We’d packed in silence, moved around each other like two people who had fallen out of love. I relinquished myself to be the obedient parcel I was meant to be.
“I’m sorry.” Dommik’s chest rumbled behind me, the first words spoken since we’d departed his estate. “For yesterday.”
Asher chuffed and shook his head as if encouraging him to say more. Dommik obeyed, exhaling and added, “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.”
We’d been riding like this for hours. The taut line of tension between us was unignorable.
“Thank you,” I responded softly. “I’m sorry too.”
And I was. I was sorry I’d pushed him, that I’d fanned the flames andescalated it. He may have withheld other information, but what I’d asked wasn’t my business. Just like my love for Beau wasn’t his.
“I owe you one more question.” His tone was welcoming and warm again.
I hesitated, really thinking about what I wanted—no, needed—to know. With each step, Asher carried me toward the vampires of the Hive. My new home, as Dommik called it. My next prison was how I envisioned it.
I stroked Asher’s sleek, ebony mane and said, “You’ve said multiple times I’m supposed to be delivered untouched. And untasted.”
He cleared his throat. “Yes.”
“Well, why does it matter so much?”
Dommik guided Asher over a rock bed. Water trickled between the stones and shimmered under the glow of the moon. It was the birth of a river beneath us. Asher stumbled over the uneven waterway, jostling me in the saddle. Dommik let out a gentle exhale and steadied me with an arm wrapped around my middle. I leaned into his touch. After the treacherous journey thus far, it felt nice to be held.
Once across, he released me and shifted his weight. “Strict orders.”
I rolled my eyes and tucked a loose strand of dark hair behind my ear. “Not that I’m complaining, but who would know?”
I wondered if he would oblige my follow up question or cut me off like he had last night.
“Ahh…well. It’s a side effect of our condition. Vampires have heightened senses and abilities. Sight, smell, taste.” I nodded. That was the extent of my knowledge of vampires previous to meeting him. He went on, “So we can sense when another vampire has been…in contact. We leave traces.”
I twisted to look at him. “Oh…so it’s like a territorial thing?”
“Essentially, yes.”
Traces. On me. That other vampires can sense. I ran through all of the touches, accidental and purposeful and heat flushed my cheeks. “But you’ve touched me. Handled me quite roughly, actually.”
“All of which has been necessary or can be explained. Vaspar, on the other hand, will need to answer for his actions.” A ping of relief lit up at the base of my neck. I was curious what justice in the vampire court would look like. The idea that Vaspar would have to answer for his crimes gave way to a new curiosity.
“But—” I began.
“It matters because,” he answered, anticipating my next inquiry as if he could read minds, “the vampire who ordered your retrieval commanded it.”
He was giving me crumbs of information while dancing around the root of what I needed to know.
“Why would they do that?” I pressed.
An annoyed sigh melted into a nervous chuckle. “Because you’ll belong to them.”
A vampire who didn’t want me touched or tasted. My heart sank thinking about belonging to yet another stranger. Belonging to anyone, really. I supposed Dommik wouldn’t be so bad; at least we had rapport…
But it wasn’t him. Someone had ordered my retrieval. And I needed to know. “Well, who do Ibelongto?”
“In due time, Lady Bergmont.” My formal title was his way of teasing me.
“Dommik, who?”
“Rhazien Kyrell.”
