“You can see me wearing it.”
His jaw flexes.“Yes.”
“And remember.”
His hand lifts to my marked shoulder beneath the sweater.“I will remember what is underneath.”
Heat moves through me, sudden and intimate.
Ari drops a pastry, and Krishka sighs.“Mated couples are insufferable.”
Akasha wipes her face.“Completely.”
I should be embarrassed.I am, a little, but I also don’t move away from Knox.
****
The rest of the morningis spent preparing.
Ari helps me into the dress after breakfast, and for once, she jokes a little.The black velvet slides over my skin, high enough to hide Knox’s mark from every eye.The fake collar gleams at my throat.My knife straps to my thigh beneath the slit.Charms are sewn into seams, tucked beneath hems, hidden in my hair.
War dressed as elegance.
When I step out, the room goes silent.Knox stands near the window in full black, hair tied back, face carved from restraint.His gaze moves over me.Not like the vampires did, but like he is reminding himself of every truth beneath the lie.
“It’s fake,” I say.
His eyes lift to mine.
“But you aren’t,” he says.
My heart stumbles.
Ari mutters, “Unfairly smooth for a man who growls at furniture.”
Cruz appears behind her.“He practices in the mirror.”
“I don’t.”
“He does,” Cruz says.
I laugh despite the collar, despite the night waiting, despite the fear.
Aldron arrives before sunset, and the room shifts with him.An ancient vampire wrapped in old grief and controlled wrath.His gaze lingers on the collar, then my face.
“You are certain?”he asks.
“No,” I say.“But I’m going.”
His mouth curves faintly.“Fair.”
Malichai steps up beside Ari.“We will be close.”
“I know.”
Akasha takes my hands.“If it gets too much...”
“I say the word.”
