Page 11 of The Serpent’s Bride (Bloodlines #1)

SIX

Whatever Nadi had been expecting from Lana, this wasn’t it.

Now, she knew a lot about Raziel’s sister—the so-called “Sweetheart Mistress”—since the vampire was solidly near the top of Nadi’s must-kill list. Nadi had even been in the same space as her a few times, watching and learning all she could about the blonde’s mannerisms and habits.

But it was a different thing entirely when she was up close, personal, and being frantically hugged by her.

Nadi laughed quietly, nervously, as Lana threw her arms around her and squeezed her tight like she was a raft in a storm at sea.

“My new sister-in-law!” Lana squealed, laughing far more cheerfully than Nadi.

“Well, soon-to-be, anyway. Hello, hello, hello! You must be Monica. So wonderful to meet you—I am Lana , but I’m certain you already knew that—and moons be damned !

” Lana took a step back, holding onto Nadi’s upper arms, scanning her up and down in appreciation.

“You lucked out, brother dearest! Look at her !”

Raziel walked over to one of the square-armed sofas in one of his many living rooms—or maybe this was a parlor.

Rich people had fun names for their excess spaces.

He lay down on it, grunted, and slung an arm over his eyes without responding, looking for all the world like he had a sudden insufferable headache.

He probably did.

“Thanks.” Nadi kept a smile on her face, though she was fighting the urge to shove away from Lana and put some distance between them. It was easy to forget, in the face of the vampire’s bright smile, exactly what Lana was infamous for.

The Nostroms, the most powerful sect of vampires in Runne, traded in everything. Drugs, guns, stolen goods, influence. Lana?

Her expertise was flesh.

“Pleasure to meet you.” Nadi tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“The pleasure’s all mine, trust me.” Lana chuckled and walked away from her, heading straight for the bar by the wall. “Brother, when you get bored of her—do let me know.”

I’d rather stab out my eyes, thanks. Nadi kept her hands from balling into fists. Instead, she walked over to a chair and sat, purposefully avoiding the furniture that could fit two people on it. “Do you have a hand in the family business? Raziel told me he’s in shipping and…What was it?”

“Receiving.”

Lana snickered as she filled her glass with alcohol. “Did he, now?”

Raziel still didn’t move, just lay there with his arm over his eyes.

“I do have a hand in the family business. All us ladies do,” Lana continued. “I’m in automobile sales, actually.”

Raziel snorted once in laughter.

“Really? How modern.” It was easy to feign surprise on that one. Lana pretended she dealt in automobiles ? How in the name of the moons did that make any sense?

“Mmhm. All manner of vehicles.” Lana poured a second drink. Nadi watched carefully just in case the woman slipped anything into either glass, but it seemed fine. Lana crossed the room to offer her one of the drinks.

Nadi took it, smiling in thanks. Even if she wanted to smash the glass on the marble coffee table and ram the broken pieces into Lana’s skull. “That sounds fascinating.”

“It is, honestly. We offer every kind of ride. New and used. We rent, we lease, we sell. Any kind of ride you could imagine, we provide it. Cheap? Expensive? Exotic? Even the hard-to-find ones—we’ll procure them for our patrons.”

Ah. There was the joke. Nadi kept her expression smooth as if she believed it. “Is there a lot of money in it?”

“What do you think?” Lana sat down on the arm of Nadi’s chair.

So much for personal space. Lana reached out and stroked her hand over Nadi’s hair.

“We are one of the richest families in the metropolis.” The vampire let out a rush of air.

“Goodness. You came from one of the outer cities? I need to get out of the metropolis more often.”

Lana was beautiful, with her long, perfect blonde hair, and her full lips painted a garish color that matched her magenta eyes, revealing what she really was.

She had curves in all the right places. What Nadi hadn’t expected was the seemingly genuine…

brightness to the woman. Like she was about to coo over a baby rabbit.

How could she rent, lease, and sell people— and still smile like that?

“I just can’t get over how pretty you are.” Lana’s expression was almost innocent. It was missing the cruelty, the deviousness, the inherent predatory nature that her brother had. “I’m sure Raziel has had a hard time keeping his hands off you.”

Nadi blinked. “I just arrived. He’s—he’s been busy, and—well. He’s been letting me rest from the travel.”

“How… gentlemanly .” Lana shot Raziel a withering stare. “I’m sure his intentions are nothing but pure. He is such a chivalrous man, after all.”

“Love you too.” Raziel didn’t even dignify Lana’s obvious barbs with a gesture or eye contact. “Are you done, now? Can you leave?”

