My breathing quickened. Was it possible for a vampire to hyperventilate?
“We would have known,” I whispered.
“Ah, yes. Your pixies. A most excellent job they’ve done warding the place. If I’d been a few thousand years younger, they may have actually kept me out.”
What wards? No one had told me anything about any wards. It was the kind of thing you’d think they’d warn me about so I didn’t accidentally set them off and end up as pixie dust.
Ahrun made a chiding sound. “There’s no need for such panic. I mean you and your brother no harm. Or anyone else who resides under this roof.”
“You’ll have to forgive me, but that doesn’t make me feel much better.” Call me crazy but nothing about this situation felt safe or normal. “Why are you here?” I asked abruptly, tired of the games.
Ahrun studied me with an intrigued expression, his head cocked as if I was some rare specimen he’d stumbled across.
Into the tense silence, Deborah made to rise. “It sounds like you two have a lot to discuss. How about I just go?”
“Sit,” Ahrun ordered, not taking his eyes off mine.
Deborah lowered herself back into her seat.
“I find myself in a bit of a conundrum,” Ahrun drawled. “You were right in that I needed to earn back the trust of my children. After such a long time of not being myself, I need to get to know them again. Who they’ve become. What’s important to them. For that to happen I need to remain close.”
I had a feeling I knew where this was going and the answer was no. A resounding, emphatic no.
“Thomas is just starting out as master of his own territory. He needs to cement his authority without standing in the shadow of his sire.”
“There’s still Liam. He has a house,” I pointed out, desperate.
It was a very nice house. With plenty of extra rooms. I’m sure there was one that could be set aside for Ahrun if need be.
“I’m afraid not. His enforcers look to him to lead. What kind of message would it send if I imposed?” Ahrun shook his head, faking regret. “I couldn’t do that to him. No, I think it would be best if I stay here. With you—the youngest.”
“Absolutely not,” I objected, dropping any attempt at diplomacy.
He was crazy if he thought he was staying here. Nuh uh. No way. Not happening. For so many reasons beyond the fact that I didn’t want another vampire in my space. Particularly one that was as dangerous and unpredictable as Ahrun.
“It’s cute how you think you have a choice.”
“Okay. I see the problem here. Thomas didn’t explain about me.”
“He did actually.”
Not very well it seemed.
I readied myself to do battle. “Oh? What did he say?”
The delight on Ahrun’s face said he was enjoying this. “He told me you tend to do stupid things when you feel cornered. Like accept a mark that binds you in servitude to a sorcerer for a hundred years.” He gave me a chiding look. “Did no one warn you of how truly awful of an idea that was? Sorcerers are dangerous—even to us. They’re also known to be hard on their toys.”
I held still, resisting the urge to hide my arm behind my back.
The mark he was talking about was one of three. That of a lion peering out from behind an oak tree. The lion belonged to the sorcerer in question and was a mark of my servitude. The oak tree, on the other hand, was something Liam had tagged me with as a means to keep tabs on me when it became clear I wasn’t going to fall in line like a good baby vampire. The last of the marks were a pair of black birds perched on the branches and a snake wrapped around the tree’s base. As far as I could tell, the snake and black birds were symbols of my heritage as part of the royal line of Noctessa.
Ahrun was still speaking. “You resist change even when you know it’s good for you. You also guard your heart behind impenetrable walls. That although you are the most difficult woman Thomas has ever met, you’re also one of the most loyal.”
Ahrun’s gaze drifted to where Deborah sat quiet as a mouse. “Ah, yes. I mustn’t forget your habit of rescuing the abandoned and the lost.”
Why did everyone keep saying that about me? I did not have a tendency to collect strays.
“You also fear what you are even as you embrace it, and you will fight tooth and nail against any relationship with me simply because of my connection with your sire.”
