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Brien gazed down at me, a smile playing on his lips. He was stunning, with dark blond hair, smoky green eyes, perfectly symmetrical features (of course), and a cute cleft in his square jaw. I was aware of envious looks from most of the other unmated vampires in the room, female and male.
“Let’s get the crap out of the way, okay? I’m not looking for a mate. You’re a beautiful woman, but I’m having way too much fun to settle down.”
My tension uncoiled a few notches. “No offense, but you’re too high maintenance for me.”
He gave a shout of laughter. More heads turned in our direction.
I didn’t have to look at Étan to know he was frowning.
I raised my chin and moved closer to Brien. “But if you change your mind…” I toyed with the hair on his nape.
His smoky eyes rounded like a deer caught in the headlights. “You’re messing with me, right? Because you and me? It would be like doing my own sister.”
“Ew.” I wrinkled my nose. “Thanks for the visual. But don’t worry, I’m messing with Étan, not you.”
Brien’s brow creased. “He’s the frontrunner, then.”
“Afraid so.”
“What in Hades did Victorine bribe you with to get you to agree?”
I moved a shoulder. “Guess.”
“She won’t appoint you lieutenant unless you choose someone.”
I nodded.
“And you’re going to let her get away with it?”
I expelled a breath. “It’s complicated.”
“With her, it’s always complicated.” He sucked in a breath and pulled back his shoulders like a man preparing to charge into a burning building. “Forget what I said. Mate with me, Z. We like each other. We’ll make it work.”
“Damn it, Bri.” Hot tears pricked the back of my eyes. I swallowed them down and pressed my lips together to keep myself from accepting. “I appreciate the offer—so much—but I can’t do that to you.”
He scowled. “Why not? There’s no one else, is there?”
I met his eyes without speaking. He hadn’t been in Montreal two summers ago, but he knew Rafe, and I’d given him an edited version of what had happened.
“Zoe. Not a dhampir. I mean, I’m not prejudiced, but your mother will go ballistic.”
“Not here,” I hissed. We’d conducted the entire conversation in low, barely audible voices, but the ballroom was packed.
He shrugged and steered me into a showy turn. For a few minutes, we danced in silence.
“It’s not just that,” I said after a while. “You deserve to find your true mate. The person who is your other half.”
“Or I may never find them.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “The offer stands. Anytime. Call me, and I’ll be here.”
This time a tear escaped. I wiped it away with a finger and muttered a gruff thanks.
The band cued up another prewar French song.
Enough. I pulled Brien across the floor toward them. Because it wasmybirthday, and I was tired of Edith Piaf.
I lifted a finger, caught the singer’s eye. She nodded and segued into Ariana Grande’s “Into You.”
The younger thralls perked up. A few of the older vampires stood back and watched with hooded eyes, but most went with the flow. When you’d already lived the equivalent of two or three human lifespans, change was a given.
