Stopping in front of him, I leaned to one side, resting a hand on my hip.
“Where are your guardians, little newblood?” he asked, though his gaze still lingered on my breasts rather than my face. “I was starting to think you never went anywhere without them.”
“Guardians?” I replied with mock laughter. “Let’s just say I have my own plans for how I spend my time.”
Jarin raised a brow and finally lifted his attention to my face. “Do you now?”
I stepped close to him and brazenly slid my fingers down the muscles of his lean chest. He was thin in comparison to Asher, Darian, and Kade, but there was still strength there. For a moment, I doubted myself and whether I’d be able to get him to talk, but I pushed the doubts away. “I’ve been told that during the Week of Orash, anything goes. I’m hoping you might be able to give me the excitement I’m after.”
He licked his dry lips. “And what kind of excitement would that be?”
I leaned in closer, ignoring my repulsion of the monster and brushing my lips across the shell of his ear. “Take me somewhere a little more private and I’ll show you.”
He chuckled darkly. “Now why would I do that? Having an audience is half the fun.”
I cursed inwardly. I’d been worried he would say that. Biting my lip, I feigned innocence and said, “I guess I was just hoping to have you all to myself.”
His eyes narrowed, and for a moment I thought he’d seen through my act, but then he smiled widely. Turning, he led me to a quieter space behind one of the archways. The moment I followed him into the shadowed area, he slammed my back against the stone of the archway. It wasn’t enough to make me cry out, but I winced as pain worked its way down my spine.
“You’d better hope you’re enough to satisfy me, shifter,” he said gruffly in my ear, and his wet lips collided with my neck.
Bile rose in my throat as one of his hands groped at my breasts while his other hand slid down my rib cage, but I swallowed it down.
“I hear you had the pleasure of choosing the humans from the last round,” I said casually as I tried to hide my disgust.It’s just groping. I can handle groping.
“Mm-hmm,” Jarin mumbled as he made an appreciative sound. One of his hands squeezed my hip, and I couldn’t stop myself from squirming against his grip. Seeming not to notice, he gripped me tighter, not caring that his fingers were digging in painfully.
I cleared my throat. “It must have been fun watching them turn when you brought them here. How many turned on the first night?”
Instead of answering me, he palmed my breast while the hand that had been squeezing my hip trailed lower, his fingers starting to slide beneath my dress.
Oh, fuck this.Before he could discover the daggers on my thighs, I grabbed onto his shoulders with both my hands and drove my knee hard into his groin. Surprised, he grunted and reeled back, staggering away from me as his hands dropped to clutch at his pants.
He lifted his head and fury shone in his watery green eyes, but I didn’t give him the chance to attack. In a swift movement, I’d drawn my daggers, and I shot forward until he was the one with his back pressed against a wall. Lifting my blades, I poised them under his neck, one crossed over the other. The knives were small and too short to be able to sever his head in a single clean swipe, but I would have been able to cut halfway through if I wanted, and the blood loss would have made it hard for him to retaliate.
“What is this?” he seethed, his body shaking with anger.
“Not so fun when you’re the one being handled, is it, asshole?”
Jarin glared daggers at me, and I was sure he was imagining killing me in a thousand different ways. Too bad for him I wasn’t going to let that happen.
“Ten years ago, you were one of the monsters who selected the humans for the trials,” I snarled. “There was a pretty girl with mousy brown hair and wide brown eyes. She was only sixteen, younger than the women who are normally selected. You’re going to tell me where the fuck she is.”
As I spoke, Jarin’s expression changed his fury morphing into something akin to fear as recognition lit his eyes.
“Where is she?” I growled in his face when he didn’t answer. “And what the hell did you do to her?”
Jarin’s dry lips turned into a sneer, and he opened his mouth to speak, but before any words came out, his gaze darted to where a figure stood watching us from not too far away.
Jarin’s lips snapped shut, and I frowned as I made out Warrick’s tall frame. The vampire stared calmly at us, his cruel black eyes filled with curiosity and amusement, but he didn’t come any closer.
Fuck.I knew I should have quickly released Jarin in the hopes that Warrick hadn’t overheard anything, but I was so close. Too damn close to just walk away. Turning back to Jarin, I pressed my blades harder against his neck until a trickle of blood ran down his skin. “What were you going to say?”
Genuine terror shone in Jarin’s eyes now, and I wasn’t foolish enough to think it was because he was afraid of me. His gaze kept frantically darting in Warrick’s direction as if the older vampire’s presence had him on edge. Inwardly, I cursed in frustration. I’d been so damn close to getting answers about where my sister was. My hands trembled as I held my blades tightly to Jarin’s throat, anger coursing through me.
Warrick strolled toward us then, his steps slow and unhurried. “Raine, is it?” he said when he was only a few yards away. “I must congratulate you on your most impressive victory against the succubus tonight.”
The cold rasp of Warrick’s voice had a chill rushing down my spine, but I didn’t change my position. When I didn’t speak, he continued, “Whatever Jarin here has done, I assure you he’s not all bad. Leave him be, and I’ll ensure he never bothers you again.”
