Chapter 4
"A living sacrifice? But this scent..." Vincent murmured, his voice low and thoughtful.
He strolled over to the coffin and peeked inside. Instantly, his eyes flickered with an eerie glow, and his pupils became vertical slits.
He fixed his gaze on me inside the coffin, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Your Grace, this is just an unclean offering. She was sacrificed for breaking the code of virtue," Rayne blurted out, her voice urgent.
"Someone as distinguished as you shouldn't have to look at something so filthy!" she added, trying to shield Vincent from the sight.
Breaking the code of virtue?
Everyone in Toriville knew that any living sacrifice to Vincent had to be a virgin.
Anything else was pure blasphemy against him.
Rayne was Vincent's devoted follower. There was no way she didn't know this. So why was she trying to smear me as unclean?
Even though I felt dazed, my thoughts were still clear.
If she didn't recognize me, why would she be trying to throw dirt on me? What's she really after?
There was only one explanation. She'd known who I was all along.
And she was blocking Vincent's view, scared he'd figure out who I was.
"Get out of my way!" Vincent snapped.
"Do I ever need you to tell me what to do?" he said, his voice icy and full of authority.
Rayne flinched at his sharp tone and quickly stepped aside.
A cold hand pressed against my cheek, and the burning pain faded right away. My wounds started to heal.
Could he really be that python? But the hand on my face was definitely human, a man's hand.
I struggled to pry my heavy eyelids open, doubt swirling in my mind.
Through the slit, I glimpsed a face that was handsome, cold, and impossibly noble.
Once his hand passed over my face, the pain faded, my wounds healed, and my head cleared up.
"You called me cold-blooded, broke our contract, and dumped me for someone else. Now look at you. It serves you right, doesn't it?" Vincent's voice dripped with mockery.
Hearing his teasing tone and feeling the cold breath on my skin, I knew without a doubt that he was the black python, the Mountain God himself.
It had only been half a year. How did he end up looking like a man?
"Tell me, do you regret it?" Vincent roared, his voice thunderous with fury.
"Your Grace, why waste your temper on some random girl?" Rayne said, her voice thick with flattery.
"With your status, tons of women out there just are dying to catch your eye," she went on, her gaze practically sparkling.
Rayne stared at Vincent's handsome face, and her attitude turned shamelessly flirtatious. She reached out, her hands wandering up his chest without a care in the world.
"Get your filthy hands off me!" Vincent snapped.
With a casual backhand, Vincent sent Rayne flying about fifteen feet away.
She crashed to the ground, coughing up a mouthful of blood.
Samuel was so scared that he didn't dare go near his old flame. He just knelt there, trembling like a leaf.
He'd been guarding St. Van Shrine for centuries, and except for that one time Vincent went toe-to-toe with a black bear spirit, Samuel'd never seen him this furious.
"Your Grace, I messed up. It's my fault," Rayne pleaded, her voice shaking with fear.
She cast a bitter look at my coffin, then knelt obediently on the ground, not daring to move.
She blamed me for the fact that Vincent had never given her the time of day.
However, this wasn't my fault. I never asked to get mixed up with that damn snake.
And I had never fought for his attention while he was busy choking me half to death, crushing my bones to dust.
She could keep that "honor" if she wanted, because I didn't want anything to do with it.
Before I knew it, Vincent picked me up and out of the coffin, making me feel light as a feather.
His body was still freezing cold, and the chill made me shudder.
"Who hurt her?" Vincent demanded, his voice cold as ice.
He snapped, the chill in his words making everyone freeze.
"I-it's not our fault, Your Grace. It was, um, her family," Samuel stammered, voice shaking with fear.
No way Samuel would ever admit his own stupid son was the one who hurt me.
He just pinned it all on Isabella and my fiancé's family.
"My wife, take your clothes off and give me a baby!" Samuel's idiot son yelled, clueless about the danger he was in.
Seeing Vincent holding me, he actually tried to rush over and snatch me back, like he didn't care if he lived or died.
And just like that, he blurted out the truth that he tore my clothes and left me covered in bruises.
Samuel shot his idiot son a terrified look. The next second, Vincent kicked him hard, sending him flying.
The boy crashed into a tree and hit the ground like a pile of mush, limp and lifeless.
Samuel's heart twisted with pain, but he didn't dare make a sound. He knew just how terrifying Vincent's power was.
All he could do was seethe inside at how useless his son was, actually mouthing off about stealing a woman from Vincent.
"Go. I want every single person who hurt Jacqueline brought to me, no exceptions," Vincent commanded, his voice cold enough to freeze blood.
He swept a chilling, warning look over Rayne and Samuel before striding toward St. Van Shrine, holding me tight in his arms.
With the deadly chill radiating from him, I knew Malcolm's family and Isabella were doomed. There was no way they'd make it out alive.
I sprawled out on the lounging couch in the shrine, the black bear pelts beneath me chasing away the chill and finally letting some warmth seep into my bones.
"Do you really despise me that much?" Vincent grumbled, sounding genuinely put out.
His voice was right by my ear, laced with obvious annoyance.
Honestly, he sounded a little jealous and sulky.
I opened my eyes and gave him a look.