Her voice was barely a breath when she answered, “You’re Julius Amauri.”
His grin widened, deepening the lines around his mouth and eyes, as he pressed his thumb a little more forcefully into her brow bone. Pain bloomed, forcing a yelp out of her throat.
“Smart little bite,” he praised, drawing his hand away. She watched with horror as he lifted his thumb, smeared with blood from a cut she couldn’t see, up to his nose.
Julius’s nostrils flared. His upper lip lifted in a snarl before he dropped his hand to wipe his bloody thumb on his slacks. “I suspected as much, but I really didn’t want to be right. You're his anchor, aren’t you? Such a waste. I would have paid top dollar for a taste of you, but now I’ll have to wait until you flush his venom. Ihatewaiting.”
Horror was a wave of needles washing over her skin, each one a new and hideous possibility.
Harlan won’t let that happen.
The thought was clear and cold, slicing through her terror like a sharp knife. Her vampire would never,everlet anyone hurt her. He wouldn’t let another vampire bite her, and he wouldn’t let her kidnapping stand.
And, she realized, Julius had to know that, too.
I’m a bargaining chip, not a meal.
It was an awful thought, but one that managed to calm her nonetheless.
He wouldn’t hurt her while he still needed Harlan for… whatever it was he needed him for. Getting control of the Amauri family? Simply having Harlan back under his thumb because he was a possessive little monster? Zia couldn’t fathom what reasons he used to justify this, but shedidknow that he was a dead man walking.
“You won’t have to wait,” she replied, words tumbling out before she could stop them. She hated this vampire with everything in her. Shewantedhim to know that his death was coming, because he had earned every second of dread and pain that was coming to him. “He’ll kill you before you get the chance.”
She jolted when Julius slapped his thigh, a roar of laughter bouncing off of the dark walls. “Oh, Ilikeyou! You’re going to be so much fun for me, little bite!”
He leaned forward, hands reaching for her cuffs. Zia shrank back as far as she could go. Her skin crawled when his fingers brushed her wrists and then moved down her legs. There was a burst of magic against her skin, almost too hot for comfort but gone in an instant.
The restraints popped off and fell to the floor, and the grating hum of magic ceased.
Before she could process her release, he yanked her up and out of her seat. She stumbled, her balance shot, as he maneuvered her around the table and into the booth. Her head swam as she attempted to right herself.
“Make yourself comfortable,” he said, nudging her deeper into the booth. “I’ll order you something to drink so you can relax as I talk business with my wayward protégé. What would you like, hm? Maybe something sweet?”
Zia shook her head, both to clear the spots from her vision and to reject his offer. There was no fucking way she would accept any sort of drink from this man.
Juliustsked.A twinkle of malicious interest lit his night-glow eyes. “Now, little bite, you’re not allowed to say no to me. I’ll ask once more. If you give me an answer I don’t like, you won’t enjoy the consequences. What do you want to drink?”
Her heart jammed its way into her throat. The sugar-coated tone only made the very real threat in his words scarier, more real. This manwantedher to do something wrong. Whatever those consequences were, he actually looked excited by them.
That, she decided, was far, far worse than the emptiness from before.
“I—” She dug her fingernails into the leather of the seat. “I want a—”
Julius pulled a sleek phone out of his pocket. He held out a hand, telling her wordlessly to shut up. That wide grin returned. “Oh good,” he said, tucking his phone away, “he’s here!”
An uneasy mixture of relief and terror locked her muscles until she was frozen in her seat. Zia was overjoyed to know Harlan had come to her rescue, but the thought of what could happen to him now because of that made her want to throw up her fancy breakfast.
She knew that he was dangerous, but this man was clearly deranged — and had a grudge she couldn’t begin to guess the complexities of.
He also had the upper hand. Harlan would never risk her life, which meant that Julius could probably get him to do whatever he liked, so long as he kept her under his thumb.
Her breath stalled. Dark spots floated in front of her eyes.Gods, what if he hurts Harlan because of me?
Her darling vampire who had been through so much, who only wanted to keep her safe and happy, would endure any pain for her. She knew this instinctively, just as she knew her magic connected them on a level even an exchange of blood couldn’t match.
The idea of her bondmate suffering because of her was utterly unbearable.
A fluttering hand skimmed the back of her head, pressing her tangled curls down. “Breathe for me, little bite,” Julius commanded, all mocking concern. “I can’t have you passing out before he gets here, can I? What kind of impression would that make?”
