“What happened?”
Lilith bustled back into the room, shooing Noah from his seat at the window, where he flipped through another recipe book, so she could close the curtains on the rising dawn. “Addie wasn’t feeling well, so I sent him to finish his session with Liam,” she answered for me.
I shot her a grateful look but Jules pursed her lips. “Not feeling well?”
“Yes… The moment he touched me I felt nauseous and it intensified as he drank.”
“Oh, darling,” she breathed, covering my hand with hers. It was cold, as if she’d been holding her hands in snow.
“Eamon has asked for her to be his exclusive giver,” Lilith continued, unaware of the concern on her mother’s face as she flitted through the room.
“And how do you feel about that?” Jules asked me.
I frowned, but it was more at the tremor in her hand and the fact that no matter how much I cupped it in mine, it took on no warmth. “Lord Azad is very generous.”
Jules rolled her eyes. “Yes, he is. How do you feel about his offer?”
“Overwhelmed, but it appears I have no other option.”
Lilith slipped from the room again, murmuring about changing. The sound of her bedroom door closing cut through the silence as Jules observed me.
“Noah, will you please grab me a fresh handkerchief? There’s one in the parlor on the table beside the window.”
He stood, closing the book with a snap. “You humans never say what you mean—it’s exhausting. I’ll come back in five minutes and keep Lilith out too.”
I couldn’t help but smile as he turned on the threshold and tugged the door closed behind him. But the moment we were alone discomfort wormed its way through my stomach.
“You are his mate?” she asked softly.
With a nod, I focused on smoothing the covers around her until she took both my hands.
“Then why work at Risqeu at all? He will provide for you and your family. There is no reason to stay.”
Warmth bubbled through my chest as Jules spoke. It might have been the first time in my entire life that I finally realized someone was treating me as if I was more than just what I could offer them. When I’d first met Lilith and Noah I hadn’t trusted them, had second-guessed each interaction. It would have been in Jules’ best interest to convince me to stay at Risqeu, to keep Lord Azad as my only client.
I sniffed, scrunching my nose at the burn from my tears. “I cannot leave you, and he will grow tired of me sooner or later—what will I do then?”
My name was nothing more than a sigh as she gripped my hands a little tighter. “You can leave me, darling. You cannot spend your whole life caring for those around you and never for yourself. Eamon is a good male and as your mate he would never abandon you. In truth, I do not think a vampire would be capable of leaving his blood mate either way.”
She couldn’t know that truly. I’d seen it happen again and again. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her about my mother and her blood mates, to ask if perhaps it had all been a lie but she lurched forward, coughing into the handkerchief she’d dropped. Blood splattered across her fingers and her breath rattled in her lungs.
I guided her back to the pillows, pouring a fresh glass of water. “You need to rest.”
Jules coughed again, though it was softer than before. “You sound like Mateo.”
“Mateo has the right idea. I’ll get Lilith.”
Before I could turn, she grabbed my wrist. “When your mother wrote to me saying her daughter would be coming to Oylen and looking for work, I didn’t think much of it. It was not the first time I’ve received letters from a parent looking for a fresh start for their child. But do you know why I agreed to hire you when we met?”
I worried the inside of my cheek with my teeth and shook my head. “No, I do not.”
Her smile was weak and it set my throat to aching. “Because I saw in you the same thing I see in the mirror. I am what I have become because that is what I have been raised to be. Honed, crafted, and sharpened like steel. Except in my case, it was done out of love and I agreed because I honor my family and the legacy they have left behind.”
She left the rest unsaid, but I did not need to hear it. Instead, I nodded, leaned down and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. “I thank the goddess every day you took me on.”
I padded to the door, stopping again when she called out to me.
“Trust him, Adrienne, if you will not trust yourself.”
