Page 33 of Blood Claims (Garnet Dagger Mafia #2)

A THOUSAND WORDS brOKEN

I couldn’t believe it… could I?

“Oh dear, did I reveal too much? Looks like the Erebus brothers have some explaining to do,” she said with a chuckle, making my whole body tense as my shoulders lifted.

But then I turned ready to give her a piece of my mind, only to find her walking away laughing, tossing a hand over her shoulder as she said, “See you soon… or maybe I won’t.

” Her sinister grin matched her deadly gaze as her eyes flashed silver for a split second.

As for me, I had been too busy watching her leave to notice that Victor and Tal had made their way over to me.

I felt nauseous.

Surely, they wouldn’t have kept something like this from me.

They couldn’t have. It would be too cruel.

But they are cruel, my mind tried to tell me.

They are Vampires born from a cruel, dark world my inner self whispered to me.

My doubt hit me hard as every bad thing I had ever seen them do played out in a frightening montage.

The beating Tal had given the man that first night, before biting into him.

The kidnappings, the threats, the way they had nearly beaten my ex to death.

“Nessa?” Victor was the first to say my name, whereas Tal was scowling in the direction the bitch had walked in.

“Is it true?” I snapped, making him flinch slightly.

“Is what true?”

“Don’t pretend with me. Stacey. Is it true what she said about Stacey?!” I shouted, making him grit his teeth, shooting a look to his brother. And that was when I knew…

When I knew the horrible truth.

It had happened.

“Oh god it is, isn’t it!?” I cried, making Victor take me by the arm and lead me out of the ballroom, which I let him amid my breakdown.

We made it all the way to the hallway next to the ballroom, where I had been headed anyway because the restrooms were at the end and up a few steps.

A place that, for the moment, was at least private enough to have this difficult conversation.

“First, you have to know, she is safe,” he told me, making me rip my arm from his hold, an action that made him grit his teeth.

“You knew… you both knew and you… you didn’t tell me!” I accused, my eyes filling with tears.

“We didn’t want you to worry,” Tal tried, making me whip my head to him, and snap,

“That wasn’t your decision to make!”

“Yes, it was,” Victor replied arrogantly, making me lose it even more.

“NO!” I shouted, not giving a damn who heard us. Which made Victor grip my arm again, tighter this time as he led me further into the hallway, closer to the restrooms and away from any potential prying eyes.

“I know you don’t quite get this yet, but you are ours…”

“I am not…”

At this Victor lost his patience and snarled,

“You are ours… and therefore, if we choose to protect you from certain information then it is our right to do so!”

My eyes widened in utter disbelief!

“How dare you!”

“Oh, we will dare… every… fucking… day!” Victor growled. His eyes glowing silver, telling me how close to the edge he was and giving Tal cause to put a hand on his shoulder.

“Easy, brother,” he warned, but this was when I lost my shit completely and stepped right up to him, knowing he would never hurt me. So, with nothing to fear but making him lose his temper further, I looked up at him and pointed a finger in his face as I told him,

“You may kidnap me, force me to live with you. You can make your bargains, but I didn’t bargain for my soul. No one owns me, Victor! And right now, neither of you ever will, because if there is one thing I can’t stand, it’s a lover who lies!”

He flinched back as my words hit their target.

“Nessa, we didn’t lie,” Tal tried, being the one who retained his calm, but I turned to face him and said,

“No, maybe not, but you made the decision not to tell me that my best friend was in danger and that… that is so much worse than the lie I know you would have told me had I asked.”

Tal closed his eyes and released a heavy sigh.

“You asked us now, and we didn’t lie,” Victor pointed out.

“No, you were just caught out, there is a difference.”

“You are being unreasonable,” he stated after a frustrated sound.

“Oh, am I? Did I not just an hour ago ask if I could send her a picture, mention her by name? And you never said a word. You knew and yet you said nothing. All for what exactly? So you could bring me to this gala without me making a fuss?!” I argued.

“We didn’t tell you because you have been through enough trauma and we didn’t wish to add to it,” Tal replied, no doubt fearing what his brother would say next to set me off.

“Yeah, and why is that? Why has my life been turned upside down, where my dreams haunt me, a witch wants me dead, and people are targeting my best friend. Because I gotta say, life was pretty safe until you two came on the scene,” I snapped, regretting it the second I saw hurt take hold, their expressions pained, even if it was for just a moment.

“And just how long would you have lasted in that safety you built, huh? How long would you have drowned in debt, Vanessa? How long until you dug your way out of it, only to trust the wrong asshole again?” Victor argued, making me flinch.

