And here she had been all cozy and practically drooling over the prospect of getting to touch him at last, and he had to bring up his lover. Perfect.
She settled back down in the bed and rolled with her back to him. When would she learn? They’d whiled the hours away talking, and she’d discovered so much about him…about herself, and here she was thinking he actually liked her. He was simply killing time until Aleksandra arrived. Perfect. Freaking cord. She needed to escape him as soon as possible before her heart followed her body and melted every time he looked at her. Hell, it might already be too late.
Eventually, pretending to be asleep transitioned into the real thing—her only way to escape him until the problem of the cord could be solved.
Voices pulled Elena from the greatest dream ever, in which Nikolai had healed fully and was making good on his promise. Making good in ways she didn’t even know were physically possible.
“What took you so long, Aleksi?” Nikolai’s voice asked. “I’ve been stuck here for over twenty-four hours.”
Stuck here? Elena didn’t move, pretending to still be asleep. Well, good-bye dream euphoria and hello, hell.
“The dagger had a bit of elf ore in it and took forever to heal. Fydor never left my side,” Aleksandra’s voice answered.
“Well, isn’t that romantic?”
“Fuck you, Niki.”
“Not me. Him. Isn’t that what you’re doing?” God. He sounded so mad.
Elena cracked her eyes open, but the room was pitch black. It was nighttime again. And cold.
Aleksandra sighed. “I’m doing what women have done from the beginning of time. I’m protecting someone I love. He’s on to you, and he wants you dead.”
His voice trembled with rage. “And giving him your body will change that?”
Footfalls came from the foot of the bed as if she were pacing. “It’s irrelevant. You can shout at me about it later. I can’t be gone long. We need to talk about your human.”
His human? Like a possession? Elena’s body rebelled against her command to remain perfectly still.
“Let’s get this straight now. I’m not killing her. No one is killing her.” The tone in his voice was deadly. Elena suppressed a shudder.
“Well, of course not. Fydor believes she’s the one, and he wants her destroyed while she’s still human. On the off chance he’s right, you need to get her to a safe house as soon as possible.”
“How would you suggest I accomplish that? I’m not welcomed by any of the vampires, and I doubt the Time Folder will take me in again.”
Exasperation tinged Aleksandra’s tone. “I’m talking about her, not you. The vampires would protect her for sure. Deliver her to them and be done with her.”
“You’re forgetting an important factor, Aleksi: we’re bound by an elven cord. We’re a package deal.”
“I have the solution. It’s another reason it took me so long to come to you. I went to the elves and found out how the cord works.”
“They told you? They wouldn’t tell me anything other than only the one who made it could cut it.”
“Of course they didn’t tell you. They think you’re an asshole, and they hate you.”
“The feeling is mutual.”
Her voice softened and came from closer to where he was. “Don’t you even want to know what I found out?”
“I’m sorry. Yes. Please tell me.”
“Its real use is for elf bonding ceremonies. It’s where the humans get their hand-binding traditions. The elves wind it around the wrists of both partners, and if the partners’ souls are suitably paired, which yours are because they touch on the cord, it will fall away once the union is consummated.”
Her news was greeted with absolute silence.
After a few moments, she continued. “It’s like when the bedsheets were checked the morning after the wedding in other cultures to be sure the deed had been done, only much more civilized.”
“Nothing about the elves is civilized,” Nikolai answered. “They just cover everything in sparkle and glitter and call it refined. They are blood-hungry killers just like the rest of us.”
“Leave the hate aside, Niki. Are you hearing me? Getting rid of the cord is easy—well, if you can tolerate sex with a human, it’s easy. Personally, I couldn’t do it. But look on the bright side: because she’s human—or a human derivative—you can’t get her pregnant or catch any diseases. Then, you need to make sure she becomes immortal. If she’s really what Fydor thinks she is, it would benefit us all if you turn her as soon as possible.”
Elena swallowed and took a silent, deep breath. Good God. What was she? How could her becoming immortal benefit a bunch of beings that were nothing more than assassins? She wouldn’t do it. Never.
“Actually, now that I think about it, you should turn her first. Sex with a vamp would be as bad as doing a human, but at least she’d be hardier and a lot more fun, right? Well, as long as you didn’t let her bite you.”
Nikolai didn’t respond.
“Don’t tell me you’ve become attached to her. Surely you’re not that weak.”