Chapter Six
I GROANED as I came to on the ground. If I was going to chase people down, I really needed a gun to make them stop.
“Stupid,” I muttered as I sat up. My head was pounding, my left arm throbbing, though no longer bleeding, and the rest of me was covered in dirt and water.
Worst night in a long time.
I got to my feet with some effort, and when my phone buzzed in my back pocket, I answered after seeing Ode’s name on the display.
“Where are you?” she asked, sounding worried.
“I’m not sure,” I replied, wincing as I tried to move my right foot and realized I’d rolled my ankle. “So stupid.”
“What is?”
“Nothing.”
“Well, Cooke called me, all freaked-out,” she said. “You guys went to a party, and he lost you after there was some kind of trouble.”
I grunted.
“I’m fine,” I lied, limping away from the truck, thrilled that my captain couldn’t see me now. He would have been horrified I’d allowed myself to get jumped from behind. I could visualize the look of disappointment. “I’m just embarrassed.”
“Why embarrassed?”
So I told her about the prince, without the part about who and what he really was, but I told her about his fuck buddies and how I couldn’t compete.
“Where are you?” she snapped when I was done, and I couldn’t tell if she was worried or annoyed or what.
“I told you, I don’t know.”
“Well, walk to the fuckin’ corner and read me the damn signs!”
Bingo. She was pissed. I should have known. “Why’re you mad at me?” I growled.
“Because you’re a damn idiot,” she snarled. “You are gorgeous and—”
“Sweetheart—”
“Don’t you dare try an’ placate me! I don’t have to kiss your ass; we’re friends, for heaven’s sake!”
“No, I—”
“I think I’m gonna beat you when I see you.”
I groaned. “It’ll be easy.”
“Why?” Deflated, anger gone, she was breathless in an instant. “Why easy?”
“I got grazed by a bullet, and somebody knocked me out.”
“What?” Her voice faltered, sounding suddenly very young.
“Oh no, honey, I’m fine. I just need to get home and get cleaned up, and I need to lie down.”
“Are you to a corner yet?”
I wasn’t, but wonder of wonders, I saw a cab. I yelled for it, and the driver pulled over.
“I’ll meet you there,” Ode told me. “At your place.”
“It’s okay. I don’t need—”
“See you soon,” she said brusquely before hanging up.
I didn’t try to call her back; I wouldn’t win. I got comfortable in the back seat and finally took a breath.
“You look like shit, man,” the cabbie said.
I had no doubt.
WHEN I got out of the cab, Ode and Kali stood waiting, visibly horrified upon seeing me.
“Ohmygod, he needs to go to the hospital,” Kali insisted, wincing as I draped an arm over her shoulder so they could help me up to my apartment.
It was small, the same 750 square feet in the store, but cozy and warm. It had a Franklin stove for if it ever got cold—I hadn’t used it yet—windows in every room, original hardwood floors, cream-colored walls except for the aqua kitchen, and the most comfortable furniture on the planet. I truly loved it. In the summer when I had friends over, many of them would sit out on the steps and talk and drink into the wee hours of the morning. Walking in, I was so happy to be there I almost cried.
Ode made me strip and get into the shower while Kali went through my medicine cabinet looking for supplies.
“I’m showering in here,” I grumbled. “Could you get out?”
“You can’t see through that curtain, so shut up,” she snapped. I knew it was because she was worried about me. She was a younger, kinder version of her older sister—normally gentler and sweeter—but even though we weren’t quite as close, it was a near thing.
Everyone was in a bad mood.
Kali apparently didn’t find what she wanted, muttered under her breath, and left moments later. I stayed under the warm water for a while, the heat feeling really good on my muscles. Once I changed into sweats and a T-shirt, I walked out to the couch and collapsed beside Ode.
“You gonna wrap my arm?” I asked, turning to her, only then realizing she was crying. “Sweetie, what’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong?” she yelled, leaping to her feet. She whirled around and faced me, hands on her hips, clearly livid. “Are you kidding me right now?”
