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Noah clutches my hand after I slide the ring onto his finger, drawing me close. The sand shifts under our feet, and the ocean waves drown out the sound of our beating hearts.

Cassian finishes the ceremony, finally telling Noah he can kiss his bride.

My new husband draws me close, smiling as our mouths meet. Our gathered crowd whoops, celebrating the union of complete strangers and sounding quite happy to do so.

“Congratulations,” Cassian says, and then he turns to me. “You’re officially a daughter of House Chevalier. I will be expecting that Father’s Day card next year.”

“Don’t make it weird,” I laugh, clinging to Noah’s hand. “Now what?”

“In an ideal world, you two would jet off for your honeymoon, enjoying a week of overpriced alcohol and overrated room service.” Cassian frowns at his phone. “Unfortunately, Gerald has arrived, and we need to question him and make him aware you are no longer his.”

Right.

“Okay, cool,” I say with a sigh. “Let’s head to the NIHA office.”

Again.

22

Between applyingfor the marriage license and the wedding, I spent the day at the NIHA office, waiting for Noah to deal with a daunting stack of paperwork. I’m not thrilled to be back, especially tonight.

But Gerald is apparently waiting for us in a conference room. It’s infuriating that even though Alfred revealed House Sorin’s involvement in Sophia’s kidnapping and the plot to keep Cassian off the throne—and we have two official witnesses—NIHA can’t arrest him.

Harold meets us in the hall.

“Which room is Gerald waiting in?” Noah asks him.

“Second door on your left.”

“You’re recording right now?”

“Of course, and we’ll have people watching while you’re in there.”

“Have you informed him he’s on video?”

“I had no choice.”

Noah nods, aware. “Thank you.”

I’m not sure what to expect when I follow Noah into the conference room, and I pause when I see the vampire at the table.

His gaze lands on me, and a grim smile passes over his lips. Eyes narrowed, he takes me in, just like Cassian did the first time we met. I’m familiar with that look. He’s reading me and knows I’m one of his—or that I was his roughly an hour ago.

Gerald is handsome, though that’s nothing new, especially with these ancient vampires. Like fine wine, they age well. His hair is almost black, his skin is fair, and his eyes are dark like his soul.

Okay, that was dramatic. But he does have dark eyes, and he’s giving off hot villain vibes. I dislike him immediately, but maybe that’s because he messed up my wedding night.

“Hello, Gerald.” Cassian sits across from the man. “Thank you for joining us. We all know you didn’t have to come.”

“Alfred wasn’t bluffing.” Gerald nods toward me. “She’s one of mine.”

Cassian slides the marriage license across the table and corrects, “Shewasyours. She just married the heir to my line. Therefore, she now belongs to House Chevalier.”

Gerald gives the paper a cursory glance. “Since when is Montgomery your heir?”

“Since I filed the paperwork this morning.”

Looking bored, Gerald turns his dark eyes on Sophia. “You signed away your inheritance?”