Page 8 of Kiss of Seduction (Court of Chains #1)

When Evie woke, it was from a ray of sunlight shining into her eyes. It startled her awake, and for a moment, she thought it came from a flashlight. It wasn’t until she felt its warmth she realized what it was. It had been over a year since she’d woken to a sunrise.

She was on a velvet couch in an office. Paintings with sensual motifs in steel frames hung on the walls. An elegant desk was across from the couch, and golden light cascaded onto it from a huge floor-to-ceiling window.

Evie sat up, only then realizing she was wrapped in a blanket. She was wearing the same clothes as when they left Varro’s estate. A thong, the mostly see-through bra, and then the flannel Natalya gave her.

Thinking of Natalya started fear in her again. The last thing Evie remembered was her trying to get out of the car, and then Natalya…

Evie put her fingers to her lips. She had never been kissed like that before, not in a way where it felt like it touched every cell in her body. She had gotten used to cold lips against hers. She wasn’t used to feeling something so lovely.

Lovely, but uninvited. And frightening. The kiss had pulled consciousness from her as easily as when vampires enthralled her. Easier , actually. It even felt similar. A gap in her memory, with only bruises and aches left for her to fill in the blanks.

Evie inspected herself. No marks. No new ones, at least. How long had she been asleep?

With the thought of Natalya and her stealing Evie’s consciousness fresh in her mind, Evie went to the door, finding it locked. It confirmed her fear. The office may not look like a cell, but it was one just as effectively.

She looked out the window. A winding river, bustling with activity and people walking under the fall morning sun could be seen far below. The sight almost made her sob. She’d been locked away in Varro’s isolated estate for so long she’d forgotten what a city looked like.

“Chicago.” The word was realization and confirmation both. A chill ran down her spine.

There was a sudden knock on the door, and she let out a startled scream. No one ever knocked for her at Varro’s. They just entered the chamber she had for a room, ordering her up and out. She waited in silence for something to happen. Nothing did.

After a few minutes there was another knock. This time Evie just flinched.

“Who is it?”

“Natalya.” The voice nearly made Evie panic, but before it gripped her completely, Natalya continued. “I brought some clothes for you.”

Of course . They wouldn’t want her wearing what Varro had put her in. They probably wanted her in some signature uniform. Something made of leather and chains.

“Can I come in?” Natalya asked.

Evie was quiet for a minute. What was this messed up game she was playing? The door was locked. Evie couldn’t leave. It wasn’t up to her what happened. Asking for permission was a strange type of performance.

Evie moved to the corner, as far from the door as possible. She pulled the flannel around herself, thankful to have it, until she remembered it was Natalya who gave it to her. That soured it.

“Sure. Come in.”

There was a click as the door unlocked, allowing Natalya entry, and seeing her made Evie breathe a little faster. She looked as hauntingly beautiful as when Evie had first seen her, except, somehow, even more so.

She’d switched out the ruined suit for a flowing, black plunge dress decorated with steel chains. Her hair appeared radiant, as did her skin, and there were no traces of scarlet in her eyes. They were pure violet.

“I brought you these.” Natalya placed some folded clothes on the couch. Sweatpants and a t-shirt.

Evie didn’t approach the couch, preferring the feel of a wall to her back. She kept her eyes on Natalya, the obvious threat in the room. After a moment, Natalya gestured at the clothes.

“You’re cold. Put it on. You can leave the shirt if you want to.”

The fear of not obeying an order outweighed her fear of moving near Natalya, though Evie couldn’t help but frown at the directive. It shouldn’t matter that she was cold.

She inched over to the stack of clothes and slowly put on the sweatpants. They were baggy, and the flannel she wore was oversized. It didn’t accentuate her curves like she was used to her clothing doing.

“Are you feeling weak?” Natalya asked. “You didn’t sleep for long. That’s uncommon.”

“I’m fine.” Evie hugged herself. “Where am I?”

“The Court of Chains. As a guest,” Natalya added quickly when Evie tensed up. “It’s only temporary until we figure out what to do next.”

That was obvious, wasn’t it? She’d exchanged Varro’s Court for another, and being a human in a Court of monsters came with certain expectations.

Some of the slaves at Varro’s had come from the domains of different vampire Regents.

The tattoos on their ribs marked them as property.

Being dressed up in unappealing clothes didn’t change that.