“Rude!” Lana huffed. She scooted down the arm of the chair, squishing Nadi into the other side to squeeze in next to her. She put her arm around Nadi’s shoulders. “And I’m here to get to know my new sister. You can fuck off, for all I care.”

Nadi went tense, trying her best to relax. But she supposed the real Monica would be a little uncomfortable with the situation, so she was still in character. She sipped the drink Lana had given her in an attempt to refocus her attention on something.

Raziel laughed dryly. “Like I would trust you with her alone? It wouldn’t be five minutes before you had her legs spread and your hand buried up to your wrist in her?—”

“Brother!” Lana placed her hand over her chest, gasping in horror. “What a horrid thing to say! You’ll offend Monica’s innocent ears.”

Right. Innocent. Nadi killed people for a living.

The idea that she hadn’t witnessed her fair share of what people could do with each other was pretty hysterical.

But, she was supposed to be a sweet, bright-eyed cattle rancher’s daughter.

Not an assassin who had walked in on some fascinating scenes in her life.

“Besides.” Lana rested her head on Nadi’s shoulder. “I would never do something so crass before your wedding. Now… after the wedding? That’s another story.”

Nadi had to bite back a genuine laugh.

Lana’s coarse joke earned her a reaction from Raziel. Namely, he lifted his other hand to idly flip her the bird. Nadi just sat there, pretending like she wasn’t a part of the conversation. Because she really wasn’t.

Lana noticed her silence and, lifting her head from Nadi’s shoulder, kissed her cheek. “I’m joking, of course.”

“I figured.” Nadi smiled at her, feigning nervousness. “Sibling banter.” Sure. Because normal siblings talked about shoving their fist up the other’s fiancée. Vampires…

“Raz and I have a special rapport.” Lana wiped away what was probably a magenta smudge on Nadi’s cheek. “And he is heinously inappropriate. You’ll learn soon enough.”

“Don’t you have somewhere to be? Cars to sell?” Raziel sounded both bored and annoyed. Listening to them dance around Lana’s real profession was half insulting and half hysterical.

How dumb did they really think Monica was? Pretty fucking dumb, by the sound of it.

Lana snuggled in closer to Nadi. “I want to hang out with my new best friend!” She snapped her fingers. “Oh! We should go out! Have you ever been to a jazz club? Of course not. They’re all the rage out here now. They don’t have clubs out where you’re from. Do they?”

“N—no.” Nadi honestly didn’t know. They probably did, but not the kind Lana was talking about.

“Then we must bring you to one of the ones downtown. It’ll be your bachelorette party! I’ll get all my friends, and we’ll hit the scene. Really welcome you to your new home in style.”

“No.” Raziel’s single word was firm. “She stays here. Alone .”

Lana stuck her tongue out at her brother, whose arm over his eyes meant that he couldn’t see the expression. “She’s not your pet, Raz. She’s basically your wife already. You wouldn’t treat your wife like property , now would you?”

Yes. Yes, he would.

And so would Lana, if given the chance.

But it was a pretty clever ploy by the vampiric mistress, Nadi had to admit. It forced “Raz” to either assert that yes, he was going to make decisions for Monica, or say no, and let her go out on the town.

Of course, neither of them had consulted Monica at any point.

“I do not want her to get dragged off, hopped up on powder, fed too much alcohol, and then who-knows-what-else done to her, and have you roll her out on my doorstep like a used prophylactic.” Raziel grimaced as he bit out the words.

“You have such a beautiful way with words, brother. Truly a poet.” Lana rolled her eyes. “Monica deserves to celebrate. To meet her new friends and family. To have fun. Not be kept locked up in a proverbial cage.”

Knowing Raziel’s proclivities, a literal cage wasn’t out of the question.

Finally, Lana turned her attention to Nadi. “What do you want to do, Monica? Stay here, bored out of your mind, and then get shuffled to the wedding and back without a single moment of fun, or go out on the town? Really cut loose? Meet your new family?”

Oh, gee. How sweet. They were finally asking her opinion on something. For the first fucking time since she’d arrived. But only to put her in an impossible situation. By the void, they were obnoxious. “I’d hate to upset him.”

“Smarter than she looks.” Raziel huffed a single laugh.

She wanted to stab him very, very badly.

“Hmph.” Lana sighed. “I suppose that’s smart. He does have a terrible temper. Well, then. That settles it.” She stood, downed her drink, and set the glass down on the coffee table with a clink. “We’ll have the party here, instead.”

“ What? ” Raziel sat up for that one. “No. Absolutely not.”