Page 85 of A Trial By Blood

I forced myself to take a steadying breath, but my stupid lip started to quiver. “Ronan’s at The Vault. He’s gone there to feed.”

Mags rounded the couch. “He’s what?” Fury filled her amber eyes.

“He’s scared he’ll hurt me, but nothing could ever hurt more than him doing that with someone else.”

“I’m coming with you.” She snatched the keys from my hand.

I opened my mouth to argue.

“You can’t even drive.”

Damn. She was right.

Shoving on our coats, we ran to Mags’s car and jumped in.

“Hold on,” she said and tore out onto the street, speeding toward the city.

“If this all goes tits up and you want to make him pay for what is essentially cheating, I’ve got you,” Mags said.

“It’s not really cheating, though, is it?” My stomach was churning, and my heart was pounding.

“You tell me?” Mags said. “Have you fed from him? Like right from the source?”

The churning grew more intense. “Yeah, I have.” And it was the most intimate thing I’d ever done. I mean, I was still a virgin, so I could only guess, but it had to be on par when it came to intimacy levels, right? Not only were you feeding, but there was this power imbalance when you fed from someone. They were sustaining you, giving you what you needed to survive, making you utterly vulnerable. You needed to trust the other person, especially with the whole sexual element that went along with it.

“Well?” she asked. “Would you do that? Would you be okay feeding from someone else and not telling him? Would Ronan be okay with you doing that?”

I swallowed painfully. “No.” In my heart, it would feel like I’d betrayed him, and I knew for a fact Ronan would not be okay with it either.

“Exactly,” Mags said and glanced at me. “I have a few elixirs I’m working on.” Her eyes darkened, and for a split second, it was as if all the light left her. “If you want him to suffer, I’m your girl.”

Yeah, that didn’t sound good. And what the hell was Magnolia working on? “I don’t want to hurt him, not like that.” Mags had been working with Else, who was an expert with potions, elixirs, and tonics and also an extremely gifted healer. Mags showed an aptitude in Else’s workroom at an early age, naturally skilled at making potions. She’d shown signs of healing powers as well, and we all knew it was only a matter of time before it grew more powerful, but this? I wasn’t so sure. “Mags—”

“We’re here.” She pulled over and pointed through the windshield. “That’s the Bank, The Vault’s cover. Humans and others party in the main nightclub. The blood drinkers congregate in a second club below.”

“How do you know all this?”

She glanced over at me. “Iris came here during her trial. The place is owned by a scary as hell vamp named Nero. And I’ve been here a couple times with friends. Though I stayed above ground. Unless you’re there to feed others, fangs are a prerequisite for entrance to The Vault, and there’s a hefty annual membership fee.”

We got out and headed for the entrance. It was a Monday night, so the place wasn’t packed. No line to get in at least. The bouncers gave us an up and down. We weren’t exactly dressed for a night of clubbing, but we were let straight in.

The dance floor was still fairly crowded, and people sat at tables around the room and stood in groups drinking, but it wasn’t full by any means.

“How do I get down there?” I yelled over the music.

Mags pointed to a door across the room. “That’s the entrance, but you can’t just walk on in.”

I strode to the bar and shoved through the people waiting there. The man behind it raised a brow. I leaned in, and he automatically did the same. “The Vault,” I said. “How do I get in?”

He moved to the side, away from the waiting crowd, then took me in, assessing my appearance. “You looking to get sucked, sexy?”

Sucked? Oh, I hated that. Anger spiked through me, and I willed my fangs to slide down. I flashed them at him. “No, I’m looking to do the sucking.” As much as I hated how he put it, I assumed confidence and a little arrogance would work with a male like him.

He jolted. I’d surprised him. “Right, sorry.”

Mags chuckled beside me. “Her mate’s a regular, he’s down there now. She needs to talk to him. It’s an emergency.”

“I’m not so sure about that—”