“Can’t I?” the vampire asked. She moved closer to Selene. “I believe I can do anything I like,” she said.
Iris was close enough to see how the vampire’s pupils dilated, but far enough not to get a direct hit of her glamour like Selene did.
Her usually controlled friend wavered on her feet, leaning closer to the vampire, her eyes full of wonder.
“I believe you would let me do anything I want, wouldn’t you?” the vampire intoned.
Selene’s lips parted, and her head tilted to the side, opening up her neck.
Iris’s fists clenched at her sides as she watched Selene fall under Carm’s glamour. A part of her wanted to rush forward and pull her friend away. Another part of her wondered if this was just how things were. Paranormal or not, weren’t they all just constantly being seduced, pressured, and manipulated into giving themselves over? The pool. The chaise. The way she’d melted under Finn’s touch.
Was every interaction with another person just a form of glamour?
“That’s enough, Carm,” Arden said. He dropped an arm on Selene’s shoulders. “This one is under my protection,” he said, curling Selene into him.
“Like hell, I am,” Selene objected. She tried to wrench away from Arden, but he held her tight as Carm shrugged and moved further into her store.
“Don’t be an ingrate,” Arden said. He gave Selene a raised-brow look. “If I hadn’t stepped in, you would have been pants-free, spread-eagled on the chair over there, begging for Carm to bite you. And as much as I may have enjoyed that image, I know you’re the high priestess of personal boundaries and wouldn’t appreciate that.”
“I thought glamouring was illegal,” Iris whispered.
“It’s … a gray area,” Arden admitted.
“There’s nothing gray about it. The current lawmakers are just too chicken to stand up to the vampires.”
“But notherfuture lawmaker,” Arden said.
“Really?” Iris asked.
“Yeah, Finn’s platform includes a ban on glamouring outside of consensual relationships and vampire clubs,” Selene explained. “Right now, the only law on the books is that vampires can’t compel someone against their will to commit crimes or have sex. The new law would be a lot more far-reaching.”
“Which is why Finn is not very popular among the vampires,” Arden concluded.
Iris distinctly remembered overhearing Finn and Henry having a heated debate in the kitchen while she had been trying to ignore them in the living room as she read her book.
It had been about the vampires.
With Henry trying to get Finn to bend on the issue. And Finn putting his foot down.
It stuck with her because he always seemed to roll over and do whatever his campaign manager said. It had been kind of hot to see him have his own opinion and the backbone to stick to it.
“I didn’t climb out of the coffin at this sun-cursed hour for chit-chat,” Carm said, waving a fine-boned hand toward a rack of dresses. No, not dresses—gowns.
“Carm, we talked about this,” Arden said, striding toward the vampire. With his arm still around Selene, he pulled her along with him.
Iris followed. She was excited about the gowns, even if she wasn’t exactly looking forward to a formal charity event.
“About my impeccable taste? Yes, yes, we did.”
“Carm. Everything here is black.”
“Nonsense, this is navy blue,” she declared, waving toward the only gown on the rack that wasn’t midnight black.
“And it is lovely. But it doesn’t work with Iris’s coloring. We want her to stun in a soft summer palette: mauve, rose, soft blue …”
Carm mimed a yawn but sighed and threw up a hand. “Fine! Come with me.”
With that, all three of them followed the vampire to a back room where the colorful gowns were hidden.
