Page 107 of Bitten Vampire

“Beautiful toy. Loyal. No compulsion needed—love makes fools of women.” A small, pleased exhale. “Didn’t expect you to throw her away.”

Valdarr doesn’t bite.

“See that your mate keeps her mouth shut,” the Grand Master continues, as if swapping one topic for another costs him nothing. “Publicly, she’s a day-walker. You will keep the rest quiet. She is my gift to you—ifyou accept your responsibilities and take what is yours.

“I’m old,” he says, satisfied with Valdarr’s silence. “This avoidance of your birthright is over. You will take the throne, dismantle that pathetic Council, and I will retire somewhere far away.”

Valdarr’s expression doesn’t change. “You will stop sending assassins? Leave my clan and my mate untouched if I accept your title?

“Yes.”

“Anything else?”

“Unity with the shifters and the magic-users is our downfall. End it. Do this, and I will let you enjoy your eternal love story.”

“I will need to speak to her first.”

The Grand Master barks a laugh. “You willask permissionto seize a throne? Her opinion matters?”

“Yes,” Valdarr says simply. “I put her first.”

“What a fool. I thought I raised you better.”

“I raised myself.”

“And that is your first mistake.” His voice goes soft. “I have always been in the background. You would do well to remember that. Every word from the agent’s mouth was mine.”

Silence settles.

“Fine.” He flicks two fingers, magnanimous and cruel. “Be modern. Ask your little mate. While you play at rulingthis country, I will take the world—one bloody corner at a time.”

“I thought you were tired,” Valdarr says. “Ready to step down.”

“Oh, I am.” The smile widens. “And I am bored.”

“Anything else you’d like to discuss?” Valdarr asks, voice level.

“No. You may go. Enlightening, as this conversation has been, I have things to do.”

Valdarr stands. Bows his head without lowering his eyes. The smallest, unreadable smile tilts his mouth.

Guards step in; he accepts the hood without complaint, a prince allowing ritual to pretend to be power, and lets them steer him back to the lift.

I remain until Valdarr has safely left the building. I follow them to a drop-off point, and only then do I release the vision.

Chapter Forty

I jolt backinto my body and sink into the sofa, eyes closed, rubbing the sharp ache in my dead chest. Heartbreak, perhaps, after everything I have just learned. At least I now know what happened to my friends.

When I open my eyes, four faces are focused on me.

“He’s safe,” I croak. I glance at my watch: I’ve been under for only two minutes. We have plenty of time to reach him. “He’s on his way to see his father. The Grand Master is in this building—” I give them the address. “But the guards will drop him here at two a.m.” I provide the alternate drop-off location.

Harrison straightens, all business. “Can we go and fetch him?”

“Yes,” I say. “But we must avoid the other vampires. Wedon’t need to trigger any problems for Valdarr, so it will be just the two of us, and we will need to time it perfectly.”

No one questions me. Whenever someone throws a sidelong glance, James jabs them in the ribs and growls “Oracle” for good measure. They remain wary, but that is preferable to their thinking I’m an undercover spy. A progress of sorts.