“Honey—”
“Who shot at you?”
“Yeah, who shot at you?” Kali echoed.
“I don’t know, I was chasing some guy away from the party and—”
“The party where the guy didn’t want you,” Ode stated.
I groaned loudly. “Thanks for that.”
“Who doesn’t want you?” Kali asked, visibly puzzled.
“You sound like her hype man,” I said to Kali, trying not to smile.
Both grabbed pillows off the couch and smacked me.
“Ow,” I groused. I was really ready to go to sleep. “How ’bout you guys go away now?”
“Jason Thorpe, you are hereby strictly forbidden from going on any dates or going to any parties without my express permission,” Ode declared.
I grunted.
“I’m sorry, what was that?”
“I just think maybe since you have shitty taste in dates for me, perhaps you shouldn’t get a say in my love life.”
Kali crossed her arms and lifted her brows over the top of her glasses, watching her sister.
“Oh, never mind,” Ode muttered, dismissing her sister’s judgment with an imperious wave of her hand.
“He wanted to do me in the back of the store,” I told Kali, just to stir the pot.
“And you picked this man for him?” Kali questioned Ode, voice dripping with derision.
“You shut up,” Ode said, pointing at Kali, “and you shut up,” she said, pointing at me. “And now I gotta call the police because shots fired in the Quarter is a serious thing.”
“No,” I corrected. “It was down by Third Street and Coliseum.”
“Baby, that’s a nice neighborhood. Whose house were you at?”
“Benny Diallo’s. He’s a businessman or something.”
“Huh. Well, I ain’t heard of him, but now we really have to call because what the ever-loving fuck is goin’ on?”
Kali’s eyes got huge and round, and Ode groaned loudly. “Girl,” Kali warned, “if your mother catches you swearing, you are a dead woman.”
Ode pointed back at me. “It’s him! He swears, and I pick that shit up.”
“Mmm-hmmm,” Kali mumbled, not buying a word of it, her raised eyebrow clearly conveying her disbelief.
“And for the record, she’s our mother, not just mine.”
“She’ll be your mother when she kills you, ’cause I won’t help her hide the body.”
“Well, I appreciate the solidarity.”
“Could you two get out now?” I asked hopefully.
“Not yet,” Ode singsonged.
I groaned and fell over sideways on the couch. At the same time, I heard someone climbing my stairs. I looked at Ode in horror because at this time of night, and both girls there with me, there was only one person they would have called.
“Oh yes,” she said in that superior, smirking tone she used sometimes as the door opened and Josephine walked into my apartment.
I gestured at her. “You shouldn’t have woken your mom.”
“As if they wouldn’t,” Josephine chided, her scowl dark. She crossed the room to me, and Kali took her medical bag for her. As a registered nurse, she was always prepared. “Now sit up so I can look at you.”
It was grueling. She checked me out better than any doctor ever had, wrapped my arm, checked my head, determined I might have a slight concussion but mostly worried that I hadn’t eaten dinner, and it was now well after midnight. She called Issa then, who arrived fifteen minutes later carrying two reusable shopping bags filled with food. He’d brought all the leftovers he could scrounge.
I thoroughly enjoyed the bustle in my kitchen: Josephine saying again, as she always did, how cute it was, how she liked the layout and color, and then making judgmental mom clucking sounds about my empty refrigerator. The sounds of pots clanking, the sizzle of oil in a pan, and then amazingly delicious smells wafting from one room to the next made my stomach growl. Issa passed me one of the wireless PS4 controllers so we could at least get some Borderlands in before food was ready.
“Man, now I’m hungry,” Issa told me.
“It’s your mother’s food. It’s like crack.”
“You see,” Josephine said, standing in the doorway, “I told you, you needed to eat.” She was always right.
“Yes, ma’am.”
It turned out my night wasn’t so crappy after all. I was glad that in the midst of family Ode forgot about the police… because how was I supposed to explain vampyrs to the NOPD?
