“Evie.” Natalya said her name with nothing but softness. She grabbed Evie’s chin, holding it lightly, and looked deep into her eyes. Her skin tingled a little where they touched, and she was surprised by how nice it felt.
“Evie, darling. I requested you because I feel responsible for your reaction in the parlor, not because I required your services. I will leave you alone for the rest of the day. I will not touch you, not even if you ask me to. I know Varro expects you to service me, so I will tell him you did so and that you did well.”
Evie blinked, not fully comprehending. “Why?”
“Because I can. And you need it.” Natalya let go of her, and the absence of her touch left Evie’s body feeling strange. Like it had lost something.
Leaving Evie on the bed, Natalya went to sit in an armchair in the corner. She doffed her suit jacket, leaving it on the armrest. The white shirt beneath was taut against her arms and chest. Several of the top buttons were undone, and a long steel necklace drew Evie’s attention to her cleavage.
Heat rose in her cheeks, and Evie looked away, letting the awkward silence calm her down.
“So, what do you want me to do?” Evie asked. Natalya shrugged.
“What you want. What you can. Read. Talk. Sleep would be my suggestion.”
Evie was too anxious to sleep, and there were no books in the room. That just left one option.
“Is it true what you said in the parlor? About letting Varro’s people go?”
Natalya inspected Evie with suspicion. “Why do you ask?”
Evie pulled the bedsheet tighter around herself. She remembered Varro’s overly polite smile and his sugary tone. These strangers wouldn’t know the difference between Varro being genuine and deceitful. He walked the line too well. She had become intimate with his ways these past many months, so she could read him better. It was obvious to her that these people trusted a promise he wouldn’t keep.
“Just curious.”
“We plan to honor the agreement,” Natalya said. “If he stays out of Chains territory, we have no reason to hold his people captive.”
Evie didn’t sense any deception from Natalya. It made her stomach tighten.
“Varro honors deals with his allies,” Evie said with emphasis.
“We are not allies. The Court of Chains lacks friends, but not enemies. Until today, Varro and his kin were firmly in the latter category. Our goal is to avoid a war that would cause too many casualties. It seems Varro shares that goal.”
They really didn’t know Varro at all. Stefano was outwardly violent, but Varro more than matched his progeny in capability for destruction. His violence was the slow, calculating kind. One that played out over days, months, or years. Though Evie didn’t know the purpose of his games until they concluded, she had seen enough to know Varro never compromised. And he despised the Court of Chains. He’d had several Regents visit with the hopes of forming an alliance and destroying the Court by force.
In the chair, Natalya rested her head against her hand, eyes closed. She wasn’t sleeping—she was too tense for that—butshe was more relaxed. She looked so harmless in that state, an ethereal beauty at rest. It gave Evie a sprinkle of courage.
“You’re not safe here,” she whispered, voice so low she expected Natalya not to hear her.
Then she opened her slitted, violet eyes and fixed them on Evie. She didn’t look so harmless anymore.
“How do you mean?”
Evie didn’t say anything.
In a blink, Natalya had moved from sitting in the armchair to standing by the bed. Her face was right by Evie’s, and her hands settled on either side of her hips. They didn’t touch, but the bright sheen in her violet eyes and the terror they produced held Evie in place as effectively as shackles.
“How do you mean?” she repeated, her voice dark, and it reminded Evie that this woman could bring a vampire to its knees using only her eyes.
“Varro’s not going to honor your deal,” Evie said quietly.
“He plans to betray us?”
Evie nodded.
“How do you know?”
Evie started shaking. “I can tell when he lies.”
