Page 14 of Kiss of Seduction (Court of Chains #1)

Dominic leaned back in his chair, feeling something between irritation and amusement at the scene playing out in front of him.

It was frustrating that the plan hadn’t gone as intended, but it was highly entertaining to see the vampire King of the Heartlands act like a disappointed father.

Even if he was doing so in the middle of Dominic’s arcane lair.

“What were you thinking!?” Varro yelled. “You were to get her and get out. Instead you lingered in Chains territory to have a bit of fun . Now they’ve tightened their grip on the slut, and Austin is dead. It’s a miracle you weren’t staked too.”

Stefano looked at his feet. He was covered in dirt and blood, and he looked exhausted. He’d been running all night to get back to Varro’s estate. If Dominic was to guess, it was only stubbornness that kept him standing.

“We scouted the place. There were no guards,” Stefano said. “I don’t know how that demon bitch knew we were there, but it wasn’t my fault that—”

Varro grabbed his—now only—progeny by the throat and slammed him into the floor so hard the concrete cracked.

“Not your fault !?” Varro shouted. “I can never trust you to do anything properly. Not even getting an unguarded slave. They know we’re coming for her now. It’ll be much harder to recapture her, if not impossible. Because of your insolence.”

Varro pushed off his spawn, growling with barely contained fury.

“Maker, I’m sorry—” Stefano began. Varro cut him off.

“Spare me the excuses. Go fix yourself. You look wretched.”

It looked like Stefano wanted to protest, but then he nodded and left the room. That left only Varro, Dominic, and his personal slaves.

“Sorry for your loss,” Dominic said snidely. “You’re running out of offspring by the looks of it. A King’s reign is bound to end in tragedy if he has no suitable heirs.”

Varro scowled at Dominic but didn’t react to the insult beyond that. His restraint was impressive. The bond between a vampire maker and their spawn was a powerful one. Varro had lost two progenies in as many years, both killed by the Court of Chains.

“I want her back,” Varro said.

“Is she really that tasty?” Dominic mused, flashing a grin.

The glare Varro sent him made it clear the comment was taken as an insult and to tread lightly.

It didn’t scare Dominic. “Her skillset includes dancing . Not really that valuable in this little plot of yours. How dangerous can a New Orleans stripper possibly be?”

“She was with me for a year. She heard things.”

“And she might remember nothing.”

“Or she might remember everything . If the Chains learn what we’re doing, neither of us get what we want.”

That comment made Dominic sneer. Varro was unfortunately correct. Evelyn was a popular slave, and like all popular slaves, their presence was often forgotten until they were needed. There was no limit to the things Evelyn could have heard.

Dominic glanced at his own slaves. His pretty prizes. If their bonds were broken, they’d rip him apart without hesitating. Evelyn might be using those pillowy lips of hers to betray Varro at that very moment.

“The Chains aren’t that dangerous.”

“It’s a Court filled with demons,” Varro snapped. “Of course they’re dangerous.”

Dominic looked at the greater fiend sitting in her circle nearby. Her slitted eyes were green now, though they changed to scarlet as soon as Dominic paid her attention.

“Fiends are easily controlled if you take the right precautions. That’s why you brought me here, after all. Information about the infernal is my specialty.”

At the words, he picked up a steel dagger and slammed it into the surface of his desk, piercing the wood. The ornate piece of furniture was a gift from Varro. But Dominic liked breaking gifts.

“Your spawn was overwhelmed by a greater fiend,” Dominic said.

“As annoyed as you should be with dear Stefano for dawdling, his defeat was inevitable. A satiated Lust fiend with a domain of her own is powerful. Neither Stefano nor Austin was fit to face her. Only a Regent can stand against a fiend like that.”

Dominic ran a finger along the edge of the dagger. “Luckily, arcane tools can help even the odds.”

Varro’s glare turned less hateful. Now it just looked suspicious. “Your proclivity is one of bindings and lore. Not crafting. I thought you couldn’t make anything more complex than fiend-repellent smelling salts.”

Now Dominic was the one to scowl. He’d never been one for trinkets, and the few he did have, he’d stolen rather than created. It would leave him vulnerable if he didn’t have a greater fiend in his service. She protected him as efficiently as any charm would.

“My salts are potent enough,” he said, ignoring the falsehood of the statement.

A skilled witch or warlock could make sanctified salts that kept their potency for days or even weeks.

Dominic’s only lasted a few hours. “And with practice comes perfection, isn’t that the saying?

Give me time, and I can make weapons fit for fiend slaying.

With long enough effects that they don’t wane immediately too. ”

“What would be the point of an arsenal if we’re blind on how to use it?

” Varro said. “We know nothing of how the Chains currently operate. All our information is over a year old and therefore useless. After what happened with Rollo, they have gotten more careful about allowing defecting Night vampires into their ranks.”

