Unclaimed: The Master and His Soul Seer Pet: A New Adult College Vampire Romance by Clarise Tan, Marian Tee, The Passionate Proofreader

understand .” I lifted my eyes to Alexandru. “I saw her, Master. She was still burning, and it was still my fault. The demon’s dead, but I still end up killing her. Why?”

Chapter Eight

    ALEXANDRU AND ZARI

    Zari and Alexandru only had a moment alone when they made it to her Master’s room. He had carried her in his arms all the way back to the resort, and when the other girls from school saw them, he had simply said, “She fainted.”
    Even though she was weak and tired, the excuse had her gritting her teeth. When they entered the elevator, she hissed, “Master, couldn’t you have been more imaginative?”
    But the vampire hunter with legendary cunning and skills only threw her a blank look. “What’s wrong about that?”
    She sent Katarina a commiserating look before she realized what she was doing. She stilled. Would the other woman think she was rubbing salt in her wound?
    But then she heard the female hunter laugh, and Zari almost sighed in relief.
    “How can you be so smart and be an idiot at the same time?”
    Zari gasped at Katarina’s words.
    The other woman snorted. “If a girl keeps fainting, what do you think is the first thing that would occur to other people?” When Alexandru’s cheeks stained with color at her pointed question, she crossed her arms over her chest. “ Exactly. You made everyone think she’s pregnant with your child.”
    The elevator doors opened to her floor, and stepping out, Katarina asked Zari over her shoulder, “Are you sure you think he’s really what you want, Lady Zari?”
    The doors closed before she could answer.
    Alexandru glanced at her with a raised eyebrow.
    “I’m still thinking.” But Zari ended up gasping and laughing a little, even though it hurt to do so, as he suddenly shifted her in his hold. Her arms went around his neck, her legs wrapped around his waist as Alexandru pushed her back against the wall.
    Supporting Zari with just one arm, Alexandru tucked loose strands of her hair behind her ears. After the fucking scare his pet had given him, he savored even the smallest things and would never take for granted the chance to touch her like this.
    He asked, “Made up your mind yet?”
    She couldn’t answer right away, his playful tone wreaking havoc on her senses.
    Alexandru flicked her forehead.
    “Oww,” she exclaimed, more out of surprise than anything else.
    Suddenly, he bent his head, and their foreheads touched.
    A ragged sigh escaped him, and she stiffened at the sound. “What’s wrong?”
    “I thought I almost lost you.” His voice was a strained whisper, and it was the first time she had heard him speak like this. He looked up, and he flicked her head again.
    Zari would have found it touching if it hadn’t hurt a bit more. “What’s that for now?”
    “For lying to me.”
    “Lying to you? ”
    “You said you were fine!” The elevator doors parted open, and manners prevented Alexandru from continuing. He carried her out of the elevator, his hard embrace telling her it was far from over.
    Entering his suite, he kicked the door shut and, in a blink of an eye, they were on his bed, Zari flat on her back and Alexandru looming over her with a scowl on his handsome face.
    “You were bleeding all over,” he hissed. “ Here. Here. Here .” He touched her eyes, her ears, her lips. “ You were dying !” Just remembering it made his hand shake.
    The raw fear in Alexandru’s gaze had Zari placing her hand against his cheek. “But I’m alive now.”
    “By the fucking skin of your teeth,” he bit out.
    Since she couldn’t argue that, she just said, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I terrified you. I didn’t mean to. Lady Katarina had it under control.”
    He shook his head. “What she fucking did was a wild guess,” he said tightly, “and you were just damn lucky it paid off!”
    She tried to find something positive to say and only ended up with a cliché. “But Master, all’s well that—”
    Alexandru snarled, “You won’t