Author: Kalayna Price

The real Nathanial shuddered, his arms tensing around me.

The impaled copy vanished.

Tatius whirled and planted the dagger in another illusionary chest. Another doppelganger disappeared. Only four remained. Our slow glide toward the door picked up speed. Tatius spun. The dagger flew through the air, straight at us. Nathanial careened sideways, the dagger slicing through the material of his tux before burying itself halfway to the hilt in the door.

Found you, Tatius’s smug voice said inside my head.

I swallowed hard, clinging tighter to Nathanial. Tatius lifted his hand, not even the smallest bit of green left in his eyes.

He ignored the illusions darting at him, his intense gaze fixed on us. Nathanial’s fangs flashed, his pupils expanded, turned his eyes black.

The doppelgangers disappeared. Nathanial’s flight path changed. He was pouring all of his energy into making us invisible, but Tatius’s eyes tracked our movement.

A smirk twisted Tatius’s lips, and he clenched his fist as if snatching a butterfly out of the air. Nathanial froze. Then the ground jutted toward us as we dropped.

I crouched, absorbing the impact, but Nathanial hit the carpet hard, his body crumpling like a boneless doll—or like a puppet with limp strings.

Horror twisted my stomach as Tatius strolled across the room, casual-like, to retrieve his dagger. Nathanial never moved. My hands trembled as I reached down and lifted him under the arms. His pulse pounded against my palms, so he was alive, but he was dead weight. Only his eyes, wide and locked on me, showed he was conscious.

Dammit.

He couldn’t move. He would have if he could. Tatius had control of his body. And speaking of, Tatius was almost upon us. I looked around. I was strong and fast, but Nathanial hadn’t been a match for Tatius, and Nathanial could kick my ass while reading a book. Think of something, dammit.

Nothing emerged from my panicking mind. Which meant I was winging it or dying. Maybe both.

I lowered Nathanial and he slumped forward like a ragdoll.

Tatius, still strolling, was less than a yard away, his dagger flashing in the candlelight. I stepped between him and Nathanial.

“Move,” he said, stepping into my personal bubble.

“You made your point,” I said between gritted teeth.

“You’ve reestablished yourself as the biggest badass around. We get it.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Move.”

I didn’t.

I wasn’t familiar with vampire society, but I knew ‘ruled by the fittest’ structure. In Firth I’d been named Dyre, destined to take my father’s place as Torin, but if I’d stepped up as Torin, my position would have been challenged, hard. I’d left before I was old enough to be opposed, but if I’d have stayed, I’d have needed a deadly reputation to survive.

Tatius was no kitten amongst lions, but I had no doubt he had a reputation to maintain. With my issues with authority, you’d think I’d have appeasement tactics down. Instead I’d spent much of my life thankful I healed quickly. Not an option currently. If I didn’t diffuse this situation, one of us wasn’t walking out of the room alive.

I kept my gaze locked with Tatius’s but sank to my knees.

I was still in his path, still blocking him, but in a much more placating position. His eyes moved from my face to my neck.

No, not just my neck, but to his bite marks in my throat. I brushed aside my hair, giving him a better view of the wound.

“You made your point,” I said again. “There were no witnesses. There’s nothing more to prove.” Because what happened behind closed doors was always easier to forgive.

“Are you bargaining for your master’s life?” Tatius frowned at me, but a rim of green appeared around his pupils. “What do you have to bargain with?”

Damn. I mentally cast about, but I had nothing. Nothing to offer or trade. Whatever my face revealed made Tatius smirk, a small, self-satisfied twist of his mouth. He crouched in front of me and reached out, his hand hovering over the bite in my throat.

I winced and my tongue dried and stuck to the roof of my mouth. I knew what I had available to trade. My lips cracked as they parted, as if they were the last defense trying to keep the words from leaving my mouth. I spoke anyway. “Me? I mean, my companion bond?”

His smirk turned crueler. “An awful big opinion of yourself for a runt with no manners or feminine wiles. Besides, I can already take your bond. As you said, I proved my point and our sad little Hermit cannot deny me. Offer me something else.”

I swallowed around my thick tongue. What else did I have?

I seriously doubted he’d want the marbles or other knickknacks I’d collected. All I had was myself to offer.

“No resistance,” I whispered.

“What?”

He’d heard me, I knew he had, but I cleared my throat, speaking louder anyway. “My cooperation. That’s what I have on the table.”

