“You have a one-track mind,” Sorrow chuckles, slipping off his jacket and tossing it over the low limb of an oak tree. “Almost as bad as me.” He cracks his knuckles and glances at his fellow Stiltz brothers. “Why don’t we show her how to use that dangerous little body to scale a wall covered in wards and guards? I’m craving another Heartbeat.”
“Even though they taste like gin and tequila?” I ask, my voice a bit huskier than I mean it to be. Inside my chest, that mushy little heart of mine is thundering. I love the idea of sneaking out under the king’s nose, and holy hell, would I like to know how these fuckers do it. Plus, I want to see the cranky look on Harry’s scrunched up ogre face when he finds out I actually went through with my plan.
“You want to use my night to party and teach Cameron parlor tricks?” Wolfe says, his arms hanging loosely at his side. But I’m not fooled. He’s wound nice and tight. In an instant, he could be on me, snapping my neck or putting his gun to my temple. I have no doubt he could kill me if he really wanted to.
“That’s up to Cam,” Vyce says, glancing over his shoulder at the imposing stone walls of the mansion. The courtyard is in the center of literally everything, and those guards aren’t all that far behind us. If I didn’t trust the Stiltz kin to have a few tricks up their sleeves, I’d be certain that we were being listened in on. “It’s her night, too.”
“You want to teach me to break out of a virtually impenetrable fortress?” I ask, standing up and glancing down at my outfit. “In this?”
“Here, we’ll fix it,” Sorrow says, stepping close and bending down. Before I can even register what he’s up to, he’s tearing the bottom of the skirt off and leaving me with a ragged hemline just above the knee. “There we go,” he continues with a nod, standing up. We’re so close that when I breathe, the hardened points of my nipples brush against his chest.
“You ruined my dress,” I whisper, my voice low and deep, practically dripping with need. Sorrow lifts up a hand and traces a single finger down the side of my face, making me shiver before stepping back.
“You’ll be queen; there’ll be others,” he says, glancing over to where our bored looking guards are waiting. They hardly care what I’m up to. They think I’m dead meat anyway. And a dhampir? Hardly a match for any of the precious royals or crowns staying in the castle. “You know how to tap into your natural magic, right?”
“I have magic?” is my response to that question because while I know that all vampires have magic, accessing it can be a bit…complicated. Beyond simple everyday tricks—like rolling humans for example—I’ve never bothered to try.
“Tap into it,” Sorrow says as Vyce watches with his hands on his hips and Wolfe keeps glaring and scowling. It’s impressive, how good he is at keeping up that fa?ade. But I won’t forget that he opened up to me earlier. Loneliness is something I know all about.
I just stand there and stare, and Sorrow sighs, stepping forward and literally tapping at my chest with his finger.
“Magic is just coiled energy,” Vyce explains as Sorrow traces that same finger up to my pulse and draws the breath from my lungs without even trying. “It’s like that feeling when your body is crouched and tensed, all that power waiting in your muscles that hasn’t been unleashed yet. Find it…” He turns and glances at the guards, exhaling long and slow and then throwing out a hand. Wind ripples through the courtyard, fluttering the leaves on the trees, teasing the delicate petals of roses. It feels like a punch to the gut, that magic.
“You won’t be able to do this overnight or anything, but it’s never too late to start,” Sorrow says, curling his fingers around the back of my neck and leaning in close. He hovers his mouth above my own, like he’s waiting for permission from me before taking the moment any further. When I don’t make any move to protest, Sorrow presses our mouths together, sliding his hot tongue between my lips and using his fingers on the back of my neck to pull me even closer.
As he does that, he draws something up and out of me with his mouth, an energy that’s both familiar and foreign. Magic. It tastes hot and metallic, and the scent of fire and ash in the air is unmistakable. Stepping back from me suddenly, Sorrow releases that energy and it snaps across the garden area the way Vyce’s did.
“Did you feel that?” he asks me, panting slightly, his mouth shiny from our kiss.
“It feels like you cracked my ribs open,” I say, putting a hand to my chest. “Or like you broke something.” Energy seems to bubble up from deep down, spilling past my lips.
“You’re not used to it,” Wolfe says, stepping forward and shouldering Sorrow out of the way. He offers his large hand, the sleeve of his jacket sliding up and revealing more of those gorgeous tattoos underneath. I wonder what he looks like naked? I should’ve added that to the contract—nudity required.
I reach out and take his hand, letting him lead me through the thick tangle of foliage over to the wall. Our guards don’t even seem to be interested in us anymore, drifting away and leaving the four of us alone out here.
Sick.
Now that is what I call magic. Rolling a human is easy, but doing the same thing to a vamp? That takes some serious skill. I don’t know what, exactly, these guys did to the king’s soldiers, but it’s like they either can’t see us anymore or just don’t give a shit.
“Now, climb,” Wolfe says, his expression just slightly less intimidating. “Fast.”
I don’t hesitate, reaching out and hooking my fingers around the edge of a stone block.
I’m up and over the Verenim Family House walls before I can even consider the consequences of jumping ship.
But then, consequences require getting caught.
Yeah, I don’t fucking think so, not with the Stiltz brothers on my side. No goddamn way.
10
Harry really isn’t all that happy to see me. He’s acting like a dick—even for an ogre, and that’s really saying something.
“You’re inviting the devil in and what, praying that he doesn’t prick you with his horns?”
“Actually, I’m hoping to be pricked—it’s part of the contract—but yeah, I see where you’re coming from.” I’m leaning over the bar in my tight purple dress, knowing that it’s riding up and loving it. I bet I’ve got all three of those vampire assholes looking my way. Now, if only I could get them to return the favor, maybe convince Wolfe to strip down so I can ogle all his tats? “I’ll be fine, Harry.”
“Even after they find out you’ve duped them?” he growls under his breath, shoving a drink with a lavender sprig in it my way. I take it and pop the straw between my lips. It takes me several sips to realize it, but…this one doesn’t taste like gin or tequila. My brows slide up my forehead. Touché, Harry, touché. The drink is actually good this time; it’s bright and fresh, with the slightest hint of lavender.
“Why don’t you say that a little louder, just in case they didn’t hear you the first time?” I say, flicking my eyes over to Miri. Her green braid is undone and she looks a tad disheveled. Seeing as my hair’s in a similar state, I know right away she’s donning the just-fucked look. Turning back to Harry, I can see that he’s most definitely trying not to look her way. “You didn’t?!” I gasp, covering my mouth with my hand. “You slept with Miri, didn’t you?” I mumble from behind my palm.
My friend ignores me as I slam my fist on the counter and chortle. Can’t help it. Now this was worth breaking out of the Verenim Family House for, no doubt about it.
“You sly dog,” I say as the man gives me a look.
“It was an accident, won’t happen again,” he says, but the expression on his face says otherwise. I bet they were the perfect match, half-ogre and quarter-ogre. Miri probably appreciated the size of his dick. Good for them. I’ve been waiting almost two years for them to hop into bed together. “Now take that drink and fuck off.”