Page 76

“Please, that was the bite, and you know it.”

“Was it, sweet ruin? The way you nearly came apart for me?” He shadow walks to my side, lips just at my ear. “It was fucking devastating.” His voice rumbles over my skin.

I shudder, though not in fear, and he flits back to where he was before, watching me with growing delight as heat crawls up my neck.

I don’t like that. Not one bit. I quicken my pace and slam the cart into his hip. With a surprised “Gak!” his body folds in half. Bellamy falls headfirst into the pile of laundry. A belly laugh bubbles up my throat as he climbs out, fighting to disentangle himself from a sheet. Goddess, I don’t know when I’ve ever laughed so hard.

His black hair is a mess, strands of it hanging in his eyes. “Oh, you’re going to regret that, you little shit.” He takes a step toward me, only to greet the tip of my blade. His eyebrows jump and he smirks. “I have a feeling this is your kink.”

Does he . . . like that? Goddess, he’s unhinged. “You’re not as cute as you think you are.”

The vampire flicks his hair to the side. “But I’m cute?”

“You’re a pain in my ass,” I mutter, flicking the blade.

He sucks in a breath as his skin splits, not unlike the first time we met. It should deter him, but I swear Bellamy’s eyes hood even farther as a trickle of blood slides down his throat. His Adam’s apple bobs and his voice comes out husky when he says, “I love it when you flirt with me.”

Yup. He’s absolutely demented.

Sighing, I step back and put my blade back in its sheath. “You’re not supposed to like it when I threaten you. It’s supposed to scare you off.”

“It’ll take a lot more than blood to scare me, Raina.”

Okay. Way to be logical, fang banger. Ignoring him, I leave the cart I’m pushing on the sidewalk and quietly slip inside the back door of Archive’s tall spire. Their cart is full of dirty towels. Since there are so many people in one building, the carts for the dorms are always full. I grab their bin rather than transfer the contents to mine.

Bellamy waits where I left him, fully recovered from his spill, shirt smoothed and hair fixed.

I don’t particularly like him, but even I can admit that he’s handsome. It’s kind of infuriating. I shove the cart at him.

He catches it and gives me a questioning look.

“If you’re going to be a stalker, the least you can do is help.”

Bellamy glances from me to the bin, blinking and taking in the carts, as if realizing for the first time what I’ve been doing while he’s been toying with me. I expect him to protest—Foundations don’t do this type of work—but he simply shrugs and pushes the cart back to the facilities building.

Damn. I thought work would send him packing. A scowl tugs at my face as I stare at the awakening horizon, pinks and purples rippling across the sky, but I can’t even appreciate their beauty, because I’m too busy overthinking. What is he up to? Does he really expect to fake date to this extreme? Why did I have to be the one to be a loophole?

Maybe Bree can use her mindcraft on him and make him go away.

The newest band on my forearm throbs in protest. I glance at my arm. While I can’t see it, I can feel the cursed blood bargain. If it weren’t for my desperate desire to find Addy, I never would have agreed to help Bellamy. My fingers curl into a fist, and I drop my hand to my side with a resigned sigh.

“Don’t be so upset, Raina. I came to fulfill my part of the bargain.”

Right. Focus on that. “Your last name isn’t the same as John’s.”

He nods. “Orphaned Foundations get to keep their family name.”

I guess I never thought that I’d have anything in common with a Foundation like him. Though our circumstances are quite different. He got to carry on living in his rich little bubble, meanwhile, I got tossed to the closest taker, regardless of their track record.

Before I can muster up the courage to ask what happened to his parents, Bellamy fills in the blanks for me.

“My parents were high-ranking officials in the Paranormal Guard, and they were ambushed by a horde of demons. A portal opened up in their bedroom.”

The God of Destruction’s creatures wear down patches of the veil, but we have no way of knowing where the vulnerable parts are until the veil splits and the demons pour out. It only renewed the ruling council’s determination to see us all properly trained for the Goddess Trial.

I glance at the vampire. “Were you . . . were you there?”

He nods, features hard, gaze distant. “I was only six, but I got out and ran for help. Obviously, I was too late,” he says bitterly. “Anyway, John was my godfather, and since he had a son my age and we were best friends, he took me in.”