Vampire smell was pretty spot on, and honestly, it seemed fine.
By the time Malachi showed up, the water and the croissant were gone, and I was debating taking the aspirin, since my head was still pounding.Was this from using my magic, or from the magic being locked up again?Maybe I was getting a sinus infection, because my head was definitely about to explode.
“Good morning, Vicious.” He leaned in the doorway like some velvet draped gigolo. “I thought you were going to sleep all day, but I’m glad to see you’ve remained among the living. Did you enjoy your croissant?”
“It was fucking dry. And the water tastes like metal.”
“That croissant was from the best bakery in Paris and I see you’re determined to be difficult. No matter, get yourself together and meet me downstairs. The bathing chamber is right through there.”
The fucker looked happy, like he’d just gotten back from riding a unicorn through a field of daisies or some such shit and I was going to murder him before lunchtime.
I swallowed the aspirin and flopped back onto the pillows.
I’d get my chance.
I’d been overconfident last night, but there would come a time when he’d unlock my magic again. Some point where I’d learn enough to become a threat. And I was a fast fucking learner.
Imagining what I could do with some training, some control, and all this vengeance burning a hole in my heart, I headed for the bathroom.
5
EVANGELINE
Twenty minutes later I finally strode into the music/library/living room, and the only reason I’d found it was because the goddamned piano started playing. “This place is too big for one person. Why do you need twenty bedrooms anyway?”
The entire room was still destroyed from last light, debris littering the floor, and I picked my way through broken glass and plaster, not feeling the slightest bit of remorse.
“My, you do cheer this place up. And maybe Ineedtwenty bedrooms,” Malachi countered, tilting his head from where he lounged in a chair like it was a throne.
“I could give you the grand tour and we could test each one out. We don’t have much time, so we’d have to be fast…” His eyebrows bounded up and down suggestively.
“Wow, your ego knows no limits. I’m really regretting not killing you last night.”
“You’re not even going to dance around your intentions?”
“Why should I? I want you dead, you want me dead, there’s really no mystery left in our relationship.”
His lips pinched together. “I don’t want you dead.”
“Really? Wasn’t that the natural outcome of a war between the royal houses and Riordan? You planned all of this from the beginning, probably all the way back to that ill-fated dinner. You probably even knew what Tyrell was planning for my sister.”
He blinked, and resolve slammed a spike of steel down my spine as I snorted in disgust. “I knew it. You set all of this in motion. You are an utter…”
“Someone else put these events in motion, not me. I was content to destroy Riordan for the sins of his father, and Blake for killing Tyberius, but you and your sister were never meant to be caught up in our war. In fact, I’ve done everything I could to keep the two of you out of this.”
“Oh, because you’reso protective?” I air quoted that last part. “You condemned Angel to a life she never wanted and now she’s carrying that monster’s child.”
“Silas found you in Cleveland,” Malachi murmured, his hands tightening on the chair arms, and my heart started pounding.
“Once he knew your location, Tyrell sent Valaine to bring Angel back to Darkmore Castle. He was supposed to capture both of you at the same time, but…”
But I got stuck at work.
I remembered that night so clearly, had replayed every minute, over and over a thousand times. There’d been a grease fire in the kitchen. We were locked down for a few hours while the fire marshal questioned the staff, and I didn’t get home until late.
All I’d found in our apartment were signs of a struggle and blood.
Malachi rubbed his temples. “Did you hear what I said?Valainewas sent to find you. That sadistic bastard was…pissed you weren’t there and went into a complete rage. And you know the depravities he was capable of when he wasincontrol.”
