A muscle ticked in my jaw. Her eyes were closing, head tilting to the side with the languor that always accompanied blood giving. “I do not know her.”
“And yet you covet her all the same.”
I nodded, squeezing my hands together so tightly my unbreakable bones threatened to crack. Mademoiselle Valois stiffened beneath the vampire’s hold, pulling away as her cheeks paled. Mateo immediately rose from his seat, crossed the room in only a few strides and placed a hand on Lord Montag’s shoulder.
“I apologize for the intrusion,” Mateo said just loud enough for me to hear. “However, I believe your giver might be in need of a break.”
Such things were not uncommon when drinking amongst other immortals. Even in the blood dens wards were in place to alert those in charge if a vampire was in danger of taking too much. However, there was no telling how an immortal would react to being interrupted during a feed. I breathed out a sigh of relief as the vampire withdrew.
Yet my heartbeat continued to thunder in my ears and I had half a mind to throw the lord bodily from my house. His only saving grace was the stricken look crossing his features as he regarded Mademoiselle Valois. Mateo handed her a handkerchief, which she pressed to her throat.
“Please accept my sincerest apologies, Mademoiselle Valois,” Lord Montag whispered. “I do not know what came over me.”
She gave him a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Of course. These things happen, my lord.”
Mateo crouched in front of the witch and not for the first time I thanked the goddess that, though my brother might have been a monster, he’d chosen beings with beautiful hearts as his fledglings. “What do you need, Mademoiselle? Allow me to get it for you.”
A little color returned to her cheeks—she must have been on a strict regimen ofserangunahfor situations just like these. I couldn’t help but wonder how often it happened, and my inability to protect her roiled beneath my skin. But her smilewas warmer now as she shook her head. “Perhaps some fresh air.”
Both males rose at once, offering their assistance. Heat prickled on the back of my neck when it was Lord Montag’s hand she took.
“Allow me to accompany you,” he said, a flush staining his cheeks.
Her blood. Running through his veins.
But she shook her head. “No, stay, my lord. Catch up with your friend.”
I caught Bernard’s eye where he stood in the shadows, tilting my chin toward the group. He appeared beside them in the next moment, startling Gerald and Adrienne. Bernard was one of my oldest friends and in life he had been a wayward actor and musician. In death, he was one of the most powerful ghosts I’d ever encountered. When he’d died, I’d mourned him deeply, beating my breast beside his grave, only for his spirit to stride up beside me and ask what was wrong.
He’d decided after a few decades of boredom to manage my household since I was, as he put it, “running it into the ground.” Most never realized what he was. His brown hair had a similar luster to my own, golden complexion just as flushed with life as any other living being’s. Yet he could disappear into nothing, create his clothes from energy itself, and haunt the houses of people who were rude to him.
“Follow me, Mademoiselle,” he murmured, stepping back to gesture toward the door.
Immediately Mateo drew Lord Montag into conversation. I waited a beat before rising as well, meandering through the room and checking on the others. Most were done with their feeding and were now speaking quietly or providing food and drink to their givers. No one noticed as I slipped through the door on the opposite end, striding at a mortal pace throughthe long hallway toward the gardens where I knew Bernard would take her.
He passed me on his way back, handing me a small tin.
A gentle breeze rustled throughasivablossoms climbing up the retaining wall of the terrace beside where she sat on the first step. The warm light from the house spilled across her back, burnishing her hair and gilding her pale skin. I watched for a moment as she breathed deep and tilted her head toward the sky.
“Are you well?” I asked, gentle enough that I hoped it would not startle.
She did not turn, her whispered “yes” spoken to the stars while she wrapped her arms around her middle.
I did not move closer. Every part of my soul pushed to gather her into my embrace, to tuck her head beneath my chin and hum soft melodies that were now only wisps of memory. Again, I wished for a mating bond—a perfect reason to act upon the instinct. Her scent was heavy on the air, wildflowers and sunshine dancing across my face. I could not help but breathe it in.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“For what, my lord?”
My lord.The title rankled coming off her tongue, yet we did not know each other. I could not ask her to call me by my name just as I could not ask to use hers. When I hesitated for a beat too long, she turned her face in my direction until I could just make out her profile. “It was not your fault.”
The rasp in my voice was quiet, but it was still there. “It was.”
A sigh ruffled the hair around her cheeks and she looked away. Silence lengthened while she stared at the blossoms beside her. Blue and white star-shaped flowers mimicked the night sky.
“Do you like ithere?” I asked finally.
She hummed, reaching out to stroke a petal. “I do, very much… Do you?”
