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“Now,” I agreed.
As we left the ballroom, Cain and Talon came up on either side of us.
Cain had conjured up a bottle of blood-wine. He shoved it at Brien. “Congratulations, you two.”
“Thank you.” Brien took the bottle and chugged some down without moving his arm from my shoulders. “By the way,” he said as he handed the bottle back to Cain, “you two are my new lieutenants. I’ll make it official at the meeting tomorrow night.”
Cain removed the bottle from his lips without drinking. “Both of us?”
“Yeah.” Brien’s mouth edged up. “You think you can handle it?”
Cain puffed his chest a little. “Of course.”
Talon simply inclined his head. “You honor us.”
A grin split Cain’s face. “To the new primus.” He lifted the wine bottle above his head, and with a wink at me, added, “May he kick ass.”
I grinned back.
“Give me that wine.” Talon leaned around Brien and grabbed the bottle from Cain. “To the new primus.” He took a swig and lobbed it back to Cain, who snatched it out of the air without spilling a drop and drank the rest of it down.
A couple of vampires appeared with more blood-wine, and those bottles got passed around as well.
The thralls were in the passage now, too, talking excitedly. I caught a few openly envious looks. I felt kind of like Cinderella after the prince showed up with the glass slipper.
Pinky handed me an open bottle of champagne. “What’s this I hear about you and Brien? You fuckingmated?”
“It’s true.” Brien caressed the back of my neck. “She’s my mate. I claimed her, and she accepted.”
I took a drink of champagne and handed the bottle back.
Pinky was staring at me, open-mouthed. “Holy crap.” She raised the bottle to me. “You work fast, girl.”
I grinned ear-to-ear. I couldn’t seem to stop smiling, actually. Joy fizzed in me like the champagne I’d just swallowed.
“Not that fast. We actually met two years ago at Princess Zoe’s birthday ball.”
Pinky’s brows shot up to her hairline. “Seriously?”
“It’s the truth,” Brien said. “One look and I knew I had to have her. It took her a little longer, though.”
“That’s not—” I was still sputtering a denial when he pulled me into a kiss that ended with me bent over his arm as he scraped his fangs down my throat. The onlookers hooted and cheered.
We continued winding our way through the tunnels. People kept stopping us to toast Brien’s win and our mating, so it was a good thirty minutes before we reached his apartment.
Brien turned to face the small crowd of well-wishers, his fangs still visible. “Thank you, everyone. Now fuck off.”
There was more hooting and cheering. Cain said something crude, and I gave him the finger. Talon’s mouth twitched in amusement.
“Let’s go to the Bite Club,” said someone.
“Yeah,” said Cain. “This calls for champagne. Brien, you sure you don’t want to come? Excuse me, I meant to sayPrimus.”
“No,” said Brien. “But you mofos go—and don’t come back.”
“Rude,” I said, laughing, and he dragged me inside, shutting the door and engaging the lock. I had time for a single breath, and then my back was against the door.
“Holy Dark Mother.” He slapped his hands to the wood on either side of my head, his irises encircled with a hot blue, his expression darkly sensual. “I thought we’d never get rid of them.”
