Cade had to see her again, whatever it took. Even if his own past had taught him trust could be fatal.
He wasn’t used to being taken by a fancy like this, and at first, it irritated him. She’d left so easily. Taken everything he had to give all night, poured it straight back, and then just…left.
Sure, she’d looked like she was going to stay, if only for a moment. He’d smelled the desire on her, even over the scents of their overnight activities. But she had to have known that’d mean a breakfast and then bed situation.
Biting was one of her lines. She’d stuck to it and left.
He had to give her credit. First, for following through on her boldness, with no shame and just enough fear to tell him she wasn’t brainless. He’d even tried scaring her off, a little frightened himself at how much he wanted to claim her. She’d wrestled with her fear, conquered it, and then…conquered him.
There was no other word for it. He might have been the one holding her down, but he’d taken his cues from her.
It scared him enough that he shifted uneasily against pillows that still smelled like her hair. He’d been conquered once before, far from pleasurably, and it’d resulted in two hundred years of torture.
But Lya wasn’t a master vampire. She was a tantalizing rogue of a half-elf who pushed all his buttons simply by existing.
What would it be like now that he had a better idea of how she’d react?
The fire of a challenge sparked in him.
He’d see her again. He’d make sure of it. He just had to figure out who the fuck she was first. Lya the elf-blooded, who practiced martial arts and enchanted him like a succubus even without using Aether on him.
But Lya Who?
No. He wasn’t some kind of crazed stalker. Cade knew the difference between a fun hunt and a threatening one, and he wouldn’t do anything to make Lya fear him.
Even if part of him, the low, reptilian-brained part amplified by the vampire virus, wanted nothing more than to find her, catch her, and feed from her while he took his pleasure.
No, he told himself more firmly.
Every being had urges, and every being was responsible for controlling those urges where they’d cause harm to another. His old master might have been a depraved monster, but Cade wasn’t—not these days, at least—even in search of power and whatever else Lya had sparked in him. He couldn’t help drinking from humans; he’d die without it. But there were rules around drinking from Othersiders for very good reasons, reasons he’d learned a hard lesson testing. Lya knew what he was. Human-blooded or not, they’d engaged as Othersiders, and she’d stated her boundaries.
Glamouring her without consent wouldn’t be like glamouring a human to survive or maintain the Détente. It’d be magical trespass. Aside from being utterly wrong, it might get him beheaded and burned to ash.
That didn’t stop his brain from straying to the thought of her writhing in pleasure beneath him, a deeper pleasure than even sex, brought on first by glamour then by a bite. The herby flavor of elven blood spurting into his mouth as he—
Stop it.
Okay, so he had an obsession. It’d been years since he’d had to deal with one of those. There was nothing new under the sun or the moon, and after almost five hundred years, he’d resigned himself to the idea that living apart from a coterie and traveling as a vagabond might be the only way he’d keep himself safe and life interesting. That and a vagabond had independent status. He owed fealty to no one. That he was protected by no one was fine by him. He was old enough to take care of himself and safer for it, even if the itch for more power and security had started again.
Besides, he’d learned the hard way that trust and connections were dangerous. They hurt. They got people killed—and had earned him his first death, an experience he wasn’t keen to repeat. Even when they didn’t permanently kill, they got everything stripped away, as he’d learned in later events.
Reminding himself of that didn’t stop him from wanting Lya more than he’d wanted anyone in his long life.
A knock at the main door to the VIP room shook him from his thoughts. “Sir?”
With a sigh, Cade dragged himself out of bed and answered it, not bothering to dress. “Sorry, I know the time’s up. Give me a few minutes please.”
“Of course, sir. Will you be needing a to-go meal?”
“Yes. That’d be most accommodating, thank you.”
It’d be an extra charge, but he’d accumulated more money over the years than he knew what to do with. Another benefit of being a vagabond—no tithing portions of his income to a Master or Mistress of the City. It’d also be better than having to heat one of the bags of blood he kept in a locked refrigerator in his walk-in closet.
“Of course, sir.” The much younger vampire inclined his head and hurried away.
Cade dressed quickly, not wanting to overstay his welcome and risk not being allowed back. Maria was delightfully flexible on arrangements, but she had a nasty temper when someone overstepped. He reckoned he could best her in a dominance battle, but he had no interest in becoming Torsten’s number three for the obligatory five-year minimum period if he won or in dealing with the retribution of Maria’s rabidly loyal fledgling.
