Blackthorn [3] Blood Torn (7 page)

‘I’m going to get some fresh air,’ she declared, with a single attempt to yank her wrist free.

‘You’ll stay where I can see you.’

‘Let me go,’ she warned.

But his hold only tightened as he turned to face her head on, his back to the room. ‘If you wanted everyone’s attention, you’re getting it. You seriously think I’m going to let you walk away now that everyone has seen this little battle of wills?’ He leaned close to her ear and whispered, ‘You are one more defiant glare away from me publicly putting you over my knee. How much humiliation do you want in one day?’

‘Bastard,’ she hissed.

‘You’d better believe it,’ he said, lingering on her gaze a second longer than was needed. An unsettling intimacy that was reinforced as he slid his hand down from her wrist to encompass her hand as he turned away – a hand that was surprisingly gentle despite the harshness of his words.

He led her around the periphery of the room, letting her go only to place his selection from the buffet table onto the compartmental tray he held.

Resentment coiled in her stomach to the point she finally lost any semblance of appetite, despite how enticing the smell of the herb-infused toasted bread and sautéed potatoes were. Instead, she opted for a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice along with a bread roll, before following behind Jask.

But whereas he headed over to the table at the back of the room, Sophia held back. Seeing an empty table for four against a wall, she opted for that.

She placed her juice on the table, yanked out a chair and plonked herself down, glowering over to where Jask was pulling out a seat beside a blonde female. Corbin, his back to Sophia, was sat opposite them both.

The blonde eyed her with curiosity as Jask leaned forward to say something to Corbin, Corbin glancing across his shoulder in Sophia’s direction.

They were clearly talking about her. Worse, they were smiling.

She looked down at her bread roll before glancing back up to meet the blonde’s gaze. The beautiful female swiftly responded with a hint of a friendly, if not slightly wary smile. With her baby face, full lips, sun-kissed complexion, and enviably waist-length braided hair that trailed over her full chest, she was everything Sophia wasn’t.

No wonder Jask had found it so easy to turn down her advances, to be so dismissive of her flirtatious remarks. It must have been
her
clothes and fragrances in his room.

A knot of embarrassment, of envy, formed in her chest as Jask draped his arm around the back of the blonde’s chair whilst he continued to talk to Corbin. She instantly wanted to hate her, but the female who glanced back at her again was only trying to make her feel a little more comfortable – one female reassuring another, despite the species divide, that she understood her awkwardness.

So Sophia forced a hint of a smile back. She had to at least let her know she appreciated her effort if nothing else – even if she clearly was Jask Tao’s mate.

But as Jask recaptured her gaze, one laced with the triumph of having got her in there, even if not to sit with them, Sophia tore off a piece of bread. And plotted how to even the score.

* * *

‘Is she not willing to mix with our kind?’ Corbin asked.

Jask placed his breakfast tray on the table as he pulled out the seat beside Solstice.

Sitting down, he looked across at the serryn.

She looked so small sat alone at the table for four – shirt held down between her thighs with one clenched fist, her long, shapely legs slightly parted, her heavy mid-calve boots unflattering to their slenderness. Her scowl darkened her eyes, her body tense with resentment. He would have found it amusing had it not been so childishly annoying.

‘I think that might have been asking too much,’ Jask remarked, tearing his gaze away to focus his attention on eating.

‘Why’s she in your shirt?’ Solstice asked.

‘A small lesson,’ Jask replied.

‘And from the death stare she’s giving you, I’d say this is round three to you,’ Corbin declared with a smirk.

Jask smiled back.

‘Round three?’ Solstice asked, her gaze switching between her companions.

Jask swallowed a mouthful of food. ‘Will you get some clothes for her, Solstice? And leave them up in my room. Anything else you think she might need as well.’

‘So she’s staying a while?’

‘Long enough for her to need to get dressed.’

‘Is this what the call was about earlier? Is this why Rone and Samson are in the chamber?’

‘They crossed the line,’ Jask declared.

‘Did they do something to her?’

‘No, but they found her where they shouldn’t have been.’

‘Vampire territory?’ Solstice glanced across at the serryn again, eyes wide with concern. ‘Was she attacked?’

