Benedict stepped to my side and cleared his throat, and I remembered why he was here in the first place.
“Listen, I need to ask you a couple of questions about the attack.” I folded my arms across my chest to keep from touching her.
“The guy with horns?” Her smile fell away.
“Do you remember what he looked like?”
She nodded slowly. “Blue horns with a sort of tigery stripe. Weird eyes. Almost like a yellowish blue.” She rubbed her thumb over her wrist and looked away as though reliving the memory. “He was strong.”
“So were you,” I told her.
“She’s telling the truth,” Benedict decreed.
“I don’t lie.” Lyric leveled a glare on him.
He shrugged. “I don’t trust humans.” His tone was so smooth it almost didn’t sound like an insult.
“I don’t even trust that this is really happening, so as far as I’m concerned, you don’t exist.” She grinned sweetly at him.
I laughed, the sound rumbling my chest and shocking the hell out of Benedict.
He glanced between us, then rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll wait for you outside, Alek.”
I nodded, and he departed, leaving me alone with Lyric.
“Serge found you fresh clothes.” The jeans hugged her curves like a lover’s touch, and the blue blouse was cut modestly, but dipped low enough to hint at a mouthwatering pair of breasts. She was built like someone had plucked a vision of my wildest fantasy and brought her to life, all soft, warm hollows and contours. And that mouth…fuck, I wanted to lick my way inside to see if she tasted as good as she smelled.
“He did.” She nodded. “So, I’m not a prisoner in your room?”
I shook my head. “You have free roam of the estate. I’ll have Ransom pick up your laptop so you can access your work, but don’t expect internet. Small steps. If you find this library isn’t adequate, have Serge ask for Lachlan. He’ll escort you to the bigger one on the other side of the estate.”
“You have a bigger library?” Her lips parted.
I smiled long and slow, thinking that I had bigger everything. Then I remembered the nobles that had invaded the estate. “Do not leave this house without Lachlan at your side. We have nobles in residence to celebrate my sister Avianna’s return, and I can’t guarantee your safety. They might mistake you for a willing feeder.” My jaw locked. I’d kill the first vampire to touch her.
“Willing…” She paled and swallowed. “I can feel you,” she whispered. “When you left your room earlier, I knew you weren’t far. Why is that?” She wrapped her arms around her waist.
“You have my blood inside you.” My voice grated like sandpaper over the low words. “You’ll most likely feel it when I leave tonight, too.”
“Your blood?” She lifted her fingers to her lips.
“How did you think I healed you?” I could still see her lips attached to my wrist, hear the soft sounds of her throat working as she took my very life force into her.
“Oh.” She blinked up at me, her gaze dropping to my lips as she muttered something that sounded like, “All in your head.”
I had to get out of here. Now. Before I pressed her back against the shelves and kissed her like I wanted to. As it was, my self-control was thinner than a knife’s point and barely leashed. “I’ll be back later. Remember, don’t leave the house without Lachlan. Promise me.” I bored my gaze into hers, a step away from simply compelling her to do so, but it felt like too much of a violation.
“I promise,” she whispered, stepping closer.
I lowered my head and ran my nose along her jawline, breathing in her scent and burning my throat and lungs in the process. She still smelled like me. Good. It would make any vampire think twice about harming her…or feeding from her.
She lifted her hands to my chest but didn’t push me away. Her breath caught, and my cock pulsed in time with my heartbeat, the lust nearly overwhelming me.
“I’ll be back before sunrise,” I promised in her ear. Her body trembled, and her scent shifted, carrying the subtle sweetness of arousal. “Don’t miss me too much.”
The Slatesmark Opera House had been the central meeting place of immortals since the Covenant was formed. It rested in the very center of Edgemont City, allowing each species the safety of entering through their own territory, which was why it had been selected in the first place. The wide, cavernous chamber beneath the opera house had doors and tunnels laid out like the spokes of a wheel, aligning with our borders.
It was forbidden for any species to enter another’s territory. The only exception was me, or one of my assassins who stood in my stead to dispense the justice of the Covenant.
I pushed open the heavy double doors from our path and strode into the Conclave Chamber with Benedict and Hawke at my sides. There was no table here, only five uncomfortable, high-backed chairs that formed a circle.