Blood Lust - Alexandra Ivy Page 0,13

them all up if they discovered they had a high-blood child.”

Bas made a sound of impatience. “So instead they put you up for sale?”

She hunched a shoulder. “As a group, the colony had always sympathized with the Brotherhood. They believed in their cause.”

“What about your parents?” he demanded. “It didn’t matter to them that they had a daughter who was a high-blood?”

“They just wanted to forget they had me.” She lowered her gaze, but not before Bas could see the savage sense of betrayal in her dark eyes. “Until I had my vision and they realized I could make them a lot of money.”

The table nearly shattered as Bas slapped his hand on the glass surface.

“I’m going to kill them.”

* * *

Myst bit back a curse.

Dammit. She was handling this all wrong.

Not that it was entirely her fault.

How could she have known that Bas would react as if he was personally offended by the fact her parents would see her as a means to an easy paycheck? He’d been determined to drive her out of Molly’s life from the moment she showed up in Kansas City.

Or was this just another act to try and keep her off guard? Just like the perfect dinner and the charming baby stories about Molly?

He was an assassin.

They were infamous for playing games with people’s heads.

Setting aside his empty wineglass, Bas glared at her as if she was to blame for being hunted like an animal.

“I don’t even know if they’re still alive,” she muttered, giving a shake of her head. She’d never felt more than an obligatory sense of duty toward her parents and the small community, but she’d never dreamed they would actually be willing to barter her like a piece of property. “They were both older when I was born.”

“Tell me what happened,” he commanded.

She wanted to condemn him to hell. He had no right to probe into her past. Unfortunately, he had every right to keep her away from Molly if he wanted. She’d give him anything he demanded for the opportunity to spend these few precious days with her daughter.

Her gaze lowered to where her fingers were twisted in her lap.

“I told you I’m a clairvoyant.”

“So you said, but you were unable to give me a reading.”

Most clairvoyants were able to touch a person and witness a brief glimpse into their future. It was usually no more than a slice in time that offered little information.

“I’m not a seer,” she admitted.

She could sense his surprise.

“You’re a foreseer?”

She gave a grudging nod. She couldn’t see the future of individuals. Instead she was given visions that affected the entire world.

“Unfortunately.”

There was a blast of heat as Bas moved to stand next to her chair. She shivered. Yow. He always ran hot, but this was . . . intense.

“It’s a rare gift,” he murmured.

“Not a gift.” She gave a short, humorless laugh. “A curse.”

Without warning Myst found her chair being turned to the side so Bas could crouch in front of her. She blinked, unnerved to discover his fiercely beautiful face only inches from her own.

“Why?”

Her heart raced as she met the bronze gaze.

Annoyance? Fear? Excitement?

Probably a combination of all three.

Grimly squaring her shoulders, she pretended she wasn’t acutely aware of the erotic chemistry that smoldered between them.

“Because on my fifteenth birthday I foresaw that I would create a powerful weapon that would be used by our enemies.”

“A weapon?” His brows pulled together. “What does that mean?”

“I’m not sure,” she admitted. The vision had come without warning. One minute she’d been standing in the community center preparing for dinner, and the next she’d fallen onto the floor, the prophecy wrenched from her lips as her mind had exploded with horrifying images of the future. “I just saw blood and death being spread through Valhalla.”

She braced herself, prepared for Bas’s shock, or even revulsion, at her revelation.

Instead it was anger that tightened his aquiline features. “And your family decided that the answer was to sell you?”

She blinked.

She’d just told him she was destined to bring blood and death to Valhalla and his response was to be angry at her family?

That was . . .

Myst sternly squashed the flare of tenderness that threatened to destroy the barriers she’d built around her heart. She was vulnerable enough where Bas was concerned, thank you very much.

“They understood that the Brotherhood would pay a great deal for such a lethal weapon,” she tried to explain.

The bronze eyes narrowed. “And the Brotherhood agreed?”

She didn’t miss the hint of disgust