‘Bitten, yes.’

‘Did Rone and Samson intervene?’

‘Not exactly. Not that Rone and Samson should have been there to see it in the first place.’

‘Which is why you’re angry with them.’

‘They know the rules, Solstice.’

‘So do you, Jask. You made them. So what’s an outsider doing in the compound?’

‘She has something we need.’

‘Like what?’

Jask took a mouthful of bread, chewed and swallowed as he glanced at Corbin before returning his attention to his food. ‘Like very precious blood.’

Solstice frowned. She stared at Jask before glancing at Corbin, looking for his confirmation too. Her eyes flared, her fair eyebrows knocked up an inch. ‘No.’

‘In the flesh,’ Corbin confirmed.

‘But I thought they were extinct?’

‘Rumour is they are,’ Jask said. ‘Yet clearly not.’

Solstice lowered her voice as she leaned closer. ‘And you brought her back
here
? She came voluntarily?’

‘Not exactly,’ Jask said.

Solstice snapped back a breath, her gaze switching between them both again. ‘Are you both crazy?’

Jask took a mouthful of food. ‘She can’t do anything.’

Solstice lowered her voice to a whisper. ‘She’s a serryn, for goodness sake. Is there anything more lethal? Need I remind you we have young ones here, Jask? You know what her kind are capable of doing to them. And what if she takes one of them hostage or something to get out of here?’ She flashed an accusatory glare at Corbin before staring back at Jask. ‘Have you thought of that?’

Jask looked across at the serryn again. Her knees were now locked together, her feet slightly parted and in-turned. She was halfway through her bread roll, tearing off pieces, chewing them with her head lowered, her bobbed hair partially covering her face. The prospect of her being the most dangerous, not least vicious witch there was seemed improbable. But he couldn’t be fooled. ‘She’s not that stupid.’

‘Trapped in here with no other option? You don’t know
what
she’s capable of. And if the vampires get word we have a serryn here… Kane or Caleb…’

‘We have no choice.’ Jask glanced at Solstice then lingered on Corbin before turning his attention back to his food.

‘What does that mean?’ Solstice asked. Her attention switched to Corbin. ‘What’s he talking about, Corbin?’

Corbin glanced at Jask to acquire his approval. ‘We need a serryn,’ Corbin told her. ‘That afternoon, after what happened to Nero, when we both headed out, we saw a witch. He told us there’s a supply of turmeric here in Blackthorn. Enough of a supply for what we need.’

Solstice’s lips parted slightly, her grip on her spoon tightened. ‘But I thought there was no more turmeric here. That we had the last of it. Is it not still banned?’

‘Oh, it’s still banned,’ Jask said. ‘
And
still illegal to trade.’

‘And now we know why,’ Corbin added.

Jask took a mouthful of water. ‘Which is why we have to play this carefully. They get one hint that we don’t have enough this time around, and this is over.’

Solstice frowned. ‘No way. I know those bastards at the Global Council are willing to stoop low, but seriously? You think they knew we’d need it at some point? How?’

‘This is proof that they know far more than they’re letting on,’ Jask said.

‘All this so-called respecting our heritage and they’ve just been biding their time, haven’t they?’ Solstice said. ‘They’ve been waiting for our supplies to run out.’

‘And they can keep waiting. Because
if
the witch we met with is telling the truth, I also know where it is,’ Jask explained.

‘Then why don’t we have it already?’

‘That’s where the serryn comes into it,’ Corbin said.

‘The supply is with another witch,’ Jask announced. ‘And, as we all know, they’re a tricky bunch when it comes to dealing with the third species – especially with a lengthy penitentiary sentence looming over them for even looking in our direction. So if I storm in there and create attention, we’re going to have every witch in this district baying for our blood, plus risk word getting back to the authorities that we’re in trouble.’

‘And they’ll force us to go on the meds,’ she said. ‘Or incarcerate us.’

‘Exactly,’ Jask said. ‘But a serryn going in to collect it is a whole other story. The witch will have no choice but to hand it over without question. Defying the most superior of witches is justifiably punishable by death apparently.’

‘
If
Jask can tame her enough to co-operate, that is,’ Corbin added. ‘Because if she leaks word of any of this whilst she’s in there, it’s over for us.’

