The clock ticks louder. “What did you use as your anchor anyway?”
She points at the tea set on the coffee table. “My grandmothers.”
I look down at the floral cup I’ve been drinking out of and recognize the set as Maeve’s. The cup is almost empty, although I barely took a sip. “We don’t have much time, do we?”
“No.”
I take her hand in mine and squeeze. “No matter what happens, Maeve, you are the best friend I’ve ever had, and I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and Damien.”
“Stop.” She shakes her head, tears streaming now. “You’re going to win. You’ll be back. We’ll work it all out.”
I kiss her on the cheek. “Of course.”
“See you soon,” she says. And then Maeve and the tea are gone.
I wake at twilight, the streetlights outside Marabella’s growing brighter and the sound of voices in the marketplace filling the room. I stretch long in my bed, turning over to kiss Damien good morning.
But he’s gone.
“I cannot bear it.” Damien’s outline comes apart at the edges with his anger. The moment the sun rose, he visited Marabella and tried to buy out all my available donation slots. But as I suspected, the three vampires I’ve fed, some of the wealthiest and most powerful of their kind, Marcel, Everald, and George, had booked out months in advance. They could not be persuaded to reschedule with someone else, and Marabella refused to deny them. It didn’t hurt that they were paying three times the regular price for my blood.
“I told you last night, Damien, it’s in our best interest to have supporters. These are powerful males. It will be better if there are voices in the crowd cheering me on even if that cheer is a whisper.”
He growls. “These males want you for themselves. They don’t want you to die, but they don’t want you mated to me.”
I sigh and take his hands in my own. “They don’t have a choice. I’m only offering blood.”
A growl percolates in his chest as he glares down at me. A knock comes at the door. “That’ll be breakfast. My first appointment will follow.”
Damien’s lips twitch. The key turns in the lock, and the door begins to open. He shakes his head, his eyes closing tight for a moment. When he opens them again, he doesn’t look at me. “So be it.”
He shatters into a confetti of shadows that dart from the room. It’s for the best that he’s gone. He needs to stay far from here while I do what I have to do. Ren enters with a tray almost overflowing with food, coffee, and Marabella’s special charmed shake. She set’s it down on the desk.
“Are you alone?” she asks. “I thought I heard a man’s voice.”
“I’m alone.” I feel alone, all the way to my bones. Damien can’t be in the room when I donate. As a mated shade, he’d likely rip any vampire who touched me in half. But the way he left leaves me feeling empty.
“You must be the bravest woman who ever worked here, Eloise,” Ren says, handing me another book. I take it and give her back the last one I borrowed.
“Not brave. Desperate,” I say sadly.
She gives a sad laugh. “I was desperate once. I took pills. I didn’t feel desperate anymore. I didn’t feel anything. You… you challenged the queen. That’s fucking brave, Eloise.”
I blow out a deep breath. “Yeah, maybe it is. Brave or stupid.”
“I think the same thing about my decision to come here and get sober.”
Our eyes meet and hold and then she slips out my door.
Marcel enters my room later that day in full uniform. It’s the first time he’s visited since I challenged Valeska, and I brace myself, prepared for anything. Will he feel betrayed that I didn’t tell him the truth about my identity? Will he try to hurt me out of loyalty to the queen? The magic of the challenge provides me some protection, but it doesn’t do much to ease my fears when he walks into my room, looking deeply disturbed. I’m more thankful than ever for the daggers strapped to my thighs.
“Eloise, thank the gods you’re all right.” His face softens, his gaze traveling over me.
“You must have heard.”
His eyes narrow. “She commanded me to kill you.”
I take a step back, my hand dropping within easy reach of the hilt of my dagger.
