Page 40 of Imprisoned with the Vampire King

He had me seriously off-balance, and I was more than ready for that to stop.

Dante gave me a long look. "This isn't over between us."

"Our immortal mate bond pretty much ensures that."

Dante released my wrist and unbuckled his seat belt. "I'll see you soon, Angel."

"Don't call me that."

"If I feel you through the bond, fucking whoever taught you to take a knot—or anyone else—I'll hunt you down and kill them," he said bluntly, as he opened the passenger door.

Another bolt of hot lust rolled through me. "Maybe I could do it without you feeling anything."

"If you try, I'll be moving you into my bedroom after I kill whoever you're with. We both know how much you want that." He closed the door and strode away.

I rolled the window down and called out, "I could escape!"

"You want to bet, Mate?" he looked over his shoulder, the heat in his eyes daring me to take that bet.

I didn't respond. Didn't think I could win that particular argument.

He looked back at the front door. When he broke out into a jog, the demon in the entrance did the same.

Dante and Grayson collided in the biggest of bro-hugs. I watched as they tackled and shoved each other, grinning widely.

…maybe it wouldn't be the end of the world to have family that wasn't pottery.

A woman appeared in the doorway, too. One I recognized, who also glowed with a soulmate bond.

Merrily. The fae queen who had killed my father for me, saving my life in the process.

She lifted a hand to say thank you.

I saluted her.

Then drove away, without letting myself look backward.

Some things just weren't meant to be.

ten

DANTE

I wiped the fog off the mirror with the end of my towel, staring at my reflection.

The vampire who'd been holding my throne hadn't been difficult to take down. I'd beaten him without much of a fight, and he packed his shit right away. The siren queen had too, after Jazz beat her.

All of our stuff had been in storage, but we went with Grayson to pick it up. He'd asked his mate if she wanted to come, but the fae queen turned him down. It seemed like she wanted to give us all space for a while.

River had gone to check in with the other angels in the city, for the same reason.

I'd worried that the reunion with Grayson would be awkward, but it wasn't. I'd missed the asshole. Seeing him mated and obnoxiously happy made me feel a little better about being gone for so long.

Nothing else about my old life made me feel better.

Not the modern furniture in my wing of the mansion that looked exactly the same as it had before, with just a little more wear. It had never been comfortable. Now, it seemed silly to have uncomfortable furniture for the sake of looks.

The clothes I'd carefully reorganized in my closet didn't make me feel better, either. Owning nothing but business attire and a single set of casual clothes seemed ridiculous, after spending more than a decade in a scratchy jumpsuit.