Part 12 (1/2)
The words just popped out of her mouth. One of them could escape this curse and go back to their normal lives. They'd been destined to fight it out since he'd walked into her office. And if they fought right away, before Mikhail got weaker, the fight would almost be fair.
”With all due respect, sir, I wish you wouldn't.”
”Then you marry him.”
”If only I could.”
He was joking-and not joking. ”Don't ever be telling me you have a crush on the lad.”
”Your Irish accent is execrable, sir. And yes, I think I do. I like him a lot.”
”Fantastic.” Alya buried her face in her hands. ”He's seduced you and my cat.”
”Faustin was up at first dark, not today, but the night after the rescue. Before I was up. He could scarcely walk, but he was restoring your defenses. He disposed of the bodies. He set everything to rights, not me. And you should see the mods he's made to your security system.”
She raised her brow at the idea of Mikhail mucking with her security system, and hitched it higher at the idea Dominick would allow him to do so.
”We'll go over all his changes, of course. But it's not back door stuff. It's just smart.”
”So he's a good security man. A good housekeeper, even. I hire useful men. I don't need to marry them.”
”He cares about you.”
”It's an illusion, don't you see? He has no choice but to want me.” After thirty years with a curse gnawing on his brain, he'd do anything to complete the bond. Even fancy himself in love with her.
”But it seems you have a choice in the matter.”
”I won't submit to the bond.”
”In that case, how do you know he's not exercising choice, too?”
That bit of logic made her brain twist. Her stomach grumbled, making her peevish. ”I don't care. I know what I want and what I want is not to be the wife of G.o.dd.a.m.n Mikhail Faustin!”
Dominick clasped his hands behind his back. ”Sir, you've always listened to my opinions, which is more than most princes would do. All I'll say, and it will be the last I say on the matter, is that it would be a shame for the two most promising princes in generations to kill one another when there may be alternatives.”
”Just suppose I do this. Say I marry him. What are you going to do when House Faustin moves west to claim its new territory? Ah, I know. Perhaps you'll find a role in the civil war that breaks out as a result.”
After the wedding, she'd be nothing. In a legal sense, she'd hardly exist. All her property, including her territories, would go to him. The families who'd sworn fealty to her would not be happy about that. Behind closed doors, she'd rea.s.sured several patriarchs she'd never marry before signing treaties with them.
”Perhaps he'll agree to let you keep some-”
”Stop. Listen to yourself. I don't rely on anyone's benevolence.”
”A prenup?”
”Human law? Right. That'll hold water. And no matter what he agrees to, he'll be squeezed on all sides by his council, his families, and his own father. Old Faustin is an acquisitive b.a.s.t.a.r.d if there ever was one. I can't give an inch to those people. They hate me too much.”
Most of vamp society thought she was a freak, because she didn't live by their rules. But they couldn't deny her existence when she was ripping land right out from under their noses. She was already a legend, the only female prince in three hundred years. If she married, and began to breed Faustins, they'd get the ending for the story they wanted. Once there was this strange girl who called herself a prince, but she married and settled down. It took a Faustin to tame her, but tame her he did.
Dominick said, ”He won't fight you. He knows he just has to wait you out.”
Alya wasn't worried. She wasn't called the queen of the d.a.m.ned for nothing.
It took a long time for Mikhail to staunch his nose, so long he fell asleep with the ice pack on his face. He woke with a start, his stomach twisting, his head aching. Under normal circ.u.mstances he never napped, but he was running on empty. The longest he'd ever gone without feeding had been a week, but he hadn't been tapped when he did it.
He lifted Lulu off his chest and changed into a black s.h.i.+rt and a black pair of pants, identical to those he'd been wearing before, which were identical to all the other s.h.i.+rts and pants folded in his bag, which were identical to those hanging in his closet at home. Madelena said he had the wardrobe of a morbid obsessive compulsive. He called it functional.
His nose had acquired a decided leftward slant. Grimacing into the mirror, he popped the bone back into place. Better. He washed his face and straightened his collar and cuffs. It was time to continue the conversation, whether Alya liked it or not.
The bond led him straight back to her bedroom. As he neared her door, he stretched his senses, listening for her thoughts or any hint as to her mental state. What he picked up was too muddled to understand, and it didn't begin to prepare him for what he saw when he walked in.
Alya was lying on her bed, splendid in a voluminous crimson robe. Two lithe bodies twined around her. One was the female feeder he'd met the day before. Maya. The other was male. Not Christian Rider, but another of the same type. Alya had her face buried between the girl's full b.r.e.a.s.t.s. The boy was nuzzling between Alya's thighs.
Maya rolled her head his direction, her eyes fogged with pleasure.
Alya turned toward him and smiled. Blood smeared her mouth. She put her hand to the boy's head, stilling him.
”Mikhail,” she purred. ”Come try a sip. Maya is the sweetest feeder I've ever found. Maybe you'll be able to drink from her.”
Impossible. It wasn't possible for her to eat anymore. And why were these creatures in her bed, touching her...
Struggling for control, he made himself speak. Speak instead of explode. ”You're not bound?”
”I don't know what I am-” she paused to lick her lips clean, her eyes bright with mockery, ”-but I know I'm not going hungry.”
No hunger. No leverage. No hope.
In that moment he understood with cold certainty that he'd never win her over. He snapped his fingers at the feeders. ”You. You. Out.”
They both cringed. Alya gestured for them to stay and left the bed to confront him, equal parts scornful and defiant. Her mind was closed tight, but she knew as well as he did what this meant for them.
In fact, she must have arranged this little viewing for his benefit. ”You want me to be the aggressor.”
”Whatever are you talking about?”
”d.a.m.n you to h.e.l.l, Alya Adad. I challenge you to a combat before witnesses. Weapons of your choice.”
She put her hand to her heart. ”But I thought I was your lady love.”
Mockery. She was deliberately destroying any possible future for them, and she was laughing as she did it. He backhanded her. The feeder girl shrieked. The bedroom lights flickered.
”You disgust me,” he said. Killing Alya would violate all the laws of love and nature. And he looked forward to it with all his heart.
The blow staggered her, but she didn't return it. She didn't say anything, either. Just closed her red robe tightly around her throat.
Mikhail growled through locked teeth, ”Give me your throat or name your second.”