. Six pairs of hungry eyes rested on me—no, not me, necessarily, but on my neck, my wrists and even my breasts—all places vampires could sink their fangs.

“And how would you know that? You’ve never tasted my blood.”

“Ah, but we don’t need to in order to know it’ll be delicious,” Aaron said, his eyes darkening. “You’re a spirit walker, which means your blood is not only full of witches’ magic but also that of the angels.”

I balked, my mouth hanging open in disbelief. “That’s…not true.” My head was shaking from side to side lethargically as I tried to wrap my mind around what Aaron had said.

“You don’t know, do you?” Giles asked, stepping forward. I had been staring at the space in front of me, not seeing those around me. When I looked up, Giles was standing right in front of me, his sensual presence overwhelming the air surrounding us. His power circled around my body, warm like a lover’s caress.

“Back off, Giles,” Aiden snarled, shoving between the space that separated me and Giles.

He held up in hands in surrender, a devious smile on his face. “Touchy, touchy. I remember you didn’t use to mind sharing, Alonzo.”

“Don’t call me that,” Aiden snapped. He’d been born Alonzo Moretti but adopted the name Aiden Blake after leaving the VC. The mention of his birth name was a reminder of the family he’d once had, before the VC killed them.

I moved around Aiden. “Why would you think I have angel’s blood?”

Every one of the VC members smiled at me. It was dangerous wanting information from a vampire. They knew I was on their hook, and they were getting a kick out of watching me squirm.

“Will you allow Pernis to feed from you?”

“If I do you’ll tell me what you meant?”

Aaron nodded. “I will.”

“Gwen, this is ridiculous,” Aiden said, turning toward me. He placed his hands on my shoulder and squeezed. “You have no reason to believe they’re telling the truth.”

That was true, and chances were they weren’t. But I had made up my mind to let Pernis feed from me when the question was first posed. Feeding one vampire was better than feeding six. The VC might think I was falling for their tricks, but they were about to fall for mine.

“Aiden, I know what I’m doing.” I shrugged off his hands, stepped away from him and held out my arm. “Bon appétit.”

Pernis walked forward, a smirk on his lips. The remaining VC members slinked off the sofas, circling around the two of us. The tension in the room spiked, sensual energy pulsating against my body. I sucked in a deep breath, my chest rising and falling heavily. My tongue darted out and rolled over my bottom lip.

When Pernis’ fingertips brushed my forearm I thought my insides were literally catching on fire. It was a strange sensation. In no way was I attracted to these vampires, nor did I want to feel aroused by them. Yet, my body yearned for their attention.

Pernis leaned over my arm and pressed a kiss to the sensitive skin. My eyes slipped closed as he moved his mouth down to my hand. He sucked my finger into his mouth and I almost exploded.

“Gwen.” I vaguely realized it was Aiden’s voice, but he sounded off in the far distance. Words were exchanged; I couldn’t be sure what was being discussed. And then someone was behind me, holding my body against theirs.

“Join us,” a woman purred.

The person behind me slid my hair to the side and I moaned as his or her warm lips began trailing up my neck. The faint scrape of fang only excited me more. The temperature in the room was scorching as multiple hands, mouths and bodies pressed against my own, all demanding I give into the craving they offered. I moaned and realized everyone else was moaning as well.

A sharp pain shot through my throat and was replaced by a rush of the strongest desire I had ever felt. I wiggled my body against the one holding me, my hands caressing someone else.

Something loud burst through the haze and then I was crumbled on the floor. Hisses, sickening cracks and yelling sounded all around me. Crawling onto my hands and knees, I closed my eyes and tried to shake the fog out of my head. Looking around me, I saw several pairs of legs standing still. When I looked up, my mouth formed an O.

“What are you doing here?” I breathed.

Dorian walked over to me, he was calm and dominated the room. Kneeling down, he helped me up and checked me over for injuries. His fingers brushed my neck and he frowned.

“You still trust him?” He nodded behind me.

“Aiden didn’t do this.” My voice was hoarse as though I had just woken from a dream.

“Why don’t you look at lover boy now that you’re not under their influence?”

My stomach sank as I turned around. Aiden had his head hung, but I could see the blood smeared on his lips. My eyes searched all of the vampire’s faces in hopes of finding blood on their lips too. They all smiled with clean mouths. My eyes welled with tears that I refused to let fall.

Aiden lifted his head. “I had to, Gwen.”

“Nothing you have to say will justify what you just did to me. You were supposed to protect me, Aiden.”

“Tell her,” Aiden snarled to Aaron.

Aaron simply smiled and shrugged. “Things got out of hand and sometimes vampires have a difficult time controlling themselves.”

Aiden flew across the room and attacked his sire, his fist connecting with Aaron’s face. All of Aaron’s brothers and sister rushed forward, and Aiden went sailing across the room where he slammed in the wall.

“Let’s go.” Dorian tugged on my arm, but I dug my heels in.

“We can’t leave him.” I was pissed at Aiden for making a midnight snack out of my throat but I was afraid that if I left the room without another look, the La’rue’s would kill him. No amount of anger would allow me to ignore Aiden’s potential death.

“So help me, woman,” Dorian grumbled through tight lips. “Back off, fangsters,” he warned the VC, stomping toward Aiden, who was getting to his feet, and hauled him toward the door. “Come on.”

“Just so you know,” I said over my shoulder to the VC, “the deal’s off. If you so much as show your faces in Flora again, I’ll show you firsthand why you shouldn’t fuck with a Spirit Walker. Nighty-night, and may stakes find their way into your cold black hearts.” And with that I slammed the door and followed Dorian and Aiden out of the club. We may have escaped the council and their fangs, but I wouldn’t celebrate just yet. It was still early which meant the rogues had plenty of time to make an appearance.

Chapter Eleven

“You’re back,” I said as we ran through the front door of Vain. My hand went to my chest as I tried to catch my breath. It wasn’t so much the sprint out of the club, but the adrenaline racing through my veins that left me shaky and breathless. Dorian’s appearance didn’t help my jittery heart either.

“What happened?” Lauren asked, jogging to catch up with us. Dorian was holding my hand, tugging me across the street to my Jeep. He whirled around on Lauren, jerking my body in the process.

“Why did that bastard send you to watch Gwen?” He questioned Lauren, his voice harder than the grip he had on me.

Lauren had the good sense to look frightened. “To protect her, of course.”

Dorian let out a sarcastic snort. “Fine job of that you’re doing. Your boss had his fangs in her throat while the rest of the council members circled around her like hungry vultures.”

“Maybe she wanted him to bite her,” Lauren snapped, finding her courage. “Some people like what our fangs offer.”

“I just want to go home,” I added, reaching my hand up to feel the spot on my neck. It didn’t feel that bad. Lauren and Dorian were in a staring match when the front door of Vain slammed open. Aiden stepped out, his hair a mess and his eyes wild. Those eyes found me the second he stepped foot outside. I stared at him, my heart breaking. And then the realization of what had just happened slammed into me.

“Son of a bitch,” I whispered.

“What?” Dorian and Lauren both questioned.

I was shaking my head back and forth in anger as I watched Aiden walk across the road. Dorian stepped in front of my body to shield me from him.