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Geez, lady, judgmental much? “Just two of them. One now. ”
“You have a vampire on your skin too. Our young Mr. Chancery if I’m not mistaken. ”
“That’s not what it, uh…smells like?” I was trying to say she was misinterpreting the scent, but I wasn’t sure how to phrase it, and my claim ended up sounding more like a question than an assertion.
“Believe it or not, Secret, who you give your body to is not of the utmost concern to the council. Sleep with Holden, sleep with your wolves. Your sex life is not what worries us. ”
I wanted to point out that she was the one who brought it up, but I bit my tongue. I was getting better and better at not being glib at inappropriate times, and this definitely counted as an inappropriate time.
“Then what is the council worried about?”
“Pillow talk. ”
“What?”
“The things whispered from lover to lover at night. The secrets you should be keeping you might not be. And most importantly, we worry that having a vampire Tribunal leader in the spotlight with the Werewolf King of Manhattan might make the wrong people ask the right questions. That is what we’re worried about. ”
“I don’t discuss Tribunal secrets in bed,” I said honestly. Aside from knowing I was part vampire, and I was an important one at that, the werewolves had never asked me anything about the inner workings of the council, and I’d never volunteered anything they didn’t need to know. If something in my vampire life might cause them harm, they would know about it, the same way I’d tell them if a case with Keaty might go south. But the werewolf-vampire loathing ran both ways. My wolves didn’t ask about vampire business because they genuinely didn’t care.
“We’ll see. ” And with that as her only preamble, Monica bit into my wrist.
Chapter Sixteen
Monica’s bite hurt.
I’d experienced pleasurable vampire bites without being under the thrall and knew it didn’t necessarily have to be painful when a vamp sampled the wares. Granted, my dream-sex love nips from Holden weren’t exactly the best source to draw from. But this felt like two hot needles ripping at the thin skin of my wrist.
I tried to jerk away, but Monica held fast, her diminutive hands like little claws in my arm until she’d had her fill and pulled away with a satisfied ahhh. Cradling my hand near my chest as the wounds began to close on their own, I gaped at her like she’d…well…bitten me.
I knew I was here to give her my blood, but I thought maybe she’d poke me with her needle and take a dainty drop. She’d practically gnawed my arm in half. “I thought you said it wasn’t going to hurt,” I reminded her.
“I thought we were going to be honest here. So, I guess we both lied, Miss McQueen. ”
She sat back in her chair, closing her eyes, and I got to my feet, making sure I was as far out of her reach as I could be while still remaining in the room.
“Interesting…” Her thoughtful smile vanished, giving me a glimpse of her true age in spite of the child’s face she wore. “Unique is certainly a word for you. ”
“I told you. ”
“But you left out so much. ”
“And now you know why. ” My wrist was whole and smooth again, but the sting of her bite lingered under the surface.
Monica licked her lips as if chasing a drop that might hold the answer to some unspoken question. She had all the answers she was going to get from me.
“How is it even possible?” she asked.
“You saw my past. You know as much as I know. ”
“My dear, you shouldn’t be real. ”
I shrugged, letting my healed wrist drop back to my side. I didn’t question whether or not she’d be able to see the gesture. Blind, maybe, but she knew precisely what was happening around her at all times. “Maybe I shouldn’t be, but I’m here. ” There was no sense pretending anymore because I knew she’d tasted the whole truth of my history. Somehow a huge weight had eased off. Whatever would happen to me now, it was out of my hands. I’d avoided the inevitable as long as I could.
Now my fate was in the hands of an ageless child.
So much for Calliope’s theory that I’d have time to decide my own future. That was Monica’s job. For the first time, though, I was starting to think maybe the short lifeline had nothing to do with my werewolf blood and everything to do with this moment. I rubbed my thumbnail into the groove of my palm and waited.
“What a marvel. I thought there were no surprises left. ” Then she laughed. She laughed louder and longer than she had with Sig, and the sound was pure joy. “Oh, darling. What a delight you are to me. ”
