But here I was, waiting for the Prince—thePrince—to unlock the door to what appeared to be one of the many old warehouses that had been converted into upscale condos.
Luckily he hadn’t argued with me when I’d led him out of the alley, and I was leading him. By the time we reached Royal Street, in the opposite direction of the sirens, his steps had slowed to a near crawl. I was able to flag down a cab and thank God, as far as I knew, he didn’t bleed all over the backseat.
The Prince didn’t speak beyond giving the cabbie his address. Not again after the ride. Not as I helped him get to the elevator and we went to the tenth floor, the top floor, and not as I stood beside him, shouldering what felt like the weight of a Volkswagen Bug.
The door finally opened and warm air rushed out as the Prince stumbled inside. A light came on, revealing a massive open floor design that… that didn’t even look lived in.
The walls were exposed brick and the living area faced floor to ceiling windows. There were two doors. One near the entrance that I figured was some kind of closet and the other on theother side of the living room. There was a TV and a large black, sectional couch, but beyond that, there was nothing else. At all.
“You can leave now.” He walked forward, stopping to place his hand on the white marble countertops that edged out the gourmet level kitchen that looked like it never once saw a meal cooked in it.
Because I was apparently making a series of bad life choices tonight, I followed him inside, closing the door behind me.
“Are you going to be okay?” I toyed with the button on my peacoat.
Lowering his head, he let out a long, shuddering breath. “Yes.”
“That doesn’t sound very convincing.” I inched closer to him, and I could smell it now. It mingled with that summer scent of his. I saw it on his hand, the bluish-red tint of fae blood. “Is there someone I can call? Your brother—”
“Do not call my brother,” he bit out, his fingers curling into a fist on the marble. “Do not call anyone.”
Exasperated, I looked around the condo before my eyes settled on him. “Obviously you’re not okay. You haven’t fed and you’re bleeding all over your nice wood floors. And I have no idea why you haven’t fed in two years—not that I don’t think that’s great and all, but your brother says he uses humanvolunteers—”
“You say that like you don’t believe it, but yes, my brother does not take from those who are not willing.”
“And you couldn’t find any volunteers?”
“There you go again, with the questions.” He shook his head slowly. “You need to leave.”
“But—”
“I do not think you understand.” He lifted his head again, and yep, those eyes were definitely starting to glow. He stared atme like… like he washungry. Starved, really. “You need to leave now.”
A wave of shivers rolled over my skin as an innate sense forced me to take a step back from him. The atmosphere around us seemed to thin and charge with static.
The Prince turned, tracking my movements with a near predatory glint to those glowing faint blue eyes. “I won’t tell you again. If you don’t leave, you won’t have the choice to.”
Chapter 17
He didn’t have to tell me again.
I got out of that condo as fast as my two legs would carry me and I made it down the long hall, to the steel elevator doors before I stopped and looked behind me.
“What are you doing?” I whispered, knowing I should just hit the elevator button and go. He wasn’t my responsibility and just because I could appreciate his hotness didn’t mean I liked him.
Because I didn’t.
I stared at the elevator button.
Plus I had to figure out what the hell I was going to tell Tanner and Faye about Elliot and his weird as hell eyes. It would take Faye no leap of logic to jump to the conclusion that if Elliot had gone all evil fae, there was a good chance her cousin had too.
Turning from the elevator, I pulled my phone out of my back pocket. “Damn it,” I muttered, folding one arm across my stomach as I called Tink.
He answered on the second ring. “Hey, Lite Bright, I was getting worried.”
“I’m okay, but there is a problem.” I glanced up the hall. “I’m with the Prince.”
There was a pause and then, “LikethePrince?”