His fingers, still hovering over my throat, dropped the inch to my skin. They landed ever so lightly above my pulse then trailed downward in a smooth stroke over the bite mark he’d left open. My back arched as a maddening mix of pain and pleasure shot from my throat and pooled in my center. I gasped. My vision blanked.

Then the sensation passed.

What the hell was that?

I swallowed, shaking as my breath tumbled out of me.

When my vision cleared, Tatius’s nose was less than an inch from mine, his face filling my awareness.

“You couldn’t resist me,” he whispered, his breath passing the words over my lips.

Every instinct in my body urged me to pull back, to run away. I was more than flirting with death, I was presenting myself to him as a cheap whore. I swallowed down the need to flee, forcing it into a bottle deep inside, knowing the next time I examined that corner of my psyche I would probably end up screaming.

“Take it or leave it,” I said. And here I’d thought I’d exhausted my bravado.

Tatius stood, sheathing his dagger in one smooth movement. “I do like your spirit.”

Was that acceptance?

I rose slowly, my knees unsteady as I pushed to my feet.

Behind me, I heard Nathanial move as well.

“Kita?”

Just my name, carried with so much uncertainty, I almost didn’t recognize it from Nathanial’s mouth. I could feel him staring at me, the weight of his gaze prickly against my back.

I didn’t turn. I couldn’t.

“Let’s get this over with,” I said to Tatius.

“So anxious?” He held out his hand, and I gritted my teeth but obediently took it, letting him pull me closer. He lifted his wrist and bit deep. “His life is in your hands. Drink.”

“I feel a slight sense of déjà vu,” I said, but leaned over his bleeding wound.

His fingers trailed through my hair as I drew from his wrist. He didn’t tell me not to bite him this time, but I guessed as much. Besides, I was well fed, and even with blood running over my tongue, my fangs didn’t descend.

He opened his wrist twice more before he nodded. “That will suffice, for now. We three have a date with the Collector.”

Chapter Eight

The council chamber was empty when we left the sitting room. Tatius walked through it without comment. Then he led me through so many corridors and stairways I couldn’t have guessed where we were.

Nathanial followed behind us. He hadn’t said a word since I made my deal with Tatius, but I could feel his gaze on my back. I didn’t turn around. I didn’t know what to say to him.

Sorry? You’re welcome? I’d done what I had to do, and we’d both survived. So far, at least.

Tatius finally stopped outside of a large door, but he didn’t enter. Instead he turned, his gaze assessing as he looked me over. He didn’t look completely pleased with what he saw.

We’ll have to do something about your wardrobe, his voice said inside my head as he reached out, straightening the collar of my old gray coat.

After swiping my hair over my shoulder so the bite he’d left on my neck was unobstructed, he nodded as if satisfied, took my arm, and turned toward the door again. Then he just stood there. He didn’t seem inclined to open the door for himself, so I reached out. Companion and servant, lucky me.

Tatius stopped me with a gentle jerk back, and the door peeled open. A vampire I didn’t recognize blinked at me, her baby blues wide as she looked from my arm locked in the crook of Tatius’s to his mark on my throat. Surprised or not, she didn’t falter as she stepped aside. Her head dipped to Tatius as we passed, a small but intentional movement. A sign of respect? I hadn’t noticed the other vampires bowing before, but as we passed, each vampire paused to tip their heads, some touching the tips of their fingers to their foreheads. Am I expected to do that?

Three council members sat at a large dark wood table in the center of the room, two additional seats had been left open. One was for Tatius, and now that Nathanial was on the council, the other must have been meant for him. Where the hell am I supposed to go?

I glanced around. The non-council vampires, who had been scattered around the room, were now congregating along the far wall. The setup looked exactly like the council room we’d been in earlier, down to the fabric draping the walls.

“Should I…?” I nodded to the line of vampires.

Tatius smirked, his green eyes glowing with the candlelight. “Companions remain with their masters.”

He tugged me toward the table—and the too few chairs.

Slouching into the centermost seat, he slapped his thigh.

Oh, he has to be kidding.

He wasn’t.

Gritting my teeth, I perched on the edge of his leg, my back straight as I continued to hold most of my own weight.

He didn’t let me get away with that. Wrapping an arm around my waist, he dragged me further into his lap.

Now smile at my vampires, his voice said in my head.

Oh hell, I wasn’t going to be able to keep this bargain. Not at this rate. I chanced a glance at Nathanial. He was staring straight ahead—which meant he was the only person in the room not watching Tatius’s little show. Taking a deep breath, I flashed my teeth at the vampires gathered along the wall.