The sound of laughter carried upstairs, making me realize where I was heading. Xander had to be hungry, I mean, he always was and I didn’t want to test my new vampire restraint any more than I already was. He did smell more mouthwatering than usual.
“Let’s get you down to supper,” he chuckled, as if he could sense how conflicted I was.
Xander moved me around so I was under his arm and he led me to the stairs, where he let me lead going down. We bypassed the kitchen and walked straight into the dining room were people were just sitting down to eat.
Matias was lounging back in his chair, staring at the goblet of blood that he held on the table in front of him while Di sat next to him, chatting away. She put her hand on his arm and threw her head back to laugh, making me see red.
He didn’t seem to pay much attention to the vampire sitting next to him or anyone really, that was until he sensed I had come into the room. His eyes shot up from the goblet and stared straight into mine and my body heated up just from the look of them.
Without thinking, I moved away from Xan and walked to where Matias was sitting and stood right beside Di’s seat.
“Move,” I told her, my voice flat, void of emotion.
“And who do you…?” She turned her head to see it was me standing there and immediately jumped up and moved around the opposite side of the chair. “I, I… how are you feeling, Emelia?”
She quickly tried to distract me from the fact she was flirting with my mate, even if he wasn’t claimed. But like everything else Di did, I wasn’t impressed. What a bitch.
“Emi?”
Xan had walked up beside me and I didn’t even realize. I was too focused on not ripping the vampire apart that cowered in front of me. I looked at him in confusion, then over to Matias. He seemed distressed too. I wondered why.
“Sorry,” I told Xander. “I wanted to talk to Matias about helping me…”
“You sure that’s all? Because it looked a little like jealousy to me.” He quirked an eyebrow, daring me to contradict him.
“What do you want from her?” Matias asked Xander, standing to his full height. “I am her mate, even though she made it clear she isn’t interested in taking on more than one, but she still feels for me and she always will. Give her a break, man.”
“I’ll give you a break,” Xan growled and stepped forward, sandwiching me between the two.
I shoved them both back a step and glared at them.
“Both of you, sit down!”
Locked in a staring match, trying to intimidate one another with their angry looks. But then, the corner of Matias’ mouth quirked just a bit and he sat down in his original seat.
“So help me, Xan. I’m not playing! That’s enough! You said you’re with me, so be with me!”
He cut his eyes to me and stepped in front of me, taking the seat beside Matias so I couldn’t.
I put my head back and looked up at the ceiling, making an exasperated growl. Men. I finally decided to let Xan have this one and took the seat next to him. As I was pushing my chair in, I heard snickering coming from the opposite side of the table. Grayson was sitting next to the buddy of his I had met a few days before. Benson. The one who had flirted with me. He was laughing, saying that Xan and Matias were pussy whipped.
I slammed my hands on the table in front of me and leaned forward as my fangs lengthened. Benson jumped and pushed his chair back anxiously. I began to rise from my seat when I felt a reassuring hand on my forearm. I whipped my head toward the person, only to see Matias there, trying to calm me down.
“Control it,” he told me calmly. “You are the one in charge, not the vampire.”
I relaxed back into my seat and closed my eyes, willing my fangs to retract and my mood to brighten. I was in charge.
“Thank you,” I breathed and gently smiled at him.
He nodded his head toward me. “We’ll begin work tomorrow morning. I told you, I’m here and I want to help.”
“I am her maker,” Di chirped in. I forgot she was even standing behind us. “I should be the one to train her.”
“Di, you’re lucky you’re even still alive right now,” Grayson told her. “All of us who helped you change her are lucky to still be alive. Show some gratitude and leave the lady alone.”
Di’s mouth gaped open as if she didn’t know what to say to that, and stormed away. It looked as if things were changing.
After we watched Di exit, Matias told me, “Tomorrow.” He nodded toward Xan, picked up his glass of blood, and walked out of the room.
Chapter Sixteen
I eyed the glass of blood in front of me wearily. It was my third glass at that point and I wasn’t yet satisfied. I glanced over at Xan who was in the middle of shoveling a forkful of food into his mouth and I couldn’t help but think how delicious it smelled. Xan scooped up another forkful and stopped midway to his mouth when he saw me watching.
“Do you want some?” he asked me.
I looked away quickly, embarrassed by being caught staring.
“It’s okay, Emi. You’re not just a vampire, so it would make sense you’d want real food too. You have to feed your dragon and your caster sides too, right?”
I looked down and the table and nodded. Without another word, he rose from his chair and went into the kitchen, coming back with a plate, fork, and knife, handing it all to
