“Liam Tarasova, come forward.”

The vampire who strode toward the dais was of medium height with short, dark brown hair and heavy-lidded brown eyes.

“Liam Tarasova, as Master of the Carpathian Coven, I appoint you as the thirteenth member of the Council. Do you accept the responsibility this task entails, and do you now swear to uphold our laws? Yea or nay?”

“Yea, my lord.”

“So let it be recorded,” Drake said solemnly. “So let it be done.”

“So let it be recorded,” the Council members said. “Done and done.”

“One last matter of business,” Drake said. “I have never approved of keeping humans as sheep. It is my intention to offer them their freedom.”

This announcement elicited a gasp from everyone in the room, including Elena.

Liliana stood, her whole body quivering with outrage. “You have no right—”

“I have every right,” Drake retorted sharply, “given to me by your own hand. Sit down.”

Liliana glared at him, her eyes burning bright red, and then she vanished from the chamber.

“I intend to give the sheep their freedom if they so wish it,” Drake said again. “If they choose to stay, they will no longer be prisoners. They will be allowed the run of the first three floors of the Fortress. They may stay or go at their pleasure, but those who decide to leave will have all memory of this place and what happened to them here erased from their minds. Further, I revoke the decree making it unlawful for humans and vampires to marry.”

This announcement was met with gasps of surprise as well as exclamations of disbelief from those present.

“So let it be recorded,” Drake said solemnly. “So let it be done.”

There were whispered murmurs from the members of the Council before they gave their unanimous approval.

“I declare this convocation closed until further notice.”

As one, the Council members filed out of the chamber, followed by Liam, until only Drake and Elena remained.

He stood there a moment, his head bowed, before he reached for her. “So, wife, what say you?”

“I don’t know what to say. Your mother . . .”

“Reacted exactly as I expected,” he said.

“I don’t know which upset her more, your decision to free the sheep, your decision to give Katiya to Andrei, or your declaration that our annulment was stricken.”

“She will accept my decisions or not. If she refuses to abide by my laws, she will be banished.”

“You’d make your own mother leave here when you know how much she loves it?”

“My first loyalty is to the Coven. If I cannot enforce my laws, if I cannot command obedience and respect from my own mother, then I do not deserve to be Master of the Coven.” He ran his fingertips over her lips. “No more talk of vampire business tonight.”

Before Elena could respond, they were in the living room of Drake’s apartment. There were dozens of red roses in a sparkling crystal vase on the coffee table. Soft music played in the background, candlelight illuminated the room with a pale golden glow.

“Are you hungry, wife?” he asked.

“Famished,” she murmured.

“What are you in the mood for?”

“I’m not sure.”

He quirked an eyebrow at her. “How about something tall, dark, and dangerous?”

“Perhaps,” she said, frowning. “Of course, almost every man in the Fortress seems to be tall, dark, and dangerous.”

Drake growled at her in mock anger. “Careful, wife.”

“Yes, my lord.” She slipped her hands under his shirt, then splayed her fingers across his chest. “Is this careful enough?”

He nipped the lobe of her ear. “I warn you, you are playing with fire.”

“Will you show me the flames?”

“Just look into my eyes.”

Sweeping her into his arms, he carried her into the bedroom. There were more roses in here, as well as a pair of candles on the bedside table, along with a bottle of red wine and two cut-crystal goblets. Red rose petals were scattered over the bed.

Elena looked up at him, a question in her eyes.

“I hoped we would end up here sometime tonight,” he said, grinning.

“Well,” she purred, “here we are.”

“And here we will stay,” he said, lowering her onto the mattress, “at least for a few more days.”

“Then what?”

“Let us not talk of that now.”

He wished away his clothes and her own. Pulling her into his warm embrace, he kissed her. At the first touch of his mouth on hers, she forgot everything but her need for this man above all else.

She ran her hands over the broad expanse of his chest, along his arms, dragged her fingertips across his belly, loving the way he responded to her touch, the way his muscles bunched and flexed beneath her questing fingertips as she trailed her hand lower, lower. He groaned deep in his throat as he stretched out on his side, then aligned her body with his, so that they were pressed intimately together from shoulder to thigh, their legs entwined.

