Page 50 of Kiss of Seduction (Court of Chains #1)

Evie sat by the dining table in Natalya’s apartment, feeling like death itself. It was late morning. She hadn’t slept yet, and she had a painful headache that made it feel like her brain was on fire. It was easily ignored as she stared at the Chain pendant Natalya had tried to hide.

Such a small thing. A simple necklace that carried so much meaning and produced so many questions. Why did Natalya have it? Had it been meant for Evie? But then, why had she been so intent on hiding it? She obviously hadn’t wanted Evie to see it.

Though she only knew the broad strokes of what the Ribbon contracts entailed, she knew people who used them. Blake and Lily, who were so happy with Flea and Aleksander. They didn’t seem cowed or scared to be Claimed. To be owned.

The thought made her nauseous. Or maybe that was the hangover.

She checked on Natalya several times throughout the morning and afternoon.

Her wounds were awful, especially the one in her side.

All the others had stopped oozing, and some of the smaller ones had even closed, not even leaving scars, but the one in her side wouldn’t stop bleeding.

Evie had ruined almost all the towels trying to still the flow of seemingly never-ending ichor.

Natalya didn’t move at all. It made Evie think she was dead every time she checked on her. But she was warm and breathing. She hadn’t gone cold like before.

Evie wanted to get help, but Natalya wouldn’t want that. She had barely allowed Evie to assist her. She wouldn’t want others to see her so defenseless. To see her marks.

Was that why Natalya wanted to Claim her, even after Evie said she didn’t want it? Because she’d seen them, and that way Natalya could more easily control her? It was one of the more reasonable theories.

It joined the dozens like it, all explaining that Natalya possessed the pendant for selfish reasons. But it still didn’t explain why she had been so desperate for Evie to not know she had it.

Evie was in the middle of changing Natalya’s makeshift bandages when she heard the apartment door open. There were footsteps and mumbling voices. Then a shout.

“Natalya!” It was a call of worry masked as rage. Deep, dark, and steely.

Evie exited the bedroom and moved through the apartment, finding Aleksander standing near the main door. His eyes were wild, his face twisted in fury. Behind him, one looking grim and the other frightened, were Drago and Lily.

Aleksander’s eyes fell on Evie. Then lowered to her blackened hands.

In a flash, he crossed the living space and slammed her against the wall. His fingers dug into her arms, and he bared his teeth in a snarl. His fangs were out.

Fear gripped her so hard she couldn’t move, and this terror wasn’t the conjured kind. There was nothing she could do against this feeling other than freeze.

“Where is she?” Aleksander’s voice was pure fury.

Evie couldn’t answer him. She couldn’t even speak. Instead, she glanced towards the bedroom.

Snarling, Aleksander pushed off her and made for the door. It took Evie a moment to realize he was going to enter the room. It knocked her out of her stupor.

She quickly positioned herself in front of the vampire King of Chains, blocking his way.

“You can’t go in.”

Aleksander’s eyes were more flame than not. “Get out of my way, or I’ll tear you to pieces.”

He would. He definitely would. Evie didn’t move.

“She’s not… decent.”

She didn’t know how much Natalya had told Aleksander about her marks. She didn’t want to accidentally overshare. Not with something so serious. And she knew Natalya didn’t want others to see her in her current state.

Aleksander stepped near her, eyes blazing with anger. She had no idea where she found the courage to not move away.

“King…” Drago walked up behind Aleksander. His face was as stern as ever. Grim and terrifying. “The Lady trusts this one.”

“I don’t care,” Aleksander said, staring down at Evie like she was a gnat that needed to be squashed.

“Lady Natalya does.” The huge fiend looked at Evie, red eyes trailing to her blackened hands. “How bad?”

Evie’s lip started quivering. “Bad. One of her wounds won’t stop bleeding. The one in her side. She said something about salt, but I got it out.”

Drago looked surprised. “She let you help?”

“Sort of.” Evie curled her hands into fists. When she spoke, her voice was trembling. “Is she dying?”

“She’s not. But an unhealing injury suggests weapons made for fiend slaying. She’ll need time to recover.” Drago’s jaw clenched. “Did you undress her?”

Evie nodded. His eyes flared.

“Did you have permission?”

“Yes. She wasn’t conscious when I got here last night. She was cold, she…” Evie had to lean against the wall. “I got her to wake up. She didn’t want me to call you.”

“Fiends.” Aleksander glared at Drago. “Pride is neither hers nor your Sin. Yet you suffer it just the same.”

