Page 3 of Queen of Ashes and Scars
“Absolutely,” he answers with more verve than I expected. “You’re Queen now. I might never get the chance to touch you again.”
“Is that so?” I arch a playful brow, but something brittle in his voice tells me we’re no longer playing games. Does he think so little of me that I would forsake him now that I’m in charge?
And where does all that heat come from anyway?
Before I can ask him to elaborate on his comment, he clasps my hand hard. A few arriving guests stand merely a hundred feet away from us on the outside curb in front of the mansion. A line of flashy cars has formed beyond the red carpet of the main entrance, their drivers being greeted one by one by the valets. Alec and I take advantage of the crowd to cross the slick stretch of black asphalt and head for the parking garage.
“What the fuck? What is the princess doing out here?”I hear in my head, the crystal-clear thought coming from someone close-by.
I dig the balls of my feet into the ground, pulling Alec to a stop, and search the covered porch. “Wait. There!” I motion to a vampire slipping back into the driver seat of his sports car, “He recognized me.”
Alec jolts into action, and my vampire senses boom to life, following his sleek, soundless movements as he wrenches open the car door and slaps the man’s phone out of his hands. The driver opens his mouth to speak, but Alec slits his throat with a long, aconite-coated blade. He’s both stealthy and efficient, and my heart races at the sight of him so…ferocious. The vampire explodes in a cloud of dust, and Alec takes his place behind the wheel. He picks up the dead guy’s cellphone and cancels the outgoing call. “Perfect timing, my queen.”
My blood runs a tinge hotter and thicker, the predator in me pleased and excited. Without missing a beat, I walk around the car and climb into the passenger seat. “Drive.”
The tires screech along the asphalt as Alec slams down the accelerator, a cloud of smoke rising in our wake. We whizz through the winding path leading to the main road, and my blood ices as we approach the guarded checkpoint.
A line of about a dozen cars has formed outside the gates, and four guards are chatting with the drivers, probably checking their identity before letting them in.
“Should we slow down?” I ask, quickly calculating our chances that they won’t look too closely at us or report our unscheduled, ill-timed exit.
Alec reaches over his left shoulder. “Fasten your seatbelt, Lucky.”
Chapter2
Inescapable
LEO
Istand rigid next to the door leading to the balcony while Lucas Pereira paces the length of the dressing room back and forth. The air thickened after the princess’ departure, and we’re counting down the seconds before we make our own attempt at escape.
Keenan tucks his phone inside the back pocket of his blue jeans and follows Lucas’ nervous movements the way a cat watches a wild bird. His brown curls lick the top of his ears, a stubble visible on his jaw, and I find myself staring at him. The calm he exudes is more addictive than any drug.
“What makes you so sure you can get me out?” I ask him quietly, thinking about the silent conversation I caught between him and Alec Beaumont. “I’m as good as dead, aren’t I? You just needed her to leave with him? Don’t sugar-coat it for me, I’m okay with it, really.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll get ye out without a hitch, Leo.” His loose grin grates my temper, his confidence somehow more unnerving than if he’d just explain what’s about to happen.
Ever since Jorge called my name on that step in Hadria, a part of me has been wishing for death. Now that the only thing standing between me and eternal sleep is something corrupt about my DNA, it puts things into perspective. The angel might be on our side for now, but only because he plans to turn me into one of his kind-—a demon with a special taste for dying men.
“I saw you and Alec Beaumont… You made a secret agreement, didn’t you?”
Keenan leans into my ear, the slight motion somehow making him look even taller than he is. We’re pretty much the same height, but his powers give off a vibe that makes me feel all vulnerable and…human.
“We did make an agreement, but not about you.” Dark wings flicker at the man’s back, and before I can blink, Lucas Pereira falls to the ground, knocked unconscious by a surgical blow to the head. Keenan’s grin widens. “I don’t trust this guy. I think he was planning to rat us out as soon as we left the room.”
I stare at Lucas’ unconscious form, a hint of relief sizzling through my gut. “I agree.”
Keenan lifts his chin to the balcony, interrupting my inner musings. “Those two should really get going.”
Bella strips from the half-torn wedding dress and slips on Jude’s discarded jacket. The royal guard opens the door for her, the human woman a shade whiter than usual as they leave. They’ve got the best chance of making it out, being less high-profile than the rest of us, but I wonder if I’ll ever see them—or Arielle—again.
A full minute passes before Keenan presses a hand on my shoulder, melting the distance between us to a mere inch, and a shiver shakes me from head to toe. Being touched by an angel is comparable to being lulled to sleep by your lover’s embrace. Even if you don’t want to lose your bearings—maybe you have a full day in front of you, or in my case, your fucking life hangs in the balance—you still curl up into them and wish you could stay there forever.
His hot breath caresses the shell of my ear. “You will walk downstairs to your room and wait for me there. In exactly three minutes, I will blink in and bite yer neck.” The rogue curve of his mouth quickens my pulse. “Ye’re allowed to fight a little.”
Three minutes…
Cold sweat sticks to my back as I obey his orders, my heart pounding in my ears, and I decide he shouldn’t have told me about his plan. Every vampire I cross paths with shoots me a predatory look, my palms sweaty as hell. I’m a walking bag of blood, and my quickened pulse attracts too much attention.
