My ears picked up a small commotion from the other side of the VIP section. I could feel tension build in the wall of guards blocking us from view, and my first thought was that some of the paparazzi had managed to sneak upstairs. I braced myself for a confrontation, but not for the arrival of the last person I expected to see.
When the guards parted to let Lukas through, I took an involuntary step backward. I hadn’t been this close to him since the day he’d brought me home, and his presence was almost overpowering. The hard set of his jaw didn’t help. I couldn’t tell if he was angry at me, Prince Rhys, the paps, or all of the above.
“Rhys.” Lukas gave a head tilt in acknowledgement. “Thank you for coming to the rescue of my ward.”
His ward? What was I – ten years old? I glared at him, but he either didn’t notice or he didn’t care.
“I am glad I could help,” Prince Rhys said without any of the arrogance he’d had the last time I’d seen the two of them together. “The paparazzi were quite aggressive with her.”
Lukas’s gaze finally met mine. “Did they hurt you?”
“No.” I bristled under his demanding tone. “How did you know about it?”
“Tennin called me.”
I pressed my lips together. My favorite photog and I were going to have words later.
“Come. Let’s get you out of here.” Lukas took my arm in a firm grip, and I nearly jumped at the spark of electricity that shot through me. I opened my mouth to tell him I wasn’t going anywhere with him, but his whole countenance said this wasn’t up for negotiation. The last thing I needed was to create another spectacle, so I held my tongue. For now.
I smiled tightly at Prince Rhys. “Thank you for your help.”
He started to extend a hand toward me and dropped it. “Anytime, Jesse. However, you might want to avoid the paparazzi for a while.”
“She will,” Lukas said before I could reply. I clenched my jaw so I didn’t embarrass myself by telling him he wasn’t the boss of me.
Prince Rhys’s guards moved aside to let us pass, and I wasn’t surprised to see Conlan and Faolin waiting for us. I expected us to walk to the stairs, but Lukas steered me toward a door on this level.
I walked with my head up, pretending not to be aware that every person in this section was staring at us, but it was impossible not to hear the whispers. They all wanted to know about the new faerie who clearly had more than a passing acquaintance with the Seelie prince. One comment about the sexual nature of our relationship was so ugly that only my pride kept me from breaking into a run.
Lukas made a sound deep in his chest, and the whispers died as people averted their eyes. He opened the door and ushered me into a small private lounge with white leather couches. I expected Conlan and Faolin to join us, but they took up positions outside the door. As the door shut behind us, I felt a moment of panic at being alone with Lukas. For over a month I’d thought of all the things I’d say to him if I saw him again, but I couldn’t remember a single one of them.
Instead of sitting on one of the couches, he held up his hands and murmured a few Fae words. Within seconds, the air shimmered as a portal began to form.
“What are you doing?”
“We can’t exactly leave by the front exit.” He lowered his hands, and I saw what looked like a stone wall beyond.
I took a step back. “What about Violet? I can’t leave without her.”
“Violet is with Tennin and Lorelle. They will protect her from the paparazzi.”
“Who will protect the paps from Violet?” I could imagine my best friend unloading on the mob of photographers.
Lukas chuckled and pressed a hand to my back. The next thing I knew, we were in an open stone courtyard filled with flowering vines and a view of glittering stars in a dark sky. I didn’t have time to wonder at the fact that there were stars in Faerie before another portal opened and we were in the living room of his Williamsburg building.
I whirled on him as the portal closed. “I thought you were taking me home.”
“I will. First, we need to talk.” He walked toward the kitchen, tossing his jacket onto one of the bar stools. “Would you like something to drink?”
I threw up my arms. “Oh, now you want to talk?”
He poured a glass of ghillie juice from a carafe on the counter and brought it to me. When I didn’t take it, he sighed softly.
“I know you’re hurt and angry with me, and I’m sorry.”
“I’m not hurt.” I snatched the glass from his hand and went to sit in a chair. I forgot I was wearing a dress and had to hurriedly adjust it when the blue material slid precariously up my thighs.
He took the chair across from me. “You are, and you have every right to feel that way. You’ve been through a traumatic experience, and I should have been there for you.”
My chest squeezed, and I looked away from the sincerity in his eyes. Only pride kept me from asking why he hadn’t been there and why he’d finally shown up tonight. If he told me he’d come to the club for me out of obligation, I wasn’t sure my heart could take it.
“Do you know how many successful Fae conversions there have been?” he asked.
“Nineteen.” I frowned at him. What did that have to do with anything?
“Twenty,” he corrected me with a smile. “Out of billions of humans, only twenty have become Fae, and it’s been a learning experience for us as well as the new faeries. We’ve made some mistakes, but most have settled happily into their new lives.”
I met his eyes directly as a tiny knot formed in my gut. “Most?”
“The first two faeries had trouble adjusting, and they formed a deep attachment with the one who performed the conversion.”
I relaxed a little. “They were children, so it makes sense that they would bond with the faerie.”
“Yes, but these were not normal, healthy bonds. The children became attached to the point of obsession. They followed the adults who converted them everywhere and became distraught and inconsolable when separated from them. It was like a drug addiction that caused severe withdrawal symptoms.”
I sucked in a breath. “Are you saying that’s going to happen to me?”
“No. I would never allow that.” He leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees. “I’m telling you this so you’ll understand why you haven’t seen or heard from me until now. After I brought you home, my father’s advisors warned me of the consequences of not staying away from you during the first month of your adjustment. Even the sound of my voice could have affected you, which is why I never called you.”
I remembered the night I saw him across the street in Manhattan and the strange physical pull I’d felt toward him. A shiver went through me. That had been a brief encounter from a distance. How powerful would the attraction have been if I’d had normal contact with him? The thought of having no control over my mind or body, of having an unnatural bond with anyone, terrified me.
“What about Conlan and Faris and the others? They’ve been to see me multiple times, and it didn’t affect me.”
Lukas shook his head. “They took part in your conversion, but we used my blood.”
“Your blood…is in me?” I stared at him. The conversion process was so secret that no human knew what it entailed. I had no recollection of it because I had been close to death when it happened.