Page 31 of Outcast’s Vow

Leopold’s lips turn at that.

“Wait for your summons, Mr. Tremblay. I will relish handing you a task I know you won’t complete.”

“I am looking forward to it.”

He stares at me. I stare back.

And then he swirls away as fast as he appeared.

Asshole.

“What was that?”

Clement has swooped by my side as soon as Leopold’s gone.

I roll my eyes.

“Nothing,” I reply. “Just an Anguish being an Anguish.”

“I think he doesn’t like you,” Clement says.

“Yes, I think you’re right.”

“He views you as a future threat,” my friend explains. “Be careful, because he will find a way to ruin you, even if you are now married to the Supreme Elder’s daughter. Don’t underestimate the lengths he’ll go to.”

“That I do know,” I reply. I glance behind to find my new wife in the crowd. Our eyes lock even from across the room, and my heart skips another beat. “But there’s no need to worry about me, Clement. I can handle myself.”

But something in me doubts that.

Because I feel the noose tightening. Elwood. Leopold. And Sylvie. Call me crazy, but I have the strangest feeling that I’m walking headlong into something that might destroy me.

13

SYLVIE

Well, that ceremony was less painful than I anticipated.

My new husband is wrong. Totally wrong. Despite what Baptiste insisted, I don’t think I’m superior to everyone, and I don’t think I’m marrying down. I’m just against marrying in general.

After the ceremony and the social drinks, Baptiste and I are led by one of the Elders into one of the side hallways of the building. Then we’re taken even further down the hallway to the front of a locked door.

Oh, yes. This part.

Forget about the ceremony, this is the moment I’ve been dreading the most.

The Elder doesn’t say a word as he unlocks the door and ushers us newlyweds inside, shutting us in. Leaving us alone.

But not truly. Men are waiting outside that door. Waiting for a report on how this night goes.

I can’t think about that now.

The room is small. It contains only a bed.

I look at Baptiste. He looks at me.

We stand a few feet apart, facing each other. Separated by an invisible, insurmountable wall. If I didn’t know better, I would say he’s darkly gorgeous. A show-worthy specimen of a man with a tangible strength in his eyes, and an easy self-conviction in the way he holds himself. On his bare chest, my name bleeds. Everlasting proof of how I belong to him now.

And how he belongs to me.