Blood Will Tell (Warriors of Ankh #1) by Samantha Young

jerking his head around to glare at her.
    Eden felt her face flush with anger, and she bit her nails into her hands to control an unexpected flare of temper. “What’s your problem? It was just a question.”
    “ It was a stupid question.”
    “ It’s not a stupid question!”
    His face twisted and suddenly Eden felt as if he knew what she was asking; knew and despised her for it. She flinched back, feeling ill with panic. “If you’re asking me if I think it’s OK to protect yourself from someone hurting you by hurting them, then yeah, it’s an act of survival, self-defence. But if you’re asking me-”
    “ Asking you what?” she snarled, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. Why did she feel like he knew? Did he know? No he can’t.
    The colour seemed to leach from his cheeks as he caught her look. Noah smoothed out his expression and leaned back against the chair. “I know this Teagan thing is bothering you, and I know you’re frustrated, but you can’t start having morbid thoughts, Eden. That’s not you. And you can find a way out of whatever your sick parents have planned without hurting the guy.”
    Eden’s racing heart slowed as realisation dawned. He thought she was talking about the Teagan situation. She flopped back against the passenger seat and cast him a wan smile. “How did you know I wasn’t just asking a philosophical question?”
    Noah smirked. “Because, you never ask questions unless they mean something. So you should know if you ask me something twisted and violent, I’ll pretty much know you’re talking from intent or experience.”
    Eden laughed and let the silence fall between them.
    But as she thought over Noah’s adamant reaction, the hush grew uncomfortable rather than soothing. He had been so vehement, so disgusted by the idea of hurting someone. In fact his reaction had been a little out there but then… Noah was a little out there. That’s what she liked about him.
    But that look he’d given her. The disdain. The disappointment. She hadn’t imagined that.
    Who was she kidding? If Noah ever found out the truth about her, she’d be dead to him. And that was the one thing she didn’t think she could make it through.
    Throwing him a glare from out of the corner of her eye, Eden tried to concentrate on her breathing exercises. Damn this human who had come into her life and made himself so important to her; had made coming to terms with her inner monster that much more difficult to bear.
    “ Let’s go back.” She sighed, not daring to look at him.
     
    ***
     
    He watched as Romany slowly stirred, sliding her hand along the sheets, searching for him. Noah knew she was awake as soon her hand came away empty. She grunted and brushed her hair off her face, her eyes sweeping the room until they found him, sitting on the sofa across from the bed. Romany groaned and shuffled up into a sitting position, holding the sheet over her.
    “ What’s wrong?” She murmured, her sleepy eyes adjusting to the light, as dim as it was.
    “ Couldn’t sleep.”
    “ Tell me,” she prompted quietly and Noah sighed, relaxing back into the sofa.
    He hadn’t been happy when she’d turned up at his door again last night. It had been a long week, and his and Eden’s relationship had grown quickly estranged again. He had been waiting for his moment to tell her the truth, but he’d messed up that day in the car and now he couldn’t get her alone at school and she refused to meet him outside school again.
    As always, Romany helped him relax for a while. She was good at that.
    Like Alain, Noah had always taken himself a little too seriously. It was hard to see unless you knew him really well because he was the youngest of the Ankh and was determined to remain so. He kept up with pop culture better than any of them and he enjoyed the freedom of his youthful looks. But when it came to assignments… Noah was tough and unwavering and often hard on himself.
    He’d met Romany three years ago when she was