Destructive Embrace Read Free

up. Do some digging. You have a lot of
potential, if you'd just try," I told her. My tone said that I
couldn't give a damn if she tapped into her potential, but I was
testing her. Let’s see if you care
enough , I thought.
    "But you're my Mate,"
Olivia told me softly. She furrowed her eyebrows and a frown
touched her lips. "You're supposed to be able to turn to me when
you're in trouble or when you need something."
    "What do I need?!" I
snapped at her, taking a step toward her. She was doing a good job
of pissing me off, stepping into an area where I didn't want her
trotting. Having her as a Mate wasn't turning out to be anything
good.
    She appeared taken aback,
and she opened her mouth to speak, only to close it once more.
After a moment, she tried again. "You need to talk to your Mate
about your problems," she whispered. Her soft voice and seemingly
calm exterior didn't fool me. I could read her like a book, and she
was beginning to boil, same as I was.
    "No. I need for my Mate –
who should have my best interest in mind – to leave me the hell
alone while I grieve the loss of my little brother!" I clenched my
jaw shut as I realized what I'd said. "It isn't your business,
Ollie," I told her, rendering myself invisible once
more.
    I left the area silently
and quickly, moving too fast for her to be able to keep up with me.
I needed to be alone more than anything. Or, I needed to be with
someone who cared about more than painting and sex. If anything , I
thought, I should be with my
family...
    But who actually knew? If
Zeke really had anything to do with Reid's death, as I suspected,
then I wouldn't want to be around him. Did Wyatt even
know?
    The only person that I was
certain knew about Reid's death was Elyssa... But I couldn't handle
being near her. She planned to leave the castle. I wasn't sure when
she would actually leave, or if she would really visit when she was
gone, but I knew I couldn't handle losing her – my only real friend
– right after losing my little brother. My favorite
brother.
    More tears stung my eyes
and I swiped at them furiously. I wanted to be alone. But maybe
Ollie was right – maybe that wasn't what I needed. But there was no
one I could visit.
    An image of Reid's body
entered my mind. He was lying on his bed. His expression was
peaceful, like he was just sleeping... If it weren't for the blood
everywhere, and the obvious wound in his chest, I would have
assumed that he died naturally. Even vampires could die in their
sleep if they were old enough.
    I wondered who had stabbed
him in the heart. Who had the cowardice to do such a thing to him?
I thought back to the problems that were going on around the
castle. Tywin had possessed Reid's body and had been wreaking havoc
on his life for who knew how long. It was despicable... Maybe
stabbing him was to put him out of his misery?
    The mess that Elyssa was
in. Her hair caked with blood... It was Reid's blood. Did that mean
Elyssa had been the one to drive the blade into Reid's heart? I
couldn't imagine that. She loved him so much...
    I sighed. I was getting
nowhere in my lonely musing. I needed to get out of the castle, to
go somewhere else. But where?
    I hadn't had fresh blood in
a long time. It was always the bottled blood that we had at the
castle. Donated blood from vampire-obsessed humans who desperately
craved the lifestyle we had. I didn't like feeding on humans, for
the simple fact that it was messy and one had to be certain that
they didn't leave behind any memory of the action.
    That, or just kill
them.
    The memory of fresh human
blood entered my mind, and my body craved it. My throat burned with
longing at the memory or the taste.
    So I headed out into town,
to a bar where I could find a human to feed on.
    The trip was uneventful,
everything going according to plan. My first hunting trip in fifty
years, and it was perfect. I might have considered it to be boring,
but with the things going on back at the castle, having at least
one thing