AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Elisa,” I corrected. “I’m not a member of Cadogan House.”
He lifted his brows. “I wasn’t aware, and assumed wrongly. I apologize.”
“No apologies necessary. I respect Cadogan House greatly. But I’m not a Novitiate.”
“I see,” he said, but puzzlement remained in his eyes. He looked at Connor. “The son of Gabriel Keene.”
“In the flesh,” Connor said stiffly and with more heat than I’d have expected. Surely he didn’t think of Ronan as a threat to the Pack. That wasn’t Connor’s style, and it wasn’t consistent with his usual swagger.
“A pleasure to meet you,” he said. “I’ve heard much about your father, your Pack. Both are very well respected.”
“Appreciate it,” Connor said shortly.
“I hate to be rude,” Cash said, “and we appreciate your thoughts, but we’re in the middle of planning Loren’s memorial, and there’s work to be done yet.”
Ronan looked dismayed, put a hand over his chest, bowed slightly. “I apologize for the interruption. Perhaps I might have a word with Elisa while you continue your discussions?”
“Fine by me,” Cash said with a thin smile he directed at Connor. Another challenge, I thought, this time to test if Connor was brave enough to send me off with a vampire.
Connor looked at me, and while there was undeniably concern in his eyes, they held trust, at least for me. Because I didn’t think there were many others he trusted at the moment.
“Elisa is her own person,” he said, “and doesn’t need my permission.”
I caught snickers from more than a few shifters in the room who apparently thought the notion of my autonomy was hilarious. While I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to go with Ronan, I was certainly not going to hesitate in front of them. And since the night had barely begun and I was already sick to death of troglodytes, I decided something quite the opposite was in order.
I turned to Connor, let my eyes silver, and heard the gasp in the crowd. But his eyes, wide and wild, stayed on mine. I put one hand against his chest, the other into his hair, pulling him down to me. And I kissed him, let magic spill and rise around us.
It wasn’t politic of me. But it was very vampiric.
His lips curving against mine, Connor put a hand at the small of my back, pressed me forward, and kissed me without regret, without trepidation. He let the others feel the power of it, thestrengthof it.
By the time I pulled back, there were whistles in the crowd, and Connor’s eyes were glittering with desire and amusement. A pretty good combination of emotions, I figured.
“Be careful,” I said, then turned to Ronan, extended a hand toward the door.
There was a smile on his face before I turned away, walked through the gauntlet of shifters, and felt pretty good about my place in the world.
***
I walked through the lodge to the back patio, steam from the hot tub fogging the air with humidity and the scent of chlorine. I was half-surprised to find it worked, given the resort’s repair needs, but someone had apparently determined it was a priority. Maybe not so surprising, given we were in Minnesota, where heat was an important commodity.
“That was quite a show,” Ronan said when he met me on the porch. The other two vampires stayed near the doors, just in case.
“It felt necessary,” I said.
“The Pack—and the clan—is patriarchal in many respects. And that you are a vampire discomfits them.”
“So I’ve heard. I understand you’re local.”
“We have a small coven northeast of here. Unaffiliated, like you.”
“And you’re friendly with the clan.”
“Friendly enough,” he said, strolling to the hot tub and gazing into the water. “The clan generally keeps to itself, has the traditional distaste of vampires. We also keep to ourselves, although we are honest about who we are.”
It was hard to miss the subtle disapproval in his voice or to disagree with it. “You think they should tell the community they’re shifters?”
“I think they should have the benefit of making that decision for themselves,” he said. “But I also believe the costs of honesty are not what they were when Cash and the others were in their prime.”
