“They are,” Lucien confirmed.
Callie glanced at him before turning her attention to the rest of the compound. She tried to take it all in, but there were so many buildings and vampires or hunters or whoever lived there that it was impossible to absorb it all.
She didn’t belong here; this wasn’t her world, but she had nowhere else to go, and she wasn’t eager to part from Lucien. However, she might not have a choice. She had no idea what would happen now that they were back in his world.
The nervousness she experienced on their journey here tripled. She twisted her hands together as she resisted crawling back into the SUV to hide.
“It will take some time to get used to things here,” Lucien said as he rested his hand on her shoulder.
Callie wasn’t sure there was enough time in the world. She longed for her apartment, career, and friends in a way she hadn’t in days. In the motel, she could pretend it was only the two of them and forget about everything she’d lost, but those pretenses were crumbling away.
Lucien would return to his life, and she would be stuck here with no one and nothing of her past. She didn’t know if she was staying here or if they planned to send her somewhere else. She had no control over her life anymore, and she hated it.
“Am I staying here?” she asked.
“Yes,” Lucien said.
She didn’t know if she was relieved or terrified by that prospect.
“Come on,” Lucien said. “Let’s get settled.” He turned to Declan and Willow. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“We’ll see you tomorrow,” Declan said.
Lucien led Callie into the mansion and stopped to greet Baldric when the butler opened the door.
“Ronan called ahead to tell us a new guest was arriving,” Baldric said as his gaze settled on Callie. “My wife Marta purchased some clothes for you; they’re in Lucien’s room. If they don’t fit or they’re not to your liking, please let us know.”
Callie resisted gawking at the man as she tried to take in his words while also inspecting the sweeping staircase and marble floors. She’d never been in a mansion before. Not only was the inside as beautiful as the outside was ugly, but its vastness was overwhelming. Throw in a butler, and she felt like a tornado had picked her up and tossed her into Oz.
“Thank you,” she said when she finally found her voice again. “I’m sure they’re great.”
“Thank you, Baldric,” Lucien said to him.
Keeping his hand on Callie’s elbow, Lucien guided her up the stairs and to his room. Ronan wouldn’t have had another room set up for her; the bond between them wasn’t complete, but his king would know he wouldn’t separate from her.
However, he realized as they traversed the hall, she might prefer to have her own room. The idea didn’t sit well with him, and he wouldn’t be the one to broach the subject, but if she decided she’d prefer to be alone, he would have to let her go.
The possibility caused the demon in him to stir, and for the first time in a week, he felt instability working its way through his system again. Except, this time, it wasn’t because he was crazed from starvation. No, this time, it was because he wanted—no, needed to claim his mate.
He’d tasted her blood and possessed her body; it was only a matter of time before he turned her or he started to unravel. And that unraveling would come fast if he wasn’t careful.
Lucien released her to open the door to his room. He gave an elegant wave of his arm for her to enter. She hesitated before doing so, and when she did, he shut the door behind her.
Unlike the motel, self-consciousness crept in as she gazed around the masculine room. It was Lucien’s; she did not doubt it. On the ride here, she often wondered where she would stay and what would happen to her once they arrived. She’d worried he would put her somewhere and forget about her once he returned to his old life.
However, he seemed to have no intention of doing that. He wouldn’t have brought her to his room, and Baldric wouldn’t have put her things here if he did. Unless he planned to set her aside in another week or two.
She tried not to fidget as she took in the masculine room with its red comforter on the large, king-sized bed. Wood paneled the walls and a chestnut armoire sat against the wall to her left; a matching dresser sat behind her. A cream-colored, throw rug lay on top of the wood floor, and charcoal gray curtains covered the windows across from her.
No pictures adorned the walls or the nightstand beside the bed. There were no lamps, and the only illumination came from the recessed bulbs in the ceiling. To her right was a door that she suspected led into a bathroom, or at least she hoped it did.
She strode toward that door as her bladder reminded her it had been a while since their last stop. Reaching inside, she felt for a switch and flicked it on to discover the bathroom was as stark as the bedroom. Closing the door, she leaned against it as she took in the ivory walls, red towels, and the single toothbrush sitting on the sink beside a tube of toothpaste.
It was all so foreign and cold. She was here, with Lucien, but she felt utterly alone as she used the bathroom and washed her hands. When she turned the water off, she lifted her eyes to study her reflection in the mirror. She was far paler than normal, and her hands had a tremble that she couldn’t control.
She stood there as she gathered her courage to return to the bedroom. When she did, she discovered him sitting on the bed with his hands clasped between his legs and his head bowed. Something about him looked broken in a way she’d never seen before.
When Lucien lifted his head to take her in, he tried to quell the uneasiness churning in his gut. She exuded apprehension, and he sensed how much she didn’t like it here. What if she decided to leave?
He couldn’t let her go, she meant too much to him, but he couldn’t make her stay against her will. He couldn’t make her unhappy by forcing her to stay, but if she left, it would destroy him.
Callie stared into his black eyes. Since he helped her from the SUV, his eyes had shifted back to black and remained that way. He was more relaxed here than she’d ever seen him while she felt jumpier than she ever had.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
Callie twisted her hands in front of her. She had been ravenous before they arrived, but she was too anxious to eat. “No. What am I going to do here?”
He pondered her question before replying. “I hope you’re going to find a home here.”
She didn’t know how to take that, but then, she wasn’t sure how to handle anything right now. It was all so strange; she was a fish out of water, except that a bunch of trained killers surrounded the fish.
“I don’t think I belong here,” she whispered.
Lucien felt as if she’d punched him, and he inwardly recoiled from her words, but the only response he showed to them was a clenching of his hands. “You don’t think you belong with me?”
Callie blinked at his strange response. “With you?”
Lucien rose from the bed and paced over to the window. He pulled back the curtains to reveal his view of the garden below. Before Kadence arrived, the garden was overgrown and ugly.
But Kadence, Simone, and some of the others had pruned, weeded, and planted it into shape. Now, it was beautiful, with its vast array of colors, plants, birds, and butterflies flitting around.