“She’s not just a witness,” Vicca hissed, oblivious to my primal urge to wipe her from the face of the earth. “She is the only living witness to what happened. One who has avoided our summons for months. We need her testimony before we can sentence you.”
My attention snapped to what Vicca was saying. Testimony? Sentencing? This was bad. What I’d seen the night of Andre’s birthday … it wouldn’t help his case. Not only had Andre gone psycho, he’d killed in my name. Me, the girl who was destined to lead some awful vampire genocide. I’d end up dead, and who knew what horrible fate would befall Andre.
“She was unconscious when it happened,” Andre lied, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I now had my cover story.
Andre walked over to me, his eyes softening. My own probably held a strange cocktail of panic, anger, and fear. “Now,” he said, “I am going to remove Gabrielle’s bindings and take her in myself. You’d do well to leave this room before I decide to punish you the same way I did Fredrick.”
She didn’t need more encouragement. In an instant she was gone.
“You too,” Andre said, his gaze never leaving mine.
I could hear joints popping and an agonized groan as Fredrick pushed himself up.
“We will be in the courtroom in a few minutes,” Andre said. “Warn the rest of the coven that if anyone so much as considers checking in on us, they will regret it. I am not in a good mood.”
Fredrick made some meek noise and bowed—bowed—to Andre’s back before scurrying out of the room.
Once we were alone, Andre ripped the duct tape from my lips.
“Fuck,” I gasped out from the pain. I glared at Andre. “Did you have to rip it off so—”
He silenced me with a kiss. Only now that we were alone did he finally drop the fa?ade. I felt the way his hands trembled as they caressed my cheeks. His lips brushed against mine in an apology.
He broke off the kiss and leaned his head against mine. “I am so sorry. So, so sorry.” He swept the hair off my face and held my jaw in his hands before his gaze drifted to my bound arms. One second he stared at them, and in the next he was ripping them off.
As soon as the tape was removed, Andre came back around to face me. “We don’t have much time. This is what you need to know: When I entered Bishopcourt the night of my birthday gala, you were fleeing Theodore, who was trying to kill you.”
I nodded. That was so far the truth. “Why was he trying to kill me?” I asked, keeping my voice hushed in case any vampires were trying to eavesdrop.
“He thought you were unnatural—an abomination.”
I swallowed. Hearing Andre say those words hurt, even though I knew it was just the cover story.
Sensing my mood, Andre tipped my chin up and gave me a lingering kiss. When he spoke again, he was all business. “Theodore raised the gun, I tackled you, and when you went down you cracked your head against the stairs, which knocked you out until I picked you up.”
“So I remember nothing of what you did to Theodore or your motives,” I said.
“Correct. Stick to that story, or else,” Andre said, his expression dark.
“Or else what?”
“Or else they’ll try to make you an accessory to murder. If that happens, you’ll be convicted and sentenced to the highest punishment.”
Death. But not just death. That was not only what waited for me. Damnation and an unholy reunion with the devil. My breath stilled even as my heart galloped.
Andre placed a hand on my chest, as though that action might slow down my racing heart. “I never wanted this to happen,” he said hoarsely.
I forced myself to breathe and pushed down my terror. “I’ll stick to the story.”
“Good,” he said, “because I don’t think I could survive the alternative.”
Our gazes met, held, and then like magnets we came together, our bodies flush. Our lips met and our breath mingled. Only here, wrapped in Andre’s arms did I feel like all was right in the world. It was a beautiful illusion, but I wrapped the fantasy around me and reveled in it.
An image of Vicca entered my mind, and the illusion shattered. I pushed Andre away roughly. “You and Vicca … ?”
Andre’s brows pulled together. “What is it, Gabrielle?”
But I couldn’t finish my train of thought because even though I was jealous and hurt, I was embarrassed that I felt this way at all.
I saw the moment Andre put it together. His eyebrows shot up and his eyes widened. “Are you … jealous of her?” Andre’s lips twitched as he spoke the last word, and when I narrowed my eyes at him, his mouth drew up into an amused smile.
“You’re happy?” I asked, disbelief coating my words.
He gave a small bark of laughter and ran a hand through his hair. “It’s about time I’m not the only one in this relationship to get jealous.”
Fair point, but this was different. “Andre, you turned her,” I tried to explain. “Clearly that relationship was meaningful enough to want her by your side forever.” Those words shredded my throat coming out.
He stepped in closer. “You’re right,” he admitted. It felt like a knife to my chest. “A long time ago I met a beguiling woman named Vicca, and I fell in love.”
I swallowed down the thick knot at the back of my throat.
Andre’s face got a faraway look to it. “At least I thought I had,” he said. “Lust, attraction, romance—all are heady drugs, but like all drugs, they wear off.” His gaze refocused on me. “And when they inevitably did, I realized that I didn’t love her—not true love, the kind that makes you the best version of yourself.”
Andre glanced at the door. Our private moment was almost over, and not even the king of the vampires could stall his trial much longer.