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We exchanged wry looks.
“So.” He hitched up his backpack. “Where are we staying?”
“You’ll be upstairs,” I told him. “That’s where the humans who work at the castle live—the second and third floor. Everyone except the thralls.”
“So where will you be?”
“The vampires live below ground. That’s where the thralls stay.”
His brow lowered. “I thought I’d be with you.”
“You can’t. You’re not a thrall. But it’s okay. I’ll be fine.”
“Fuck that.” His fingers tightened on the straps of the backpack. “What if you need me?”
I briefly closed my eyes. “Look, just go with it all right? Don’t cause trouble for me.”
His chest lifted. Fell. Then he gave a reluctant nod. “Fine. But I don’t like it.”
“I know, but it’s better this way.”
He grunted. “I can’t believe you were a thrall.”
“For two-and-a-half years. It’s just what you do if you grow up here,” I added, aware off-islanders didn’t always understand us. “Or a lot of us, anyway. There’s no pressure—it’s up to us. But you can make triple what you can make doing anything else. And the sex is—well…” I shook my head, my gaze tracking to Talon again.
“Huh.” Rio jerked his chin in Talon’s direction. “The baby’s his, isn’t it? That’s why he’s gone all caveman on you.”
“She’s carrying my spawn, yes.” Talon turned back to us as Adrian and Nathan left the foyer.
He placed his hand on the small of my back, this time under my sweater, his fingers splayed possessively over my exposed skin. I stiffened as my screwed-up, uncertain emotions reared up again.
But Talon must’ve thought I was fighting him because his fingers flexed on my back. “Come,” he bit out. “Rio, you go with Kerry. She’ll show you to your room.”
The castle’s tall, grim housekeeper had materialized from somewhere. Heck, maybe she’d been hanging upside down in a closet. If I hadn’t known for a fact that Kerry was human, I would’ve sworn she was a dhampir—the woman had a creepy gift for finding the darkest part of any room.
Rio planted his feet. “I’ll see you in the morning,” he told me as Talon propelled me across the foyer.
I sent the teenager a reassuring smile over my shoulder. “In the morning,” I mouthed.
He nodded, his lips in an unhappy line.
Talon ushered me through the heavy door to the syndicate’s lair and closed it, leaving me alone with him on the dimly lit landing. A flickering gas torch painted one side of his face gold, leaving the other side in shadows.
He’d never looked so much like a vampire.
Stern. Remote. My judge and jury.
My throat felt like I’d gulped down a dry, cactus-filled desert. “What?” I croaked.
Why had I stiffened when he touched me? It’s not like I didn’t like it. I was…conflicted. But Talon was interpreting it as resistance, maybe even dislike.
“Your punishment starts now, Eden. You’re not under contract anymore. You’re a prisoner.”
Okay, that didn’t sound like a sexy punishment.
I forced some steel into my spine. Vampires respected strength. He might be able to sense my fear, but I was damned if I let him see it.
“I know I messed up. I’m sorry. Spying on Twilight was wrong, and I apologize.”
