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I lurched from my hiding spot, vase held aloft. “She’d have done just fine. Better in fact.”

“Bah!” The vampire reared back, losing his balance before he disappeared.

“Oh, fates,” I gasped, scrambling across the mattress, laying on my stomach to peer over the other side.

It was there I found the mighty Victor Custodis sprawled on the floor, his brow lined with confusion.

“What is wrong with you?” I snarled down at him in a harsh whisper. “Are you trying to wake everyone in the palace?”

“You know, you’re quite attractive from this angle,” he slurred, peering up at me with glassy eyes. “Lovely, in fact. Then again, you’re lovely in everything. Even those burlap tunics they made us wear. Did I tell you how beautiful you looked tonight? Most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

Now I get the compliment?“Are you drunk?” Could vampires get drunk?

“Most definitely.” He struggled to his feet, wobbling at my bedside.

I sat back on my heels, mouth gaping. “How?” He hadn’t drunk that much alcohol at the party. Seeing as how he was a vampire, I imagined it would take an entire cask to get him this inebriated.

He scratched his chest.His delightfully bare chest.

Goddess save me. Where were his clothes? The uptight aristocrat had come to me half-dressed in little but thin linen pants.

Damn the bastard, but drunk looked good on him. The glow of the twin moons shone through the window, casting his lean body into perfect shadow. Every contour of his chiseled torso was on display. May the fates strike me down, but I could swear he’d grown larger since we’d first met. His carved and elegant muscle was now bulkier, growing more defined. No way was he hiding all of this under his fine suit when he’d arrived. Whatever Carcerem was doing to him, I was here for it.

“I did it for you, my treasure.”

I scrubbed a hand down my face, clearing the fog. Despite the tingles his words evoked, I asked, “By any chance did you hit your head when you fell?”

He performed an awkward twist and flopped into bed besideme. I peered down at him, and he stared back. Gold flecks twinkled in his glowing eyes.

I didn’t care what he claimed. This color was unnatural for a vampire. Despite the torques we wore, energy practically sparked off his skin.

“Did what for me?” I leaned closer.

“Drank them, peddling my venom.”

I stiffened. “Drank whom?” Did he dare visit me after gorging himself on his whores?

“The guards.” He sighed. “All of them. Yours and mine. In all my years, I’ve never consumed so much blood in one sitting.”

By the goddess, he really was intoxicated. I flopped onto the bed beside him.

“Why?” I dared to ask.

“Because my instincts demanded that I remain at your side tonight,” he growled, disgruntled at the admission.

My pulse skipped. Next question a bit breathier, I repeated, “Why?”

“Because I’ve never needed anyone as much as I need you.”

Oxygen seized in my lungs. Nobody had ever said anything quite so moving to me. The vampire was full of surprises tonight.

While I suffocated on the emotion, he stirred, frowning at the ceiling. “After all, you’re the only one who can help me regain all I’ve lost.”

“Puh.” I release the breath I’d held, my exhale punching from my throat. Bastard. My heart shrank beneath the weight of his words.

“Before coming to you, I also paid Thorne a visit.”

“Lucky Thorne,” I huffed.