“Stay with me,” I said quietly. “No matter what.”
Her breath caught, but she nodded. Before I could think better of it, I pressed my lips to hers. Soft and quick. Too much.
Then I turned, because if I didn’t stop, I wouldn’t.
The door flew open under my hand like it knew better than to resist.
The Sovereign Court’s lair was more egregious than I’d imagined. The foyer’s marble floor gleamed beneath a gaudy chandelier. A massive television blared a laugh track from one corner. Bloodwine bottles littered every surface. The air reeked of velvet, ego, and rot.
Hammond and Ambrosia were sprawled on an oversized velvet sectional, wrapped in silk robes. Hammond reclined like a smug corpse. Ambrosia, draped in faux fur, looked like she was performing for no one but herself.
The rest of whom they called their “inactive members of the court”—a less offensive way to saypuppets—were dispersed at the edges of the room, all wearing black robes. Their “uniform.” There were maybe only a dozen vampires they had found over the centuries that could withstand the linking process without becoming a drain. Or perishing. Lucky them.
Hammond and Ambrosia glanced at me, unmoved by my presence, and turned their heads back to their modern entertainment.
I stepped forward, voice steady, borderline uninterested. Calculated. “Where is she?”
Hammond didn’t even turn his head. “Oh, you finally made it. Sit. This episode’s a classic.”
“I will not sit with you,” I said. “You… fuckdicks.”
Silence.
Nadia groaned. “That’s… not how that works.” She stepped up beside me. “You’re using those words incorrectly. Let me.”
Then, louder: “Where’s my friend, you sons of bitches?”
Ambrosia gasped, hand to her chest. “Must we devolve to vulgarity? This is why he needsme, not you. I would never speak that way in my lord’s presence.”
“You once called me a crusty scab on the face of elegance,” Hammond muttered.
“And I was right,” she said primly.
Their bickering droned on. I ignored it, scanning the room. The scent I’d been chasing was faint but there. Lena was upstairs.
Hammond swirled his wine lazily. “Oh, yes. We have your bonded one.”
It didn’t make sense. Hammond had fed on Nadia’s energy. He’d known who she was. This hadn’t been a case of mistaken identity. “You imbeciles took the wrong human.”
Ambrosia’s smile widened. “A happy little accident. I did warn them, of course, but no one ever listens to me. This one’s been fun.”
I gave her a look sharp enough to make her flinch. “I’ll be taking both of them with me.”
No one stopped me. The court had learned that lesson centuries ago—that’s why they had had to take the coward’s way out by poisoning me and binding me. As I crossed the hall, they followed me with their eyes.
Upstairs, two guards waited by the last door. They straightened when they saw me, hands twitching toward their weapons.
“Don’t bother,” Hammond called from below. “He’s much stronger than you, and I can’t afford new staff.”
The guards stepped aside at once, pretending to admire the wallpaper.
I kicked the door open. It came off its hinges, crashing against the wall.
“The door was unlocked, you idiot! Stop breaking our house!”
Inside, Lena sat on a bed, bound with velvet ropes, eyes teary.
I crouched beside her. Her pulse was slow but steady.