The mention of Rollo summoned pain on Varro’s face. It was clear that of his three progenies, his oldest had been his favorite.

Dominic considered a moment. The Court of Chains high-rise contained untold potential for knowledge.

It contained beautiful treasures, though attempting to steal them would carry risk.

The idea he had was foolish, really, but he couldn’t help but indulge it.

The potential in it was too great to ignore.

“I can get you information about the Chains,” he said. “I have a living shadow. Why not use it?”

“I thought you wanted to keep your pets close to home.”

“I do. And I’ll recall my pet if my safety is ever in question,” Dominic said.

“But knowing the movements of the Chains is as important to me as it is to you. Chicago has plenty of shadows for a spy to hide in. I am willing to take this risk if it means getting what I want, though listening is all she’ll do.

I don’t want to mar my collection by putting her in unneeded danger. ”

“Such a selfless act, Mr. Fane,” Varro said with poorly hidden contempt. “Your assistance is gracious.”

“Graciousness doesn’t matter. Knowledge does. And it’s all I want. My spy’s purpose is to get what I want. But you need to deal with the slave. She’ll be guarded, and I’m not placing a shadow against the powers of a satiated Lust fiend.”

“I have plans on how to deal with Evelyn, though they will take some time. I want her back alive.”

“An assassination would be easier.”

Varro’s eyes filled with royal fires. “ Alive . Do not argue this with me.”

Dominic scowled at his tone. If all Varro wanted was to ensure Evelyn didn’t tattle, finding a way to snap her neck would be easy enough. But he wanted her back. Dominic suspected the vampire King was a little infatuated.

“You’re acting shortsighted,” Dominic said. “She’s a slave. Just kill her and be done with it. Our plans would be easier fulfilled without a talkative, angelic slut complicating things for us.”

Varro snarled, the noise so deep and threatening it sounded like it should come from an animal rather than a man.

“Seraphics are not just rare. They are divine, ” Varro said. “Only a few thousand are estimated to exist, and only a handful have an ancestry as recent as hers. Potentially none . She’s so much more than just rare .”

Dominic faked a yawn. When he first got to the estate, he’d been interested in Evelyn for her beauty and her uniqueness. He’d requested her several times, curious about how a human with a few drops of angelic blood in her veins could possibly be so special.

At the thought, he glanced at his slaves with a sneer.

Half-bloods most of them. Impure and unimpressive.

They had been fine in the beginning, but over the years those prizes of his had withered in value.

He’d been building his menagerie for over twenty years.

And he wanted it perfect. Looking at the slaves, sitting hunched and mortal, it was clear it wasn’t that.

Only his shadow was unbroken. Even after the decades of pain he’d put her through. He wanted more of that power. He wanted his treasures as coveted as possible.

It seemed Varro was of a similar mindset. Except, for him, there was no greater treasure than sweet Evelyn.

“Your insistence on focusing on her rather than Chicago is not part of the deal we made,” Dominic said.

“My focus is unwavering,” Varro snarled.

“The Chains took a city from me. They eat away at the Heartlands territory every year, taking more and more miles that belong to me . They killed my progenies, both my oldest and youngest, and the laws of their damn vampire King and his cursed demon whore are a slap in the face to my rule.”

“Evelyn is a bigger slap in the face,” Dominic countered. “She distracts you. That means she’s a problem. And if you want to reclaim Chicago, there shouldn’t be unnecessary problems .”

“I’ll send some of my most trusted officers to deal with it. Unlike Stefano, they won’t disappoint.”

“And if they’re captured and they talk? What then?”

“Then they’ll talk. And they’ll only say what I’ve told them to say. But they won’t fail. They’ve done similar work for me before.”

“Are you saying you have soldiers familiar with fucking with the Chains? Trained in reclaiming stolen slaves with stripping backgrounds?” Dominic smirked with the words. Varro glared at him, more enraged than Dominic had ever seen him. Then, surprisingly, Varro lowered his eyes.

“She tastes like sunlight.”

That provided context that had been missing until then.

Evelyn was an alluring, beautiful, and apparently delicious slave.

That would be enough for most masters. But Varro was a being of darkness and he had been so for centuries.

If the blood of the little Seraphic was like sunlight in a bottle, Dominic was shocked she hadn’t been accidentally drained to death over the course of her indenture.

More compulsive vampires would probably have done just that. It made sense that Varro didn’t want others playing with his precious Evelyn. She might get hurt.

“Fine, King. Alive . As long as I get my prize in the end, I don’t care what you do with the slave.”

He eyed his now scarlet-eyed fiend. He didn’t like sending her so far away and into such a dangerous den of demons, wolves, and other mystical denizens. But he’d do it.

The Chains had something he desired. And Dominic would do anything to get what he wanted.