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She gave me a sheepish look. “It was a long time ago. My mother died long before I could ever remember. The guy was a nightmare, I remember that. And I never met my dad.”

“Did these people drink all their blood or something?”

Katarina let out a low laugh. “It doesn’t...” She shook her head. “It's not what you’re thinking, they don’t just attack people.”

I shook my head. “But they do. Lukas and Kiam ripped my boyfriend and a couple girls to fucking shreds. In my living room. They painted my walls with their blood and guts.” Just the memory caused me to heave, and I squeezed my eyes shut before reopening them. “They’re monsters.”

“Huh.” Her jaw ticked to the side. “What was happening before that? They always have a reason.”

“My boyfriend was having a threesome. I was going to break up with him, but Lukas took care of that—literally.”

“You’re funny,” she grinned at me. “See? They had a reason.”

We stepped aside for a couple to pass us. Katarina gave them a little wave. “It’s not normal to rip people apart though.”

“They’re vampires, Cassia. They do things a bit differently.”

A door opened several feet ahead of us and soft music filled the air as a man in a long jacket and top hat stepped out. He walked ahead where a carriage waited and a uniformed man opened the half-door and stepped back out of the way. I caught a glimpse of his ride’s interior and saw a pearlescent gray coating the walls. It was beautiful. I made a mental note to try and recreate the color on canvas.

“Let’s eat here. We’ll get some good food and organize transportation back.” I followed her through the entrance. “You know what,” she whispered, “if you name drop Lukas you can get us a really fancy carriage.”

That honestly was a great idea. “Is that super expensive though?”

She canted her head. “I don’t think you’ll ever have to worry about money ever again.”

I’d always dreamed of a day like this, but I sure as hell hadn’t imagined the way it came about. “All right, we’ll do that.”

Rather than a tavern, it seemed we’d found a nice restaurant. Back home, a place like this would have practically required a ballgown, but the dresses we were wearing fit in just fine. I was all in black, with a fur collared cloak, and Katarina had a dark green A-line dress that suited her small form.

The interior of the building was decorated in shades of gold with mirrors framed against mirror-tiled walls. Columns rose to the ceiling, infused with veins of what looked like copper. It would have been gaudy anywhere else, but it worked with the opulence of everything else I’d seen.

We were seated quickly and placed our orders. I took a deep breath, tried to relax, and tucked my bag beside the chair. When I looked back up, Kiam was standing beside our table.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

He tilted his head. “You should be asking yourself that question.”

CHAPTER 13

Lukas

“Did I or did I not tell you that Kiam is your guard?” Cassia stared back at me wide-eyed.

Kiam brought her directly to my office, as I instructed him. The moment I found out she was off palace grounds with a slave, I didn’t know who I’d punish first.

Kiam would likely be first, for all the good it would do me. It was more likely we’d end up killing each other than having anything else useful transpire. But I wouldn’t forget his lapse in judgement or the risk he’d posed to my Cassia.

“You did, but I was with Katarina. She knows her way around better than me or Kiam.”

“She’s a slave, Cassia. A human.”

She crossed her arms right under her breasts. “So why doesn’t she have a guard?”

“She’s a slave. She’s expendable. You, dear, are not. You are not to leave without protection.” I rounded my desk and sat in my chair.

The panic that’d filled me when I realized she was gone was far more than I’d expected. I’d been in the courtroom, working on an active verdict and been unable to address the situation myself. Breaking protocol and interrupting proceedings, I summoned Kiam to fetch her immediately. The relief that filled me when I felt her return caused me to sentence the man to burn at the stake. My blood burned during her absence. So would his.

She stood there, her lips slightly separated. She pressed a couple of fingers to her mouth and glanced to the side before meeting my gaze. “She is my friend. She’s not expendable.”