“Oh wow, I hadn’t noticed at first.” She surprised him by cupping his cheeks and pulling his face closer. “She put a spell on you, vampire.”
“Orion. My name is Orion.”
“Orion.” She sighed. “I’m Kaia.”
He frowned. “Kaia Sabine?”
She just watched him then said, “Let me down, okay?”
He lowered her, as requested. Whatever she wanted, if it was in his power to give, he would.
She rubbed her thumb over his forehead, her eyes narrowing. “Yes, I’m Sabine. Your mistress.” She glanced around, taking in the rich appointments he’d been happy enough to use while waiting for her to return. “Are you expecting anyone else?”
He shrugged, not wanting to let go of her but having to when she walked away from him to stand in the center of the room. “I don’t care who comes as long as you’re here, Sabine.” He smiled, and the expression felt odd, as if he didn’t smile much. He wished he knew why he thought that, but nothing seemed to matter outside of the great beauty he planned to take to mate.
She wiped a hand over her face. “Did I mention I might be bringing someone home with me, Orion? Tell me, sweetie.”
He felt shy under her stare, wondering if he had done enough in his life to merit such a worthy mate. He could smell the sea in her blood, and it tantalized, the rush of desire pulsing through them both.
“I think you said something about a ritual. You were bringing a friend back, the one who lent you that athame for the dickhead your daughter let go.”
She tensed.
“You have me now. You don’t need anyone else. No demons or lycans.” He should have been more upset about his mate sleeping with other creatures, but because she’d wanted it, he’d allowed it. “I’ll give you all the pleasure you ever need. And if you want anyone dead, just say so and I’ll make it happen.”
She looked less than pleased with him.
“What? Sweetheart, I’m happy to help you dispose of anyone or anything. Magir, human, god, demon. Just say the word.”
Kaia wantedto turn and run away and not look back. What her mother had tried to do to her ex, Sean, was monstrous. What she’d done toa vampiredidn’t bear repeating. Ever. Sabine might as well have signed her own death warrant a thousand times over. Vampires hated each other, yes, but kill one of their kind and suffer a death that never ended. Eternal torture until the offenders broke in mind, body, and spirit.
What the hell did Sabine think she was doing bespelling one? And doing so while wearing Kaia’s face?
She gave a fake laugh to cover her stress. “This conference has me so frazzled I came back early.”
“Did someone bother you there?” Orion growled, looking larger than he had.
Was hegrowing?
She forced herself not to gape at him. “Oh no. I just, ah, missed you.”
He smiled, and the pleasure on his face alarmed her more than the menacing look he’d worn before. For some reason, Orion appeared wrong looking so openly joyful.
Gah. What the heck did she know? Her mother was making her batty. “I’m sorry, but which demon gave me the athame? I’m sure he’s the one I invited.”
“Yeah. Pazuzu, some douche of a demon god. Remember? We laughed about him. But you said he was a real friend and you owed him a debt. And you always pay your debts, which is why I like you so much.” His expression flattened after saying that, but he just as quickly smiled.
“I’msoglad about that.” An enamored vampire? What kind of spell had her mother woven?
“Can I help you pay this debt? The sooner we take care of your friend, the sooner you and I can mate.” He looked her over with a carnal grin.
She bit her lip. “Did we already start mating? Um, before?”
“No. You wanted to wait, remember?” He shrugged. “I guess the lycans tired you out. But it’s no problem. If we’re only waiting to bond because of this debt, I have plenty of money to take care of it. That’s what I used to do at home. Investments and trades. It passes the time between battles, although technically the Centaur Slaughter of ’74 happened in both FilotiandConsolidated Edison.” He gave an evil laugh. “It was epic.” He rubbed his chin. “I wonder if Mormo will let me take over the house finances. He treats me like common help, but I’m more than brute force.” He pounded a hand into his palm.
A vampire offering money to a magir, a being outside his clan, a non-vampire? This was beyond bad. If the Bloode Empire found out, they’d kill Sabine and wipe out her entire family—including Kaia.
She asked, not wanting the answer, “Orion, is your first loyalty to me or your clan?”
