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Apprehension squeezed my chest. Only years of practice kept the tension from my face as we returned to the ballroom.
If I mated with Étan, this would be my life. He was a dominant vampire male. He’d expect me to dress to please him. Tell me what to do, what to think.
But as lieutenant, I’d outrank him.
My step checked.
“Are you doing this to escape from Victorine? Because mate with Étan, and you’ll have two watchdogs, not just one. He’s your mother’s man.”
Suddenly, Victorine’s strategy was clear to me. Take Étan as my mate, and I’d be the Tremblay lieutenant in name only, while he remained her actual lieutenant.
My mother would have us both exactly where she wanted.
And between her and Étan, I’d be ensnared as thoroughly as any blood slave.
10
RAFE
Istared at the closed door, hand fisted around the neck of the wine bottle.
This isn’t over, Princess.
Half of me wanted to dart into the hall, grab Zoe and throw her on the bed so we could finish what we’d started. The other half wanted to spank her for being so damn stubborn.
On the other side of the door, Jean-Michel spoke.
I went ninja-still. Not moving, not breathing. I strained to hear what they were saying, but the thick wood blocked everything but their tone of voice. Zoe’s response was calm, though. I relaxed slightly, but didn’t move until I heard them descending the winding iron staircase.
Okay, that was close.
I scrubbed a hand down my face and took a hefty swig of wine, then paced her rooms, edgy and wondering what to do now.
A glimpse of myself in Zoe’s mirror stopped me cold. I was wrecked—wild-eyed, my fangs glinting in the dim light. I’d burned through the last dregs of my magic to start the fade on the windowsill.
Even if I wanted to leave, I couldn’t, unless I was willing to show myself in my own skin. I needed to regroup, replenish my energy—and then I was going to start digging.
Because maybe I didn’t need to wait around to see what, if anything, Zoe came up with. Maybe I could find my own answers. I was damned if I was going back to New York empty-handed.
She had to have a laptop around here somewhere, and the ball would last until dawn, time enough for me to crack her password and see if I could hack into the Tremblay system. No one would call me a world-class hacker, but my education had included the basics.
I finished the bottle of blood-wine in my hand and started searching for Zoe’s laptop.
Outside, the garden had gotten busier. I heard the low murmur of voices and high-pitched giggling. From somewhere nearby, Étan spoke.
I crossed to a bedroom window and flattened myself against the wall. Night had fallen, turning the garden into something dark, sensuous. Orange and red lights illuminated the fountains, changing them into fantastic liquid bonfires. Old-fashioned metal torches lit the garden paths and cast a flickering light on the thralls gyrating in cages.
A vampire in a slinky red dress had a male thrall pressed up against a honeysuckle-draped gazebo, his eyes glazed with pleasure as she drank from him. Two male vampires, a mated pair from the look of it, were deep in conversation on a nearby bench, shoulders touching, fingers intertwined. A giggling thrall darted around the side of a fountain, her vampire lover prowling behind.
Étan appeared on a path near the tower, a curvy redheaded thrall clinging to his bicep. My hand went to my back pocket. But I’d had to leave my blades at the rented house.
His hand closed on the thrall’s breast. He tweaked her nipple and she gave a that-hurts-so-good squeal.
My teeth clenched so hard I was surprised they didn’t crack.
How could Zoe even consider mating with that bastard? He couldn’t even bother to pretend for one night that she meant anything to him other than a means to an end.
I left the window to prowl around the suite.