That meant being a good guest while in the Viking’s territory.
When he was reasonably clothed, his shirt mostly buttoned, waistcoat hanging open, and jacket slung over his arm, he took one last deep inhale, ensuring he had every nuance of Lya’s scent stored in his brain.
If she’d come to Raleigh once, she might again. He wouldn’t go out of his way to stalk her, but he wasn’t above trying to bump into her.
A pale, blond human woman, wearing the comfortable clothes and eager smile of a blood pet or a junkie, was waiting at the bar when Cade made his way downstairs.
“Good morning, sir,” she said in a tone breathy with excitement.
“Good morning, lovely.” He offered a small smile as he approached. “Might I take the edge off for you?”
She perked up. “Yes, please.”
A junkie then, willing to risk a host losing control and killing her to chase the high of a glamour. Cade didn’t feel great about drinking from them, but it’d be rude to turn her down now and he was famished.
Tilting her head up with gentle fingers, he locked eyes with her and loosened the control he maintained over his magic. Glamour spilled free, riding their connection and settling over the woman like a warm blanket.
She swayed, lips parting as her pupils dilated.
Cade took her in his arms before she could fall and bent to her neck. Made the quick bite over the carotid artery that would spill blood into his mouth. Drank.
The edge of exhaustion from the night before faded with each swallow. Warmth spread through him, cutting through the graveyard chill that seeped in if a vampire went too long between feedings or had been more energetic than usual. The stiffness in his muscles and joints eased, which would let him look human when he walked out rather than like a windup toy that was on the verge of needing a crank.
When her heart started pumping faster, he stopped suckling from her and pressed his tongue to the wound. In seconds, a blend of saliva and magic closed the twin punctures, leaving her with just the faintest beginnings of a hickey. A small courtesy but one he always extended, even to junkies and pets who knew what the vampires drinking from them were. They might be completely cared for by their hosts or the coterie, but they still had lives, or might do. He didn’t want this one stuck waiting for his bite to heal if she had somewhere to be.
She swayed when he pulled away.
“Easy.” Scooping her up, he carried her over to one of the couches and laid her down, feet propped up on the arm. It’d take a while for her to come out of the glamour, but he wasn’t just going to leave her on the floor.
When he turned to ask the bartender for a beverage to leave next to her, he found the man already on his way over with a glass of orange juice and a small plate of cookies, a strange look on his face.
“What’s wrong?” Cade asked.
“Nothing, sir. You’re just…more thoughtful than most of our guests.”
Cade studied him. He still smelled almost human, so while he was one of the moroi, he was a brand-new one. New vampires had four origins: favored pets, convenient accidents, planned hunts, or attacks by rakshasa too lost to remember the rules. He wouldn’t be this calm with a vampire Cade’s age if he’d been through one of the latter three experiences. Cade knew that from his own turning.
“You used to be a pet?” Cade asked.
The man nodded. “There was…an incident.” He shrugged. “So, here I am. But hey, at least they turned me.”
“Indeed.” It wasn’t guaranteed. If he hadn’t been someone’s favorite, this handsome bartender would have just been dead. “Am I permitted back, then?”
“Yeah. Philip said that as long as you stay right with Maria, the girl from last night walked out, and you minded your manners, you could keep coming back.”
“Appreciated. What was your name?”
“I’m Ricardo. Late night to dawn shift, usually.”
That made sense. The newer ones would be put in the riskier daylight positions while they were young enough not to be too bothered by the sun and not too valuable to the coterie just yet.
“Good to meet you, Ricardo.” Cade shook his hand. “Until next time.”
“Next time, sir.”
Cade picked up Lya’s scent again at the lift, shuddering as it enveloped him in the enclosed space. The blood he’d just taken decided to concentrate itself in his crotch, of course, and he had to leave the elevator with his jacket held over his front to avoid looking like some kind of pervert.
As he stepped outside, he was distracted again by Lya’s fading scent. It stopped at the curb with no spike of fear, so at least she’d gotten to the car safely.
He frowned, annoyed all over again as he realized he was more worried about her than he was about getting home. That was the problem with the shorter nights of summer—getting home when he’d indulged himself and overslept.
Idiot. So taken by a woman that you’re taking risks with daylight.
