I’d learned long ago that if you could get someone upset, you’d be able to get them to say a lot more than if they were happy or content. When someone was angry or sad or excited about something, they were much more likely to express themselves in ways that were...well, unproductive.
“What would your wife think about that?” Norman asked quietly.
“Leave her out of this.”
“Do you think sweet Elizabeth would want to be mated to a man who couldn’t protect his city? To a man who couldn’t keep the vampires fed?”
Colin swung his arm before Norman had a chance to duck. His fist connected with Norman’s cheek, and Norman fell to the ground. I stared, gasping at what I’d just seen. I’d never witnessed vampires fighting before, and I was a little nervous to be witnessing it now. Oh, this so hadn’t ended the way it was supposed to. I found myself regretful that I hadn’t been able to fill Colin’s additional blood order. If I had, then maybe I wouldn’t be sitting here about to watch a vampire brawl. Luckily, Colin didn’t have any interest in sticking around.
Colin stood up, brushed off his suit jacket, and turned to me. He offered me his hand, along with a forced smiled.
“I think we’ll be taking dinner in my room,” he said.
6
Colin
I STORMED OUT OF THE dining room. Juliet stayed close to me as I marched out and headed straight for my bedroom. Who the hell did he think he was? Seriously? Norman had obviously come to Darkvale for a reason, but I was foolish enough to hope it was a really, really good reason. Well, it hadn’t been. It had been a horrible reason, and it made me hate him.
A lot.
Norman had always been a selfish bastard, but this was something else entirely. I was old enough to know that a “merger” only ever worked in the favor of the person suggesting it. In this case, it would mean even less blood. If his town wanted a merger, it was because they were running low on humans. It was no wonder, in my opinion. Norman treated the people around him like absolute shit.
I unlocked the door to my room, gestured for Juliet to enter ahead of me, and then I slammed the door shut so hard that the walls shook. Everyone would know that I was pissed off, but I didn’t care. I was absolutely, totally, completely pissed off.
“How do you explain having your consultant slash advisor hanging out in your bedroom?” She asked once we were alone. She lowered her voice. It was soothing, I realized. She was trying to calm the brooding vampire. Well, it wouldn’t work. I would brood if I wanted to.
“Easy. I’ll tell everyone we’re fucking.”
“What?” She asked. She made a choking sound, as though my comment was so unbelievable that she was already imagining my cock in her throat.
“I’ll tell them we’re fucking,” I said more slowly.
“But we aren’t fucking.”
“Not yet.”
“You want to?”
“Of course, I want to fuck you.”
What a stupid question. She was a gorgeous human, and she wasn’t an idiot. She definitely knew how beautiful she was. I understood I’d told her we wouldn’t have sex unless she wanted to, but I was getting the impression that she definitely wanted to. Was I really going to deny the beautiful human that luxury?
There were a lot of wonderful things about Juliet, I was learning. She was patient, for one thing. She was clever, for another. I had a lot to learn about her still, however. She was wonderful, but she was also perplexing. What I didn’t understand was how someone like Juliet had managed to stay so calm around someone like my asshole of a brother.
She’d completely kept her cool.
While most people would have gotten upset or flustered with his constant questions, she hadn’t. She’d just handled herself with grace and poise. It was quite wonderful to see. She’d been every bit a royal lady, and Norman hadn’t known what to do with himself around her.
A few minutes after we got back to the bedroom, Alice arrived with a plate of food for Juliet. I thanked Alice and closed the door. Then I turned back to Juliet and held out the plate. It was heaped with vegetables, mashed potatoes, and baked chicken. These were all foods that I had loved when I was human and that I still loved. Eating food did nothing to curb my hunger anymore, but sometimes I still enjoyed eating. Tasting food was really the important part, anyway.
“Thanks,” she said. She sat on the floor with the plate and gobbled down the food. Despite her earlier insistence that she wasn’t hungry, Juliet hardly made a sound as she ate quickly.
“You can sit on the bed, you know.”
“I’m fine.”
“How is it?”