He stalked into the living space, away from the bedroom. As he did, Evie noticed a small crowd of people in the hallway outside the apartment. Flea, Blake, Cassius, and Diana were among them. They all looked worried.

“What’s going on?” Evie asked.

“Natalya was attacked last night, along with the East Coast vampire she was meeting.” Drago’s expression was unreadable, though his eyes were more brightly scarlet than usual. “Stefano was behind it.”

Evie stared at him blankly. Stefano had been here. He’d come to Chicago again, bringing with him more cruelty and violence. But this time, he hadn’t come for Evie.

“Did he do this to her?”

Drago nodded. The gesture made her terror wane in favor of overwhelming anger. It filled her so completely there was no room for her fear.

Varro’s cursed spawn had done nothing but ruin and take. He’d taken her freedom, Amanda, her life. He’d taken everything away from her, replacing it with pain and terror. Now he’d wanted to take Natalya too.

“Natalya refused to go to the infirmary with the others,” Drago continued. “According to Hasan’s guards, she insisted she was fine and just needed the day to herself.”

The words made Evie even more angry. Of course she’d said she was fine. Of course she’d pushed everyone away and insisted she didn’t need any help.

With the anger came realization of Evie’s own usage of the term. Did it upset Natalya as much when Evie used those words as it just had her?

Drago left to speak with Aleksander, and Evie cleaned the ichor off her hands in the kitchen. She was beyond tired, and Aleksander getting in her face didn’t help.

Needing to just sit, Evie sank down on one of the couches and buried her face in her hands. Worry, anger, and fear battled for control in her mind. She was tempted to let them all lose and have exhaustion win instead.

A hand touched her shoulder and she flinched, but it was only Lily. Evie sighed and leaned against her, thankful for her presence.

When Lily sat, Evie noticed her wince slightly. “Something wrong?”

“Aleksander doesn’t take kindly to broken promises,” Lily said with a humorous scowl. “And I drank way more than I said I would last night.”

“He hit you?” Evie asked, baffled at the realization.

“He spanked me. There’s a difference.” Lily blushed and bit her lip. “He made it up to me. He always does. And he knew I’d be nursing a headache too, so I guess he figured that was a punishment in its own right.”

Lily’s face turned serious. She pulled out the Chain pendant necklace Evie had left on the dining table. Evie had completely forgotten about it.

“Where did you get this?”

Evie snatched it out of her hand. “Nowhere, I…” She turned her face away. “Natalya had it.”

Lily looked surprised. “She hasn’t had a Purple in a long time.”

The comment stung more than Lily probably realized. Natalya had Claimed people in the past. She’d had humans at her beck and call, probably groveling at her feet, eager to please. Evie was just the most recent.

“That makes me feel real special,” Evie muttered.

“Did she ask to Claim you?”

Evie scowled and shook her head. “She mentioned something about the contracts last night. Didn’t know why at the time, but then I found out she had this .” Evie shook the pendant with the statement. “It’s obvious what she meant with it now. I told her I didn’t want it.”

Lily frowned. “Why?”

“What do you mean why ?” Evie said harshly. “It would mean being owned. That I would give myself away to someone else. That I’d be hers. ”

Evie said the last word mockingly, but the rush of warmth that ran through her when she said it was far from insincere. It made her feel flushed. Strangely calm. Safe.

“Well, she wouldn’t actually be Claiming you until the summer solstice, and that’s months away,” Lily said. “Until then, it’s more like a promise of sorts.”

“Of future enslavement?” The words were cruel to mask the weird feelings rushing through her.

“Do you think I’m Aleksander’s slave? That Blake is Flea’s?” Lily’s voice was surprisingly sharp. “It’s not slavery if you can break it off whenever you want.”

She had a point. With Varro, Evie’s life hadn’t been her own. She had been a doll, a food source, a body without agency. She couldn’t stop what was happening to her, no more than she could leave her indenture. A Ribbon contract could be ended with the snap of a chain.

“We’re here because we want to be. Because we choose to be.

” Lily’s eyes softened. She gestured at the pendant in Evie’s hand.

“I’m actually surprised she hasn’t asked you before.

Especially since you two are already living by the terms of that color, from what you’ve told me. If not one of a higher tier.”

“So why can’t we just stay like that?”

“It’s not how it’s done here. The contracts ensure our safety. It’s a guarantee that we’re not powerless to leave if something happens. And the pendant is toxic to supernaturals, including fiends. If Natalya hurt you, you’d have a way to defend yourself.”