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“You’re damn right it’s about last night!” She rounded on me, sending her silver locks spiraling in the slight breeze. “What the fuck was that? Are you and Alexeitogether?”
Taken aback by the vehemence in her tone, I stood on startled legs. “What does it matter, Tabitha? You’re not my mom or my High Priestess, and there’s nothing forbidden about kissing a vampire, no matter how abominable you may find them.”
“Bullshit,” she spat, looking at me with growing confusion. “I know how much you hate him. It’s all you ever talked about when you still pretended to be a part of our Coven. Did he force you? Blackmail you? If so, we can deal with him together.”
I sputtered in indignation and shock at her assumption of last night’s events. My heart fluttered at the concern flitting over her usually stoic expression, and it tempered some of my irritation with her.
“It wasn’t like that,” I muttered quietly, strangely protective of Alexei in the face of her accusations. “And if he had forced me, I would deal with him on my own. I’m not totally powerless, you know.”
“Then you actually wanted him?” Her face paled, and she couldn’t stop the curl of disgust spreading over her lips. “I mean, to each their own, but really? The vampire prince who’s made a reputation of fucking his way through the city in a ridiculous silk robe while drunk off blood-wine? Don’t you think you’re worth a little more than that?”
I steeled the hurt off my expression. “That’s really not your business anymore, Tabitha. Remember? We’re here as Coven mates—not friends. Now, are you going to tell anyone or not?”
She balked. “So, you understand how his reputation could harm your own, and yet you’re still continuing to jump his bones in dark corners? I don’t understand you at all, Jade.”
“Feeling’s mutual.”
Tabitha shouldered me aside as she trudged back up the beach. “Keep your vampire lover and your secrets, Jade, but don’t expect me to accept this lapse in judgment you’ll come to regret. Rebecca worries enough about you as it is. You don’t need to add more stress to her life.”
A startled laugh choked past my lips. “Of course. I almost forgot who I was talking to. You always were a brown noser, trying to weasel into her good graces and usurp my role. I’m sure this year has been everything you’ve wanted, a chance to shine without me there to compete with.”
“You know nothing about me, Jade. You never have. Nor do I care about becoming High Priestess.” She let out a snicker when she saw the set of my brows. “Maybe in the past, I longed for the chance to be seen as the possible successor. But that was before I realized such a fate would never be so long as you and your sisters remained in the Coven.”
When she paused, some flickering echo of a past dream bottled away shone in her hungry eyes.
“I’ve seen enough these past few years to know that the prestige of High Priestess isn’t the prize I always thought it was,” she finally mused, recovering her icy calm. “You’re doomed to a life of loneliness and misery under your grandmother’s shadow. If you ever grow a pair and accept responsibility, that is.”
With her parting insult, she disappeared back inside the house to wherever she planned to go with Willa Ward.
A pit opened in my stomach, and my hand pressed against it, as if to hold myself together through sheer will alone. The last thing I needed was another reminder of how doomed my future was. Iwasscared, and I was fucking tired of it.
When I walked into the kitchen, Liliane finished packing up her bag, with Tabitha and Willa already gone.
“Jade, there are flowers for you,” Liliane’s wilting voice sang chirpily.
My eyes caught on the bouquet of bright red salvia and camellias interspersed with dark green sprigs of ferns atop the kitchen island.
I didn’t have to read the small card attached to the vase, nor did it take an earth witch to analyze the symbolism of Alexei’s gift. But with a flutter in my chest that washed away the icy dread from the beach, I read his note.
How’s this for diplomacy, darling? Call me at sunset. I have news you’ll want to hear.
Smooth bastard. Romance and his fiery desire all laid out in a stunning collection of florals that would linger in my mind until I saw him next.
Liliane popped her head around the corner as she readied to leave. “You’re not going to hide away here all afternoon, are you?” Her brow lifted with a tsking sound. “You should venture into town. Take a break from magick and do some shopping. Enjoy the sights. Tonight, there’s a winter market that you’ll love!” She glanced at the card in my hands with amusement. “Invite that hot vampire of yours. Life’s too short to spend alone, dearest.”
Long after she left, I stared at Alexei’s card still gripped between my fingertips.
If the New Orleans Coven didn’t realize our relationship had become sexual from our almost-kiss at the masquerade, then I doubted the tales of our romps around Salem would go unnoticed either.
Our kiss in the alleyway had proven all my imaginings right. When Alexei and I stopped hiding behind our bickering and dealings with the talismans, an overwhelming heap of lust raged between us. What better time was there to explore this new, sparkling shift between us than a trip away from my Coven’s judgements?
But first I would ensure that Alexei could play by my rules. I refused to let him play me like the other females he toyed with and ruin my reputation. Especially when some days, I feared my cobbled-together dignity was all I had left.
I threw on my coat, feeling the trickle of desire from this morning returning in a flash.
Luckily, I knew the vampire would be more than amenable to my terms.
12
