Page 120 of A Vow of Shadow and Blood

“Iampossessive when it comes to you.”

I try to ignore the excitement that jumps inside me at his words. I’ve never liked possessive men. Relationships weren’t even something we could truly have back at the bloodhouse, so I don’t know why every nerve in my body is racing at the sound of his words.

“I didn’t see that possessiveness when Celeste came to your room,” I fire back.

“I’m possessive when I need to be. But I also know when you can handle yourself.”

“I can always handle myself, and I don’t need you getting involved in my business. We’re not a thing.”

“We’re mates. Like it or not, we will always be a thing.” He turns to walk back over to his desk. “Now, as much as I would love to show you exactly how possessive I am, I have another meeting.”

“Fine.” I turn to leave, but he calls out to me.

“And Adina…the next time you interrupt one of my meetings, I’m going to bend you over that desk and show you exactly how possessive I can be.”

My throat bobs at his words. His eyes hold the kind of heat that sends a fire shooting straight to my core. I slip out the door before I can make any stupid decisions, creating as much distance between us as possible. I need to break this bond before it becomes the death of me.

Between training and my time with Iza, I haven’t seen Finn since we brought him back to the palace, and I decide that today I finally need to face him. I may still be angry about Tori, but the fact is that he may be the only person I know who can save Willow, so whatever our differences are, I need to put them aside.

“I can take it from here,” I tell the guard, who has been hot on my trail since I left another annoying meeting with the nobles. They are stationed everywhere now, following me no matter where I go in the palace. I understand the need for them, but it is extremely annoying.

My fist taps against the old, beaten door, and I hear Finn shout a muffled ‘come in’from the other side. I push the door open, closing it quickly behind me to let the guard know that I do not wish for him to follow. In all honesty, he is probably happyfor the break, but also fearful that if anything happens, then he has Karius to answer to. Things have been tense since the day I stormed into his study. I’ve been sleeping in his room every night, but he always arrives after I’ve fallen asleep and is gone by the time I wake up. Not that it stops him from making himself known by pulling me into his chest every time that he does slip into bed. I don’t even fight it anymore. It’s become a kind of strange comfort that keeps the nightmares of Julian away.

“You here to punch me again?” Finn asks as he messes with some vials, pouring one liquid into another.

“That depends. Are you going to try to blind me?”

He pauses what he’s doing to turn and look at me. He’s wearing his usual overalls with a cloth thrown over his shoulder as always. He pushes a few loose curls out of his face. They’ve grown since I last saw him, and they’re now tied into a messy bun atop his head.

“You can’t say you didn’t deserve it after bringing two royal guards to my door. Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

“I told you, I wouldn’t have done it if I weren’t desperate.”

He moves closer, lowering his voice as he does.

“You have no idea who I work for.”

“Who, Julian?”

His eyes widen.

“How the hell do you know that?”

I lift myself to sit on the wooden counter, my eyes flickering around the space. It’s strange to see all his stuff in this huge room, but it’s set up well with three long benches to allow him to mix his concoctions.

“There’s a lot I know, but what interests me most is how you ended up working for a guy like that?”

He shakes his head.

“None of that matters. I’m dead the next time he sees me, anyway.”

“Not if I see him first,” I mumble the words more to myself than to him.

He laughs at that like I’ve lost my mind. But the mere thought of Julian makes my blood bubble.

“You have no idea who you’re dealing with. You just put me right in the middle of a war between the vampires and whatever the fuck Julian is.”

“War?” It’s the same thing Eamon said when he was in Karius’s study.