She is your mate.
She must know it. The world must know it.
“I agree to your plan.” Elias paced to a stop in front of her, the heart she’d brought back to life rioting in his ribcage. “But you agreed to marry me and I want to hear your promise again. I’ll have my lifetime of calling you mine in exchange for denying you, Roksana.”
Roksana’s chest rose and fell swiftly, a tremor coursing through her. She opened her mouth to speak several times, but seemed unable to find the words. Then finally, “I won’t go back on my promise,” she said unevenly, stooping down and dragging her hands through the dirt, covering herself in filth, turning her hair to a tangled web in seconds. “However, I have a quick reminder of my own. I went on a few dates with the manager of Enders and he wanted me to meet his parents.” She straightened, looking as if she’d been in a scuffle with two vampires. “Shall we?”
“Ah, for crying out loud,” Tucker muttered.
Several yards away, the enflamed trash can exploded.
Elias gripped Roksana’s wrists behind her back in one hand, lifting his hand to knock on the non-descript metal door with the other. She struggled against him, attempting to free herself, but he only tightened his grip, wincing when his fingertips bit into her delicate skin. Footsteps approached from the other side of the door, and Tucker stepped closer, pressing a metal blade to Roksana’s neck. Elias closed his eyes momentarily, breathing in and out, reining in the overwhelming need to protect. To get the weapon as far away from her as possible.
The door opened a crack, then slowly pushed wider, letting out house music turned up to an earsplitting level. A man appeared in the opening, his white T-shirt a stark contrast to the deep brown of his skin. “You’ve got to be joking,” he said, eyeing Roksana with distaste. “Not only do you come crawling back here, you bring two undead with you?”
Fire rippled in Elias’s fingertips, his fangs vibrating with the need to slice down from their home within his gums. After punishing Roksana with pleasure for daring to be jealous of someone inconsequential, he recognized his own hypocrisy, but hell if he could help it.
This man had been on dates with his mate. Dates plural. He’d only taken her on one, they hadn’t even finished their drinks—and she thought he didn’t remember it. Everything about it was a travesty.
“Luther,” Roksana choked out, her attempts to break free increasing. “A little help here, please? I didn’t come by choice. They—”
Elias slapped a hand over Roksana’s mouth, forcing her down to her knees in front of him, pressing his hand tighter to her lips when she tried to bite him. “Not another word,” he barked, his stomach rebelling at the sight of her knees grinding into the dirty ground.
“We’re here to meet with Tilda,” Tucker said, holding up the document at a safe distance from Luther. “Tell her we have the decree.”
Luther eyed the paper suspiciously. “What decree?”
Tucker snorted. “Wow. You’re obviously super important around here.” He puffed on the lit cigar between his lips. “Tilda will know what we’re talking about.”
“You’re delusional if you think I’m letting two bloodsuckers in here.”
“Send us away.” Tucker ashed his cigar. “Tilda will probably let you live.”
“We had a feeling you might be a little hesitant, seeing as how we kicked your asses last time we were here,” Elias said, gripping Roksana’s jaw and turning her face up to the single fluorescent light, highlighting the bruise around her eye, the split lip she’d gotten in Moscow. Not from them. But Luther didn’t know that. “We’ve been holding her a while, waiting for the right time to play this particular card. Consider this the closest you’ll ever come to getting an apology for wrecking your little clubhouse.”
Slowly, Luther leaned an elbow on the doorjamb. “You’re turning the traitor over to us?”
“We’ll turn her over to Tilda,” Tucker answered, giving the slayer a tight smile. “Gotta get those brownie points, right?”
“She fought on your side that night.” Luther intoned, his forehead wrinkling thoughtfully. “Your allegiances changed so quickly?”
Elias tilted his head. “Are you saying vampires are capable of loyalty?”
“No,” Luther said quickly, curling his lip at Roksana. “We know damn well she isn’t capable of it.”
It was the slightest flinch that jolted Roksana. And though Elias kept his features bland, he felt it like a five-point-oh earthquake.
I’ll kill you one day, Luther.
Maybe even tonight, if I’m lucky.
“This offer is good for another five minutes,” Elias said coldly. “I suggest you let Tilda know we’re here before we find another buyer for this decree.”
“That won’t be necessary,” came a cultured English voice. It was quiet and breathy, but somehow sliced through the loud music with no effort. A second later, a rail-thin redhead came into view, looking straight down her nose at them. “Oh my. What a scene.”