A genuine smile graced my features as I looked at the other thralls. We were in the bathing area, though no one was actually bathing. We were all dressed, sitting at the edge of the giant pool that served as a communal tub, with our feet in the water.

It was a relaxing atmosphere, one that I would never have thought I’d be a part of.

The thralls were actually kind to me now. They talked to me.

Weeks had gone by since my first hunt within the walls of the castle, and with each day I’d grown a little closer to the other women. Learning about them, finding out what they liked, what they were passionate about.

I actually liked them. For who they were, for the company they provided.

I’d never had friends before, but I was starting to think I might actually have some now.

“You’re never going to believe what Byron said the other night,” Charity said, interrupting the quiet.

Pleasant silence, not the kind brought about by the fear of speaking your mind, or by that awkward feeling when you don’t entirely know the people you’re with.

“What?” I was the first to ask, with a big grin on my face.

“Oh, I really shouldn’t say.” She giggled, ducking her head to hide an impish grin.

“Don’t you dare do that! You tell us right now.”

“Well, it was more of an ask than a tell, really.” She lifted her head to look at us again.

“Soooooo?”

She bit her lip. “He asked me to dress up like one of the vampires.”

“A specific vampire?”

She bobbed her head, grinning fiercely now.

“Who!” Alyssa demanded, leaning forward.

“I can’t tell, I really can’t!” Charity started to giggle, and then everyone else joined in.

The girlish laughter echoed off the bath chamber walls.

I’d never felt so at peace.

And then abruptly everyone stopped laughing, and it was just me for a moment. I swallowed my laughter, looking around to see what had stopped everyone else.

Grayson was standing in the doorway.

I paled. What was he doing here? This was a place where only the thralls came.

No one else had ever come here.

His face was an empty mask, with no emotion to be found, but his piercing eyes were trained on me. My body responded immediately, parts of me hollowing that I’d only become aware of since I saw Grayson that first night on the rooftop.

What was wrong with me?

“Would you accompany me, Nina?” he asked.

That earned me some pointed looks from the other thralls—those who dared, anyway.

He asked me, he didn’t command me. I knew that was a bone of contention with the other thralls, but they seemed to forgive me for it now.

I stood without responding and padded over to him.

He offered me his arm, and I looped mine through it. He led me from the room, and silence followed us.

Neither of us spoke, but as soon as we were alone in the hallway, his demeanor changed. He was agitated. Every step he took, every inhale spoke of an aggravation I couldn’t figure out.

What was wrong?

Had something happened?

Did he know I was hunting?

Oh, God, was that what had happened?

Was he taking me to my death? I couldn’t bear it if he was silently leading me to my execution. It would have been better if he’d arrived with an army of guards to loudly arrest me and drag me away screaming.

But that wasn’t the way of the vampires. It was a political world, or so he kept reminding me, and they’d want to handle something like this—the King’s thrall being the killer they’d been hunting for—as quietly as possible.

I gulped down air, fighting to remain calm.

It wouldn’t do for both of us to be so agitated.

Finally, we arrived at the suite, and his demeanor changed yet again. I doubted anyone else would have been able to tell—not the change in the hallway, and not in the one here in the suite—but I’d gotten to know him by now.

I knew the little quirks that gave him away: the way he clenched his jaw, the little muscle that pulsed there. The ‘V’ that formed in his forehead. The way he held himself, even the change in his step.

These were all such little things, but I paid attention.

I tried to tell myself it was because he was my enemy, and it was smart to know your enemy’s tells, but I knew deep inside that it was more than that.

I couldn’t take my eyes away from him whenever he was in the room, no matter how hard I tried.

I took a seat on the chaise longue and bit my lip, gazing down at my fingers. My hands were clasped tightly together, the only other giveaway that I was feeling some of the tension that was emanating from him in waves.

If I could be truthful with anyone, it was myself. I was feeling guilty. I was no longer concerned that this was my execution—unless he was going to bleed me dry here in this room—but I was still guilty.

Things were settling down, and soon I’d be sneaking out to tell Conall that my position in the castle was secure. I wouldn’t mention the hunting, and hopefully he wouldn’t have heard of the mysterious deaths. But it was obvious now that nothing was going to happen to me. I was the King’s thrall, and I had a handle on the other thralls.

Whatever Conall was planning, it was time to take the next step.

That knowledge carved through me worse than any blade ever could.

I refused to acknowledge the why of it, though. I remained in my seat, waiting for Grayson to talk.

He was pacing the room now, stalking across it like a caged lion, but I knew all I had to do was outwait him.

Sooner or later, he’d get to whatever it was that he wanted to say.

I just had to keep myself from giving in and saying anything to break the tense silence between us.

In that moment, I would have given anything to have it be over, to go back to the gentle smiles and confusing looks he gave me.

At last, he turned to me.