THE NEXT morning I woke up sore and didn’t want to get out of bed. Ode called me and told me to stay there. I didn’t even realize I’d nodded off until she woke me to eat lunch down in the shop.
I felt better by the afternoon, which turned out to be good because Leni called to tell me her mother insisted she go with her to meet the prince, who was receiving people at Garrett’s new club, the one I’d been teasing him about the night before, which was closed to the public for the occasion.
“Yeah, no worries,” I assured her, my stomach clenching as I finally let my mind wander back to the prince. I could live the rest of my life without laying eyes on him again, and I hoped Leni would have a better time. “I’ll cover the store; you go pay your respects.”
“I guess it was supposed to be at Benny Diallo’s mansion, but there was some kind of trouble there last night, so they moved him to a new location.”
“Good,” I told her. “You be careful.”
“I will, thank you, Jason. Love you.” She always signed off that way.
“You know,” Ode said as she was getting ready to leave, grabbing her giant rucksack that passed for a purse, “I was kidding that time.”
“What’re you talking about?”
“When you asked me how old you are, and I was teasing you and said, I dunno, fifty? You know that was a joke, right?”
I grinned because I knew that already.
“I know how old you are, and just because the guy you met last night prefers ’em young doesn’t make you a fossil.”
“No, I know.”
“I don’t think you do. I think you think thirty-two is ancient, and I’m telling you that men—and women—just start to get interesting after thirty.”
“Well, thank you, dear.”
She leaned up to kiss me, and I bent down and gave her my cheek.
“I adore you, you know,” she said in reassurance.
I did.
Once she was gone, I made some Earl Grey tea and realized it had started raining. That didn’t change the foot traffic up and down the street, and people still wandered in and out. I had about ten customers in the store looking at books, essential oils, and candles, and a few regulars checking on what new jewelry Ode had put out on display when I saw Tiago outside the front window.
I rushed to the open door and outside and, without stopping, charged up and grabbed him in a bear hug.
“Jason,” he gasped as I squeezed tight, face down in his shoulder, so delighted to see him.
“Thank you for coming,” I sighed into his hair before slowly releasing him, smiling wide. “I didn’t wanna miss you, but I couldn’t go back to the house.”
“No, of course not,” he said solemnly, his smile bemused, clearly not sure what to do with me. “I thought perhaps, if you wanted, we might exchange numbers.”
“That would be perfect,” I confirmed, turning to go back into the store. “I’ve wanted to talk to you so many times, but I had no clue how to get in touch and—”
“Oh,” I said, reaching for his bicep to give it a squeeze. “I’m the only one here right now, so I gotta get back inside, but please come with me so we can talk.”
“I have Aziel here with me, a member of the dreki,” Tiago said quickly. “Is he allowed as well?”
“Of course,” I said, smiling over at Aziel as he got out of the driver’s side of a nearby car. I recognized him from last night. “Come on.”
People stood at the cash register, waiting for me, and I apologized as I walked over to ring them up.
After they left, I had to open one of the display cases to show another customer a freshwater-pearl-and-blue-topaz necklace. She bought it, and once I cashed her out, I gave Tiago my attention. “Let’s do the number thing now before something else happens.”
We leaned on the counter with our phones out.
“Why were you just standing out there? Why didn’t you just come in?”
“I could not enter until you invited me in,” he commented.
I nodded as I created a new contact.
“Aziel said he saw you last night when Niko was holding you, and that you could not free yourself until he let you go.”
“I know,” I answered absently, typing in his name. I looked up at him. “That was so weird, like my vampyr juju short-circuited or something.”
He snapped his head up. “Your what?”
I grimaced. “Yeah, I’m an ass, and I need to apologize to you.”
“To me?” I nodded. “For what?”
“I know so much about vampyrs now, and I’m so sorry I wasn’t really listening that night at the Rothschilds’.” I sighed, feeling like total crap. “I was blind, and I was trying so hard to make sure you were taken care of, but I also needed everything to fit into some reasonable frame of reference that my brain could process.”
