I blinked. Seriously? This was the route she was taking?
“No.” Scout shook her head. “Why? Can we not share a room?”
Magdalena glanced at me, and I glared down at her. Fuck her if she was going to try to say that shit.
“Are you really going to try to judge us for sleeping together?” I asked sharply. She glared at me, and irritation swelled in me. “I heard about your past. You used to be a sex worker. And you still do blood orgies, do you not? Me sleeping with my long-term partner was nothing compared to that.”
She seemed to reconsider and sniffled.
“No. I’ll see you tonight.” She let us go then, but I could see she was not pleased.
“What the hell was all that?” Scout hissed once the bedroom door was closed, and Scout’s assigned servants had left. They insisted on brushing her hair again and putting her in a nightdress.
“Sorry. I don’t know about her. She rubs me the wrong way,” I admitted.
“What do you mean?” Scout asked. She slipped under the covers and invited me in as well. I had been allowed to keep my clothes. So I peeled off my Iron Maiden shirt and jeans and slid in beside her. I pulled her cold body into my own and let out a deep sigh as she stiffened but relaxed an instant later.
Baby steps.
“She hates me, obviously. Like I’m not good enough for you or something.”
Scout laughed. “How does it feel to be on the other side of that?”
“What do you mean?” I lifted my head. She turned hers to look at me.
“When we visited your family, they seemed absolutely repulsed by the idea that you wanted to be with me and not Aleida. It sucked. This is the same thing.”
“So, I’m right. She doesn’t like me.”
Scout turned her head back and snuggled closer to my body. “Maybe. But it doesn’t matter. I like you, and I’m keeping you.”
I watched her close her eyes, and I tried to relax with her to do the same, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that coming here was a bad idea.
That next evening, we were greeted by her two women in waiting.
“Jaime would like to take you to meet the people of the city,” one of them told her.
The other turned to me. “The High Priestess would like to speak to you this evening.”
“Again? We talked all last night,” I protested, but the looks on all three vampire women told me I had no other option. “Fine. Let me get dressed.”
One of them handed me my bag, and I thanked them. They turned as I got dressed. They were more focused on Scout. I watched with mild interest as they washed her arms and face. They then reapplied makeup and styled her hair to resemble her aunt’s. They wrapped her in another white dress, this time with red trim, the color of their eyes. Then, they brought out a gold crown to place on her head. It was small and delicate but truly made her look like royalty.
Why were they doing this? All of this was so— off.
They finished by rubbing her down with perfumed oils and then let her go. They split then, one comingtowardme, the other staying with her.
“I will take you to the High Priestess now.”
I looked at Scout, lingering for a moment. She was beautiful, but she was not Scout. The only difference between the two women was the ink on Scout’s body, whereas Magdalena had none.
“How do I look?” Scout asked, her voice perky. I smiled.
“Gorgeous. I’ll see you in a bit, okay?” I went to her, and she let me kiss her. I wanted to press deeper, stay longer, but she pulled away, gently pushing her hands on my chest.
“Yes. Later tonight. I love you,” she said.
I pressed my lips together, fangs sinking into my lower lip, but I relished the pain. “I love you too,” I told her before I left.