“The Court owns some apartments in the city,” Natalya continued. “They’re nothing impressive, but they’re clean and furnished. One is being readied for you now. We’ll have a security detail stay in the building to keep you safe, at least for the first few weeks.”

Evie frowned. An apartment? Why would she need an apartment?

As for safety, she hadn’t thought that far. Would Varro’s men be coming for her? She knew she was rare. That’s why she’d been reserved for Varro and his spawn’s personal use, as well as his most prestigious guests.

Even if she was allowed to walk free, which she doubted, what would she do?

The police would laugh in her face if she went to them, saying she’d been held captive by vampires for a year.

And she couldn’t go back to her New Orleans apartment, never mind that her landlord would have sold off her belongings months ago.

Maybe there was an investigation open for her. Stefano had left a bloody mess when he took her.

“Evie?” Natalya’s voice pulled her out of the memory, and Evie shook off the feeling it brought. She was in no position to wallow in self-pity, not when she was this deep in the lion’s den.

“It’s fine. I’m fine.” Her answer to everything. Evie opened the flannel to show the tattoo on her ribs. “All the information you need is here. That’s what you want, right?”

Natalya maintained eye contact.

“You won’t have to do that anymore. The Court of Chains relies on volunteers for feeding. And all other things.”

“They can make you volunteer,” Evie said. “They can make you beg for it and then forget.”

“The vampires here can’t enthrall you. That’s a power afforded only the Court of Night.”

The comment gave Evie pause. She’d heard Varro complain of Courtless vampires leaving messes that he was tired of cleaning up. Was their lack of enthralling ability why?

“I want to thank you,” Natalya said, making Evie even more suspicious. “I don’t think any of us said that when we left Varro’s Court. You allowed us to get out in time. That was brave of you.”

It was stupid. It was stupid and useless, and she was reaping the consequences now.

“I’m not brave.”

“I disagree.” Natalya smiled. “We can only speculate what Varro had in store for us, though I doubt it was anything good. The guard shooting me proved that much. Had silver affected me any, we could have all died. Your warning saved us. Thank you for that.”

Evie didn’t like this. Natalya may look like a woman, save for her slitted violet eyes, but she wasn’t. She was a monster, and monsters didn’t thank humans. They didn’t save them, or give them clothes, or let them wake to a sunrise without expecting something in return.

Evie needed to show she was grateful, somehow. Over the past year, she’d been conditioned to know only one way to do that.

Thinking more of the consequences if she didn’t do it than what would happen if she did, Evie closed the gap between herself and Natalya and kissed her. Evie leaned in, quick and inelegant, pressing against this creature who had helped her when she didn’t have to.

Natalya froze. Then everything happened very fast.

At first instance, the kiss was just warm and soft. It was followed by a surge, like a flow of sparks, moving from Natalya’s lips through Evie’s body. It burned through her limbs, wonderfully so, rushing through her muscles as bright bliss that made her feel everything more keenly than before.

Evie gasped, surprised at her body’s response. Without thinking, she pressed her tongue against Natalya’s lips.

Natalya wrenched away from her, eyes bright and shining. She grabbed Evie’s face, inspecting her in a panic.

“Are you hurt? Evie, talk to me!”

Evie blinked in surprise. “I’m okay. I just…” She touched her lips. They tingled. “How did you do that?”

Natalya’s brows furrowed in confusion. “You really feel alright?”

“Shouldn’t I?”

“No. You shouldn’t.” Natalya sounded outright shocked. “Why did you kiss me?”

“You helped me. I wanted to thank you.” Evie lowered her eyes, afraid she’d done something wrong. “You kissed me before. I just thought…”

“That shouldn’t have happened, Evie.” Painful guilt flashed over Natalya’s face. “The Court of Chains is home to more than just vampires. You’ve seen some of the patrons we house in Flea, Diana, and Cassius. Flea is a fae. Diana and Cassius are lycanthropes. I am a fiend.”

Evie’s breathing quickened. This really was a Court of demons. Natalya continued before Evie could panic.

“I kissed you in the car because you were a danger to yourself. If we’d pulled over, you would have run off, and it would only have been a matter of time before Varro’s people found you.

I couldn’t let that happen.” Natalya took a deep breath.

“I am a succubus. When I kissed you, I drew out some of your life energy, and it made you fall asleep.”

Evie couldn’t quite comprehend what Natalya was saying. She’d heard of demons, fae, and everything in between only as tales and warnings in Varro’s Court. It was another thing to face it so directly.

“Y-you’re a what ?” Evie stammered.