Her breath caught in her throat as he began a slow, sweet exploration of her body, his hands trailing fire, his tongue a flame as it dueled with hers.

She clutched his shoulders when he rose over her, lifted her hips, eager to receive him, to feel the welcome weight of his body covering hers as two became one, joined flesh to flesh, and heart to heart.

Chapter 30

Elena spent the next day much as she had spent the previous one—reading, watching movies, listening to music, thumbing through the daily papers, thinking how strange it was that people lived their lives never knowing that vampires dwelled in their midst. Time and again, she glanced at her watch, willing the hours and minutes to pass more quickly.

Drake appeared in the living room shortly after she finished dinner. Taking her in his arms, he kissed her. “How was your day?”

“Lonely, without you.”

“You must know I would spend my days with you if I could.”

“I know.”

“For now, I have business to attend to. Do you wish to accompany me?”

“Of course!”

“Come along, then,” he said, and taking her by the hand, he led her into the dining hall.

Elena was surprised to see the sheep assembled there. Tables had been added to accommodate several couples with babies and young children. She had never seen children in the Fortress.

The tension in the hall practically crackled when Drake walked through the door. Glancing at the faces of the sheep, Elena noticed that they all wore the same wary expression, like patients awaiting bad news.

Drake’s gaze swept the room, and the tension in the hall grew thicker.

“As you know,” he said without preamble, “there has been a change in leadership. I am now the Master of the Coven and as such, I have instituted several changes, most of which do not concern you. There is, however, one change that will affect you all.”

Elena watched the sheep. Some stirred restlessly, as if sensing danger. Several of the couples held tighter to their children, their expressions fearful. Northa and Marta looked at Elena. She smiled, hoping to reassure them.

“I realize you have been born here,” Drake went on, “and that you have known no other life but this one. I am now offering you a choice. You may stay here, if you wish, or you may leave.”

The sheep stared at Drake and then at each other.

“I am sure you have questions,” he said. “Feel free to ask them.”

And still the sheep stared at him as if he were speaking a foreign language.

“I am offering you your freedom,” Drake said.

Finally, one of the men spoke up. He was young, perhaps nineteen. A little girl with pigtails sat on his lap. “Where would we go? Who would take care of us?”

“Who would feed us?” asked another man.

“We don’t know anything of the outside world,” Marta said. “Who is going to teach us what we need to know?”

“If you wish to leave, we will teach you how to survive in the outside world,” Drake said. “If you wish to stay, you will no longer be prisoners. You will be permitted access to the first three floors of the Fortress and to go outside when you wish. But you will not be permitted to pass beyond a certain point.”

“Then aren’t we still prisoners?” one of the men asked.

“It is for our protection,” Drake said. “And yours. If you wish to leave, you may do so at any time, but we must know first.”

“Will you still feed off us?” Northa asked.

“Yes, in exchange for feeding and housing you, but you will no longer be compelled to go with anyone you dislike. Nor will you be punished for refusing. Think about what I have said. You do not need to make any decisions tonight. Until decisions have been made, you will continue to stay in your rooms. That is all.”

“Do you think any of them will stay?” Elena asked when they returned to Drake’s apartment.

“Who can say? What would you do?”

Sitting on the sofa, she kicked off her shoes. “I don’t know. If I’d never lived anywhere else, never had the freedom to do as I pleased”—she shook her head—“I think I’d be afraid to leave, even though I think I’d want to.”

“You were brave enough to run away from your uncle.”

“That was different. I wasn’t a prisoner in his house. And I wasn’t going outside for the first time.”

Drake nodded as he took the seat beside her.

“What do you think they’ll do?” Elena asked. “And if they all leave . . . ?” She wasn’t quite sure how to phrase the next question, but Drake knew what she meant.

“I think the single men and some of the women will go. I know several of the females have strong feelings for some of my brothers. I think they will stay. Perhaps the couples, as well. As for what we would do if they all left . . .” He shrugged. “Every Coven has a Fortress like this one, but not all of them provide nourishment for those who live within its walls.”