Page 28

S USENYOS TOOK HER TO A CIRCULAR ROOM WITH MULTIPLE LOUNGES along its nooks. Dranaics mingled with one another, some behind the drawn curtains, a few by the bar, and right at the center, lined up like dolls, were blindfolded actis.

“What is this?” Kidan hissed, struggling against his hold.

“This is blood courting. Last time, you rudely interrupted our little gathering. Don’t you remember?”

Kidan twisted her face in disgust. He pulled her into a lounge booth and secured her hands to the armchair with her tie.

Susenyos looked into the crowd. “Taj, watch her for me.”

Taj peeled himself away from a stunning dranaic and joined her. Susenyos crossed over to the blindfolded group.

Taj gave a bow, chestnut eyes glittering. “Taj Zuri. The person Yos brings to people he hates the most. I wondered when we’d meet again.”

His brown face split into a grin, a permanent quirk piercing each cheek. His long, twisted locs were held back by the thick gold-plated band along his forehead. The tail end of the band featured a sigil pin––a cup full of instruments. He belonged to House Qaros.

Kidan silently glared at him.

“Oh, we’re not talking. Got it.” He settled across from her, on the plush couch, and picked up a magazine from the low table. “Let me know if you change your mind.”

After minutes of trying to free herself, Kidan sagged backward, eyeing the drawn curtains around the room.

“What happens behind there?”

Taj met her eyes over the magazine, smiling. “You’re thinking horrible things, aren’t you?”

“Shouldn’t I? With a name like blood courting?”

“Oh, sweetheart. No.” He set his reading aside. “Blood courting is for heirs that have graduated Dranacti and taken a companionship vow. Technically, we’re only allowed to drink from our companions, but some find a little thrill in letting others have a taste of them, to see if they want another vampire.” He let out a long sigh. “Only a taste, though. The once-a-month rule is criminal, but Dean Faris loves her rules.”

Well, he was chatty. Kidan kept her guard up, face hard. “Once-a-month rule?”

“Can’t drink from the same acti until thirty days pass. The wait is agonizing, and for those of us with little control, pacing yourself is important.”

“Why cover their eyes?”

“They request it. Helps them concentrate on the… act. Some choose companions based on business, some pleasure. You can tell which one I prefer.”

He offered her a wide grin.

Bile rose up her throat. “That’s disgusting.”

He laughed, tilting his head so his gaze fell to her neck. “Really? You wouldn’t shop around before picking your companion? That’s unfair to you.”

She shifted in her seat. “I’m not picking anyone.”

He raised his brows. “What if you prefer the feel of my fangs over another’s? How will you know if you don’t try?” Her horrified look made him chuckle. “A shame. There’s nothing quite like it.”

“For you .”

He laughed again, the lightness of it surprising her. Kidan hadn’t met a vampire who laughed this genuinely, and certainly not this often. She’d thought them incapable of true joy.

“Yes, but there’s pleasure in the bite for actis too,” he said. “You see things you never would, experience things you never dreamed of.”

“What do you mean?”

His brows scrunched. “You’ve been here this long, and no one’s told you how the human body reacts to a bite?”

She hardened her gaze. Why should she care about the violent act? A bite was a bite.

“It’s my pleasure to educate you.” Taj lowered his dancing voice as if sharing a secret. “Every time a vampire bites a human, there are chemical reactions. One is of the body, and it’s extraordinary , but there’s one of the mind too. A moment when we can look into each other’s memories and thoughts.”

Kidan gaped with equal measure of shock and horror.

His eyes twinkled. “It gets better. Each body part conjures a different category of emotion. A bite to the wrist takes you into each other’s childhood, and the chest conjures violence. I always prefer the neck, though. Nothing like knowing what a person’s desires are.”

He had to be lying, because what the fuck?

Before she could ask more, she saw Susenyos lowering his head into the ear of a blindfolded girl.

“What’s he doing?”

Taj followed her line of vision. “Asking permission. We’re not monsters. Wait, no. That’s wrong. We’re not monsters unless you want us to be.”

Kidan couldn’t begin to parse the emotions Taj Zuri was stirring in her.

