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“Forgive my pet. He’s still being housebroken,” Christoph drawled.
“Nolan Banks is a caring, wonderful man. He is no one’s pet!” Sky snarled while another man’s fingers dug into his arms, keeping him from attacking Christoph.
Nolan smiled at Sky, though it felt crooked on his lips, and melted at the witch’s words, but Christoph chose that second to give another sharp tug on his collar, squeezing his throat and jolting him to reality. The vampire was staking his claim.
“Sky.” This time it was a man who was sitting in a high-backed chair in the center of the room with a regal, untouchable appearance. His tone was firm but compassionate, as if he understood Sky’s anger. He had to be King Aiden Varik.
It was only now that his gaze was torn from Sky that he even noticed all the other people that filled the room, but he didn’t recognize many. Just Winter and Fox. Their faces were as twisted up with rage as Sky’s. Another man stood behind the king’s shoulder, looking less than pleased with Christoph. There were a couple of others who had a passing resemblance to Winter. Could they be other family members of the Varik clan?
The one reassuring thing was that the Sandor clan was outnumbered.
“Christoph Sandor, you’ve been called to answer for the actions of your clan as well as your own questionable actions,” the king resumed. “It has been brought to my attention that your clan hired a human to con other unsuspecting humans into taking on the position of pet for any vampire who was willing to pay you.”
Nolan turned his head toward his left to see Christoph blink wide blue eyes at the king. “Forgive my confusion,Your Majesty,” Christoph replied, adding a near-sneer to his voice when he spoke Aiden’s title. “But I don’t understand what the problem is. My clan is thoughtfully providing a service to my brothers and sisters who don’t have the time or interest in locating their own pet. Are you saying you’ve outlawed pets?”
Nolan stiffened. Aiden’s expression never changed. Not a narrowing of his eyes. Not even a hand tightening into a first. But Nolan swore the temperature in the room dropped twenty degrees. It was all he could do to keep from shivering. The vampire king was becoming angry, and Christoph was relishing his ability to push his buttons.
“No.” Short and sharp, like a gunshot. “I have not outlawed it. However, as you well know, all humans whochooseto become pets must make an informed decision. They must know what they are agreeing to and for how long. I am highly skeptical that your clan has been fully informing the humans about their new position, which means your clan is engaging in kidnapping and human trafficking. Two things that could easily draw the attention of human authorities and put all of your brothers and sisters in danger.”
“Isn’t it the duty of the vampire accepting the human as a pet to inform them of their new life and obligations?” Christoph chuckled and placed a hand on his chest. “How could my clan possibly guess at what kind of lifestyle they will be living? We tell the humans of a new job opportunity that will take care of all their basic needs and they are happy to agree.”
“Then it looks like I’ll need a complete list of all your clients, so we can check each and every human you’ve sold to make sure they fully agree to this new lifestyle.” Aiden’s smile was little more than the baring of his teeth. “Since we’re discussing pets, maybe I should begin with your new pet. I’ve been informed that you had him kidnapped from his home.”
“I can’t steal what already belongs to me,” Christoph snarled. It was the first crack in the careful veneer Christoph held in place. Every time he saw the vampire, on each occasion they spoke, Christoph was always reserved and completely unflappable.
Nolan kept his face blank but mentally snorted.Aiden got under Christoph’s skin too.
“Yes, you claimed him as a pet, but did he want to be? Did he truly understand what he was agreeing to?” Winter demanded.
“I believe we need to ask Nolan about the conditions of his service to you,” Aiden pressed. The smile that lifted his lips was brittle and appeared ready to snap into shards at any second.
Nolan bit down on the inside of his cheek, unsure what he should do. Would Christoph allow him to answer their questions? And if he could answer, what the hell was he supposed to say? His new owner stated he’d attack Sky if anyone dared to separate them. He couldn’t let anything happen to Sky. It was bad enough he forced the witch into this mess.
There was a hiss from the voice in the back of his mind. Sky had argued more than once that no one dragged him anywhere. The adorable necromancer made his own choices in this world, and hechoseto help Nolan. Even if it did turn into a giant mess.
“Fine,” Christoph bit out. Fingers clamped on his shoulder and dug in hard enough to make him wince.Asshole. Christoph shoved him forward two steps so that Nolan was now standing in the center of the room.
He cringed, ducking his head toward his shoulders. The bite marks on either side of his neck throbbed and burned, while his mind screamed that they could all see them. They could guess at how Christoph had used him as food already. The fucker hadn’t turned their relationship into anything truly sexual yet, but it was coming. It was only a matter of time before Christoph stripped him and used every bit of him.
And then tossed him away.
“Mr. Banks,” the king began. His voice changed completely, becoming softer and kinder. Like he’d always imagined a loving father would sound like. “My name is Aiden Varik, and this is my clan. I’m sorry to trouble you today, but there are several people here who are concerned about your well-being.”
Nolan dropped his head further, very aware of the hand gripping his shoulder. “Thank you. I apologize for worrying people.”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” Aiden murmured. “Can you tell us if Christoph gave you a full understanding of what it would mean to be his pet?”
His mouth popped open, but he quickly shut it again with a click of his teeth. How the fuck was he supposed to answer that? Would Christoph take it out on him if he told the truth? Or Sky? He had to protect Sky. It couldn’t always be Sky protecting him.
Keeping his head down, he tilted it slightly to the side so he could see the witch out of the corner of his eye. The beautiful man in his shiny gold vest stood like a beam of sunlight wrapped in an angry black cloud.
“Nolan, don’t you dare try to protect me,” Sky grumbled like a low roll of thunder. “I’m not worried about Sandor.”
“Please, tell us the truth. We’re not going to let anyone harm you.” This was from a different person this time. Maybe the one with the wild hair and bow tie. He seemed nice. The two men flanking him appeared…overprotective.
“Look…I-I-I don’t remember much from that night,” Nolan stammered, trying to ignore the strangers watching him, but mostly the vampire that was still holding him. “It’s all a blur. When I got home, I found I had a bite mark on my neck, but had no immediate memory of how it got there. It was days later when Christoph showed up on my doorstep that I recalled even a small sliver of that night. But then…all I remembered was Christoph biting me.”
“So, he didn’t tell you about being a pet when he failed to heal your wound?” Winter interjected. It sounded as if the vampire was a heartbeat away from shoutingAh-ha!
