Page 73 of Princess Broken

“Do women visit them here often?” I ask, embarrassed at how desperately I want to know, and remembering how many sexual partners Flame confessed.

“No.” She shakes her head. “Not ever. That’s why we were so surprised—and pleased—to see you. We’ve worked for the brothers for twenty-five years—and we were trained by the stewards before us. As far as I know, you’re the first person, male or female, who’s ever been inside their quarters. Beyond us stewards.”

Pride-tinged joy bubbles through me, lifting me up like I’m floating above the chair. Flame intimated that I was special, but I’m aware men say things they don’t really mean to get sex, and so I love hearing a confirmation of sorts from a third party.

“So…” We’ve gotten off track. “Back to how you met Flame?”

“Oh, yeah.” She draws in a long breath. “Like I said, I was curious about feeding a vampire, but wasn’t sure, and then one night I got cornered by a vamp who wasn’t going to take no for an answer.” She shudders. “He had me pinned against the wall in a back room, out of the bouncers’ sight. It was dumb of us to go into that room. Pierre tried to help me, but he had no chance against a vampire, and so he went to find the owner.”

“Was Flame the owner?” I sure hope he wasn’t the vampire who cornered her.

She shakes her head. “No. I’d never seen Flame before that night. He told me later he was there working on some kind of assignment—I don’t know much about the brothers’ work to be honest—but Flame rescued me. He got to me before Pierre came back with the owner.”

Her eyes close for a moment.

“What happened?” I ask, breathless.

She opens her eyes. “All that matters is that Flame saved me.”

“How? From what?”

She shudders. “Let’s just say the vampire who cornered me was going to take more than my blood, if you know what I mean. He seemed to take pleasure in telling me what he was planning. That he was going to rape me as he fed. Continue to rape me once I was unconscious… He claimed I’d like it. That his venom would make sure I did. And that even if I hated it, I’d forget what happened.”

“Oh, Maria.” I lean forward. “How did Flame save you?”

“I didn’t see everything.” She shakes her head. “Flame grabbed the guy and took him outside the club. And then soon after, he brought him back in to apologize—”

“He made you face your attacker?” I feel nauseated.

She nods. “Flame made him apologize to me, apologize to the owners. And they told him he wasn’t welcome in Hell Hole ever again.”

“What did Flame do to the other vampire?”

“Oh, yeah,” she says, as if she’s forgotten what she was talking about. “Well you know how Flame likes fires…”

I nod.

“When Flame brought the vampire back in, the vamp’s clothes were burned, and I could smell burning flesh. And his apology…” She shakes her head. “The vamp was like a puppy, hanging his head in shame like he’d soiled the rug.”

I swallow, trying to sort through my feelings. In principle, I am against violence in any form, and I wish that Flame, or the bars’ owners, had called the proper authorities, instead of taking matters into their own hands.

The vampire who threatened Maria should have been punished according to legitimate vampiric laws, but on the other hand, I’m more than a little proud of Flame for saving a defenseless human, and for teaching this vampire a lesson I hope he never forgot.

“And then Flame brought you here?” I ask her.

“No. Not right away.” A smile of gratitude brightens her expression. “After it was over, Pierre and I thanked Flame, and we talked to him for a while. Then he introduced us to Blade, who was with him.”

My stomach flutters hearing the name of the exceedingly, handsome vampire who stole a lock of my hair.

“After that night, we saw Flame and Blade often, and they introduced us to Phil and Crusher. At some point, Pierre mentioned that we were both looking for work, and bingo!—a few months later, we moved in down here.”

“How does it work?” I ask her. “You and Pierre actually live in Freetown? Are there other humans down here?”

“Yup. There are eleven stewards at the moment.” Her hands rise from her lap. “I know, that’s not many given the vamp population, but not all residents use stewards, and if you think the brothers are picky about which vampires they let in, they’re even pickier about the humans.” She looks proud to have made the cut.

“And, and you get paid to be a steward? Are you treated well? Are you allowed to leave if you wish?”

“Oh, yes.” She laughs. “Yes to all of those questions. We stewards are very well paid—especially Pierre and me—and our quarters are way better than anything we could afford Above. We love our jobs, although Pierre and I have the best gig.”

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