Arnaud grumbled and got to his feet at the other end of the room. Payne turned to face him. His grandfather brushed the plaster dust off his dark crimson shirt and fixed him with a black look. He had lost his weapon when Elissa had blasted him with magic.
Payne flexed his fingers again and drew in a deep steadying breath. His blood screamed for him to kill this man for what he had tried to do to his mate but he fought to tamp down that black urge, knowing that if he succumbed to it that he would have the whole den after him. Elissa would be in more danger, and he had already put her in the path of angry witches. He didn’t need to throw enraged incubi into the mix too.
Elissa moved behind him. His grandfather stood before him, eyes swirling darkest gold and blue. If Payne could see his fae markings, they would be as black and red as his own were.
“Are you alright?” he said thickly to Elissa, his voice tight and dark, gravelly.
“I think so... I don’t know... I’m scared.”
Payne already knew that but her admission tightened his chest and darkened his heart. He would kill his grandfather for daring to touch her. No, he wouldn’t. He had to keep a level head. He would get what they had come here for and then they would get the hell away from this place and he would never see his wretched grandfather again.
The vampire side of him snarled at that, outraged that he was planning to leave this male alive. He had dared to assault his mate. He had frightened her, threatened her, hurt her. He deserved nothing less than death. A slow, terrible, painful death.
Payne growled, his top lip curling back to flash his fangs at Arnaud.
The incubus stared him down, no trace of fear showing on his face, but Payne could feel it in his blood, a rich tang that hung in the air and enticed him to sever his control and unleash Hell on this disgusting beast before him.
He drew in another breath, deeper this time, and tried to expel his darker needs, focusing on the woman behind him and his desire to protect her. If he fought again with his grandfather, there was no telling how it would turn out. He had ended up with Arnaud close to her once already. If it happened again, Payne had no doubt that the male would use Elissa as a shield. He couldn’t let that happen. He had to be Elissa’s shield against this man. He had to protect her.
“It’s okay now, Sweetheart. I won’t let him near you.” He kept his back to Elissa but reached behind him. A comforting rush of heat streaked through him when she placed her delicate hand in his and he closed his fingers, gently holding it and feeling her trembling. His heart took her quick response as a good sign, a gift of hope that when all this was over, he wouldn’t be alone in this world.#p#分页标题#e#
“My grandson, I presume?” Arnaud straightened to his full height and stared across the room at him, accents of gold and blue swirling in his dark grey eyes.
Payne had to wonder how he could doubt they were related when they looked so alike. Was this what he would have looked like by now if it weren’t for his vampire genes? He was aware that his dominant vampire side slowed his aging, so he looked far younger than most incubi his age.
He raised his other arm, revealing the markings that tracked along his forearm. Arnaud’s gaze dropped to them and narrowed. That reaction wasn’t only because his markings revealed Payne to be his grandson. It was because Payne’s markings were coloured by hues of black and darkest red, a sign of the fury he held just below the surface, the need to resort to violence and bloody his claws.
“He has the ring,” Elissa whispered and moved closer to him. She clutched his arm in one hand and pointed to Arnaud with the other.
Payne looked down at his grandfather’s hands. The man only wore one ring and it was gold and red, and on his little finger.
He held his hand out. “Give it to me.”
Arnaud shook his head. “I don’t think so. The ring belongs to me.”
Payne released Elissa’s hand and stared the man down. “I said give it to me.”
He didn’t give his grandfather a chance to respond this time. He teleported right in front of him and snatched his hand before he could react. Arnaud wrestled with him but Payne’s vampire genes gave him power and strength far beyond his grandfather’s grasp and he easily twisted Arnaud’s arm around. Arnaud’s only choice was to fall to his knees to avoid Payne breaking his arm and Payne used that moment to yank the ring from his finger.
He released his grandfather and backed towards Elissa, placing the ring on his little finger at the same time. Arnaud stood and stared at him, murder shining in his eyes. Payne knew he wore the same dark look.
“I want to kill you,” Payne growled low, his eyes locked on his grandfather’s. “One wrong move and I will. You dare to look at my mate and I won’t be able to stop myself. I will kill you.”