Page 46 of Midwinter Night's Prince

Seth kept his gaze strictly on Velvet as he answered. “She’s a needy bitch. Impulsive, cunning, self-obsessed. It was like looking into a mirror and seeing myself with tits.” He turned to his sister and smiled. “But it was just fine.”

Lie.

She knew he was lying, without any doubt. How she was so certain, Blair couldn’t say, but she would bet just about anything on it.

Suddenly she was ashamed of herself for never thinking about his ordeal, wrapped up as she’d been in her own. But he’d been the one dealing with the psycho. She opened her mouth just as he shot her one cold, dark look that shut her right up.

Cat was happy to take his cue to move on. “Did you learn anything valuable about her?”

“I believe she models herself after Ariadne. Like our maker, she has four followers with her at all times—Erys being one of them. If you manage to loosen his tongue, you might learn much about her.”

“Erys?”

“Some kid turned and made into a vicious killer,” Seth explained. “Chloe hunted him. Mikar tied him up and brought him to the Skyhall dungeons while you were getting out of the bath.”

“There are dungeons in Skyhall?” she asked. The moment the question crossed her lips, she regretted it. “Of course there are.”

It was the only ancestral home left. And naturally, they’d needed dungeons in the Middle Ages.

For a second or two, silence hung over the room, and that was when her stomach decided it was time to make its presence known. A deep rumble sounded, and seemed to reverberate in the room.

“How fucking embarrassing.” She laughed. “I haven’t eaten for, like, a day, and the last thing I had was an energy bar.”

There was a gust of wind, and the next instant, she had Velvet on her lap. A second later, there was an apple next to her. “I’m cooking,” Seth called from the kitchen. “Won’t be long.”

“He can cook?” she mused. She couldn’t picture it. Hell, maybe she should sneak a peek in the kitchen.

Instead, she stroked her kitten and bit into the green apple, closing her eyes as the acid sweetness hit her tongue.

“There isn’t much my brother can’t do,” Cat replied proudly. Then she thought on it for a second. “But I can’t remember him cooking. For anyone. Ever.” The blonde vampire grinned at her.

Oh.

They thought there was something between Seth and her.

She could see how one might make the leap, given that Seth barely acknowledged the existence of most people he wasn’t related to, but they were sorely mistaken.

She’d made him look before he’d even seen her face. She’d managed to infiltrate his dreams, something no one else must have done before, so he noticed her existence, sure. But he wasn’t interested in her. Nothing he’d said or done suggested he might be. She remembered him looking at her for a second too long every now and then. Her lips, mostly. And he’d flirted some, but it was harmless. She’d been the jumping at him in the labyrinth, and she was certain that if it hadn’t been for his bloodlust, he wouldn’t have returned her kiss. Seth wasn’t the kind of guy who’d be subtle if he wanted a woman. He didn’t want her—and hell, she didn’t want him either. Right?

She’d never asked herself that question. Seth Stormhale was like his storm. Wild, beautiful, and unattainable. Was there any sense in wanting a storm? None.

And yet—

No. She wasn’t going there. She wasn’t that much of a masochist.

Right?

25

DISTANCE

“Oh, for the gods’ sakes,” Seth growled. “Eat your damn food!”

Blair, Cat, Levi, Chloe, Mikar, Diana, Bash, and Avani were all staring at their plates openmouthed, as if in shock.

He grumbled under his breath. He should just have fed Blair—to hell with the rest of them. Let them starve. But it was as easy to make risotto for a dozen people as it was to make it for one, and he hadn’t wanted to be rude.

Levi’s slayer half left to guard their prisoner, Alexius, to analyze Blair’s blood, and Jack had followed Gwen and Greer, but the rest of the hill’s occupants were staring at his mushroom, truffle, and chive risotto.

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