Seduce the Darkness (Alien Huntress #4)(51)
Author: Gena Showalter

"Hey, speaking of Devyn." Mishka stepped on the chest of each human as she walked inside the apartment. "You hear the latest news about him?"

Dallas shook his head, dread suddenly rushing through him. Had the vampires found Devyn? Hurt him already? Damn it. Dallas had tried to examine the vision he’d had with an impartial eye, searching for all the clues before acting and making things worse or causing things to happen because of his own actions.

"Brace yourself," Eden said with a delighted laugh. "Devyn told Mia he wanted Bride released from AIR custody. For good. No one was to touch her again. No more tests, even. And in return he would bring in as many vampires as he could get his hands on."

Okay, that wasn’t so bad, Dallas thought, relaxing. He didn’t know how his friend was going to find the vampires, but whatever. They’d do what needed to be done.

Behind them, Nolan laughed. "I guess this means Bride isn’t ready for me to soothe her broken heart. Yet. Anyone wanna bet how long before she is?"

CHAPTER 16

Married?

No way in hell.

Bride had tried to question Devyn immediately after his silly announcement, but he’d glowered at her and snapped, "Not another word from you," before dragging her out of the cell. He’d left her in the hallway as he spoke to his pretty boss in hushed, urgent, angry tones, received a curt nod, and then had grabbed Bride up again and ushered her to his car.

Silence had reigned the entire moonlit drive to … his home? Had to be. It was a sprawling estate on the outskirts of town, smelled of delicious pine, and boasted gold and marble fixtures, a crystal chandelier that glistened like a thousand raindrops, and a winding staircase that probably reached heaven.

The furniture gleamed as though freshly polished. The onyx floor sparkled as though newly waxed. The walls were the perfect shade of pink, almost as if they were flushed, excited to see Devyn again.

"Kyrin en Arr, an Arcadian king, sold this place to me so he could move into the city with his girlfriend," he said, finally breaking the silence. They were in the living room, alone, surrounded by the very wealth she’d dreamed of as a child. As he spoke, his cell phone rang; he ignored it. "Do you like it?"

He wanted to engage in small talk? Now? "Yes. But it’s girly, not the kind of place I would have pictured you living."

He stopped at the bar and poured himself a Scotch. He downed it like liquid candy. "What can I say? It’s the best."

And he only owned the best? Not surprising, superior as he was. She plopped on the edge of a velvet chair, the material soft against her pants. What would it feel like against her skin? Don’t go there. "Okay, I can’t stand it anymore. You were joking, right? We can’t possibly be married. We didn’t say vows or anything."

He didn’t face her, but poured himself another drink. His phone rang again, and once again he ignored it. "Afraid we are, sweetheart," he said bitterly. "Good news is, you married a very wealthy man. Isn’t that what you always wanted?"

"Yeah, but I also wanted to, I don’t know, like my husband." Her stomach knotted. "You can’t be right about this. You just can’t be."

He kept his back to her.

He was lucky she didn’t stalk over there and club him in the head. "How do you know about vampire mating customs, anyway? Have you married one before?"

There was a boom as he slammed his glass into the counter. "First thing the king asked me when I returned two of his cousins to their underground home was whether

I’d given them my blood. I said yes. Second thing he asked me was whether or not I had drunk from them. When I informed him that I hadn’t, he slapped me on the back and told me it was a good thing, else I would have been living the rest of my life down there with my wife."

Or wives, since he’d had two. Or would he only have been mated to the first woman he drank from? God, this was confusing. "Well, I wasn’t raised there, so I’m not going to live according to their customs. Same with you. You’re from another planet, for God’s sake. You don’t have to abide by vampire customs. Right?"

"Actually, I do." Yet another call came in, its shrill ring making her jump. "We do. If you want to stay alive, that is."

"First, aren’t you going to answer that?"

Without looking at her, he jerked out the phone and pressed it to his ear. "What?" She could hear Macy’s frantic voice on the other end.

"She’s fine. She’ll call you in a few hours." Click. He pressed a button and slid the device across the counter, away from him.

Bride’s hands curled into fists. "I would have liked to talk to her.”

“Too bad."

What an ass. "Second," she said, picking up their conversation where it had left off, "what were you talking about? If I want to stay alive, I’ll stay married to you? We aren’t even married, so I can’t stay married to you!"

"Just … be quiet, damn it." He plowed his fingers through his hair and rested his forehead in his upraised palms. "I’ve been thinking about this since you told me about your eating problem, and I have a theory."

Silence. He raised and drained another glass of Scotch. The bottle was empty, so he couldn’t pour another. Finally, he turned to her. His eyes were glowing, sparking with angry fire.

He blamed her for this and had yet to forgive her it. Well, he could suck it! It wasn’t like she’d known what she’d been doing. Wasn’t like she’d wanted to marry him. "You have a theory?"

He gave a clipped nod. "You were able to keep all of my blood down."

Yes, and because of that she was thinking clearer than she had in months, was stronger than she’d ever been, and despite the fact that her nerves were on edge, there was no sting or burn in her chest. She was keeping the thorns and the fire at bay.

None of those wonderful things were worth this, however. "I knew I should have resisted you," she grumbled. "As if you could."

That sounded more like the Devyn she knew, and she found herself relaxing in the chair. "Your theory."

"Perhaps, as slowly as vampires age, your body had finally reached sexual maturity, and in order for a sexually mature female to sustain herself, she must drink from her mate. The blood you were ingesting before me was not from your mate, therefore your body rejected it. That means you can only take from your husband. That means you’ll only ever be able to take from your husband."

"First, I was able to keep your blood down before we mated, as you called it. Second, as you yourself said, I was unable to keep the bulk of other blood down before I met you. And third, if you’re right, that would mean we were fated to be together, and I don’t believe in fate. Not like that."