Not at all what she wanted to hear. She turned to study him. “Oh?”
“The lycans are gone.”
Her pulse rocketed. “Excuse me?”
“They left. I thought you’d let them go until we realized the vampire had also fled. The nyavka said she spotted the two of you running for the beach. She thought you were going somewhere to play until we found the lycans rowing away in that tiny boat off the northern entrance.”
In a calm voice, she asked, “And you didn’t think to call me?”
Ruin looked abashed. “We didn’t think anything of them leaving until you called yesterday, and by then they’d all been gone for three days. We thought you’d allowed them to leave. We did see you, after all.”
Her voice rose with each word. “I was in Vancouver.”
He stared dumbly back at her, and she lost it. Sabine spat at the beast and let her venomous feelings take root. Her saliva turned to acid and ate through his face.
Though he screamed himself hoarse, it wasn’t enough.
After ridding her castle of all her house snips, two more useless gargoyles, and the centaur with her bags who had unfortunate timing, she sat on her favorite couch and stared out the windows at the fog swallowing her view.
The vampire was gone. The lycans didn’t much matter. She could get more or force them to return. But one Of the Bloode? Too much time had passed. By now, he’d have reported what she’d done.
She paused. Or would he?
The spell she’d cast had been guaranteed to make him lower his guard and gradually obey. She hadn’t figured out how to get him to abide by just any command. If she made a command that interfered with his safety, his instincts for self-preservation would kick in, as they had when she’d tried to take his bloode. But with what she’d gathered from the conference, he would have been hers for the taking. And she’d so been looking forward to riding that large specimen.
So who the hell had impersonated her and absconded with her treasures?
She had many enemies, all with varying degrees of power, but only one name came to mind that could fool her guards. Yet Sabine had a difficult time believing it.
Could Kaia have impersonated her? Though a feeble sea nymph, the girl did have the blood of a great sea witch in her veins. Not to mention that of a grand mage. As much as Will annoyed her, he was a powerful magir all his own. But Kaia knew better than to come to the island without an invitation.
The mousy little bitch had no backbone. She couldn’t even get up the gumption to ask a man out on a date. She never argued with Sabine, and she’d do anything not to upset her father. So fond of conciliatory behavior, Kaia did little to rock any boat, content to live in the placid waters of the dreary mundane.
Since Sabine had killed everyone who might have been able to shed light on the theft of her slaves—ah well, I’ll do better next time—she did the next best thing and cleaned up this shitty mess.
The lycans would be no problem. She’d worn Kaia’s face while dallying with them. Ha. There you go, girl, deal with that. But the vryko might remember. She’d been both herself and her daughter during his captivity, and he’d retained too much of his own wits while imprisoned.
To break her hold over him, Kaia would have to understand how to insinuate her power into his, replace Sabine, and work with the demon influence of the spell. That was was above her paygrade.
Since Sabine hadn’t heard from Will, it was doubtful Kaia had confided in her father.
So, if none of her enemies was responsible for this theft, Sabine had to look at her daughter.
Best case, Kaia had an angry yet subdued vampire on her hands, one still bound to Sabine. Worst case, Kaia had usurped the power over the vryko and now had her own vampire slave, bound to her every whim. The vampire would be helpless, caving to whatever his new master wanted. Kaia would hate that, the self-righteous little prig.
Sabine needed to find her daughter right way. She could force Kaia to give him back. That wouldn’t be a problem.
But why? Why would her ungrateful, weak-willed daughter steal from her own mother? What had Sabine ever done to make Kaia act so horribly?
Allowing herself to shed a tear and revel in the drama, she snickered, wiped her eye of its one tear, and made a few phone calls. Covering her ass and sure she could use something the vampire had been good for, she magically called out to Paz.
“Darling, I forgot to mention something I think you’ll want to hear,” she said when he answered.
“Oh?”
Sabine twirled a strand of white hair around her finger and smiled. “Have you ever heard of Ambrogio and the lost Bloode Stones? Because I’ve got a lead on something you’re going to find very interesting.”
Orion and Kaia spent the next few days in a perfect state of happiness. With no one to interfere or distract them from each other, they were able to walk and talk, swim to their hearts’ content, and best of all, explore each other’s bodies.
Orion didn’t understand why he’d been avoidant of relationships for so long. He’d always wanted a mate, yes, but he couldn’t imagine ever wanting Kaia to leave, the way his father had forced his mother to go. Everything about his sea nymph pleased him. Her laugh, her sense of humor, her looks, and by all the demons in hell, her body.
If she hadn’t been so adamant about no sex, he’d have considered this time absolutely perfect. Hell, they’d been communicating telepathically for days and she hadn’t realized, so in tune with him that their communication seemed natural. But he’d been sending her thoughts and receiving hers, like true mates did, ever since Saturday.
If only she’d worry less about his state of mind and more about her own desire. He knew she wanted all of him, and he wanted nothing more than to be the one to show her every pleasure of the flesh. But she got so agitated at thoughts of harming him without meaning to that the sexual desire turned into a fearful thing, and that he didn’t like.
They’d been pretty creative, and he’d been having the best time getting her naked in all manner of places. Though they hadn’t yet played in the water. He’d been saving that one, as it meant something more to share affection and bodies within their element, a more binding process than Kaia would be comfortable with. Water gave life, and he and she might very well make life if they fucked in the water.
The thought made him hard, and he worked to will away his erection since they were supposed to be playing cards together. Not naked, but hey, he wouldn’t bet against the idea that at some point before dawn, she’d be on her back, her fists tangled in his hair while he ate her out until she screamed.
My nymph is a screamer.
He grinned, loving the flush on her cheeks, especially because she hadn’t caught on to his one-sided telepathy yet.
“So why cat pajamas?” she asked as she picked up a card, stared at her hand, and discarded a different card. “I doubt your Smoky is going to like them. Cats are finicky.”
They’d spent part of the previous evening watching a shopping network on television.
He chuckled. “I know, but it’s payback for him waking me up before sunset. Especially when he has a full bowl of food.”
“I guess that makes a kind of vampire sense. Revenge on a kitten.” She chuckled. “I really want to meet him and his brother, Nightmare. First of all, great names. Secondly, how the heck is your kitty’s brother finding venomous centipedes and scorpions? And thirdly, how is he not dead after dumping said toxic creatures in your shoes?”