Page 106 of Marked By Moonlight

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Roux and I departed, leaving Henrik with Anastasia. I was sure she would refuse a bodyguard, but Henrik had read aloud from a quote framed on one of the walls, launching a lively discussion about poetry — in Polish, from what I could tell.

Adam Mickiewicz,the vampire murmured appreciatively.

One of those world-famous-in-his-home-country figures, I gathered.

Anastasia lit right up. Henrik had Bogdan’s old world manners, minus the charm, but that didn’t bother her. Especially since neither Roux, nor I, nor most of London was capable of discussing that poetry at the same (or any) level.

We left them and made our way back to the hotel. On the way, I took my frustrations out on Roux.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about this stupid mark,” I grumbled, tugging at my scarf. “I thought it was a hickey.”

He snorted. “No way. You’re as bad as a dragon when you get angry.”

I decided to take that as a compliment.

“And I can’t believe Marius did this in the first place,” I ranted.

Roux chewed on that for a moment, then surprised the hell out of me by whispering. “I would have done the same if love meant more to me than the mission.”

I stared.

He flashed a thin smile. “Not that it does.”

I had no illusions about Roux dedicating himself to anything but a job. But, wow. His words shed a whole new light on what Marius had done.

I chewed that over through the first half of the trip back to the hotel. Then I informed Roux we would exit the Tube one station early and walk the rest of the way. Slowly, because I was still deviously plotting.

I finalized my plan just as we turned the final corner to the hotel, where I took a deep breath. Roux held the door open for me, but instead of thanking him, I marched in without a word.

No more Mr. Nice Guy,I reminded myself.

I peeked into our suite to make sure Gordon hadn’t killed Marius, or Marius killed Bene, or Bene Marius.

But, whew. Both shifters were hale and hearty, and not at each other’s throats. Actually, Bene was in lion form and sporting a hell of a mane. When I walked in, he was stretching as only a feline could, but upon seeing me, he strutted around and tossed his golden mane in a gesture that said,See what you could have had, baby?

Marius growled under his breath.

Roux rolled his eyes. “Lions.”

I didn’t stop to belabor the point. I just popped back in to the hallway, steeled myself, and raised a hand to knock on the door of the neighboring suite.

“Wait!” Roux motioned urgently at my scarf.

I tightened it quickly, then cleared my throat and knocked sharply.

Celeste answered, but I marched past her and announced, “I’d like a word, please, Gordon.”

My godfather rewarded me with a brilliant smile, looking hopeful that I would dump Marius, beg for his forgiveness, and run home to my château, where I would go back to being the sweet, manipulatable young woman he knew.

Well, that wasn’t happening.

He sent Celeste out, and she complied, though not without a huff.

“So, I’ve done some thinking,” I began. “A lot of thinking, and I’ve reached a conclusion.”

“Yes?” Gordon smiled eagerly.