Despite the high odds, Jask could feel the weight being lifted off Solstice’s shoulders. But it only added to the weight on his own. ‘That’s why there’s no guarantee yet.’

‘But if there’s hope, the pack have a right to know,’ she said.

‘And when I’m convinced that the solution is obtainable, I will tell them. False hope is crueller.’

‘Even false hope is better than no hope.’

‘This is my decision, Solstice.’

Her flawless brow crumpled as she glanced with concern over at the serryn again. ‘And in the meantime you’re going to give her open access to the compound?’

‘Locking her in a room won’t help me get her on side.’

‘But this will?’

‘Jask knows what he’s doing,’ Corbin assured her. ‘You know that.’ He looked over his shoulder as the serryn pushed back her chair and stood, attracting all their attention. ‘Which might be a good thing as it looks like breakfast is over.’

Jask watched the serryn skirt the periphery of the room back towards the buffet table.

‘Jask, I’m sorry but you
can’t
just let her walk around,’ Solstice declared. ‘You might be able to handle her, but think of the others.’

The serryn stepped up to the cutlery trays and, in plain sight, removed a knife.

Jask’s heart skipped a beat. ‘Minx,’ he hissed under his breath.

Corbin looked across his shoulder again then back at Jask. Even his eyes turned grave for a moment. ‘You can’t guarantee she’s not going to use it, Jask.’

‘She’s looking for a reaction, that’s all.’

Instead of returning to her table to finish her drink, she slipped out of the doors.

‘She’s also got an impulsive streak,’ Corbin reminded him. ‘I landed on my arse in those ruins because of it, remember? If you’d told me a little thing like that would shove me down a staircase, I would have laughed in your face. We still know nothing about her.’

Jask caught a glimpse of her out the window, heading down the steps and out onto the green. ‘She knows I can easily get the knife off her.’

‘And what if she hides it somewhere for later?’ Solstice asked, her fair eyebrows raised again, her eyes echoing rebuke.

‘Shit,’ Jask hissed. He shoved his half-empty tray away, hating the fact he was going to have to respond. And that by doing so he was doing exactly what she wanted – showing he was worried, that he was acknowledging her potential.

It was a game of kiss-chase, and he was chasing.

He pushed back his chair and stood.

‘Like I said, Jask – hard work,’ Corbin declared with a wink, before plunging a chunk of bread into his mouth as Jask reluctantly left the table.

* * *

As soon as she’d done it, she’d wished she hadn’t. Reaching for the knife was one of her frequent do-now-and-think-later moments. She’d gain nothing from it other than get Jask’s back up, but even that seemed a better option than letting him continue to sit there so smugly – let alone with the blonde by his side.

Sophia stepped out into the fresh morning air. The invigorating breeze swept across the quadrant, something intolerably biting still accompanying it now that the overcast sky masked any hint of sunshine that had broken through earlier.

She took the steps down onto the path, holding down her shirt hem as the breeze caressed her thighs. She looked left towards the archway where Rone and Samson had disappeared earlier and it took only a split-second longer to decide that was exactly where she wanted to go.

She had no doubt that Jask was watching as she made her way along the path past the dining-room bay window.

He had to have seen her take the knife. She’d hardly been subtle about it. She also had no doubt of how ineffective it would be if Jask took her on, despite how adept she was with her primary choice of weapon on the streets. The blade, unlike the six-inch serrated edges she usually dealt with, didn’t stand a chance of making enough of a wound before he got it from her.

But that hadn’t been her intention. Walking past the cutlery had simply been too much temptation. She’d had to make his heart skip a beat at the very least – a small yet satisfying triumph on her part.

Now, in the metaphorical as well as literal cold light of day, it seemed painfully immature. A move that was hardly going to encourage him to let her roam freely around the compound like she needed to.

There were times when she hated her impetuousness. But there was something about him, something that triggered her need to prove herself to be anything but weak or vulnerable.

Stepping through the arch, she glanced left beyond the gate at what looked like a run-down outhouse. But it was what lay ahead of her that snagged her attention. Beyond the wide-girthed oak was a single-storey stone outbuilding.