Page 85

But I also can’t let what happened earlier tonight go.

I still need to know what the hell all of that was, what kind of danger I almost got into, why he reacted the way he did.

The need for those answers is already chasing away the afterglow. It has my stomach roiling with nerves and worry sitting heavy in the back of my throat.

If asking for the truth means ruining the moment, so be it.

Cas’s hand tightens slightly where it rests on my shoulder. “Perhaps a conversation for another—”

“Nope. A conversation for right now.”

Cas is undeterred. He brushes his fingers over his mark—which I’m honestly a little surprised he didn’t reopen during… all of that—then lower, cupping my breast. His thumb teases against my nipple and I stifle a gasp at the instantaneous wave of renewed heat and pleasure that small touch ignites.

“Cas,” I deadpan, swatting his hand away. “No distractions. I want to know why I almost witnessed a murder tonight.”

The words sober him.

They bring a darkness to his eyes that sends a shiver down my spine, though some part of me knows that darkness isn’t aimed at me.

“You’re certain you want to know?” he asks, and I nod silently. Cas takes a deep, tired breath. “Very well. As you may have guessed, there’s a long history between Philippe and I. Marcus, too, though he’s always been one to follow Philippe’s bidding.”

I tuck my face against his chest, and he runs a hand over my bare back—a slow, idle touch that seems like it might be as much about soothing himself as soothing me.

“So tonight, when I realized you’d gone to him, when I arrived and saw how close he was to… Well, it wasn’t just the heat of the moment that made me react, but centuries of animosity between us.”

“He was using me to get to you,” I guess.

Cas catches a finger under my chin, tipping my face up to his. Darkness still lingers in his eyes, but beneath it, an unexpected glimmer of humor.

“Perhaps not theonlyreason he would have wanted a taste. You really don’t know how delectable you are, do you?”

A spark of warmth in my chest, but I shake my head. “But it was part of the reason, trying to get under your skin.”

That humor fades a little, and Cas nods. “Most likely. And to further whatever game he’s playing in all of this. Whatever he knows and whatever he hopes to gain from it, I’m sure he sees the both of us as no more than means to the ends he’s pursuing.”

“What did he mean?” I murmur, not knowing if I have the right to ask. “Philippe, when he said he’s seen your darkness, and you’ve seen his. What did he mean?”

Cas pauses a moment before he answers. He looks away from me to the ceiling above, eyes lost in memory.

“Philippe, Marcus and I were all turned by the same vampire. An ancient, vile creature who cared not for the progeny he created, other than how they might serve him and bring him wealth or power or whatever other boon he had his mind set on.”

“What was his name?”

“Antonius.”

He says it like a curse, like poison on his tongue, and I nestle closer to him. Cas’s arm tightens around me before he continues.

“Even now, I’m not sure how old he was, or where exactly his origins were, but a few hundred years ago he made it his mission to amass as much power as he could. Lands and fortunes and control over mortal affairs. To that end, he created many, many others like us to do his bidding, and exploited us to our full potential while we were in thrall.”

I know at least a little about what he means. Samuel’s talked about it occasionally, though he only ever has fondness in his voice for the vampire who turned him.

A freshly turned vampire has a strong tie to the one who made them, and in turn, that vampire can exert a certain amount of influence to control their thoughts and actions.

It’s part of the reason I’ve never really entertained the idea of asking Samuel or another vampire to turn me. Though thrall isn’t always exploited or treated with malice, it’s something I’m deeply uncomfortable with.

Well, that, and the fact that a good percentage of vampires don’t survive the turn at all.

If they do, they’re caught in thrall for the first few decades of their new life. In the best sense, thrall can be respected and treated like the relationship of a parent to a child, in the worst…