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“How mad is he?” Zyion says, coming up behind me.

I turn to face him.

“Pissed,” I say to him. “Apparently, the dead rat could have killed the vamp.”

Zyion grimaces. “She took that better than I would’ve.”

I cock my head to the side, wondering what he means.

“Think about it. If a room full of vamps would’ve tried to kill my little brother, there’d be a lot of bloody corpses lying around.”

He had a point. The oldest leech was pissed. I could feel her anger radiating off her as if it was my own. Yet, she didn’t even try to fight. Hell, she didn’t even rat us out to Luna. There isn’t that much self-control in the world.

“She’s hiding something,” I say out loud as the thought comes.

Zyion’s brow dips. “Like what?”

“I don’t know. But she’s not telling us something. As bad as she hates us, she can’t leave. Something has her stuck here with us.”

“You’re not buying the whole forced marriage thing?”

I rub my chin. “I’m not sure. But I know I need to find out.”

chapter Nine

Apology

Michaela

“I can’t do this anymore,” Marley shouts as she paces back and forth in front of me.

We’ve been back home for about twenty minutes after leaving that cafeteria. My blood is still boiling at that prank, but I have to remain calm.

“I know you’re angry,” I say gently.

Marley stops pacing to glare down at me. “I’m beyond angry. They tried to kill me. I’ve been nothing but nice to those beasts, and they tried to kill me.”

Her emotions are rising. Standing up, I place my hand on her arm.

“Calm down.”

I watch as she slowly relaxes; the anger draining away from her. She takes a seat down on the sofa I’ve just vacated.

Dropping her head in her hands, she let out a deep breath.

“Thanks,” she says.

“No problem.”

She looks up at me. “Can we just find someplace else to go? Why does it have to be with wolves?”

I plop down on the couch beside her.

“Unfortunately, there is no other place to go. Plus, the wolves not only help hide my scent, but they also act as a source of protection.”

That isn’t the full truth, but she doesn’t need to know the truth.

She scoffs. “They’d probably sell us out to him if they had the chance. You know, maybe Markis had a point. Imprisoning those ungrateful beasts doesn’t sound so bad.”