But I knew. These were the flowers I’d studied on the terrace as we’d sat in comfortable silence. Lord Azad had gathered the largest and best blossoms, as well as a few that had yet to bloom but would in perhaps a day’s time.
Warmth radiated out my chest, swirling up until I was smiling, leaning down to breathe in the heady scent, transporting me back to last night with his hand on my throat and his fingers in my hair.
“They’re beautiful,” I rasped and blinked back the burning in my eyes.
I’d cried last night too, and he had offered me no hollow words, only the comfort of his presence and the offer to soothe what hurt he could.Thattold me more about what kind of male he was than the accolades Gerald spewed.
“They are,” Lilith agreed, smoothing her hand up and down my back.
The sconces on the wall dimmed then brightened,indicating a patron waited for me at the front through the ward magic. I took a deep breath, swiping beneath my eyes, but Lilith didn’t move.
“You should greet them.”
She arched a brow. “They can wait until you’re ready.”
I nodded, taking another deep breath and finding a small bit of comfort in the heady scent around us. After another second, she smiled and pulled me into one of her bone-cracking hugs before gliding toward the velvet curtain.
Gerald stood on the other side, clutching an extravagant bouquet of flowers probably worth more than I made in a fortnight. Lilith greeted him warmly in the traditional manner before gesturing toward my room. I pushed everything away until I was left with only an empty sort of contentment.
Just the way they’d trained me to be. A mirror to reflect back what others wanted to see. A curated bouquet. A jewel inlaid in metal. Anoyistashined into a gleaming copper.
But no one truly saw me.
And that was the best safety I could imagine.
Chapter Eight
“Right hand—yes, like that. Now up, elbow—no, your other—yes.”
I jabbed my elbow back, narrowly missing Noah’s face, but it allowed me enough room to break his hold. Or perhaps he let go. I stumbled away, hands braced on my knees as I gasped for air. Sweat trickled down my neck and I cursed the skirts of the pale blue day dress sticking to my legs.
It had been a week since the dinner at Lord Azad’s estate and a week of Gerald offering gifts as apologies for his behavior. I’d grown tired of the displays and Jules had started to take whatever Gerald had for me before he could slip through the velvet curtain. It was mostly lavish bouquets and small tins of sweets, but they made my stomach turn regardless. I was grateful it was my night off; though I’d originally balked at such a concept, Jules was firm on it. In fact, she’d prefer I took more than one day off a week.
There’d been no more word from Lord Azad, though the flower arrangement in my rooms had not wilted or dried in the time since. And I’d spent almost every dawn staring at my ceiling, willing away the memory of his hand on the back of my neck, the rumble of the growl in his chest.
“I have to say, I don’t quite see the point,” Lilith wheezedfrom where she was splayed out across our front hallway. “If someone like a vampire attacks us, we’re as good as dead.”
Noah shook back his hair. Barely even a glimmer of sweat was visible on his light brown skin or the paler demon sigil on his brow. “With that sort of mindset, youareas good as dead.”
“We cannot all be born fighters,” I rasped, staggering over to the stool by the window.
Vyenurs were born from the earth, clawing their way through the soil fully grown and brimming with the knowledge of those who came before. There was no teaching a Vyenur how to fight, but they did hone their skills. They also had no need for swords or daggers, though they used them to great advantage. Those who found favor with the Covenant were gifted weapons imbued with magic—those especially were deadly.
However, to find yourself with one of those weapons would mean you’d exacted ghastly deeds on the Covenant’s behalf.
“No, not everyone is a born fighter,” he agreed.
“So, my comment stands,” Lilith groaned, rolling on her side to push up to a seat.
Noah crossed our small living area and crouched beside her. “A vampire will believe you have no skill to defend yourself, that you are merely a witch with a scant amount of power to her name.” He touched a knuckle beneath her chin. “Prove them wrong and the surprise might be enough to save you one day.”
She grasped his hand and nodded. He stood, pulling her along with him. “There is no excuse for weakness when you have the means to be strong,” he recited.
It was the same sentiment he’d been repeating since we’d first met. Only a week or so after I’d moved in, there had been a particularly tense night at Risqeu.A vampire male had felt he’d not fed enough, though he’d almost drained Cheyennedry. He’d fought Jules and Solange as they’d used their wards to eject him from the den, but he’d been snarling and pacing the boundary line for the rest of the night. None of us had been able to leave until sunrise.
Jules said a friend had dealt with the immortal so he would not return, and now I wondered if perhaps Lord Azad had been that friend.
When I’d told Noah what happened, he’d insisted on teaching Lilith and me how to defend ourselves. Six months on and, though he chided us for our lack of stamina we were improving.
