The funniest thing of all? Only blood bullshit was making me want this contact or his arms around me. The itch under my skin, the drive to touch him. None of that was real. Not like my friendship with Tommy had been real.
Not like the burning truth of my grandmother’s love.
I didn’t relax in his embrace, and eventually, Kyros let go.
Round two to Basi.
“Why are you here?” I flung at him.
“My sisters told me about the conversation you had with them during the thrall.”
“About you being able to feel where I am for the rest of my life?” I asked in a dangerous voice.
He searched my face. “Yes. That.”
“Is that why you took a week to talk to me? I pegged you for an asshole, not a scared asshole.”
His jaw ticked. “I had things to attend to.”
Ingenium. “I hope the game goes fruitfully.”
I got why he had to play, but their game hurt people. Me. Tommy. The citizens of Bluff City. The clans compelled human liaisons who likely lived in daily fear.
… Rhys, whose funeral I’d missed while in the injured haze of my third thrall. Not that I would have attended anyway, being partially responsible for his death.
Kyros’s nostrils flared, but his voice remained steady. “It is. Thanks to the property you secured in Black… amongst other things.”
I didn’t need the pointed look accompanying his words.
Sundulus bluffed Clan Fyrlia into entering a massive development deal for re-zoned agricultural land. The subdivision developer was a heroin addict—something I’d picked up on—and they expected the deal to fall through.
Whatever. I didn’t have two fucks to rub together where Ingenium was concerned. What I was concerned with were the Tonyi triplets.
When Clan Fyrlia attacked me ten days ago, they had specific knowledge of the weak spots in my route. Which meant…
“There’s another matter we need to discuss,” I told him. “Someone in this tower is a—”
He blurred, covering my mouth with his behemoth hand. And Zeus’s left nut, I tried not to acknowledge how perfect his warm, calloused hand felt against my mouth and skin. How did a crown prince even have callouses?
And why couldn’t I hate him in peace?
I hated it. I hated him.
Whipping out his phone, Kyros typed a message.
I’ve been interviewing suspects all week
I sniffed in disdain and grabbed his phone.
One week and you haven’t found them yet?
His lips twitched.
You could do better?
Ice filled me as I typed a final message.
I was a teen girl far more recently than you. YES.
Kyros scowled.
Fool. It was a compliment—teen girls were fucking smart at this shit.
He considered me, and I refused to break away first. In addition to what Fyrlia put me through, five Indebted were now dead and another barely recovered because of the spy in Kyros’s ranks.
The vampire dipped his head. “Come.”
Did he have to use that word in particular? “I have work to do.”
I’d planned on visiting three properties in three different suburbs to hedge my bets on which colour we’d land on at the midnight roll. It made sense to spread my time amongst the suburbs, so then I could hone in on the owners I’d warmed up. I’d secured six houses for Live Right already—all of them on the clan’s trouble list.
“Not today,” the vampire answered, taking my hand and all-but dragging me back to reception. “Angelica, clear Miss Tetley’s day.”
But diving into the personal lives of my growing clientele meant I wasn’t required to think about my own.
“Yes, sir,” she replied from behind.
Kyros glanced toward the stairs to the left of reception as we exited the wide hall.
“No,” I growled.
If he took the stairs, I’d need to be in his arms.
His gaze narrowed an instant before he pounced, swinging me into his arms.
I shrieked as he ran, flinging my arms up to loop them around his neck.
Hmm, actually.
I squeezed tighter and tighter, only stopping when Kyros paused less than a minute later by his office desk on Level 65.
“You wouldn’t be trying to strangle me, would you, Miss Tetley?” he murmured, punching in his stupidly long password.
“Yes,” I answered, loosening my grip.
I’d only tried it on the off chance it would work, but only fire and beheading and irreversible damage to the heart killed them. Even then, the thought of killing Kyros was abhorrent because of the bond.
He pursed his lips.
Another burst of speed and I was bouncing on the massive bed in his minimalist, devoid-of-warmth excuse for a Batman lair.
“I thought you wanted to have a serious discussion with me,” I bit out as he closed the door. “How can you even think that I’d sleep with you after all the lies and stunts you’ve pulled?”
His green eyes darkened over crooked lips. “This room is soundproof.”
Forgot about that.
Dammit.
“Right.” I could have told the jackass there was a soundproof hot water cupboard on Level 44.
Avoiding his intense stare, my gaze snagged on the pinecone I’d gifted him for saving my life.
He’d put the Pinterest-induced embarrassment on top of his drawers.
One more regret. I wish I’d never given it to him.
I bounded off the bed and walked to the circle sofa but stopped halfway, staring at the furniture.
Me straddling him.
Him straddling me.
Blood pouring down my throat.
Pure heat surged within me—so white-hot I had to bite down on my whimper.
Shit.
The sexual tension after the third exchange was definitely stronger. The itch was almost a burn. Panic flooded me as the trapped feeling returned, only to be battled by a fierce longing and aching sadness.
I lifted a hand to my temple again.
My brain was on the fritz.
“We’ve exchanged blood three times,” I whispered, glancing at the circle sofa in longing. Because it really was the most comfortable place to sit in his lair. “After the second swap, you could feel my location. What can you do to me now?”
I didn’t plead for him to tell me straight. I didn’t use one of my two remaining honesty questions. Honesty meant fuck all to this vampire. If the answer adversely affected the game and thus his family, he’d lie without batting an eyelid.
Kyros strode to the kitchenette on the opposite wall. There, he opened the small fridge and extracted a bag of red liquid.
My eyes widened on the plastic pouch.
Oh. My. God.
He poured the blood into a tall glass and tossed the drained bag into the bin under the sink.
Kyros’s eyes locked on mine as he sipped.
Meanwhile, I was just relieved not to feel jealous over him drinking another person’s blood. Thank fuck for small mercies.
He knocked back the contents of the glass as I decided whether the sight bothered me or not. After, Kyros ran his tongue over his teeth, removing traces of some unaware human.
Don’t be turned on. It’s weird.
“The third exchange changed things, yes,” he answered.