Terror at the Gates (Blood of Lilith, #1)

by Scarlett St. Clair

“Are you going to let me have that knife back?” “No.” “Zahariev,” I said, turning toward him. “I need—” “I’ll take care of it,” he said, cutting me off. “I don’t want your help,” I said. “I want to do this myself.” I needed to, for reasons he wouldn’t understand. “I know you want to,” he said, meeting my gaze. “But right now, you can’t, so let me take care of it.” I appreciated his offer, truly. There was comfort in knowing that he would help me if things got bad, but I was capable, and I wanted to earn my living. “If you would just let me work—” “Lilith, we have been through this.” “No one has to know,” I said. “Isiah didn’t know me!” “And look where that got him,” Zahariev countered. “Where did it get him, Zahariev?” “In the fucking ground,” he said. “You didn’t.” A twinge of guilt turned my stomach. “We have rules in Nineveh, Lilith. You know them well. He threatened you. He touched you. He gave up his life. Imagine the bodies that would pile up if you danced for me.” “Those rules don’t apply when I work for you.” “That’s the problem, isn’t it?” “Fuck you,” I said. I’d come here to escape one prison, and he wanted to put me in another. “You might not pay me, but that doesn’t mean other men won’t.”