He nodded, reaching for my wrist and squeezing for a moment, reassuring me, offering comfort and understanding.
“I just didn’t understand then,” I said as he let me go.
“You have nothing for which to apologize. You acted on what you knew, and never forget, you heard me scream and came running.”
That reminded me. “Why were you screaming?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you weren’t actually in any danger. That makes no sense.”
“It still hurt,” he deadpanned.
He was such a smartass, and I couldn’t help smiling at him.
“Also, I am bound as rajan to test any clan leaders who attempt to do me harm.”
“I see. So you were screaming your head off—”
“I would not characterize what I was doing as—”
“—to see if Mr. or Mrs. Rothschild or anyone else there would take pity on you and step up and do the right thing.”
“Yes.”
Aziel cleared his throat expectantly, and we looked at him. He had his arms crossed and seemed to be waiting for Tiago to say something more.
“Fine,” Tiago snapped, turning back to me. “I also might have been slightly concerned about my blood loss,” he confessed, not meeting my eyes, chin up imperiously.
“Slightly?” Aziel repeated.
“Hadrian resorted to feeding me once I was on the plane,” Tiago huffed, glancing at me and then quickly away.
“So it was actually good I got you out of there.”
He paused before saying, “It was not, perhaps… done in error.”
The man-child always had to be right. He wouldn’t admit to a weakness or that maybe he’d been in over his head. Not him. Not ever. “Tell me, how old are you really?”
“I was born during the French Revolution, in seventeen ninety-two.”
“Holy shit.” I was in awe. “That’s awesome.”
“Thank you,” he said, beaming.
“It must be so crazy for you to see all the advances in science and medicine and—”
“Oh yes, thrilling,” he replied, forcing a smile but clearly bored out of his mind. “Good stuff, that.”
He wanted to talk about something else, not my awe at his long life. “What do you want to discuss, mighty rajan?”
“I have killed others for far less disrespect.”
“Oh, I know, you told me.”
“Jason.”
“Don’t like people being snide, huh?”
“Jason,” he warned, voice rising.
“Fine. What do you want to talk about?”
“Your vampyr ‘juju,’ as you have so quaintly named it.”
“G’head.”
“Well, after I was informed of your interaction with Niko Gann, I asked the prince for his thoughts concerning your inability to break free of Gann last night, and he replied.”
“And?”
Tiago cleared his throat. “The prince seems to think you are a mah-tahn, so—”
“Spell it.”
He gave me a brilliant smile. “I admire such about you, your desire to get things right. Not only say them, but know them.”
“I learned a lot of other words from a guy I know.”
“Cooke Slater?”
“Yeah. How’d you know?”
“After your heroics, accompanied by your disappearing act,” he said, shooting me a clearly unhappy glare, “and because the prince is confined to our new quarters, he had no choice but to speak to everyone here who knows you to try to obtain some answers.”
I was at a loss. “Why’re you pissed at me? I saved your ass last night.”
“Yes, I know. You saved us all last night,” he whispered harshly, his voice dropping, I was certain, because he wanted to yell at me but wouldn’t do that in front of any customers. “And then you left!”
“I chased a guy for like six blocks or something,” I told him. “And then he got the drop on me and knocked me out.”
He gasped, sharp. “You were hurt?”
“Am hurt,” I corrected, touching my left bicep. “I got grazed by a bullet and hit in the head,” I griped. “So cut me just a little slack here, will ya?”
He wrapped his hand around my wrist. “I had no idea you were a superhero in disguise.”
I snorted. “Not so much, but I thought if I could catch that guy, then maybe Hadrian could question him and figure out who tried to hurt you all.”
“That makes sense.”
“Did you get any answers from the guys I knocked out?”
“We—no,” he disclosed, sounding sad, his face creasing in disappointment. “They all preferred to die instead of speak to Hadrian.”
