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27
ZOE
It was another hour before I called Victorine.
She answered on the first ring. “Zoe. Enough of this foolishness. I want you on the next plane to Montreal. That’s an order.”
“No.” I wasn’t going anywhere near Montreal. I wasn’t even willing to meet her on neutral territory. I hadn’t forgotten that steel box she’d intended to lock me in.
“That’s not acceptable. I’m your prima.”
I gripped the phone. “No, you’re not. Not if you don’t accept that Rafe Kral is my mate.”
Her breath sucked in. “So it’s true? That wasn’t just a ruse?”
“Yes. We swore a blood oath to each other.”
“With a Kral? I forbid it. You’ll have to undo it.”
“That’s impossible. We’ve bonded. And even if I could undo it, I wouldn’t.”
“Undo it,” she said in a cold voice, “or you’re no longer my daughter.”
Rafe and I were both sitting up in bed. I didn’t realize how tense I was holding myself until he touched the small of my back. Reminding me he was there.
Reminding me of what was at stake.
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” I said. “But Rafe is my true mate. If you can’t accept that, I’m defecting to his syndicate.”
Silence. The kind of silence that used to make me shrink into myself.
Then she said, “We have to talk.”
“Yes.” I gripped the phone tighter. I didn’t want to do this. But it was clear nothing and no one would change her mind. There was only one sure way to keep Rafe safe. “Come to New York, then.”
Rafe leaned closer. “The Hotel Garnet,” he said into my phone.
“Did you hear that?” I asked her.
“Of course. But I won’t come to Kral territory.”
“That’s up to you. But I won’t meet you anywhere else.”
Rafe had his own phone out, texting his father. He spoke into my phone again. “Prima Victorine? My father has granted you a safe conduct pass for the next twenty-four hours.”
“The Hotel Garnet. Midnight tomorrow,” I told her and ended the call.
My phone buzzed again. My mother calling back.
I powered the phone down and dropped it on the nightstand, then lay back, an arm over my face.
“It’s the best way,” Rafe said. “You’re right, we can’t hide from her forever.”
“No,” I agreed without looking at him.
He didn’t know what I’d decided to do. He still believed the game plan was to threaten Victorine with exposure.
And that was still my first move. I’d give her one more chance, but if that failed, I was going to stake her.