Susenyos approached with a raven-haired girl on his arm. The girl didn’t seem frightened at all. He gave a nod to Taj, who left with a wink. Susenyos settled the girl onto the empty couch.

Kidan tried to tug herself free, but his knot was impossible to break. Susenyos bridged the space between them, leaning forward so his damp twists tickled her cheeks. The scent of eucalyptus and rose oil clung to his skin, and the combination was heady. Almost like a drug. She licked her lips and pressed herself as far back as she could.

“You took my flask, didn’t you?” he whispered. “What did you do with it?”

She glared. It was her only weapon at the moment, and she’d keep wielding it.

“Then you defanged me.” Suppressed anger rippled his words. “Only one other soul has done that. Do you know what I did to them?”

Kidan schooled her expression to flat disregard. “You killed them. Original.”

He popped her collar free. Goose bumps spread across her hollowed, exposed throat. Her chest rose and fell in rapid movements.

Susenyos gave her a slow smile. “You indulged in my excruciating pain, it’s only fair you watch as I take my pleasure.”

Watch as he…

Her heart threatened to tear out of her chest.

He was going to bite her.

“Relax, little bird.” He rested a finger on the divot of her neck, and she shivered. “I won’t drink from you… yet.”

When he stepped back, she exhaled, relief making her dizzy. Susenyos sat on the couch and pulled the raven-haired girl to his lap. He trailed a slow finger down her arched, smooth neck. Kidan’s own neck muscles contracted. Hot spikes punched up her veins.

She saw that his fangs had more than healed when they parted his mouth, no different from bone-white blades, wide at the base and sharpened to a deadly point. Kidan’s lips parted.

He shrugged the girl’s loose strap aside and closed his full mouth over her bare shoulder. A deep, unabashed sigh flitted out of the girl. Kidan’s ears warmed. He sucked at the skin in slow, languid kisses. Kidan rolled her own shoulders, imagining his mouth to be warm and wet like the inside of boiled fruit. She pinched the inside of her palm for the disturbing thought.

A whimpered please came from the girl next.

God, how could anyone enjoy this?

Susenyos stretched his lips. Kidan needed to look away.

Right now.

But try as she might, she couldn’t break his searing gaze. Kidan knew the moment his fangs tore flesh, because the girl twitched and clung to the front of his shirt in a firm grip.

A thin line of blood glided down her brown skin, absorbed by her bunched dress. All through this, Susenyos’s black eyes never left Kidan’s.

Her teeth rang and her skin stretched tight as the room faded around them.

She could feel him on her, arms wrapped along her chest and waist, crushing her body to his as if he’d only be satisfied if he climbed inside her skin. His eyes crested with desire, burning into a tarnished gold, a ring of red around the pupils, the ends of his hair catching brilliant sunlight.

Look away.

Kidan’s gut withered to nothing but ash.

Why aren’t you looking away?

She would die here watching him.

The girl’s hands tapped him, and Susenyos tilted back, fluttering his lashes shut in what could only be euphoria. Drinking from the flask never drenched him in this much golden light, bronzing his features to the point that fire ate at his hair. Kidan’s thighs trembled, and she pressed them together to fight the shake. Just what kind of monster was he?

Taj reappeared, placed a bandage on the girl’s shoulder, and sent her away. He rested against the wall by Susenyos’s side, arching a knowing brow at Kidan. Heat flushed down her neck.

Susenyos hung his head forward for two heartbeats, touched his forehead, then walked unsteadily to her, grabbing both edges of her chair. She kept her attention at his chin and not his wild, shifting irises.

“And to think this will be us every day.” His voice had changed, swallowed too much smoke. “Is this really what you want by staying here? To be on my lap for the rest of your life? Feeding me your blood like a good little bird?”

Whatever weird heat had been traveling through Kidan abandoned her. It was an effort not to snarl. “You’ll have to kill me first.”

He crouched before her, forcing her to meet his starlight eyes. “There’s only one way I’ll let you leave. I want to hear you say sorry.”

Her face twisted. “Sorry?”

“Yes, like that. But without the sneer, and not like it’s your first day apologizing.”

She flattened her gaze. “Never.”

At once, his tone became night, devoid of all calm. “Actually, I’m sorry. I don’t want to hear your apology. I want you to beg.”

