The reveal further justified Natalya's hatred for the warlock she’d seen at Varro’s. He had a greater fiend. One of Wrath by the sound of it, but any of the Sins would be angry about being bound, so there was no way to know.
“Why was Dominic at Varro’s? Do you know?” Natalya asked.
“They were talking about needing to deal with the Chains. Something about infernal lore. But Dominic mostly stayed in the east wing, so I only heard them talking a few times.” Evie drew in a trembling breath. “I’m afraid I’m going to betray you.”
“Why do you think that?”
Evie didn’t answer. She cowered in on herself, and her hands started shaking. Natalya put her arms around her, holding her tighter.
“Answer me, Evie.” She kept her voice firm, though not angry.
“If they get me… I could tell them so much. About the Court, about you. About your… your marks.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“It doesn’t matter if I would or wouldn’t,” Evie said with surprising evenness. “Varro or Stefano will just enthrall me, and I’ll tell them everything. I heard about what happened to Lily. If someone can get her, why not me? If I’m enthralled, there’s nothing I can do against it.”
The comment gave Natalya an idea. A wild idea she never would have considered if she hadn’t just experienced Evie’s resistance so clearly herself.
“Can you feel this?” She held Evie’s wrists, increasing the intensity of her touch until it produced goosebumps on Evie’s skin, and her heart rate picked up.
Evie nodded.
“Push against it. Like you did before.”
Evie tensed, but beyond that, she didn’t move as she focused. Her pulse slowed, and her skin smoothed as the effects of Natalya’s touch waned.
“You can stop me,” Natalya said. “Maybe you can stop others of our kind.”
Evie looked back at her, eyes wide. “What do you mean?”
“Most supernaturals have abilities of some sort that can manipulate humans. Some are innate, and some are Court granted. The Court of Chains is too small to offer any gifts, but that doesn’t mean the creatures within aren’t still powerful. You can ignore my influence. Maybe you can do that with enthrallment too.”
Fear surged through Evie so fast and powerfully that Natalya didn’t even have to focus to feel it. If Evie hadn’t been right in front of her, Natalya would have thought she was in danger.
“Only Night vampires can enthrall people. You told me that. I don’t want to go back there. Please, I don’t—”
“You’re not going to,” Natalya said sternly, snapping Evie out of her spiral. “But bringing a Night vampire here and then testing to see if you could withstand the effects of its influence is something we could do.”
“What if it doesn’t work?” Evie said, voice trembling. “What if it… What if…”
Natalya imagined the hundreds of horrible scenarios running through Evie’s head. Her emotional state was too raw to deal with the possibility of such dangers. She wouldn’t be able to see the reason behind the suggestion until time created some distance to the fear it invoked. At that moment, vulnerable and emotionally fatigued, she only felt scared.
“Don’t consider it now.” Natalya gave her a light kiss. “But if you decide to try, I’ll be with you. I’ll protect you. I’ll keep you safe.”
Chapter 24
Sitting in the bed, facing Natalya, Evie was reminded of just how stunning she was. How beautiful. And how tragic.
Natalya said before that she never got undressed in front of anyone. That she didn’t kiss anyone. No one other than Evie.
How many decades had she spent alone, keeping everyone at a distance because she was afraid she’d hurt them? How long had it been since she’d been touched like Evie was touching her? By someone she wanted and not someone who forced her?
Evie’s eyes drifted to the binding marks running from Natalya’s hips up her waist. Stark black and outlined in gold. Beautiful and dangerous. That Natalya was baring them at all was still awe inducing.
“When was the last time you were with someone?” Evie asked. “Like you’ve been with me, I mean. Wanting to.”
“Not since before I was bound. And then only for a short time. I was with a witch named Olena. She summoned me to the worldbut didn’t want me as a slave. She was just curious. She freed me eventually.”
