Page 39 of Rites of Passage

“There’s not enough booze in the world for what I have to put up with,” he grumbled.

“Don’t worry about a dress for the reception,” Vlad told Mae. “I’ll take care of it.”

Nikolai’s face tightened.

Vlad raised an eyebrow. “What? Want me to get you a suit?”

“I can buy my own!” the sorcerer growled.

“Wait.” Mae stared. “I have to wear a dress?!”

CHAPTER19

“This is nice.”Ye-Seul peered through the limo’s tinted window.

The vehicle had pulled up in front of the stone and marble portico of an imposing building in Philadelphia’s business district. Shallow steps rose from the sidewalk to a pair of revolving doors and a VIP entrance manned by a uniformed doorman. The guy’s face lit up when he saw the car.

“Was it really necessary to take a limo?” Mae groaned.

“Of course.” Vlad raised an eyebrow. “My queen needs to make an entrance.”

“You mustn’t berate him, Mae,” Yoo-Mi protested. “He was only thinking of our comfort. After all, we barely had time to get ourselves organized.”

Mae ignored her mother’s faintly accusing tone and studied the spots of color on her cheekbones instead. She wasn’t sure if it was a side effect of spending time in an enclosed space with an incubus or because Yoo-Mi had raided the minibar in the back of their luxury ride. This was the first time since Mae’s father’s death that they’d been on a family trip. Guilt tightened her chest.

Looks like she really needed the break.

Ryu flashed her a dirty smirk. “Yeah, Mae. Vlad is only thinking of your—” she cocked her fingers into air quotes, “comfort.”

Mae rolled her eyes at her sister. Ryu had recovered from her cold. Since they were only going to be gone for three days, they’d left Bianca in charge of the funeral home. One of Noah’s men had stayed back to assist the mortician.

As for Noah, he and the rest of his team had followed the Jins to Philadelphia. It made sense to everyone that they continue their assignment during the covenstead. Abraham had welcomed Bryony’s suggestion on the subject with relief. Mae could tell from the aide’s harried expression that tagging them onto the coven’s trip to Philadelphia was proving to be a nightmare.

Ilya, Vlad’s bodyguard, helped Yoo-Mi and Ryu exit the limo. His stoic face softened when he took Ye-Seul’s hand. The two had bonded over Mahjong, Ye-Seul even managing to get a smile out of the stony man. Vlad had had to punch his bodyguard Milo discreetly in the ribs when the latter had tried to make fun of Ilya and Ye-Seul’s unlikely friendship.

Noah and three of his men were already waiting on the sidewalk, having gone ahead to check out the hotel and make sure everything was secure for their arrival. The sorcerer dipped his head at Ilya and Milo as he and his team surrounded the Jins. They knew one another from Vlad’s regular visits to the Jins for Sunday brunch, a state of affairs that seemingly happened without Mae having much say in the matter. Though they tolerated one another, Noah’s guarded expression indicated the Russian gangsters’ presence at the covenstead was an unwanted distraction they could have done without. Mae had to privately concur. She was certain the High Council would have a thing or two to say about a notorious crime lord attending their Grand Meeting.

“Are you ready?” Vlad murmured.

Mae dipped her head, stomach fluttering.Here we go.

Tarang jumped out of the car ahead of Vlad. Brimstone joined the tiger and looked around curiously. Noah’s cocker spaniel Wayne trotted over to say hello to the two familiars, his tail wagging furiously as he sniffed them.

Vlad offered his hand to Mae. “Let’s do this, Princess.”

He flashed her a smile that made her libido sing.

Mae told it to calm the heck down and took his fingers. She let him guide her out of the vehicle, the royal-blue, velvet pantsuit he’d gifted her last night swishing smoothly against her body. Though she kept her expression neutral, the way Vlad’s hand tightened slightly around hers told her he was as aware of the attraction sizzling between them as she was. She bit her lip.

It was a miracle she hadn’t self-combusted on the drive down from New York, what with his incubus energy filling the back of the car and making her senses swim. For some reason, she was the only one who’d appeared sensitive to it, her family seemingly immune to his sultry appeal.

You have become more attuned to his demonic blood, Brimstone said.

I have?

Yes. It must be a sexual thing.

Hellreaver snorted.

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