The Vampire's Mail-Order Bride

William remained unruffled. “It’s strange that you’d make such a claim,” he murmured, “considering how I heard differently from Sir Isaac.”

RHAPSODY WAS NOT QUITE sure where she was going. All she knew was that she wanted to be alone…and she wished to not see the Marquis of Sangre until she had completely defeated her mortifying urge to cry. If this was Being Normal felt like, then she never wanted to be normal again.

It was a good thing that her old school put much stock on spellwork, Rhapsody thought as she yanked a strand of her hair off and cast a spell to keep the marquis from tracking her. The spell wouldn’t last forever, but it should be enough to give her time to compose herself.

Rhapsody’s feet eventually took her past the graveyard and all the way up to Amstel Woods. A perfectly morbid thing to do, considering what she last encountered, but—-

Her footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

Surely…she wasn’t hearing what she thought she was—-

A-wooooooooooooo!

Rhapsody broke into a run.

Unbelievable!

First, a man had died on her, and now wolves were after her for no reason? Had she unknowingly angered a dead nymph and caused the woods to jinx her?

Rhapsody cast a quick look around her and spied what seemed like silver thistles, which were harmful to wolves.

Finally!

But she had only managed to take a few steps when she heard a loud, rushing sound, and Rhapsody only had time to scramble back with a startled cry when she saw water coming out of nowhere and flooding the passage before her.

Either these woods were truly jinxed, she thought, or someone was Hell-bent on…

A rustling sound from above had her looking up, just in time to see enforcers leaping off branches and landing on the ground in a crouch. They rose up to their full height in impressive and breathtaking synchrony, but what had Rhapsody’s jaw dropping was when she saw who it was that broke away from their formation and began walking towards her.

“L-Lord Erou?” Rhapsody actually found herself stammering. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m afraid we have orders, milady,” he said gravely.

Rhapsody’s confusion grew. “Are you arresting me for Emily’s death?” The woman was responsible for Mr. Walker’s murder and those women, too. Shouldn’t they be giving her a medal instead?

“It’s not that.” While the earl spoke, a pack of wolves had already loped into view, and maybe it was only her imagination, but they appeared to stare at her for one long moment before releasing a single long howl.

Almost as if they were confirming her location, Rhapsody thought. But that wouldn’t make sense…would it? She was decidedly uneasy now and turned to Erou again, asking, “What is this truly about, milord?”

“One man’s grand idea for groveling,” Erou answered simply, and when Rhapsody’s body jerked at this, he knew that the girl hadn’t mistaken his meaning. “You’ve probably guessed by now, but he’s asked everyone he could help to track you down.”

“So all of you…”

Erou nodded.

“And the wolves…”

“Commanded by the Marquis of Lunare,” the earl explained, “and they were the first ones to pick your scent.”

Because her spell had been meant to ward off men, she realized, and not four-legged beasts.

She swallowed hard as she heard the now-familiar sound of rushing water approaching them. “I am not ready to speak to him, Lord Erou.”

He nearly flinched at the rare and unmistakable sound of pain in her voice. “Just hear him out, milady,” he said quietly. “And if you still wish to leave, you have my word—-” He stopped speaking as water cascaded to the ground from a short distance, its waves consolidating to form an icy brige.

The Marquis of Aquarius stepped off first, and following behind him was Mihail himself.

Green eyes took hers captive, and Rhapsody’s heart skipped a beat. The rushing sound of water faded as the marquis strode towards her, and it was only when he reached her and rubbed a thumb over her cheek…

She was crying again, Rhapsody realized.

Mihail’s chest clenched. He remembered how Sir Isaac had once told him that he had never seen Rhapsody cry over her mother’s death, and even Zari claimed the same thing when Rhapsody had first been accused of murder. Only now did she cry…because of him.

“I am sorry,” he said rawly.

“I am not sure if I can forgive you.” She could still remember what Mr. Booth wrote, and the memory hurt very badly.

“That time when you tried telling me about the gift—-and I loved it, by the way.”

Her lips pursed. “I will not rise to the bait.” But…did he really?

“I loved it because you gave it to me, and I loved it even more because I know no one else but you can give me such a gift.”

She struggled to remain silent. The marquis was very good at trying to bait her. She would give him at least that. But…what did he mean she was the only one who could give such a gift?