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He eyed the red mark he’d left on her skin. “Guess I’m a bit inexperienced at playing lady’s maid, Your Highness.” He eased up on the pressure, soaping her leg.

“You know, it’s a great honor to receive an invitation to one of Tiberius Steele’s parties. After the scene you caused, I doubt I’ll get another.”

Good.“Wouldn’t be so sure about that. Not with the way Tiberius was circling you.” Considering how the male looked at Vivian, it would take more than some spilled caviar to deter the man.

Instead of snapping back at him, she shivered, dunking her sudsy foot into the water. She was off tonight. Putting an end to Lyle Hasting’s death threats should have put her mind at ease. If anything, she seemed more worried.

“I get you’re pissed at me over the mess, but that’s not what has you in a snit. What did Tiberius say to you out on the deck?”

She leaned forward in the tub, wrapping her arms around her bent legs, and Liam ran the sudsy ball over her exposed back. When she rested her forehead on her knees, falling silent, he prodded, “Viv?”

“He thinks Alistair is alive.” Her voice shook, and the scent of her fear hit his nostrils.

He paused in his lathering. “How is that possible? I thought he died in the fire that burned down your mansion.”

“That makes two of us,” she scoffed. “Tiberius says he might have been Salvatore Guerra’s prisoner all these years. Now Salvatore is dead, and Tiberius is free.”

Vivian’s lover was alive? Well, wasn’t that grand? The thought of her reuniting with the mage hollowed his insides. With his emotions in turmoil, it took him a minute to process the fact she wasn’t exactly brimming with joy. “I, uh”—he cleared his throat—“take it this isn’t happy news?”

Her back heaved as though she drew a bracing breath, then tightened her grip on her knees. “Alistair was a controlling and sadistic prick who delighted in hurting me. The day the mansion burned down around him was the best day of my life.”

Every muscle in Liam’s body turned to stone, and he stared at her curled form. “What are you saying?”

She turned her head, pressing her cheek to her knee. Pain darkened her eyes. “I’m saying I wasn’t Alistair’s courtesan but his captive.”

That couldn’t be right, and yet the evidence sat in front of him, shivering in a tub of fading bubbles. Why would Vivian lie? She wouldn’t. She didn’t. Liam would know. After all, he was the one who’d helped perfect her poker face. Still, she always had a handful of tells he could never train out of her. As she made her confession, he saw no sign of them.

“He hurt you.” Foam gushed between his fingers, oozing from the sponge he’d crushed in his fist. Alistair might have risen from the dead, but Liam would be the one to return him to his grave.

“Yes, but I eventually hurt him back. Far worse,” she said, lifting her chin. Fire sparked in her eyes. “In the end, I destroyed one of the most powerful mages to walk this earth. The Council’s most prized ally. The male who created the medallion the lycan are forced to wear to suppress their beasts. The monster who’d helped the Council to cage an entire race of supernatural males.”

While he liked the sound of that, was proud even that she’d gotten revenge, it didn’t sit right, her doing it all alone. Nausea churned his gut. How many years did she suffer before escaping? “You should have told me, Viv. I would have helped you.”

“Told you when?” Some of the color returned to her cheeks. “It’s not like we ran in the same circles except for the occasional poker tournament. I didn’t even know where you were most of the time, what with you taking contracts and running around the countryside.”

She swallowed audibly before adding, “Besides, there was nothing you could have done. Alistair was one of the most well-known mages in the country. I’ve little doubt he would have killed you. I couldn’t have that on my conscience.”

Wow, her faith in Liam was humbling. He lowered his head, glowering at her from beneath his brows. “I’d have figured something out.” Still would. He’d make the mage’s death slow and painful.

She snorted a laugh, leaned back, and thrust her arm out. “You have no idea what he was capable of. Neither did I. Not at first.” Liam took the not-so-subtle hint and commenced washing her with gentle circles. “When we met, he was sweet, doting even. I was quite dazzled. He wooed me, lavishing me with diamonds, furs, even my very own mansion. It wasn’t until later that adoration turned to obsession. He controlled every aspect of my life. Nothing I did was ever enough. Nothing hehadwas ever enough. Alistair always hungered for more.”

Obsession was a dark and twisted thing. For a power-hungry mage who’d been imprisoned, that obsession would have only grown stronger. Seeing as how Vivian had gotten one over on the bastard, vengeance would be high on his priority list.

“Male like that isn’t likely to leave you alone now that he’s free. Good chance he’s going to come after you.”

“Though I imagine he’s still weakened from his injuries and his time with Salvatore, he will most definitely try. When he does, he’ll find that I am no longer the naïve and powerless girl he once knew. The current magister, Tiberius Steele, ismyally now, not Alistair’s.”

Was that why she catered to the male? How could he be so stupid? Guilt chewed at Liam. “I should have known. Saw you changing right before my eyes.” Though he’d seen her infrequently throughout the years, he’d noticed that light inside her start to dim. “Thought it was the highborn lifestyle doing it to you. Never suspected there was more.”

“I escaped him once,” she said, staring into space, eyes unfocused. “One of his experiments went awry. His victim broke free of one of its restraints and took a swipe at him. The guards came running to help. In the chaos, I was able to slip away. Knowing he could track me anywhere with a scrying stone, I went to the Council and begged for an audience with the former magister. Fool that I was, I told him everything. Turns out, I shouldn’t have bothered. He knew all along about Alistair’s experiments. Since none of the other mages were willing to work with him to create the lycan’s collars, he turned a blind eye to Alistair’s depravity.”

“Shame that dickwad magister is dead,” Liam grated. “I’d like to have a word with him.”

She blinked, coming back into herself, the corner of her mouth twisting. “I’d have liked to see that.”

“What kind of experiments are we talking about?”

“Like all mages, Alistair is capable of wielding and manipulating energy. Many mages draw power from an outside source. Ley lines, mystical objects, bloodstones. Though the mansion sat on a powerful ley line, it wasn’t enough for Alistair. He found it too limiting for all the diabolical things he wanted to accomplish. Instead, he started to draw power from the living.”