Page 41 of A Trial By Blood

Ronan looked from me to the house and back. “Yes.”

Could the conversation be more stilted? I rubbed my hands together and smiled, pretending we weren’t acting like total freaking strangers. “So how do we do this?”

“Do you remember me carrying you through the forest the night the mother called you?”

“It’s a little hazy to be honest.”

His features shifted into an expression I’d never seen on him. I wasn’t sure what emotion I was looking at right then. “If I use my powers, no one will see us. It’ll be as if we’re not there.”

A memory of Ronan covered in blood filled my head, the rage in his eyes. That was when the walls began to crack, wasn’t it? In that field. I’d never seen him look like that before. He’d said his powers couldn’t work in that field, and he’d killed the demons coming for me, a lot of them. “You were holding me, and you ran through the forest to get me back to the car.”

“Yes.” His fingers curled into a tight fist, but his expression remained the same. “And on the way in, I used my powers to conceal us.”

That’s right. He’d dressed me and carried me through the snowy forest. “Everything looked kind of like it was underwater.”

He nodded, his gaze burning hot, so hot I wasn’t sure how he hadn’t burned himself out from all I saw in his eyes. “You remember?”

“Some of it.”

“So you know I’ll keep you safe?”

That was the second time he’d said something like that. “Yes, of course. I trust you, Ronan. I know you won’t let anything bad happen to me.”

His eyes darkened. “Never.” He took my hand and headed toward the gates.

The air around us changed before we got there, becoming a little distorted. He’d lifted a block of some kind to conceal us. I could feel it hovering around us, tingling over my skin.

It was dark and shadowy, and I shivered as we reached the door. “This place gives me the creeps.” I looked around. “So how do we get in?” Ronan didn’t slow, he carried on walking, towing me along behind him—and walked right through the door. I drew back, pulling on his hand, looking down at his as he gripped mine tighter.

The rest of him was already gone, on the other side of that massive wooden door.

Holy shit.

Sucking in a sharp breath, I kept walking, following him through it to the other side. He turned to me, and I stared at him in shock. “We just walked through that door,” I whispered. “Through it, Ronan.”

“Yes, we did,” he said, taking in our surroundings. “And you don’t have to whisper. No one will hear us.”

“This is insane. Are all dhampir as powerful as you?”

Ronan tilted his head to the side, the move somehow demonic, pure predator. That’s because he’s half vampire. Before he regained his emotions, Ronan had coldly explained how he’d beaten and brutally ripped out a hellhound’s tongue, and I was in no doubt, with emotion in the mix, he’d just become far more dangerous.

“The only other dhampir I know is my sister, and yes, she is very powerful, though not as strong as me.” He glanced around the room again. “Where shall we begin?”

A shuffling sound came from above us. A male walked onto the landing, then made his way down the stairs. My instincts told me to hide, but Ronan stood unmoving as the male took each step.

“Reptile,” Ronan said, not even trying to lower his voice. “And possibly something else as well.”

I edged in behind him, feeling exposed and so freaking wrong. Two weeks ago, I’d barely left my house, my bed, and now I was out at night with Ronan, breaking into some guy’s house to investigate a robbery.

“Maybe he’s an older relative? You know, this kind of feels like a scene from one of the books you read me,” I whispered, gripping his hand tight and peering around his arm.

Ronan turned from the grizzled-looking male as he continued to make slow progress down the stairs. His lips twitched. Not a smile, not even close, but his eyes brightened. “You’re still whispering.”

Was he actually amused? I forced myself to step out from behind him and straightened. “I forgot.”

“Shall we start upstairs?”

“Okay,” I whispered.