Dress the Neck Becomingly: an MM Paranormal Vampire Romance (Sanguis Et Fauna Book 2) by Emmaline Strange

Author:Emmaline Strange [Strange, Emmaline]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-02-02T16:00:00+00:00

XI.

Animal Jealousies

Sinclair

When Royce text messaged me that he would be working late, for once I was relieved.

I had received my formal invitation to attend the “soiree” hosted by Clay. It was wretched of me to keep this from him, but I held out hope that Clay merely wanted to count coup, as it were. If I attended his brouhaha, and agreed he was the scariest vampire in town, perhaps he would leave me alone. I got the impression that he wasn’t the kind to set up a permanent residence. Most of my kind didn’t—especially those who killed when they fed.

He would grow bored of Douglas Crest eventually and move along.

Or so I hoped.

In the meantime, I could assess the level of danger his coven posed to me—and Royce, by extension—by attending whatever little gathering he had planned. Clay was certainly one for posturing; he sent a town car to collect me in front of Datura. Of course, I was no stranger to these sorts of games and accepted graciously. The driver was human, and I idly wondered what they’d been told about their employer.

When we arrived, Clay waited in the flesh to escort me inside. He was dressed immaculately in a three-piece suit in a stunning shade of crimson, his hair slicked back and tucked behind his ears.

He offered his arm, which I reluctantly took, and allowed him to escort me inside. My skin crawled when he rested his opposite palm on top of mine, but I did not flinch or draw away. “Clay,” I said.

“Sinclair,” he said warmly as if we were old friends. “I am delighted you could make it.”

I put on my most gracious smile, like the invitation hadn’t been a threat. “Of course,” I said. “I wouldn’t have missed it.”

Clay escorted me around the back of the dingy building as if he were walking me down the red carpet at a film premier, and I resisted rolling my eyes with immense difficulty. When we arrived at the bulkhead doors that had been reinforced with silver, I couldn’t help but tense up. Clay gave my hand a squeeze, and his presumptuousness took my breath away—what made him feel as though he had any sort of claim, any sort of right to touch me? “It’s alright,” he said, and thankfully removed his hand from mine in order to snap his fingers imperiously.

A man stepped from the shadows and I startled. He was undoubtedly human, and dressed as a valet. “Sir,” he said, making a small bow. He leaned forward and unlocked the bulkhead, pulling the doors open and bowing Clay and me through.

“My familiar,” said Clay under his breath. “John.”

“Familiar?”

“Yes,” he said. “He’s a human that longs to be one of us. In exchange for loyal service, I will turn him.”

“Really?”

Clay laughed, high and cold—a madman’s laugh that set my teeth chattering. “No, of course not. But he doesn’t know that. You simply must get yourself one. They are easy to kill and easy to replace if they outlive their usefulness.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.