“She’s an Aquarius.” Slade cuts through my thoughts, once again saying that confusing name.
“A what?” I look down to see the guy named Dice stepping up. Then he steps back when Slade cuts his eyes toward him.
Dice isn’t quite as brave as Ella, who still has herself placed directly in front of the psycho.
“It’s the first and most powerful bloodline of the anointed.”
A few people go pale in that instant. Zee’s fists clench at his sides, and I clutch his arm, hoping he can talk all of them out of killing me. Unless he wants me dead too.
That would suck.
Ella turns to look at me, her brow drawn in confusion. “You’re an anointed?”
I shake my head emphatically.
“I don’t even know what that means, other than it’s someone who wants to kill anything not human.”
“She just fucked Zee,” Dice says, pointing at us. “I can taste the sex from here. It doesn’t look like her killer mojo is up to par with the rest of her lineage.”
“It’s in her blood, incubus,” Slade snaps. “They crave the kill just like we crave our own addictions. If she doesn’t kill, she doesn’t live. Understand?”
Not true. At all. I don’t want to kill anyone.
Zee’s arm slides around my waist, and he pulls me against his side. “She’s under my protection. If anyone has a problem with that, I’m so fucking gone. I’ve defended everyone here at some point in time. I’ve been at Kane’s side since I was freed from the bonds, and I’ve never once asked for anything in return.”
“You did used to have Kane find your willing victims,” Dice chimes in, earning a growl from Zee. “That was before you had game.”
He really is annoying. Kya wasn’t kidding.
Then what Dice says resonates, and a pang of unjustifiable jealousy hits me hard.
I’m certifiably crazy.
Someone get me a straightjacket.
“If she’s sleeping with Zee, I don’t think she’s much of a threat. Besides, he craves to sire her,” Ella says, turning back to face Slade like she’s suddenly okay with everything, even though I can tell she’s not. “His instincts wouldn’t drive him toward someone that wants him dead.”
Slade laughs bitterly. “All night stalkers sever their bonds eventually, and their main goal becomes to kill their sire. It’s their way. So that sort of blows your theory out of the water, princess.”
Ella bristles, and I lean closer to Zee. I don’t know what the hell I am, but I do know I don’t want to be a vampire. Blood and I don’t get along too well.
His arm tightens around my waist, and Ella glances over her shoulder at Zee.
“You’re sure about this?” she asks him.
He glares at her. “You’d let her die if I wasn’t?”
“No. She’s not dying until she gives us a good reason to kill her. I’m asking if you want her here… If you trust her with us.”
Zee looks down at me, then back at Slade. “If we don’t keep her, he’ll fucking kill her. She stays, or I’ll take her with me and we’ll go.”
I’m not sure if that means he wants me here or not, but it sounds better than dying. Beggars can’t be choosers.
Slade’s jaw tenses as Ella turns back around to face him. “She’s under our protection. Kill her, and I’ll show the same kindness to your group until I’ve picked them off one by one. You might need them for this big fight you don’t want our help with.”
He curses before spinning and launching a blue streak across the lake. When he turns back around, he looks like he’s on the verge of killing someone.
“You’re so fucking stupid. I’m sick of saving your life. If you want to invite a killer into your house—and eventually she will try to kill you—then so be it. It’s your fucking funeral. It’s not my responsibility to save your ass.”