Page 84 of Stalked By Seduction and Shadows

“Always.”

Something dipped in my stomach, like I was falling. “You don’t mean that,” I whispered. “You don’t have to say things like that to me.”

Rune’s hands fell to my hips, and his face was entirely unreadable, all sharp planes and dark masculine beauty. “Arrowe will take you to the library. You’ll love it. Be sure to check out the room on the second floor, far left corner.”

39

RUNE

Ithought that keeping Scarlett close would be less of a distraction than when she was out of my sight, but both were equally maddening in different ways. Though I much preferred her here, safe and in my lap where she belonged.

As I walked to the main study, where my inner circle and representatives from each district had gathered, my head spun with all the new information she had revealed.

The reason Scarlett had landed in Aristelle was because slave traders had taken her sister. Which meant that in that short span of time when I had been watching over Scarlett instead of intercepting the scouts, they’d collected the necessary information and sent a message via magick about her to their vampire liaisons. Then the born scum had grabbed the wrong sister.

This was my fault. If I’d done my job instead of focusing all of my attention on Scarlett, I would’ve killed the scouts before they’d been able to send that message. This uncharacteristic behavior was exactly what Mason feared.

It was everything that I feared.

If I hadn’t been watching Scarlett her whole life, it would’ve been impossible to convince me she wasn’t a plant of the most devious, cunning proportions. Which is why I couldn’t fault Mason for her distrust. It was protective; I’d trained her well.

When I entered the study, my gathered family quieted down and flooded their features with respect.

All this room needed to know for now was that Scarlett was untouchable, never to be discussed but always to be protected. Sooner or later, the whole city would know she belonged to me, including the born.

But no one could know anything more. They could never know the man she stirred in my depths, the one who threatened to undercut the image I’d so meticulously crafted.

They could never know how much I hated myself for stealing Scarlett’s freedom. Once she offered her Master her body and eternal soul, she would never be able to live a normal life again. Any doubt I was anything more than a damned monster hated by the gods, without an ounce of redeemability, had died the moment I’d decided to claim my Little Flame.

The life that Scarlett had mapped for herself no longer existed, all because of my unspeakable selfishness. I’d let her go in Crescent Haven. But fate had other plans for us. As soon as Scarlett had set foot in Odessa, we’d both been condemned to our inescapable draw to each other.

When Scarlett had called me intense, she didn’t know the half of it. I pitied the poor little seductress. She had no idea how much I would take, how much I would demand from her. Her every breath she would breathe only for me. It would be through my will alone that she could ever find relief, solace, and touch. Just as Sadie had freed me from all desire, I would free Scarlett from her own limitations. The only source of fear and torment she would know was the wrath of her jealous God.

Now that I knew the source of her hesitation, shame, and guilt, it was my duty to absolve her from this barrier that stood between us.

Her sister would be nothing short of impossible to locate. But if I didn’t do this for her, Scarlett would only continue to put herself in danger. It was clear to me that she would rather die trying than give up on her family. I admired this about her, despite my hunch that her sister didn’t deserve such devotion. I didn’t deserve Scarlett either, but I would have her, anyway.

And I wanted her to give herself freely to me, which would never happen if I chained her to my bed in an effort to keep her from the born districts. There were much more desirable reasons to have her bound to my bed.

Everything rested in a precarious balance. One wrong move and we would all crumble. The mortals had no idea how difficult it was to dismantle a black-market trade. Slaves were not only moved from location to location, cloaked with glamour magick at all opportunity, but they were also routinely drugged, enchanted, and psychologically conditioned to accept their new role. It was becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between courtesans and slaves in born districts.

We’d raided many places before, but the trade was craftily organized so that no minor operation connected back to its source. Each raid appeased the mortal population, for a short time, but we all knew they did little to penetrate the operation at its root. Durian was calling all the shots, but connecting anything back to him and his legal operations was unfeasible. Our best bet was to raid an auction itself, which was sure to have many notable figures in attendance. But these events were the most heavily guarded, by loyalty, extreme wealth, and high rank, as well as magick. It would likely require a born informant, which was near impossible for my clan to retain, for obvious reasons.

This was an avenue we’d been pursuing for years. Only once had we gotten close, but when we’d raided a temple of Lillian only to wind up empty-handed, this misstep had cost us dearly. It was one of the main reasons Durian had amassed such immense power in a short amount of time. It was also a reason the trade had been pushed even further underground.

I, of course, didn’t mention my side mission to locate this singular human woman in the vast born underground during our deliberations. I would, however, alert the several eyes I’d already tasked with monitoring the born and scouring for leads on the trade. It was always possible Isabella could turn up at one of Durian’s clubs. It wasn’t as though her captors or possible new master would know to conceal her. To them, she was just some orphan from dry lands.

But not to Scarlett. When she had reminded me that her sister was not a pawn on my board, her words had cut straight through me. I hated that I was going to steal her freedom. But I equally hated she was bound to steal mine. My freedom to live in a cold, unchanging world where power and loyalty were the only things that mattered. My freedom to act of my own will, free from want and whim and Scarlett’s intoxicating hold over me.

Freedom to breathe every breath for Valentin and not for her.

“If Durian’s fanatics are now targeting blood centers, we will see even more attacks and bloodlust in the streets,” Mason said.

The study was filled with a grand deliberation table in the center, dark wooden bookcases, and dark burgundy curtains concealing the afternoon sun from the windows behind us. Today, we all stood, as there were too many of us to take the table. I stood above all others, with Uriah and Mason at my side on this small dais.

“He wants to undermine Rune’s rule in preparation for the dignitaries’ arrival by sowing chaos and upheaval. In both the mortal and born populations.”

I switched gears seamlessly, envisioning in my mind’s eye the current board and its many players. Durian’s religious speeches and literature heavily implied that blood centers were a way to neuter the born, to keep them from carrying out Lillian’s will. Lillian’s will being, of course, the freedom to heedlessly pursue mortal blood as ruthless killers on the hunt. But I had a hunch this was all so much more than useful superstition.

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