“How dare you! I didn’t ask you to pay off shit!”

“No, you didn’t. In fact, you have asked for nothing and yet, look where it would have gotten you? Decades of debt that we eradicated just like that,” he said, snapping his fingers and making me scowl at him.

“Yes, but at what price? What did it cost me, Victor? Does that make you think you now own my soul? Because I don’t remember making a deal with the devil!” I shouted, my anger quickly making its way up to furious levels.

“Of course not! You’re being ridiculous!” I baulked at that.

“I am not the ridiculous one if you think that any of this is okay,” I told him, making Tal intervene again.

“Alright, you have made your point, sweetheart.”

I shook my head, some of the anger seeping out of me.

“Have I though? Because what happens next time, Tal? What happens the next time you both think I don’t need to know something?

The next time you take it upon yourselves to control my life?

That’s not how a relationship works, don’t you see…

it’s a dictatorship and I can’t… I can’t be with either of you if that’s the way you want it to be,” I said, making him suck back a quick breath when I finished.

Then I turned, ready to walk away, when suddenly I was grabbed from behind.

Victor’s hands at my shoulders, squeezing them as he dipped his lips to my ear.

“You don’t get to walk away from this.”

“So, I’m back to being your prisoner then?” I asked, my tone hard and disappointed. Which was when I heard him sigh against my neck.

“What do you want from us?” he asked, his tone deflating as his forehead rested at my shoulder, one that slipped away as I turned to face him.

“I want what most relationships require, I want honesty, I want the truth, no matter how much it hurts me. Because had you only told me, I know I would have gotten through it. I would have been upset yes, but I would have been okay in the end because I had you both there,” I said, stopping long enough to shake my head.

“That’s the mistake you made. You underestimated yourselves, the power you both have in the strength you give me…

but with this one act alone, you ripped it away from me,” I said, tears now running down my face…

which the brothers watched fall with nothing but regret in their eyes.

But it was Victor who framed my face and took them away with his thumbs.

All traces of his anger quickly replaced by tenderness.

“We made a mistake,” he admitted, making me tear my face away and tell him,

“It’s too late.”

Which was when he took my chin between his thumb and forefinger and turned me back to face him, his dark brown eyes now pained.

“Redemption is never too late.”

Tal stepped closer so he could turn me to face him as he added,

“Neither is forgiveness.”

I shook my head and pointed out,

“Usually, the word sorry is used before asking for forgiveness.” Which was when Victor took a step closer and lowered his head to mine, at the same time tilting mine up to look at him.

“We are sorry, baby.”

I closed my eyes, swallowing hard at the mix of emotions that crashed through me.

“Do you promise me she is alright?” I asked before opening my eyes.

“Yes, she is safe. Andras saved her from being taken. She is currently in a safe house of ours,” Victor told me.

“Will you take me to her?” I asked, and this time his flinch contradicted his answer.

“If that is what you wish.”

“It is,” I stated firmly. “But first, I still need to use the restroom,” I pointed out, making Victor scoff a chuckle before kissing my forehead.

“Alright, sweetheart, we will have the car brought around. Don’t be long.”

I nodded, unwilling to say more. I knew I needed them to take me to Stacey so I could check for myself they were telling me the truth this time. That she was alright. Because technically, they may not have lied, but not telling me in the first place was just as bad.

Tal walked me to the restrooms, before telling me,

“We will wait for you just outside, down the hall.”

I nodded, watching Victor pull out his cell to make the call.

But when I walked inside, my mind was still spinning from our argument.

One that had turned hot, to boiling, and back to a simmer in minutes.

But it had ended with an apology the moment they thought they would lose me, so that had to account for something, right?

Or at least I thought so, until I walked inside the restroom. Because moments after using the toilet, I was at the sinks when I saw it. An envelope with my name on it.

“What the hell?” I asked myself aloud, looking around the bathroom to find that I was alone like I thought I was.

So, with no explanation of how it got there, I peeled back the envelope and pulled out the picture inside.

And the second I saw it, I gasped, crying out in anguish as right there, in my now shaking hand, was a picture of my friend.

Stacey tied to a chair with a gag in her mouth, blood trickling from her nose and lip, with a distinct bruise on her cheek.

“No, no, no!” I cried as I gripped the picture tighter. But then I noticed something in the reflection in the mirror, making me turn the picture around, only to find two terrifying words written on the back.

Two words that now haunted me.

Two words that felt like a thousand words broken…

“They Lied.”