17

As I began to slide my hand over the comforter, searching for the blade I’d hidden, he grabbed my wrist and yanked me to my feet before pressing me against the wall, the movement so fast it was almost a blur.

I whimpered. “Please, Francois. Please, no.”

“Please, ma petite,” he groaned in response. “I long for you.”

I struggled against him, but the long skirts tangled around my legs, and he grabbed my wrists, jerking my arms over my head as he pressed closer and dropped his head forward, resting his nose at the crook of my neck. His tongue touched my skin, and he groaned.

“I need—” His voice was hoarse. “I need to claim you before I go… I want…You’re my bride, my queen.” As he spoke, he rocked against me, and his fangs grazed over my skin.

“I’m not willing, Francois.” I pushed against him, arching my back and twisting my head away, my voice emerging thready and desperate. I didn’t entirely know why I had to be willing, but that much seemed important to all of them, so maybe it made a difference to tell him I wasn’t.

“You will be mine,” he murmured. But he lifted his head a little. “You will be my queen.” He pushed against me again, grinding his body hard against mine. “And you’ll love me.”

His last words were a plea, but I closed my eyes against the monster determined to have me.

“Fuck!” His shouted word echoed from the walls, crashing around us as he stumbled backward. He sank into a crouch and covered his face with his hands. “I need to wait. I need to wait.”

He looked at me, his fangs fully descended, his face a mask of barely restrained lust.

“Run,” he roared, and I yelped, looking at the door.

Francois growled, a sound that vibrated right through me, and I ran in the opposite direction, crashing through the door of the bathroom and slamming it behind me then throwing home the bolt. I pressed my ear to the door, listening to the sounds from the bedroom, picking up the heavy breaths as Francois struggled to control himself.

Then I jumped back as something slammed against the door. A fist?

“Don’t come out, ma petite. Hide.” His voice was close, just the other side of the wood. There was another, gentler bump. A forehead? A fist without force?

I stood back, arms around myself. He could burst in here anytime he wanted, make his claim. Use me unwillingly. He was stronger than me. He’d always win. Always.

“Hide from me.” He sounded as broken as I’d ever heard him, and I backed away, tucking myself into the corner behind the old claw-footed bath. My stake was in the other room, but I couldn’t get it.

Forget the point of nothing left to lose. Everything was already lost.

6

Nic

W

e appeared on the other side of the old witch’s portal and stood in a garden. A garden that smelled suspiciously like—I inhaled deeply… It smelled like death. Dew coated the rich lawn and formed droplets on the leaves above, but body-shaped lumps in the grass drew my attention.

“Fuck,” I ground out. “What the hell has Francois been doing?”

“Is… Is Leia…?” Kyle glanced at me, rare uncertainty in his eyes.

“No.” Sebastian bit out the answer before I could reply. “Nothing out here carries Leia’s scent.”

Kyle glanced at him suspiciously before redirecting his focus to me, and I swallowed against the unwelcome reminder that my brother knew my mate’s scent almost as intimately as did.

“Sebastian’s right,” I said, my voice rough. “Leia isn’t buried here. And the decay is too old.”

Kyle nodded. “Okay then. Let’s get to the house. The witch said Temple told her the best way to get in is via a side entrance. He said staffing is at a minimum during the hours after Francois leaves for the restaurant. He knows people who work inside.”

I nodded. “Let’s go,” I agreed and took off running, ducking as I hurried under the cover of low-hanging trees, until the main house was a short distance away across an open expanse of lawn. I watched for a moment, noting the shadows passing across the windows. “It certainly looks busy in there, Kyle.”

He grimaced then shrugged. “Things must have changed.”

I chuckled, the sound dark. “Unless Temple sent us into an ambush, right?”

“This is our only chance, though.” Jason crept up alongside me. “We’ve got a witch holding open a portal and Leia is in that building. We won’t get a do-over.”

A low growl rumbled through me. Fuck. I liked plans, I liked order. I didn’t like the unexpected. I couldn’t control that. I made my hands into tight fists. “All right. Let’s go.”

We were blurs racing across the lawn, although fellow vampires would have seen us if they’d happened to glance out of one of the windows. I slammed against the wall, my attention distracted for just a moment, and a crack appeared in the masonry.

“You usually land better than that.” Jason’s voice was a low murmur at my ear.

“Yeah. Saw something weird in one of the windows.”

“Oh?” He quirked an eyebrow.

“Yeah. Just let me check.” I darted away but was soon back at his side. “Fuck. There’s a wedding dress hanging in one of the rooms.”

“Then we can’t wait, brother. How does it look? Unworn?” Sebastian rested his hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off.

“How the fuck am I supposed to know if she’s worn it?”

“Blood stains around the neckline?” Seb turned as if looking for something, and I almost laughed at his complete lack of tact. “Where’s that fucking door?” he mumbled.

Kyle whistled low from further away. “It’s over here,” he whispered. “We have to do this thing now. We haven’t got time to waste peering in windows.”