The entry of the building was north-facing, still in shadow with the sun barely up. He wouldn’t burst into flame or anything as dramatic as the human films suggested, and he could walk for short distances at full noon without any effects worse than a bad sunburn. But he hated sunburns, and he hated the itching that lasted for days after even a brief exposure to the sun.
Nothing for it. Fortunately, he lived nearby, on the second floor of a modern building in an interior and north-facing apartment that never quite got full sun, especially when he pulled the blackout curtains.
He’d just gotten in the door and locked it behind him when his cell phone rang. Tired all over again and itchy from sun exposure, he ignored it and headed for the bathroom and a cold shower. He was smoothing aloe vera over his face when the damned device went off again.
The only people who had the number were vampires. If they were calling multiple times after sunup, it had to be important.
With a sigh, Cade checked the caller ID.
Maria.
He winced, wondering what he’d done to draw her attention. Torsten might be Master in Raleigh, and Aron might carry out his wishes, but anyone with a brain knew that Maria was the driving force behind the coterie’s success, even if Torsten and Aron refused to acknowledge it.
“Maria.” He kept his voice light but didn’t bother trying to hide his tiredness. “To what do I owe the late call?”
“Long night, muffin?”
“You could say that. The hospitality at your new club leaves nothing to be desired.”
“So I hear. I also hear that you’ve met the lovely Mademoiselle Lydia of House Desmarais.”
Cade froze. He didn’t buy the teasing note in Maria’s voice. He’d heard it before, when she was setting someone up for a verbal skewering.
“Half-elf?” she prompted. “Entertainingly bold?”
“We got acquainted,” he said carefully, not daring to lie and not wanting to give away that he hadn’t had a surname or even a full first name, apparently. “I wasn’t aware you had an interest.”
“Oh I do. I very much do.”
Swallowing a burst of panic that seemed to curdle the blood he’d just taken, Cade leaned on the counter. He should have guessed that a prize like Lya wouldn’t just wander in off the street with no strings attached.
“May I ask the nature of the interest?” he said. Please don’t say she’s your lover.
“Hmm.”
Cade let the silence hang, suspecting it was equal parts Maria thinking through the angles and her playing a game.
“I suppose you may, in exchange for telling me your interest,” she finally said.
“I can’t just enjoy a drink with a beautiful woman?”
“As long as you’re both drinking booze and she stays ass above grass, I don’t give a damn what you do with her.”
“So it’s a blood donation?”
“Yes. Every six weeks, in exchange for free passage in Raleigh.”
That explained at least some of Lya’s no biting line and was somewhat a relief, even if it made jealousy spark. He tamped it down. No vampire could afford to act on the emotion. He thought it was bullshit that Lya would have to pay for passage with blood, since any Othersider who wasn’t full-blooded could technically pass through as the mundanes did, but he supposed it bought her a measure of protection.
Ah. Hence the call. Lya had mentioned having friends in town, and given Maria’s ambitions, he suspected protection wasn’t the only reason for this conversation. But he was smart enough not to mention that.
“I see,” Cade said. “Well. I can assure you no blood was exchanged on either side and I have no intention of harming her.”
“See that it stays that way.” Maria had dropped the flirty tones and was all business now. “Because, Cade, darling? You may have the privileges of a vagabond, but everyone wears out their welcome eventually.”
“Is that a threat?” Shock made him reply far more coldly than was polite. As long as they didn’t break any laws of either Otherside or the mundanes, vagabonds were permitted to come and go unharassed and were owed a certain level of guest courtesy.
“I wouldn’t dare. I’m just letting you know where we stand. Lya bought protection as well as passage,” Maria said far too lightly, confirming his earlier inference. “If I hear that she’s been hurt, you and I are going to have a problem.”
“I appreciate that.” He bit his tongue before he could say he wasn’t hunting her. It’d be a lie because, while he wasn’t actively pursuing the woman, he fully intended to taste more than her pussy. Assuming she’d let him, of course. “In the interest of avoiding problems, I’ll be by soon to discuss renewing my guest privileges.”
“I see. I suppose it has been six months already.” The line went silent as she considered that, even if she had no say in the matter. “Fine. Good talk, sweets. Be good. Bye now.”
Maria ended the call, leaving Cade just a shade shy of furious.
It had been a long time since someone tried to warn him off like that. Well intended or not, the only person whose opinion mattered in all of this was Lya’s.
Assuming he could find her again, of course.