20

The prince believes only his family members know of this portal, but it doesn’t mean he won’t check.”

I almost expected her to vanish in a puff of smoke, but she climbed through the mausoleum entrance, her shuffling gait forcing us to wait before we could follow.

“So much for a quick exit.” Jason chuckled as he spoke, but Kyle sent him a glower.

“We have superspeed, Jason. I plan to use mine.” His tone was almost a challenge, and as soon as Lettie had moved far enough away, Jason took off, almost a blur on the horizon as he raced toward the airport.

Perhaps Lettie had utilized a puff of smoke after all because she was nowhere to be seen when I walked into the daylight. Sebastian secured the old door so it looked undisturbed, and then we jogged away, picking up speed until we couldn’t be seen by the human eye as I clutched Leia protectively.

My jet was standing on the runway as we approached, and I slowed to a jog, confident Francois wouldn’t reach us this quickly. I glanced at Leia, and her skin had taken on a green tinge.

“What the hell?” Her voice sounded weak, and she swallowed convulsively.

“Shh,” I soothed her. “You’re safe now.”

“I feel kinda sick, though.” She grimaced as she grumbled at me, and for the first time since she’d been taken, I laughed, actual joy swelling in my chest and bubbling out of me.

I clutched her tighter. “Puke anywhere you like. As long as I’ve got you back, I don’t care.”

“Uh. Eww.” Jason grinned as he gestured for me to carry Leia up the steps.

I half-expected her to protest and demand to walk, but if anything, she snuggled closer, her arms winding tighter around my neck.

“I promise you’re safe now.” I made my words low and emphatic. “I’ve got you.”

And I didn’t intend to let her go again, but probably that would be a declaration too far when I didn’t know what she’d suffered at the hands of Francois.

I slowed down at the seat I’d occupied in the main cabin, and my men made themselves comfortable as my flight attendant closed the main door and got us secured for take-off, but I didn’t want to share Leia or surround her with vampires.

I settled us on the bed in the private cabin the back, but I didn’t loosen my grip on her, and she didn’t loosen hers on me.

“You know,” I said. “If you didn’t like the clothes I selected for you… If you prefer something with more lace and ruffles, you only needed to have said.”

She barked out a short laugh but pressed her lips together, the color fading from them. I wanted to bury my nose into her hair and inhale her right down to my toes, to reassure myself I had her with me, that I didn’t need to be without her ever again.

My eyes prickled and I blinked against the unfamiliar sensation. A shudder worked through my chest, and I clamped down on it, but an anguished noise pushed past my lips as Leia turned her face to look at me.

I exhaled my sadness in gasping breaths as I covered those beautiful brown eyes with my hand, not wanting her to see more than I was ready to reveal. Then I pressed a soft, desperate kiss to her forehead as a single tear tracked down my cheek.

I’d come too close to losing everything. And I wouldn’t make that same mistake twice.

7

Leia

I

 stood on the balcony outside my room, looking out over Nicolas’s driveway, my arms wrapped around my waist. Nicolas stood like a sentry at the wall behind me. He’d been that way for days, a silent witness to everything I did, but his presence comforted me.

He didn’t try to make me speak, and he didn’t pepper my day with useless conversation. He seemed to understand when I flinched at the smallest of noises or when I resisted leaving the room, and he didn’t make me do more than I was ready for.

As a car approached along the road, still far enough away that it was a silver blur as the sunlight reflected from it, I retreated into the bedroom and Nicolas tugged the curtains closed after he stepped inside. Then he turned on the lamps, allowing a soft glow to permeate the room before taking a seat on one of the armchairs.

I usually confined myself to the bed, but I sat across from him today, tucking my feet underneath me. He looked at me, his eyes wide, his gaze startled.

“Thank you,” I said, my voice rough because I’d barely used it the past few days.

Nicolas had anticipated my every need—turning on the shower before I announced I was about to take one, bringing Chef’s hot chocolate when I craved the comfort of excessive whipped cream and marshmallows, and tucking me in when he thought I’d already fallen asleep.

Each night, I deliberately stayed awake to experience the care of him drawing the comforter to my chin and stroking his hand over my hair so gently he might have actually been an angel rather than the vampire I knew him to be.

He hadn’t asked me for anything, but since I’d returned to his home, he’d given me everything.

Space to process.

Freedom to be quiet.

Safety so I didn’t need to worry.

“For what?” His voice startled me, even though I’d spoken to him before becoming lost in my thoughts.

“For finding me. I think…” I swallowed. “I think you saved my life.” I’d considered my time with Francois since I’d returned to Nicolas’s home, Vitam Immortalem, and I couldn’t see how I would have survived if Nicolas hadn’t rescued me. I shrugged. “Maybe Francois would have allowed me to exist, but would I really have been alive? Locked away from the world? Subject to his whims? Forgotten by everyone?”