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“If I don’t see you before my trip home, I love you, Jade,” Audra called over her shoulder. “You should probably down your drink now. Just drain the whole thing, sister dear, for some liquid courage.”
“Why do I need that?” I asked with rising alarm.
Instead of answering, they cackled as a pair of arms wrapped around me, dragging me towards the manor house. I kicked, landing a brief connection with his leg, but Silas’s grip only hardened.
“None of that, Jade. You won’t land a blow a second time. I’ve learned my lesson with you.”
I stared back into his usual gruff face, though a small smile played on his lips.
Oh.Oh, no.
“Don’t you dare,” I seethed, but it was too late.
Silas shut the manor door and dragged me through the hallways littered with the familiar vampires from Alexei’s Court. Their lips twitched with amusement at Silas manhandling me, but soon we were in the dregs of the house, heading towards Alexei’s bedroom.
My struggles increased the closer we came to the confrontation about to go down.
I wasn’t ready for this. I had wanted to appear as an icy queen, standoffish in my eventual reconciliation with Alexei, to show him his thoughtless actions had no effect on me. But with the small buzz of alcohol coursing through me and my longing for him so close to the surface, I had none of my defenses at the ready.
Alexei’s canopy bed wrapped in silks conjured a long-ago memory from the time I had first entered this room.Candles flickered in the near-darkness, and his balcony doors were spread open, allowing the moonlight to trickle in as the sounds of his private pool and garden filtered in.
“Silas! Let me down.”I cast my gaze around wildly as the vampire smirked, already leaving me to my fate.
His lips twitched into the semblance of a grin. “Sorry, Jade, but I work for him, not you. Enjoy.”
“Asshole,” I sputtered as he shut the door behind him, locking it.
Pacing around the room, I eventually stalked towards the balcony. Before I reached the small patio with the metal staircase that led down to the courtyard, Alexei emerged from outside, bathed in moonlight.
“You have grown even lovelier in our time apart,moj draga.”Alexei’s purred, deep and resonant. His dark hair and glowing eyes enchanted me as he held out a pale hand.
All the reasons I yearned for him flooded my mind. It wasn’t just the sex I missed, but the openness in which we talked about our fears and dreams. Our elaborate, banter-filled adventures around town or within his Court. The way he made me smile or laugh until my stomach ached.
Goddess, I wanted to punch his beautiful face and then kiss it better.
“And where the fuck have you been?” I fought my instinct to jump into his arms. “You don’t think I deserved a call or text to let me know you were okay?”
“I had far too much to do before I felt brave enough to face you again,”he said as his brows drew together over eyes laid bare. “I suppose you were right about my diplomacy needing work.”
An annoyed huff escaped. “What was so important that it took you weeks to return? Planning your wedding? Running a kingdom of murderous vampires? I suppose that would allot a significant amount of time.”
He strode forward until he was all I could see, touch, smell. I moved to jump away, but his arms caged around me. “Come. Let’s speak in the garden. I know the greenery soothes you.”
He carted me down the balcony steps and into the courtyard. Before I could glance away from his startling, intense gaze, he whispered, “Is that why you’re angry at me,moj draga? I will never marry her. I love no one like I love you. I was weak and afraid to fight against my father, but after these past weeks in Salem, I realized I couldn’t play the role of dutiful son any longer. So long as I lived, I could never betray my heart in such a way.”
I took an uneasy breath, trying to calm my racing heart.
Deep down, I knew he would have never married the female vampire. We had forged ahead on this journey together months ago when I became the Court’s mystical guide, and it had altered us irrevocably, whether or not we admitted it.
Shaking my head, I finally looked around Alexei’s garden, a newfound curiosity burning through me now that I realized what it meant to him. The burst of colorful fauna and flowers were familiar and made me smile, but as I walked past the pool and into the grass, I realized he had found time to make changes since the masquerade.
My breath stuttered out as I discovered the greenhouse, a much smaller replication of the majestic structure I grew dazzled by in Slovenia. Near the doorway was a marble fountain in the shape of Artemis, her bow and arrow knocked back as water flowed over her gown.
“Obviously, it’s for you,” he breathed from behind me, his arms gently pressing into my hips as if unsure if I wanted his touch. “It’s not as grand as the one in Slovenia, but we’re working with New Orleans real estate here. I have flown in herbs and plants and flowers from all around the world. Elaine helped me make sure it was perfect. Your own laboratory, of sorts.”
My throat clogged with emotion.
He had made my secret dream come to fruition. A place where I could tend to my own plants and create the spells and tinctures that would cure and help others thrive. A place we could share our truest selves.