It wasn’t my place to offer any judgment. “That’s too bad” was all I said.
“Yes, it is,” he agreed, “but what is not sad is that you, again, saved us all. Had you not alerted us to the presence of armed men on the grounds, they might have killed many of us on their way to assassinate the prince.”
“Is that who you think they were after?”
“Of course,” Aziel interjected. “Who else but the prince? Whenever he leaves his home, his safety is at risk.”
“Is that the same for the king and queen?”
Tiago replied, “It would be, but the king never leaves Malta, and the queen never strays from her island. Only the prince travels, which is why he holds such sway over the law.”
“Makes sense. He’s the one actually in contact with the outside world.”
“Precisely.” He offered me a small smile. “At the royal court, all is the same, as it has been for centuries. Only the prince brings life and movement to their dark world.”
I coughed. Holy crap, was that laying it on thick.
Tiago scowled. “You have something to say?”
“Life and movement to their dark world.” I snickered. “Kinda dramatic, don’t you think?”
“I have a burning desire to murder you at this moment.”
I cackled and excused myself to talk to a customer who was waving at me, leaving Tiago with Aziel at the counter. Once I was done explaining about all the benefits of peppermint oil, I returned to Tiago, got his number, and had him spell “matan” for me.
“So what is that?”
“I know not all, as he did not have the chance to explain to me his thoughts, but he did say that the power I spoke to him about—that others also reported—had to do with what you think of as yours.”
I tried parsing his words for a moment. “Nope, I don’t get what you just said.”
“For example, the night you saved me, the reason the Rothschild clan could not rush into the cabin was because you thought of it as yours.”
“But it wasn’t my house.”
“Yes, but it was where you resided in the interim, so somehow, in how you thought of it, it was, in fact, yours.”
“Okay.”
“Just as when we were in your truck. I had no power there because, again, you were in your truck, which belongs to you.”
“So the prince, he thinks that if I was here in my shop, and Niko tried to grab me, that he wouldn’t’ve been able to?”
“Correct.”
“What about when we were in the parking lot of the hospital?”
“It was your hospital,” he emphasized. “You said you stayed there when you were hit by the drunk driver. Do you recall telling me that?”
“I do.”
“That is how it works for a matan. They keep control as long as they are in a place where they feel safe, a place that is theirs, or…”
“Or?” I asked when I realized he had no intention of finishing his sentence.
“Or if their mate is present.”
“Interesting.”
“Agreed. Apparently once a matan finds their mate, wherever their mate is, whether at home or not, the matan has that same power.”
“You’re saying that if I had a mate and he was at that party, Niko wouldn’t have been able to touch me.”
“Yes.”
“Because my mate would give me power?”
“No. It sounded like the opposite, like the matan gives the mate power, and then the mate acts…. Perhaps like a battery, I cannot guess. When the prince was explaining, it was confusing because he was talking in generalities and not specifics.”
“Why?”
“Because you were not present, thus he was only guessing.”
“I see,” I said because we were getting into an area where I didn’t want to proceed. I wasn’t stupid. Tiago had an agenda, and I wasn’t missing it with hints like “generalities” and “only guessing.” He wanted me and his prince in the same room.
He stared at me, expectant, and arched one of his brows in exaggerated question.
I played dumb because, again, I already knew what it was. “Just ask me already, whatever it is.”
“Will you see the prince?”
“No,” I said flatly, ready, not even having to think about it.
“Why did you grimace before you answered?”
“Did I?”
“Yes, you did.”
Aziel nodded. “You did.”
“Sorry?”
Tiago released a frustrated huff. “He wants to see you.”
“I’m thinking he has enough people to see without adding me.”
“What does that mean?” Tiago snapped, frustrated, not used to having anyone turn him down.
I shook my head, so not wanting to get into it with Tiago, who thought the sun rose and set on his prince.
“Varic Maedoc is the prince of the noreia, and he has requested your presence above all others,” Aziel pointed out. “Who are you to not obey his summons?”
