Page 8 of Wedlock

“Ah, so no confession, per se.”

“Itoldyouhe’dalreadyadmittedit.Ididn’twanttowasteanytimewithhis excuses or lies. I cut him off and voiced my vow.”

“No witnesses, though,” Wolf raises an eyebrow and smirks, “so it doesn’t really count.”

“You are my witness.”

“No,” he laughs,digginghis heels into his horseand setting off at acanter.“I didn’t see it. I didn’t hear it.”

“For fuck’s sake,” I mutter as I urge my horseto a gallop and pass his.

7

“Amazing,” the doctor says as he straightens up and removes his gloves. “Miraculous, one might say.”

Eleanor frowns as she meets my eyes, and I return her stare, unblinking, willing her to understand the importance of what the doctor is saying.

“You came in here having just given birth,” the doctor goes on, “and yet your body has completely healed in a matter of days.”

Eleanor raises a quizzical eyebrow, so like her son’s.

I’d previously speculated Falcon inherited this mannerism from his father, who held a reputation as being a bloodthirsty psychopath, but also as being devilishly handsome. But clearlythis little quirk came from his mother. I wonder, briefly, if my son will do this too. It’s not something I can do, I’ve tried. But eyebrows aside, there’s something more important I need to focus on right now, and this doctor might just be the key to my freedom,ifI can focus.

I stare at Eleanor and try to impressupon her, without words, that I’m under an obedience bite, that I’m not in control. Pleading silently with her tosave me.

‘Can’t you see, Eleanor? I’m under a thrall, even though it’s not a marriage hupotasso. I have healing capacities that normal human women don’t have. If I’m not murdered, I’m also going to live a long, long life while I’m under this spell. Oh shit, please don’t let me live forever under Viper’s control.’

“Thank you, Doctor, that will be all.” She gives him a quick nod, indicating he’s dismissed.

When he’s gone, she sits on my bed and gives me a calculating look.

“Do you know where Falcon is, Angelina?”

“How could I?” I frown. “You’ve told me nothing.”

“Do you have,” she looks up at the richly embroidered velvet bed canopy as she seems to be searching for her next words, “some, ah, some sense of where he is? Close by or far away? Or an impression, if you like, of his surroundings or companions?”

“How the fuck would I have any of that?” I scowl. “Do you think I avoid the castle guards, get into some invisible plane, and fly around the world after dark?”

“If Falcon’s bite had worked on you after you gave birth, the bite he inflicted while you were pregnant,” she clarifies, “then you would have a sense of where he is — it would explain why you’re healing so rapidly.”

My throat begins to constrict as she circles a dangerous subject and Viper’s control on me tightens.

“I thought,” I squeak, “that vampires bit their brides so they could trackthem.”

“Yes,” she says quietly, “but the bond sometimes allows a little trickle of power and thought to be shared between the two. It’s not common, but I always knew where Falcon’s father was. Sometimes I had impressions of the landscape around him, and the people, sometimes snatches of conversation — it was as though our minds were linked.”

I frown as I think this through.

“I discussed hupotasso with Falcon before we married. He never said that could happen.”

“He doesn’t know,” she snorts. “Do you think vampires would react well if they learned that their human wives also gained power, besides immortality, when they were bitten?”

“No,” I shake my head. “I expect they’d stop the bite altogether. Which would be a good thing, wouldn’t it?”

She gives me a ‘don’t be an idiot’ look.

“In present times it’s hardly ever used for control. Other than by those most evil, Angelina. It’s solely considered a bounty for those who marry vampires.”