Page 25 of After Darkness Falls

The blond rolled his eyes. “All right, you're not. He's the boss.”

Chloe smiled at him.

“Well, it's nice to meet you, Alexius.”

“Likewise, fledgling.”

On that note, he turned on his heels and started walking away, each of his steps impossibly fast. Levi remained where he stood, eyes fixed on her. Chloe wondered if he was going to say something, tell her to stay away from Alexius, or—or what?

It didn't matter. Levi did no such thing. For the second time, he simply dissolved into dark mist.

Which was irritating as hell. After a second, she was alone in the staircase.

“Chloe?”

She turned to find Gwen standing in the library.

Another world away, or so it seemed.

“Are you coming? We're going to set up library cards and then head down to the courtyard. It's almost noon.”

Was she coming?

Part of her ached to walk up those endless stairs.

She shook her head, willing herself to regain her lost senses.

“On my way.”

12

Priorities

The large, round study was mostly empty during the day. In a few hours, a dozen vampires would be hunched behind their work stations, engrossed in their research.

He'd deliberately asked the woman to come here at eleven so that they could speak privately.

This wasn’t the first time that Levi De Villier had met a prospective bride. The first few had been bothersome. Now, he was used to their buzzing around him wherever he went like a moth to a flame.

He drove away those who were easy to manipulate, but the woman in front of him didn't look like a faint-hearted shrew, to his displeasure.

One glance, and he already knew she'd be a handful. Her eyes were a little like his. Cold. Calculating.

She may have been young by all standards, but she was a true vamp nonetheless.

“Your name is Catherine, I hear.”

“Yes. My friends call me Cat.”

“You're a Stormhale. That makes you, what, seventeenth in line for the throne ruling over the European covens?”

She nodded.

“Do you have friends, Catherine?”

She didn't miss a beat, he had to give her that.

“People like you and me don't have friends,” she replied. “We have pawns. I misspoke when I said ‘friends,’ but ‘my pawns call me Cat’ would have made me sound like a James Bond villain.”

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