Page 18 of Kiss of Seduction (Court of Chains #1)

Evie glanced back at the dining table. Natalya was facing Aleksander, her expression grim. She didn’t look friendly right then. “No. She doesn’t.”

From the other couch, Flea giggled. When Evie and Lily looked at him, they found the fae man grinning at them.

“Something funny?” Evie said a bit sharply.

“Not at all. I just hear things. Good ears and that.” He untangled himself from Blake, ignoring her protests, and moved over to sit closer to Evie and Lily. Close enough that he could whisper.

“Natalya’s scary as hell normally, but around you, she’s fucking terrifying.

Started in that car when you passed out.

You didn’t see, but she nearly made Cassius and Diana piss themselves, and they were just trying to keep you from throwing yourself onto the freeway.

No one said a peep until we were parked in the high-rise garage. ”

“What’s your point?”

Flea shrugged. “My point is that she cares. In her own fiendish way.”

Evie didn’t really believe that. Sure, Natalya felt responsible for her. She’d brought her to the high-rise so she could keep her safe after all. But that was it. There wasn’t anything more to it.

Despite the logic of that, Evie’s thoughts of ‘what if’ were suddenly even harder to ignore.

“Fucking Varro.” Aleksander strummed his fingers against the surface of the dining table. If Evie and her guests hadn’t been in the room, he would have paced. “I don’t understand this scheme. He’s still refusing to acknowledge Stefano was even here.”

“Has he had Stefano killed?” Natalya glanced at Evie as she said it. Even getting killed by his Maker was too gentle an end for Stefano after what he’d done to her.

“Our contacts say no. He’s just grounded until this blows over.

” Aleksander scowled, keeping his voice low so only Natalya could hear him.

“Not that it will. The ferals have dispersed, but Illinois is seeing more vampires than it has in decades. The Great Lakes region has always been heavier with lycans, and now it’s crawling with Night vampires. It’s creating tension.”

Natalya didn’t say anything. She was distracted.

Even with Evie sitting only a few feet away, laughing and smiling with people Natalya trusted, Natalya was tense.

She constantly braced herself for a sudden influx of terror that meant Evie was in danger.

The anxiety lessened some from having her within line of sight. But it didn’t vanish completely.

She tried to keep check-ins on Evie limited to just when they weren’t together. To feel her emotions only when Evie was at work or when Natalya was out of the apartment. It was harder than it should be. It was even harder after the night in the kitchen.

Natalya hadn’t thought about what she was doing, and her touch had instilled such intense confusion and concern in Evie that it had lingered in her body for days.

It didn’t help that Natalya couldn’t stop thinking about that night.

Evie was so easy to talk to that Natalya hadn’t even realized she’d been sharing her past. And she hadn’t noticed she’d been touching Evie beyond what was necessary.

Natalya ran a finger over her lips, the memory of Evie kissing her in her office rushing into her mind. It was quickly dismissed. Though she didn’t lower her hand.

“We could always just give Varro the girl,” Aleksander said.

Natalya snapped her eyes to his, and her hand dropped. She was about to summon every ounce of infernal power she had and force him to cower just for making the suggestion when she noticed the challenge in his eyes.

A test. She hadn’t passed.

“Why are you so infatuated with her?” Aleksander said, gesturing at Evie. “It’s not like you.”

“Really?” Natalya said dryly. “I recall having a similar discussion with you not too long ago. About your precious Lily.”

“She’s not like Lily. She’s not yours.”

The comment made Natalya scowl. When Aleksander had been enamored with Lily, he could at least explain it as being because he had Claimed her. Natalya had no such defense.

“I know she’s not. But I brought her into this mess. I owe her.”

“You owe her protection. You don’t owe her you . You’ve never acted like this, so forgive me for noticing your abhorrence for babysitting has suddenly faded. It’s concerning.”

“How sweet.” Natalya sneered. “The King of Chains is worried about me.”

“When was the last time you went to the Second Circle?”

Natalya grimaced and turned away. She hadn’t been in her domain since Evie was brought to the high-rise weeks ago.

She’d gone to the club floor a few times when demanded, and the heady energy occurring in its dark corners was enough to satiate her, but she was far from her best. She doubted she could actually have made Aleksander cower.

“That’s what I thought,” Aleksander said. “Is she making progress, at least?”

“It’s not easy for her. And since we don’t know what we’re looking for, we have to comb through everything she experienced.”

Natalya said it bitterly. She’d seen how vacant Evie’s eyes got after the interrogations.

Like she wasn’t present. Natalya had also caught the reluctance in Evie when she mentioned the therapist to Lily.

Though Natalya didn’t know what she and Georgina talked about—it wasn’t for her ears—she had a feeling it wasn’t going fine , as Evie was saying.

“Well, then comb faster,” Aleksander said stiffly. Natalya gave him a stern look.

“Imagine if you were forced to recount everything you did under Mikhail? Would you be cooperative?”

Aleksander growled at that. Duke Mikhail had been a cruel Maker and Master who’d forced Aleksander and other newborn vampires like him to fight in gladiatorial combat, often to the death.

Aleksander never talked about him, and Natalya didn’t pry.

He offered her the same courtesy. Though they were close like siblings, they knew little of each other’s histories.

“We need to know what’s in her head,” he said. “If Varro’s planning something, I want to know it. We can’t take a concentrated blow from the King of the Heartlands. We’re spread thin already, and he’s shown he can get into the city. If they move on the high-rise...”

Aleksander looked at Lily sitting on the couch. His body tensed as he did, worry and anger filling his black eyes.

His concern was warranted. Stefano had managed to find Evie, enthrall her, and nearly take her.

Something similar had happened to Lily shortly after she came to the Court almost two years ago.

She and Aleksander were tied by a Silver Ribbon contract, meaning that if Lily was killed, Aleksander would die too.

It made her a target. Though that was the biggest concern for everyone else, Natalya knew Aleksander didn’t worry about his own life when it came to Lily. Only hers.

Until recently, Natalya found that way of thinking impractical at best and pathetic at worst. Now, she couldn’t muster up the same passionate dislike for it.

Blake and Flea had gotten up from the couch, and Lily followed suit. Evie’s guests were leaving.

“We’ll talk about this later,” Natalya said. “I’ll figure something out.”

Aleksander stood when Lily reached the table, and the slight woman leaned against him. Aleksander kept his focus on Natalya, black eyes hard. Even as he held Lily tenderly.

“Figure it out quick.”