Page 39 of Blood Claims (Garnet Dagger Mafia #2)

UNEXPECTED

VASILEIOS

T rouble.

That’s what she was.

She was also not what I expected her to be.

Of course, I’d had a taste of the type of person she was, but I hadn’t realized that she was actually so much more.

And I fucking hated it! Hated how she made me feel.

How she made me act. Hated how quickly she had managed to get under my skin.

How she had me reacting in certain ways I wasn’t used to. As if second nature was taking over.

At first, I had wanted to break her. To hurt her. To see her suffer as she made me suffer. I wanted her fear, her submission. Wanted her to bend to my will. And now, it had all gone out the fucking window with a single look from her big blue eyes with their forest starbursts.

She was the rabbit, and I was the wolf.

Yet it felt as if she held all the power. As if she was the hunter and I was her prey. Her claws dug in deep, keeping me trapped under her charming little spell.

And she had not one fucking clue!

Of course, I always planned to take her.

To steal her away from my brothers, and I had nearly come close.

I had accessed her dreams thanks to the link made from the mind storm Circe had cast. So, I had frightened her enough to make her way to the rooftop.

But I feared the swimming pool enough that I needed to keep her away from it.

Hence why I had homed in on her greatest fear.

Her fucking father.

The things I had seen and plucked from her memories made me want to hunt the fucker down and rip out his spine!

In fact, for the first time, I had come away from that failure with a sense of self-loathing I had never felt before.

An unsettling feeling of regret, knowing I had gone too far.

I had wanted her to agree to being taken, so as my darkness could take her.

Her acceptance was something that side of me needed in order to take her.

But then my brothers had intervened, finding her sooner than I’d hoped.

And because I hadn’t been ready to show my hand quite that soon, I had abandoned the chance at stealing her away.

But I had kept my eye on her.

And thanks to the connection, this had made it easy, for I knew where she was at all times.

Just like I had known where my brothers had taken her, keeping watch for when they would emerge from the Plaza hotel.

I had planned on trying for a second time to lure her out to me, once she was back at my brother’s steel castle in the sky.

But as luck would have it, someone else was doing my job for me.

Because I watched her suddenly emerge on the street, after no doubt being forced to use a portal key.

One not powerful enough to take her far, like I had given Circe.

But then with the van waiting to snatch her up, they had only needed to get her away from my brothers. A pair that I finally saw when running out of the building. The twin expressions of anger and worry were painted on both their faces. Faces I hadn’t seen in so long, I hated how it made me feel.

Hated the emotions their fated had started to ignite in me.

Hated that she had started to make me care.

Hated her for those breathy little sighs that echoed in my mind long after they had been released.

Hated her brave touch, when gripping onto me for protection.

When holding onto me like I was her savior, and now that was exactly what I had done.

Played the hero when I was nothing but the villain in her story.

I hated the rage she had unleashed when I heard her screams. How I had lost my ever-loving shit.

My darkness exploding the second I transported myself to the warehouse.

How I had torn everybody apart, my darkness fueled by a single thought that left me hellishly unsettled…

Mine.

That was the word my darkness used when commanding my lips.

Because it wanted her. It wanted her like I needed my next breath.

It had reached out toward her as it did in her dreams. It wanted to cocoon her in the swirl of shadows, and touch every inch of her.

Which was disconcerting to say the least, as there was nothing my darkness wanted more than death and destruction.

But now it wanted beauty and innocence.

Not to destroy it but to hold it close. To protect. To treasure and keep. A calming presence flowed over me that I didn’t understand. One I had long ago forgotten could exist. Nothing calmed my darkness but blood and cruelty.

But now her.

She was the light and my darkness the moth to a mortal flame. A piece of the sun the night waited for, whereas before, it would have destroyed the world for eternal darkness. And I didn’t know why.

The fact angered me.

She angered me.

But yet, I couldn’t hurt her.

I had wanted to, so badly, but I feared my own shadows would turn against me should I even thinking of trying.

So, I had done as compelled to and given in to the impulse to be gentle.

And her bravery had utterly astounded me.

For I hadn’t found a wailing mess of a female.

One screaming like a banshee begging for her life to be spared.

Yes, I had tasted fear, but I had tasted strength also.

It was as if, by the time I reached her, she had felt that gun against her temple and resounded herself to the fact that death was upon her.

A quiet resolve I couldn’t help but admire.

Of course, my darkness saw this threat and acted.

It had ripped the bastard apart, and I had chosen to save her from the sight.

But knowing that the fucker, Avellino, had left my brothers a message, I too decided to do the same.

As I knew it wouldn’t be long until they found this place.

So, like I said, I had left my own message, one they wouldn’t be expecting.

And because I knew they would do everything in their power to get her back, it would only be a matter of time before I finally had what I wanted.

Now the only question was…

Would I be able to give her up in order to get it?

But more importantly, would my darkness be willing to finally…

Rip her heart out instead of claiming it.