bryn n sinjin 02.5 - blood lust by h p mallory Page B

for the intrusion. It was probably more appropriate to say she even hoped I might be her next partner.
    “I am looking for Jack Jeffers,” I announced while taking another step closer to the man. I opened my eyes wide when I stared into his. There was obvious power there. Much more so than in the eyes of the soldier I encountered outside.
    “You found him,” he responded as he continued to scrutinize me.
    The bitter realization that this bastard was one who had abused Bryn, ruthlessly forcing himself on her, filled me with the same fiery heat that formerly threatened to overtake me. The rage inside me grew in its vastness. He was so large, easily outweighing her by more than double, and the thought of him hurting her so cruelly made my hands tremble with anticipation. I planned to rip him into pieces. I felt my fists curling at my sides and forced myself to release them. I had to calm down. Anger was simply another emotion; as such, it served no use or advantage to me. I had to control my inner gladiator; I had to be stronger than my instincts and the irresistible urge to kill.
    Jack’s eyes locked onto mine as he began fighting the power I planned to ensnare him in. This one would prove more difficult than I could have hoped for.
    I faced the woman next. “I respectfully suggest you stand up and kindly take a seat in that chair over there,” I said, motioning to the chair beside the bed. I immediately detected the stream of magic flowing from her and the sensation was strong. “And you would do well not to interfere,” I warned her before staring into her eyes. She immediately nodded, the only sign I needed to know that she was helplessly under my spell.
    She stood up and padded over to the chair before sitting down and facing forward, just like an obedient lapdog. I turned my attention back to Jack and found him studying me. Having broken eye contact with him, my power over his mind could now be threatened.
    Where were we? I began, while concentrating my control fully onto his eyes, sending my telepathic waves of persuasion in order to command his mind.
    “Who are you?” he demanded in a softer tone, saying the words much more slowly.
    You can consider me the dark angel of retribution, I replied, struggling in my quest to continue to manipulate his mind. He was certainly stronger than any Daywalker I had ever come across before. Betta mentioned as much to me, saying he was the only Daywalker who managed to live beyond his twenty-first birthday. I could only assume this was a source of his remarkable power, which he possessed in spades.
    “Retribution?” he repeated defiantly. His voice was beginning to slur as I channeled my power into him. The woman in the chair continued to sit there idly, staring straight ahead as though she were in a trance. Given the incessant flow of her magic, I was mildly surprised her mind was so malleable.
    I am here to avenge the Lady Bryn, I announced. As my jaw tightened, I reminded myself to calm down again. The intensity of my anger surprised even me. I readily admit my affection for the queen’s sister, but the vitriol, which continued billowing inside me, gave me more than enough reason for reflection. I had not endured an anger this deep in a very long time.
    “The Lady Bryn?” the bastard scoffed as he shook his head. “There’s nothing to avenge!”
    Abandoning all control of myself, I sailed across the room and gripped him by his throat, lifting him off the bed. The ire inside me began pumping through my veins. It took charge of me and its hold was powerful. “Nothing to avenge?” I seethed.
    He shook his head. “I didn’t do anything with her!”
    I narrowed my eyes on him as my fangs lengthened of their own accord. I released him and he dropped back onto the bed, scrambling in his effort to cover himself. Shaking his head, he appeared to be waking up from a heavy sleep. As soon as he looked at me, I recaptured his eyes with mine and forced my raw power back into