How to Tame a Beast in Seven Days (The Embraced #1)

After shutting the door, he waited to hear the click of the lock and slide of the bolt. “Jensen.” He motioned the guard to join him by the stairwell. “I’ve posted nine more guards below. If the assassin believes all of our attention is focused on the funeral and the duke, he might decide to strike here instead.”


“I understand, my lord.”

Leo gave him an encouraging look. “I’m counting on you.”

Ten guards had to be enough, Leo thought as he hurried down the stairs. Four of his own personal guard were one floor down, and the remaining five from Vindalyn were on the ground floor. Three of the guards had horns they would blow at the first sign of trouble. With his lightning speed, Leo could return before the assassin managed to get through ten soldiers and a heavy, bolted door.

His Tatiana would be safe. Or was she simply Ana? He hated to think he was being fooled, but he had to admit she might not be Tatiana. The way she’d reacted to his cock made her seem far too innocent to have been involved with Captain Bougaire. And it looked like the captain had been killed to keep him from telling the truth.

At the bottom of the stairs, the five guards bowed as he passed by.

He hesitated at the tower entrance. “How long have you been here at Vindemar?”

The answers were all different, varying from eight years to thirty-five.

“Then you have all known Lady Tatiana for a long time.” When they agreed, Leo continued, “Has she changed at all recently?”

“Ah, you must have heard the rumors.” The oldest guard waved a dismissive hand. “Pay them no heed, my lord.”

“What rumors?” Leo asked.

The men exchanged glances, then the oldest explained, “She has been acting a bit kinder of late. Not that she was ever unkind,” he added quickly.

“But she looks exactly the same?” Leo asked.

“Of course, my lord,” the oldest guard replied.

“I think she’s a bit thinner,” the youngest one mumbled.

“She almost died.” The oldest one gave him an annoyed look. “Would you expect her to be fatter?”

“I’m counting on you all to keep her safe,” Leo reminded them, then strode from the tower.

On the way to the drawbridge, he thought over the problem. If Ana was an imposter, then there were two options. The first: The whole castle was in on the hoax. This he seriously doubted. The second option: Only Ana and the duke knew. But in order to fool everyone in the castle, Ana had to look, talk, and act just like the real Tatiana.

How was that possible? And what had happened to the real Tatiana?

Was Ana like Brody, but instead of shifting into animals, she could take the form of another human? Leo shook his head. He’d never heard of anyone with that kind of power.

It was more likely that she was related to Tatiana. A sister, perhaps, who looked just like her.

Leo stopped with a jerk.

A twin.





Chapter Twenty-two

“Enough,” Luciana muttered as Tatiana continued to giggle.

“Oh, there’s something hard in your breeches!” Tatiana repeated for the fifth time in a high, squeaky voice.

“I didn’t sound like that,” Luciana grumbled as she poured herself more wine.

“Ack! It’s moving!” Tatiana struck a dramatic pose, the back of her hand against her brow. “What will become of me? How will I survive your enormous lightning rod?”

Luciana flinched, afraid that her sister’s jest might be too close to the truth. She gulped down some wine. Whatever she’d felt in his breeches had seemed rather rod-like. And rather large. She finished the cup. “You shouldn’t have eavesdropped on a private conversation.”

“Private, all right. His privates. I can’t believe he pressed your hand against him like that.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Tatiana gave her a knowing grin. “So you made him hard, huh?”

Made him? “Are you saying I was somehow responsible for his condition?”

Tatiana’s grin turned into a grimace. “By the Light, are you truly that ignorant?”

Luciana bristled. “I am quite well educated. I speak and write all four mainland languages—”

“Whatever.” Tatiana waved a dismissive hand. “Thank the Light you have me around to explain things. I am a bit of an expert, you know.”

Luciana shifted her weight. “Is it normal for a man to be hard?”

“Only when he wants to bed you.”

Luciana blushed as a series of images flashed through her mind. Leo touching her, kissing her. And whatever else a man did with a woman. She wasn’t quite sure of the details, but apparently it had something to do with the hardness of his male private parts.

Tatiana snorted. “You liked touching him, didn’t you? And that thing you did with the bread—”

“How could I enjoy any of it with you constantly screeching that he was going to fry me like a pork chop?”

Tatiana huffed. “The thanks I get for looking out for you.” Her expression grew sympathetic. “You know you can’t actually bed the man, right? Even a kiss would probably kill you.”

A pang struck deep in Luciana’s chest. “I know.”

“You actually like him, don’t you?”

Luciana nodded. “Is it wrong to fall for him so quickly? I’ve known him only five days.”

Tatiana shrugged. “I fell for Alberto even faster than that.” She sighed. “I guess we’re both unlucky in love. At least you have me. You wouldn’t have known how to answer his funeral question if I hadn’t helped you.”

“Thank you for that. And I did what you asked,” Luciana reminded her sister. “You heard Leo’s answer. He didn’t kill your captain—”

“You believe the Beast?”

“Yes, I do.” When her sister scoffed, Luciana continued, “Now it’s your turn to do as I ask. Go to the funeral for the jailers, see if you can find their ghosts, then ask them who killed them.”

Tatiana rolled her eyes. “Fine. You just stay here and enjoy some real food while I do all the work.”

“Exactly.” Luciana smiled as she picked up another grape.

“Oh, there’s something hard in your breeches!” Tatiana squeaked once more.