Page 53 of The Vampire Kingpin

“Yeah, sure. Appreciate the honesty.” I dredged up a smile even though that crack in my heart was wide enough to fall into now.

I heard that he was trying to protect me, but I also heard that he was using me, just like Grimclaw had. Yeah, Spider wanted no-strings-attached sex, and Grimclaw had used me to enrich himself.

But being used is being used.

“Alright, then.” He turned to leave.

I swallowed and decided the hell with smiling my way through this. “One question.”

He halted, hand on the doorknob. “Yeah?”

“Do you think that’s what Amina would’ve wanted? You spending the rest of your life alone?”

His fingers tightened on the knob so hard his knuckles went white. Then he blew out a breath. “I don’t know. But it’s what I want.”

My stomach hollowed. I pressed both hands to it. “Right.”

“Look, I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Sure. I’m still your thrall until the month’s up, right?”

That made his jaw tighten. Good—I’d meant it to hurt. Meant to jolt him, to remind him that this thing between us had an expiration date.

I held my breath, a part of me still hoping he’d…what? Tell me he was sorry, that Amina was his past.

But he just nodded and left, closing the door gently behind him.

Okay. I released a sad exhale, and reminded myself I couldn’t stay anyway. Even if Spider begged me.

That didn’t stop a couple of tears from sliding down my cheeks.

I scrubbed them away and headed into the shower. Because yeah, I felt like crap, but crying over some dude wasn’t my style.

I was combing my hair when two quick knocks came on Spider’s door. “Lark?” called Zayne. “Can we come in?”

“It’s open,” I called back, putting down the comb and returning to the bedroom.

Zayne entered along with DeeDee. I stiffened. DeeDee had dropped the overt aggression, but she was a human so I could sense her dislike. The feeling was mutual.

Zayne grinned at me. “How’d the shopping go?”

“Good.” I let my mouth curve just to mess with DeeDee.

Zayne chuckled. “Now I know why Spider went with you.”

DeeDee didn’t smile, but for once, she wasn’t giving off hate vibes.

“Show us what you bought,” Zayne demanded.

“Yeah,” said DeeDee. Her eagerness felt sincere, too.

“They’re in the closet.” They trooped after me into the walk-in closet, and I showed off the dress and shoes. After that scene with Spider, I wasn’t as hyped about the Midnight Masquerade, but Zayne’s squeal of delight and DeeDee’s obvious envy helped.

Zayne took out the stilettos, examining the pointed toes. “They’re La Scarpe’s?” She eyed the box. “They as comfortable as people say?”

“Yep.”

“They’re perfect for your dress,” chimed in Dee.