Duncan (The Protectors #3)(41)

Once at the door, he held her with one arm while getting his key card out of his pocket. Sliding it, the door clicked. Holding the door open with his leg, he put the key card back in his pocket then headed inside to his office.

Jill held on to his neck trying not to look at him. She hated when people were mad at her. It had always been that way. It drove her crazy. With her family, they weren’t mad at her for being a half-breed; they were scared of her and didn’t want to be anywhere near her, but Slade was mad. He set her gently on the table, but his touch left her abruptly.

“Listen, I’m sorry.” Jill scooted further back on the table wincing when pain radiated up her leg. “I shouldn’t have run off like that.”

Slade didn’t say a word, not even a grunt as he pulled off his leather jacket tossing it on a chair.

Knowing without a doubt that he wasn’t going to take her apology, she frowned getting ready to hop off the table and leave. She had caused him enough problems since she met him; she was done causing him anymore. Just like her family. They didn’t want her around, so she disappeared. She would do the same with him.

“If you get off that table, I’m going to blister your ass.” Slade’s back was still to her, but his voice stopped her cold.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” Slade finally turned around, his face still set in stone, beautiful carved stone. “Move off that table and your leg will be the least of your worries.”

“You wouldn’t,” Jill replied, but the look in his eyes said he would.

“Don’t test me, Jill.” Slade reached out to touch her shoulder. “Did you damage your shoulder?”

“No.” Jill jumped when he hit a sore spot proving she was a liar.

His eyes narrowed. “What about your leg?” He ran his hand down her leg with pressure and frowned when she jerked. “I guess that’s fine also.” His tone was sarcastic.

“You know what?” Jill pushed him away before sliding off the table. “The good thing about being a half-breed, actually the only good thing about it is I heal fast.”

“Not if you don’t feed.” Slade shot back blocking her way to the door. “You’re strength is compromised by your choice to not feed when you need to.”

“You know that’s none of your business.” Jill side stepped, but he side stepped with her.

“None of my business?” Slade’s eyes darkened slightly making Jill step back. Slade pressed forward. “You almost killed an innocent. When confronted about why you haven’t been feeding, you put everyone, including yourself, in danger by jumping out of a moving vehicle, and if that’s not bad enough, you find yourself in the middle of God knows what, where I have to kill two men. So yeah, this is my f*cking business.”

“I said I was sorry.” Jill knew without a doubt her time with the Warriors was over. “I’ll go pack and be out of here.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Slade yelled finally losing his cool.

“I screwed up, okay,” Jill yelled back. “I put everyone in danger, you said so yourself. I can’t be trusted, so I’m taking myself out of the program before I’m put out.”

“You need to feed, Jill,” Slade demanded.

Frustrated beyond belief, Jill felt all the rage of being turned and losing everything come bubbling to the surface. “I know that, dammit. Don’t you think I f*cking know that?” She threw her good arm in the air. “But who the hell do I have to feed from? The other half-breeds have those bitches they feed from. All those women want is to mate with a Warrior; they want nothing to do with me, and believe me, the feeling is mutual. I got the message loud and clear when I went to them the first time to feed.”

“But that’s their job. They get paid by the council to take care of…”

“Male Warriors and half-breeds, not some chick that’s trying to keep up with the boys,” Jill shot back.

“Then they need to be fired,” Slade replied with an angry sneer.

“Oh, yeah. That will make me popular with the unmated males around here,” Jill snorted. “Get rid of the hot, sexy blood banks because the poor little half-breed girl is whining about it. No, I don’t think so.”

She missed the grin that tipped his lips. “But that is their job, to supply blood,” Slade added again.

“Why can’t they have hot, sexy male blood banks walking around for the women? Huh? I mean how would you feel latching your lips on Sid or Jared?” Her eyes finally shot to his in time to see him shiver with revulsion. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“You should have gone to Duncan with this.” Some of Slade’s irritation had left his tone.

“For three months, Duncan has not been here. Even when he was sitting behind his desk, he wasn’t here. Pam’s disappearance was more than enough for him to handle, not my little problem.” When he started to open his mouth, she shook her head knowing what he was going to stay next.

“This is not a little problem,” Slade argued staring into her mismatched eyes.

“I learned a hard lesson after I was turned. Once you become a problem, you’re put out. When I was turned, I went home, but it was too much for my family, so I left. They were afraid of me, but I was still me. If I become a problem here, I have nowhere else to go.” She looked away from his eyes, feeling uncertain. “If I leave now, I can still keep the friends I’ve made here. I wasn’t that lucky with my family.”