Page 84 of Blood Stone

Chapter Eighteen

Winter shelved the man’s shocking statement, pushing it aside. She was more concerned – pissed – about the way he was holding Nial’s arm, and the fact that Nial was simply standing there, taking it.

It was unnerving.

“I think, before anyone says anything or does anything more, you need to let go of my husband’s arm,” she said stiffly. “And release whatever hold you have on him.”

The man tilted his head to look at her. “You…married this creature?”

“Not that it’s any business of yours, but I married two of them.” Now was not the time to go into Sebastian’s half-human, half-vampire status, and her role in his hybrid species claim.

“At the same time,” Garrett added, grinning.

Winter hid her smile. Garrett had always given off a slight disapproving attitude about their marriage. Now he was bold-faced supporting it.

“Why would you deign to marry such subservient creatures?” the man asked.

Garrett snorted.

Winter thought up and discarded a dozen different answers, before finally giving up on a direct response. Instead, she returned to her original demand. “Let Nial go,” she insisted.

The man looked up at Nial’s placid face. “He has served his purpose,” he said and released his arm.

Nial’s legs folded and he fell forward on his hands and knees, breathing harshly. He reached up to his throat and cleared it a few times. “Filius meretricis! I didn’t see that coming.” His voice was scratchy and thin.

The trailer door opened again and Sebastian bounded in. “I forgot—” he began, and stopped, taking in the scene: Nial sprawled on the floor at the brown man’s feet, Garrett and Winter bailed up in front of him.

“Son of a fucking…” Sebastian breathed, his face tightening with anger. The sea green eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched.

“Bastian, no!” Winter called quickly.

It was too late. She knew it was too late even as she called. Sebastian wasn’t listening. He had seen Nial in trouble, her threatened and his Irish had been roused. He was reacting now, not thinking.

He leapt at the medium-sized man, his arms out, ready to grapple and maim. Sebastian had almost as much strength as vampires, still, and he had learned all the soft-shoe self-defence skills from Winter during their years of breaking into some of the most inaccessible locations in the world.

He barely made contact with the smaller man. The man in the striped shirt thrust out his hand and gripped Sebastian’s wrist, then stepped aside. Sebastian seemed to cooperate with him by dashing right past him. Garrett barely managed to get out of the way, then Sebastian hurled himself at the teak shelving unit. He hit with an impact that made the trailer shudder. The armoured glass in the shelving doors starred with cracks and the wood splintered.

Sebastian slid to the floor in a crumpled heap.

The man in the striped shirt leaned over him and pressed his fingers against his forehead.

Sebastian cried out, as blood appeared in grizzly blooms on his tee-shirt and jeans.

Winter lunged for the man’s arm and snatched it away from Sebastian’s forehead. “No!”

He just looked at her.

“This is my other husband,” she explained. “He was protecting me and Nial.”

The man looked down at Sebastian. “I see. Then by marrying them, you were acquiring bodyguards. They do have some use. I apologize.” He leaned down and touched Sebastian’s forehead again.

Sebastian groaned. “Fuck me,” he muttered. “That hurts.”

“The composition of this one is odd,” the man commented, standing up. “I have never touched one like him before.” He looked at Winter. “He will live now.”

She glanced at Garrett, standing behind the man. Garrett lifted a hand helplessly and she understood his dilemma. They were at this man’s mercy, but he considered her his equal. They had to play along for now.

Nial was easing himself onto the sofa, moving stiffly. Sebastian was slowly trying to sit up. Garrett hooked him under an arm, and helped him prop himself up.