“How about not a vampyr,” I replied with a shrug. “Doesn’t that get me off the hook?”
“No,” Aziel insisted, and the way he was scowling at me, I understood he had no idea how I was even being given a choice to start with.
“I’d rather not,” I told them.
“Fine,” Tiago granted, “would you meet me at the penthouse after you close this little shop of yours this evening?”
“Little shop?” I asked pointedly.
“Oh, you know, it is terribly quaint, but really, is this not beneath you?”
He was a pompous ass. Anything less than Versailles he found low-rent. “I love this store, you conceited piece of crap.”
“When was the last time it was cleaned?” he asked with a shiver of revulsion, running a finger across the glass case he stood next to, the disgusted look on his face making me smile.
Such a snob. “Go away,” I teased before I left to help another customer.
The shop was slammed then; maybe it was the rain or all the inviting twinkling lights in the display windows or the mix of candles Ode lit before she left, but I was running around busier than a one-armed paper hanger.
“Could you just ring people up?” I pleaded to Tiago. The horror on his face made me laugh. It turned out working the sales on my iPad was too much for him, but he could unlock display cases and pull things out for people to look at up close, and he had a vast knowledge of stones, precious and not.
Aziel also proved helpful, taking tags off different items, wrapping them in tissue paper, and putting them in bags. He wrote down the charges for me, one piece of paper per customer, and between the two of us, we moved through a line of patrons quickly. I really appreciated his help and told him so over and over.
“You owe me no thanks; it is I who owes you all.”
“I just appreciate you helping me with—”
“You saved my prince,” he explained, his tone crisp, matter-of-fact. “I am forever in your debt.”
“Thank you anyway,” I told him. I was betting guards in the service of the prince didn’t get much thanks on a daily basis.
His sheepish smile charmed me.
“Clearly I missed my calling, and instead of being the rajan, I should have gone into retail!” Tiago thundered when I checked on him.
“Being snarky isn’t helping anything,” I pointed out. He grunted loudly, and I laughed, because really, it was like pissing off a bunny. “You are really so fuckin’ cute.”
“I had nearly forgotten how infuriating you are.”
I ignored that. “Nice job selling the pricey stuff over there,” I continued. “I like how you steered people away from the amethyst and topaz to the sapphires and diamonds.”
“Please,” he muttered disdainfully. “Amethyst?”
“You’re such a snob,” I teased again. It was adorable, the things his conceit extended to.
“And if I am?”
“If? There’s no if, Tiago.”
The pouting was too much. I tousled his golden waves before leaning in to give him a quick hug. He was like the little brother I never had.
“Stop that,” he protested, pushing me away, smacking at my hands. “You are far too vexing for words.”
“Yeah, but you came to see me.”
“I am aware,” he grumbled, glaring. “And Lord knows why.”
I shrugged. “Maybe you like me.”
He gave a long sigh before fixing his attention on me seriously. “You have the purest heart I have ever encountered,” he rushed out. “You saved me. You saved everyone at the house last night and gave not one thought for your own safety. You are utterly selfless.”
“No, I just do what I can to help.”
“It is far more than that.”
I needed to change the subject. “So tell me more about—”
“The prince can answer all your questions. You could come with me now to see him. What do you say?”
“Yeah, no thank you,” I said. I checked around for customers, and upon finding none, walked to the front of the store, flipped the sign from Open to Closed, and locked the door. “You guys wanna go get a drink?”
“No, we do not want to go for a drink; we want you to come to the penthouse with us to see the prince!”
What was I supposed to say? I crossed the room back toward him, leaned on the counter, and met his gaze. “Let’s put it this way: if I live to be a thousand, I will still be embarrassed about what happened last night.”
“When?”
“I don’t wanna—”
“He spoke of a misunderstanding with his courtiers, but they have since been dismissed, sent home. They were on the first plane to Malta this morning.”
