All Chapters of Sold To A Vampire : Chapter 31 - Chapter 37

RUBY POV Not being myself for weeks had gotten difficult, mostly thanks to my stepmother and stepsister, who had all but moved in at this point, unpacking their lives into every corner of a house that used to feel like mine. Zyren's sister had turned up a few days ago too, though honestly, I couldn't bring myself to care about that particular addition to the chaos.My life was a mess. But then, whose story wasn't, if you looked closely enough.I'd tried to move on from my past. Simple enough in theory. Not that hard, right?Wait — who was I kidding.It had been brutal, actually, and it had taken days just to stop crying myself to sleep like some tragic heroine in a novel nobody asked to read. Eventually I'd had to grow up, put on my big-girl face, and act like an adult for once in my life.So I got out of bed and made my way to the bathroom.The mirror was not kind. My hair looked like it had survived a small war, and my eyes were swollen from more crying than I'd like to admit to. I

ZYREN I heard him before I saw them.Andrew's voice, easy and warm, the same voice he used on every woman who ever made the mistake of thinking he meant it. I was halfway down the hall when the words reached me, clear as anything.I love you. I'd do anything for you.Something in my chest went very still, and very cold.I don't remember deciding to move. One second I was standing at the top of the stairs, the next I was watching my own hand wrapped loosely around the banister like it was the only thing keeping me from doing something I couldn't take back.He was too close to her. That was the first thing I noticed. The second was the look on her face — not soft, not swooning, nothing close to what he probably wanted. Just tired. Wary. Like she'd heard this before and hadn't liked it the first time either.That should have made it easier to breathe. It didn't."Take your hand off her."I hadn't touched him yet, hadn't even raised my voice, but I felt the room shift the second I spoke —

RUBY I watched him sleep. His chest rose and fell in a slow, steady rhythm, peaceful in a way that almost hurt to look at. The nightmare that had clawed at him earlier had finally loosened its grip. One arm rested above his head, the other low across his stomach. The soft glow of the bedside lamp traced gold along every hard line of his body—those arms strong enough to break a man without effort, the sharp cut of his jaw, the full mouth that looked almost soft in sleep. The old ache rose in my chest again. Everything he had endured at the hands of his family… I knew versions of it. The difference was that he had power. He could stand above them. I was still the powerless one, the ordinary girl Cecilia and my stepmother could grind under their heels whenever they pleased. My gaze drifted lower, lingering on the curve of his lips. God, those lips. And the rest of him—every inch of that body looked carved for sin. Heat pooled low in my belly, uninvited and relentless. *I wish h

RUBY POV I was so happy when we had sex, and the way he didn’t even flinch when Isolde walked in on us — that got to me. I was embarrassed, sure, mortified even, but he didn’t care. I think Zyren forgot to lock the door, or maybe he just didn’t think to. Either way, none of that mattered to me. I don’t think I’m just a toy to him, or some warm body to pass the time with. I think he loves me — really loves me. What worries me is him getting hurt trying to protect me from his family. Something’s off there. I can feel it, even if I can’t put my finger on what exactly is going on. His phone buzzed on the nightstand beside me. I nudged him awake — he’d passed out cold, worn out from earlier. He glanced at the screen and hissed under his breath, then leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead before slipping out of the room to take the call-kind of suspicious though. ZYREN POV I went outside, making sure I was far enough that Ruby couldn’t hear me. I unlocked my phone — Isolde’