“What?”

“Beg me to let you go.”

He was not serious. Yet the stillness of his face and Taj’s tensed shoulders said otherwise.

“Beg,” Susenyos repeated with a deathly low tone. “For all you’ve put me through. Beg. ”

Laughter bubbled up in Kidan’s throat and broke free. Thunder rolled down Susenyos’s face. He didn’t know her at all.

“All this because I defanged you after you begged me to? What’s wrong? Do your teeth still hurt after your little show?”

Taj palmed his face.

Kidan ignored him. “I’m not apologizing, and I’m sure as fuck not begging.”

Susenyos only needed four words to shake her resolve. “Taj, close the curtains.”

Taj’s brown complexion yellowed. “Are you sure? Come on, you still haven’t fed on Chrisle.”

“Now.”

Kidan jerked from the force of the words. But it was Taj’s worry that irritated her. Why was he so afraid?

“Sure thing,” Taj said. “But first you have to log that you fed from Arwal, before someone else does.”

Susenyos didn’t move.

“You don’t want Dean Faris to ban you from here again,” Taj continued carefully.

The small booth swelled with silence, save for the pumping of Kidan’s heart.

Susenyos rose slowly, an annoyed tick to his jaw. “I’ll be back.”

After he walked out, Taj sagged in relief. “You need to do whatever he says to get out of this place. This is about pride now. One of you has to cave, and it must be you.”

Kidan bristled. “There’s no way—”

He crossed quickly and knelt before her, features tight. “You defanged him. There is nothing, nothing , more demeaning to us than that.”

Her next protest died on her lips.

“It’s more intimate, more violent, than pulling out our hearts. That’s why he’s angry.”

More violent and intimate… so? Let him be angry. Did he expect empathy? If it hurt him this much, then those fangs were a savage reminder she’d taken from him just as he had from her.

Taj’s chestnut eyes pleaded with her. “He can’t just let you go. You have to help him.”

Kidan ground her jaw. “No.”

He wiped a hand down his face. “You’re both too fucking stubborn.”

“Why do you care?” she shot back.

He leveled her with an anxious look. “It doesn’t matter if you die here or outside. He’ll be blamed.”

“You’re protecting him.”

“I’m trying to help you both. If you two cross this line, there’s no going back.”

Kidan turned her chin away.

Taj remained quiet for several seconds before his soft tone pulled at her. “If you can’t beg toward him, beg toward me. Just do and say whatever it takes for him to let you leave.”

Every molecule in her body vibrated with fury. By the time Susenyos returned and drew the curtains, cutting all light and noise, Taj was at the back of the wall.

A thin, gleaming knife flipped in Susenyos’s hand. “I prefer my silver, but this will do. Now, should I start with your teeth?”

Kidan ground her teeth so hard, he wouldn’t need the knife to collect pieces of them.

He stabbed the knife into the side table. With a forefinger on the hilt, he spun it, making the wood groan and creak. “Or maybe that tongue? But then you wouldn’t be able to beg. Taj, what do you think?”

Kidan’s gaze flicked to Taj, who was still imploring her with those large eyes. Her loathing had never boiled to this point. But Taj’s face, patient, worried, quelled it a little. Made her see some sort of reason. Breathe.

She couldn’t die without taking him down first. Without finding June.

Taj gave her a small nod.

Thinner than a whisper, she forced out, “Fine. Sorry.”

The spinning knife stilled. “Don’t stop there. For what, exactly? Ruining my peace? Trying to steal what was rightfully left to me? Destroying my treasures? Defanging me? With a list this long, it’s remarkable you’re still alive.”

Each word was like swallowing acid, and she had to down it in one go. “I’m sorry I took your flask. Sorry I defanged you.”

I’m sorry you’re the most disgusting creature to walk this earth. I’m sorry I didn’t pull out every single one of your teeth. I’m sorry I didn’t douse you in gasoline and burn you in that observatory. I’m sorry I haven’t found the weapon that will end you.

“What else?” he mused.

“Please… let me go.”

He laughed softly, putting away his weapon. “Oh no. I want that in public. Taj, bring her.”

Kidan was confused as Susenyos parted the curtain and exited.