“Yeah, but—”
“He ordered them from court as well,” Aziel added, “which is unprecedented.”
“They were told to not be in attendance when he returns,” Tiago confirmed.
I studied him, the solemn expression on his face, the weight of his stare, the placidity of his tone. No more playful banter, just him being serious, letting me know what he was about to say was important.
“You ran from him, and I realize it was fortunate you did because it put you in a position to see what no one else could have. But at this very moment, instead of receiving the vampyrs of this city in his normally calm and regal manner, my draugr is pacing his private quarters like a tiger in a cage, waiting until he may leave to come and see you.”
I shook my head. That was total crap, and I was pissed at myself for even caring. If I was so important, he could have made time for a visit. As it was, I had not seen or heard from the prince, and really, why would I? He had no real interest in me. “I’ve been here all day, so I know he—”
“You do not understand,” Tiago insisted. “He must live by certain rules, precautions and safety protocols that are finite. And yes, he is very strong—the chances that he could be killed are infinitesimal—but still… just that chance makes his life not his own in so many ways. He is so much to so many. We cannot lose him. Just the thought is—”
“Unimaginable,” Aziel chimed in. “He’s the draugr, our prince, our heart.”
“Yes,” Tiago echoed. “The king and queen are beloved fixtures—they are our sovereign rulers—but the prince, he is the lifeblood of our race. The attack you prevented last night… we are all forever in your debt.”
“Well, you don’t have to be, that’s what I was trained to do.”
“Still, we are grateful,” he imparted, stepping close into my personal space. “Yet I must insist that you accompany me.”
“I don’t think I can do that.”
“You must give him another chance! It’s unheard of that someone like you—of your station—would be able to deny him,” Aziel interjected, sounding almost angry.
Tiago pointed at the door, and Aziel huffed a breath before walking over to stand there.
“He’s mad at me, and I get it.” I sighed, because I did. “I think Aziel just wants to make me go.”
“I suspect so, but that is not what I desire, and neither does the prince. He wants you to choose to see him.”
“But that turned into a total shitshow the last time.”
“Yes,” he allowed, then bit his bottom lip. “But you misread him, or the situation. I was not in attendance, so I cannot speak to what occurred. All I do know is that when I finally reached him after the attack was over, the courtiers were all on their knees, heads down, forbidden to even regard him. I have never seen him that angry, and I have known him for over two centuries.”
“If I go with you, he’ll tell me what a matan is?”
“He will,” Tiago said, smiling, hope infusing his face. “He will explain everything.”
But I wasn’t a glutton for punishment. “Lemme think about it, okay? How long are you guys gonna be in town?”
He deflated, realizing I wasn’t going with him right then. “I have no idea.”
“I promise to think about it.”
He sighed heavily, dramatically, and when I grinned at him, after a moment he gave me one back. Apparently he did like me just a bit, and as it turned out, that was enough.
“He’s receiving vampyrs at Garrett’s club, right?”
His face brightened, as did his eyes, and the smile I got could give the sun a run for its money. “He is.”
“So if I show up with you and he never gets around to me, that counts, yeah?”
“It would,” he agreed. “But Jason, you have to understand that there is no one Varic wants to speak with more than you.”
“I’m going because you asked me,” I said, knowing it was halfway true. Because I didn’t want to disappoint Tiago, and I did still feel bad about treating him like he was a nut job who needed extensive therapy when I first met him. But also, against my better judgment, there was the lure of the prince. He was beautiful and sexy, and while denying what I wanted to others was easy, I couldn’t lie to myself. Being under him, his hands all over me, feeling him inside and out—I couldn’t get the desire out of my head.
“I care not why you attend,” Tiago sighed happily, interrupting my treasonous thoughts, still beaming at me. “Only that you do.”
I grunted because if I answered, he would have been able to tell the truth from my voice that wasn’t there. I could hardly breathe. Talking was off the table.
“Now,” he said, looking me up and down before wincing. “What do you have to wear?”