“No?” Madame Allegria repeated.
A word she probably didn’t hear very much.
“I will return when I have healed fully from your whipping,” Khiva said, reminding her of the massacre she’d made of his back. “You wouldn’t want the clients to see.”
Madame Allegria didn’t like that answer but when she turned to Eve, who went to stand next to Khiva, she hesitated. She looked at the Nu device on the wall, back at them, and said, “What whipping?”
Eve had never hated someone so much in her life.
Madame Allegria straightened, smoothing a hand over her long, tight skirt. Her expression morphed into one of perfect indifference and she said, “I expect you back by tomorrow afternoon. Don’t make me return here or I will bring Patrol with me.”
“If you ever come here again, I will report you for continued harassment,” Eve said.
Madame Allegria’s nostrils flared. She looked at Khiva. “Tomorrow afternoon.” Then she looked at Eve. “Youare not welcome back to my establishment. I never want to see your face again.”
And because it might buy them time, because it might throw Madame Allegria off their trail for a little while longer, Eve exclaimed, feigning shock, “You can’t do that!”
The smug arrogance that morphed over her face was so sudden. “I can. So enjoy your last night with him,darling. It will be your last time with a Krave.”
With that she swept out of Eve’s townhome and through the front door, her heels clacking angrily on the stones before they heard the driverless car door slam shut.
Eve quickly shut the front door and breathed out a sigh of relief that she was gone. Even the air felt cleaner without her presence, though Eve could still detect the sickly sweet smell of the perfume she wore.
Immediately, she went to Khiva. She reached up to cup his jaw and asked softly, “Are you okay? Seeing her after what she did?”
Khiva nodded and gently lifted her wrist. “She hurt you.”
Her skin was slightly red and a couple of Madame Allegria’s nails had scratched into her skin when she’d lunged for her. “I’ll be fine. It’s nothing.”
Khiva blew out a breath and then reached forward to crush her to him in a tight embrace. “You were remarkable,” he murmured to her softly. “I have never seen her at a loss for words.”
Eve flushed at his praise.
“She underestimated you,” Khiva said, pulling back to look down at her. “You caught her by surprise with that sharp tongue.”
“As long as she’s gone,” Eve said, her hands beginning to shake slightly, adrenaline coursing through her system. “As long as we can stall her for time. Do you think she will come back tomorrow afternoon? We could leave for the Port earlier.”
“I do not think she will,” Khiva said. “Knowing her, she will need time to learn about you, to dredge up something on you, before she gets Patrol involved. That is how she operates. Through blackmail and threats. I fear you have just become her latest target.”
Eve nodded. “By then, we will be long gone.”
“Pax,” he said, dropping his forehead down to hers. “We will be.”
Eve led him upstairs to her washroom, needing something to soothe the nerves that were running rampant in her. Seeing Madame Allegria…speaking with her for the first time, it had shaken her. Not for the reasons she’d expected. Everyone had seemed so afraid of the woman that Eve had half-expected a Hydian dragon to burst from her clothing.
No, it was because of what Eve had discovered in herself that had shaken her.
“You’re trembling,leeldra,” Khiva murmured, watching as she filled the tub with hot water.
“Can I tell you something ugly?” she asked.
“You can tell me anything,” he said, touching her shoulders, concern evident in his tone. “You know that.”
“I wanted to hurt her,” Eve said, looking up to his eyes. “I wanted to hurt her for all the things she’s done, for all the ways she’s hurt you and Valerie and the other Keriv’i. I’ve never wanted to hurt someone so badly in my life.”
Khiva exhaled, bringing her to him to smooth a hand down her back.
“I knew if I hurt her, I would be just like her. And it scared me, because I stillwantedto,” she whispered into his chest.
