Jupiter was still smiling as she looked me over. “You look incredible! Wherever you’ve been, it was obviously good for you.”
Though there wasn’t a trace of bitterness to her voice, guilt bit into me. I hated that I hadn’t been able to communicate with my one true friend all those years away, but it had been necessary. The only one I’d told where I was going was my Aunt Gemma. She helped me get out of the haven the night my father’s rage threatened to engulf the mansion in flames, and I’d run far and fast and hadn’t told anyone where I was heading.
Once I’d settled in the tiny community of Beechwood Harbor, a coastal town in Washington State, I’d reached out to my aunt to tell her I was safe, and we’d kept in touch over the years. She’d kept me updated with the goings on of the Eastern Court and sent me money every few months.
In portions of my letters to my aunt, I’d asked her to find a way to pass on well wishes to Jupiter, but I hadn’t been able to risk sending her correspondence directly. My father knew we were close and would have had her watched closely for any signs that she was involved in my disappearance. If I ever got her tangled up in any kind of trouble, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself. Aunt Gemma, on the other hand, could more than handle herself when it came to dealing with my father. She was his sister by blood and held a large part of his territory under her control. If she needed leverage to get out of hot water, she’d find it.
I wasn’t entirely sure how my father had finally managed to track me down, but I knew it wasn’t my aunt’s doing. Over the years in Washington, I’d grown close to a group of other vampires. Probably too close. In all likelihood, one of them unknowingly said the wrong thing to the wrong person, and word filtered back to the east. The supernatural world was large, but clearly not large enough.
“I’ve missed you so much, Jupe.” More tears filled my eyes. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get in touch all this time. Did my aunt ever pass on my letters?”
Jupiter nodded. “She did. And don’t worry, I understand why you had to do it that way. Please don’t cry, Lacey. You’ll just make me cry and you know I’m allergic to waterproof mascara!”
I sputtered a laugh and the tears fell anyway.
She wrapped her arms around me for another embrace. “I’m just glad you’re finally back.”
“You’ll forgive me if I can’t say the same,” I replied, giving my father’s door a withering glance.
“I will.” Jupiter laughed softly and released me. She slipped her hands into the pockets of her black skinny jeans and rocked back on the heels of her canvas flats. “It hasn’t been the same around here without you, you know.”
“Quieter, I imagine.” The joke didn’t quite land. Instead, a shadow passed over Jupiter’s face. “I was just—” I stopped short, realizing the reason for her change in expression.
The door to my father’s study was open.
Gulp.
I drew in a long breath through my nose, forcing a smile on the exhale. “Guess that’s my cue. I’ll come find you afterward, okay?”
She nodded but I knew my smile wasn’t fooling her.
A guard appeared in the doorway. He was a carbon copy of all my father’s guards: tall, broad-shouldered, clean cut, and likely didn’t have more than two free-forming thoughts cycling around between his ears. “Lady Vaughn, the baron is ready to speak with you.”
“Marvelous,” I muttered under my breath.
Resigned, I pivoted on my heel and marched through the doorway, leaving Jupiter behind. The guard announced my presence—apparently, in case my father had suffered some kind of head trauma from the time he’d sent the vamp out to collect me—and then stepped aside, giving me a glimpse of my father, seated at his desk.
He didn’t bother to stand up. Of course not.
Ice-blue eyes met mine. The one trait we shared, though I preferred to think of mine as more jewel-toned than glacial. His jaw was set in a firm line and though his lips weren’t turned down, he also wasn’t willing to offer anything remotely close to a smile either.
“You’re late,” he said, his tone more bored than impatient.
I scoffed and stalked past the guard. “Nice to see you, too, Father.”
Lord Geoffrey Vaughn bristled, a cold smile on his face as he leaned back in his chair. Some might wrongly assume he was relaxed, based on his posture alone, but I knew better. His every muscle was taut, ready to spring into action. My father could be midway through a hot-stone massage, breathing in fresh lavender while listening to a harpist and still be capable of tearing someone’s head off in the blink of an eye.
He practically purred as he replied, “Perhaps you would have received a warmer welcome had you seen fit to return home of your own accord.”
“Perhaps.” With feigned indifference, I dropped into one of the spindly chairs across from him and draped one leg over the other. “Since you’ve decided to eschew the pleasantries, let’s get to the point. Why am I here?”
“This is your home, Lacey. This is where you belong.” Lord Vaughn continued to smile, but there wasn’t a drop of warmth behind it. Anger radiated from him, humming just below the surface.
“Did it ever cross your mind that maybe I was happier on my own?”
His eyes narrowed. “This isn’t about your happiness, Lacey.”
“Clearly,” I muttered.
I flinched as he slammed his palms against the desk. “I see your time away hasn’t curbed that tongue of yours. It was a mistake, letting you run off to that fishing town. I don’t know what I expected. Certainly the humans weren’t going to teach you any respect.” He glared at me, his eyes narrowed into hard ice chips. “Make no mistake, Daughter, I’m not opposed to other forms of punishments if you’re hell-bent on proving this one did not work.”
My teeth clenched together as I fought off the shiver skating up my spine. “If I recall, my exile was self-imposed. You didn’t even know where I was until a few weeks ago.”
“I’ve known where you were for three years now,” he spat, barking a hollow laugh. “With a single word, I could have had you dragged back by your hair.”
“Gee, and you wonder why I left,” I snarled.
He pushed off the desk and stood to his full height, looking down his nose at me. “I don’t have to wonder why you left, Lacey. I know full well that you ran away to save your own skin! If it weren’t for your mother, I’d have you in a cell right now. But I let her talk me out of it. She wanted me to let you sow some wild oats and get it out of your system!” He cursed under his breath and turned his back to me.
I didn’t have a doubt that my mother had been the one who saved me. As angry as my mother was at my disappearance, she wouldn’t have allowed a hair on my head to be harmed. She’d already lost one daughter, and she’d fight like hell to keep the one she had left.
“Oh, please!” I said, scowling. “You were relieved … happy, even, to have me out of the way these past few years. You didn’t want me around, serving as a walking, talking reminder of my defiance. It was better for you to have me gone, especially when you could spin the story and make yourself out to be the one who’d sent me away.”
“I’m not stupid,” I continued. “Why do you think I left the way I did? No spectacle, long speech, or public outburst. You could claim the decision was yours and retain your image of absolute judgement.”
Lord Vaughn turned around, his eyes narrowed at me.
I sneered up at him as the anxiety that flooded my veins shifted, turning into a unstoppable geyser. “There are only two reasons you’ve summoned me back. Either you’re finally going to auction me off to the highest bidder, or—” I paused for a flicker of a moment as the words formed on my tongue. “You found some way around my producing an heir, and have now decided to publicly execute me.”
Surprise registered in Lord Vaughn’s eyes. Under any other circumstances, I would have relished in the thrill at saying something that stopped him cold. As it was, I felt sick.