Page 68 of The Coven’s Sacrifice

“They were meant to stay here,” he objected.

“They’re horrifying,” Colin interjected. “You will take them.”

Jaspar huffed. “I do not want them in my home!”

Eric walked in, confused over the shouting. “What is wrong?” He held Jaspar’s waist protectively, like we were bothering his human.

“Jaspar doesn’t want your paintings,” Colin said, ignoring the surprised choking sound coming from Jaspar.

Eric frowned. “My portraits?”

Colin nodded. “We want to redo most of the mansion, and we thought it best they came home with you since you made them. But Jaspar doesn’t want them.”

I was pretty certain Eric had caught on by now, but I loved how Colin kept repeating it. My lover was not a big fan of Jaspar, and his jealousy was delicious to watch.

“Why can we not take them home?” Eric asked, looking confused at Jaspar.

Jaspar slumped, then seemed to regain his strength. “You really want us to have a painting of my former lover?” He gestured to me. “Is that not inappropriate in our home?”

Colin muttered in a low voice, “Lover might be a stretch.”

I grinned, tucking Colin to my side, pecking his cheek. “I just adore you,” I whispered in his ear, enjoying his blush.

Eric, thankfully, just waved Jaspar’s concern away. “I do not mind. We are all past that.” He turned to me, so he failed to see Jaspar’s soul leave his body. “Can you help me get them ready to ship? We live overseas and I think it is better to ensure their safety.”

“Sure,” I agreed, mentally celebrating this win.

Jaspar left the dining room, glaring at Colin as he did so, an oblivious Eric in tow. Colin chuckled low. “I’m in such a good mood today.”

Laughing, I hugged him tight. “You wonderful human.”

He laughed as well, hugging me back. “I live to serve my vampires.”

“And we thank you for it,” Harland said, having overheard everything.

“Dinner is served!” Nicco announced, back to his full health. We had asked him to take the day off, or to return to their vacation. However, Sienna and Nicco had said that they both needed to be here. They needed the comfort of home. I could not fault them for that, and had even told them they could hold their vacation here. They had unsurprisingly declined my offer.

“It smells amazing,” Sophie gushed, obviously excited to taste Nicco’s fresh cooking again.

We all sat down, the humans licking their lips at the sight of all the pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausages. Several dishes were still covered, but I was certain more deliciousness was hidden underneath. I missed tasting food, but I knew the food I had once eaten would not have tasted anywhere close to this amazing. We had eaten to survive and not for pleasure back then.

Jaspar was looking happy again now that food was on the table and Eric seemed content to wait to collect his paintings. Even though he had been on his way to grab them when Nicco showed up.

Sienna was with us, stating she wished to explain herself. Whatever that meant. She cleared her throat as the humans dug in, eating with evident hunger. “I apologize for my dramatics yesterday,” she sniffed. “I was already strung tight by these women and my resolve broke. Even so, I was not the one to murder both women. I did, however, kill one of them.”

“Who killed the other?” Eric asked.

“The one I killed.”

“What?” Colin said, and I swore Sienna mumbled something under her breath.

“There were two women,” Sienna began again, holding out two fingers. “One of them killed the other.” She removed one finger. “And I took care of the last one.”

“I hope they suffered,” Jacob said.

“She did, but not because of me,” Sienna stated, her voice sure. “Both were clearly unwell. I felt like I did her a great service, ending her existence. But it needed to happen, they were… wrong.”

Eric nodded. “We knew what they were planning to do with Nicco.”