Grim-faced, Taj freed her hands and walked her to the middle of the room, lowering his voice. “You’re going to kneel.”

Her eyes grew wide. “You’re not serious.”

Susenyos took his position by a couple of snickering dranaics, voice loud and bright. “My lovely dranaics, here we have Kidan Adane, who entered our building without invitation. She has something to say before I can let her go.”

At least twenty dranaics stared down their nose at her. Kidan’s cheeks ignited. She felt like some infestation that had disturbed their peace.

Taj tried to lower her, but her shoulders locked.

“Kidan,” he warned.

Her legs were made of pure stone. She would not kneel. Taj must have sensed it, because he applied a little pressure at her elbow, softening her spine like melting ice. The sharp pain of her knees hitting the floor was nothing compared with the embarrassment choking her.

“I forget how pitiful they all look,” a silver-haired woman voiced, lips red as sin.

“Yes. Very. But you can’t help but want to watch them forever.” Susenyos’s voice grew rough again. “Beg.”

Kidan couldn’t stand the sight of his eager face, ready to devour her like a beast. She shut her eyes, took a breath. “Please… let me go.”

Light laughter bubbled all around, setting her blood on fire.

“Again.”

She said it lower this time.

Kidan heard him move toward her, footsteps light, scent cloying. “Once more while looking at me.”

She refused to open her eyes. “Just please let me go.”

“I love the shape of your mouth when you beg.” The delight in his voice was too much. “But don’t deny me those dark eyes of yours. They have a language of their own.”

Her eyes flew open, raging with a thousand crackling embers.

He drew in a slow breath, tracking one pupil, then the other. “Your hatred burns like ocean ice. And it’s entirely… mine. I’ve never owned something so completely.”

Fuck, she was going to lose it. She was going to curse him within an inch of his life. Let him kill her. Let him do whatever the hell he wanted. She was—

“I think she’s done,” Taj said quickly.

Susenyos cocked his head. “I don’t know. I still feel like she doesn’t mean it.”

“Yos,” Taj said. “Look at her. She’s shaking.”

Oh, she was shaking all right. From the effort not to strangle him with her own tie.

Susenyos studied the crowd, then spared her a bored glance. “I suppose. And you’ll leave Uxlay?”

Hell no.

Taj’s gaze screamed at her. Just get out of this building.

“I will.”

Susenyos thought for a long minute, sighed, and stepped away. “Take her home and help her pack. Make sure she leaves.”

Taj pulled Kidan to her feet with such speed that she swayed from the sudden change in gravity. As he led her away with quick strides, she glimpsed a look back. The crowd was congratulating Susenyos on his little show. He smirked and welcomed their pats.

She forced her chin straight. He would regret this. She would pay this back twice as viciously.

Outside the Southern Sost Buildings, the lion-shaped lamps broke the night in fanned waves. Had she really been in there for hours?

“You’re not going to leave, are you?” Taj said once they crossed the defined border into acti territory.

She ignored him, rubbing her sore wrists.

He released a breath, running a hand through his hair. She tensed, worried he’d do as told.

What she didn’t expect was a sheepish grin. “Tell Yos I gave you firm instructions and scared you, okay?”

“You’re not going to force me to leave?”

“I don’t really do force. Besides, I don’t think he wants you to leave.”

“What? Of course he does.”

“No.” His voice quieted. “If he really wanted you gone, he would have sent Iniko with you.”

Kidan’s eyes creased with distrust. Why was he willingly sharing details about their group? Why was he helping her?

“Well, see you tomorrow,” he said.

“Tomorrow?”

Taj smiled secretively. “The Acti Gala. There’s a grand assignment waiting for you. One of my favorites, really. Better make up with Yos. You won’t pass if he’s still pissed.”

She bristled and watched Taj lace his fingers behind his head, whistling as he melted into the darkness. If she wasn’t so furious, and perhaps was a decent person, she would have thanked him for saving her life.

Make up with Yos.

Like they were a pair of bickering roommates. Like he hadn’t made her beg and feel him all over her body. Kidan’s shoulders tingled again, and she clenched her fists until her nails tore into her palms. It didn’t matter how. She had to get back at him.