Page 59 of Cloak of the Vampire
“Go, Kazar,” Ragnor cut him off flatly. “Don’t make me repeat myself.”
There was a moment of silence before Logan let out a breath and murmured, “Yes, my Lord.”
I didn’t dare move as Logan’s footsteps disappeared into the distance. Silently, I begged,Go to sleep, too, Ragnor...
After everything that had happened today, I was so fucking tired; I just wanted to get back to my room and sleep. Now that my panic attack was behind me and I could finally think clearly, all I wanted was to have a few hours of peaceful bliss before I had to face what happened and what Tansy had said.
“I know you’re here, Henderson.”
Fuck.
Pursing my lips, I held on to the wall and used it to rise to my feet. I still felt unbalanced and out of it, but I managed to remain standing. Still leaning on the wall, I exited the corridor and turned to see Ragnor facing my way, arms folded, wearing tactical pants, combat boots, and a black tee that showed his strong corded arms. His hair was messy around his face, and his midnight blue eyes were darker than usual in the dim light of the hall.
He looked so goddamn tasty that I couldn’t help but feel somewhat self-conscious in my tights, tank top, and socks, with my uncombed hair down on my back.
In less than a moment, he was before me, my face in his hands, eyes searching mine. “What’s wrong?”
So many things,I thought bleakly. “I’m fine,” I said, but it came out slurred. I wasn’t fine. I was still trying to recover.
“You’re not fine,” he growled, thumbs caressing my cheeks as he plastered me against the wall. “What happened to you?”
I wanted to saynothing, but his eyes were full of something I hadn’t seen in them before.Is that ... concern?I opened and closed my mouth like a fish, speechless.
His eyes flickered down to my lips before rising to my eyes again. “If you don’t tell me what’s wrong,” he murmured quietly, “I won’t be able to control my actions.”
Frowning, I tried to read him, but he was wearing a look I couldn’t quite decipher. My stomach was tied in knots over that look, though. And my thighs clenched when his eyes fell again to my lips, as if he couldn’t help himself.
I forgot my exhaustion, forgot everything that had happened. My inhibitions went crashing down as all rationality left my head. For the first time in a long fucking while, I didn’t want to think. I didn’t want to question anything. I just wanted to do what I felt like doing, and to hell with the consequences.
I sucked in a deep breath, my hands found their place on his shoulders, and I said, “I’m not telling you anything.”
His eyes went neon. He heard the challenge in my voice. Heard the invitation. The gauntlet was thrown down. All he needed to do was pick it up.
But then, as though he realized what was happening, he blinked, and the glow was gone. Slowly, he slid his hands down my face and stepped back, staring at me with his expression under lockdown. “You should go to bed, Henderson,” he said quietly.
Disappointment washed over me until I felt my exhaustion being switched to utter frustration instead. “You’re a coward, Ragnor Rayne,” I told him, hands clenched into fists.
His face remained flat, but his eyes flared. “Be careful what you say to your Lord, Henderson.”
There was something in the undertone of his voice, almost like I had hit a nerve. As ifhewas the one wary ofme.
As if I mattered to him far more than he let on.
I would’ve laughed if I didn’t feel so hurt. I let the wall go. “I hope you regret this moment for eternity because you’ll never get another chance.”
Then, before he could say anything else, I flipped him off and made my way back to the guest room, trying not to cry from the sheer pain of being so blatantly rejected.
CHAPTER 22
The next day, Renaldi threw a grand feast in order to mend the cracked bridges between him and Ragnor. That was my interpretation. The official reason was to “strengthen the unbreakable bond between the Renaldi and Rayne Leagues.”
The feast would take place in the Renaldi casino and bar at midnight, so until then, we had time to prepare. Apparently, the feast was planned to last until the small hours of the morning, before it would be time for us to go back to sleep.
While none of the girls was happy about our stay at Renaldi’s, the upcoming feast proved to be a welcomed distraction. Our guest room turned into a prep room, with Aisha, who’d been a makeup artist in her human life, doing all of our faces; Jane and Zoey, who were quite the fashionistas, recommending what we should wear; and Tansy, who was an expert when it came to hairstyling—with her knee-length hair, that was practically a given—doing our hair.
I was surprised to be involved in the preparations. Before this trip, I’d been a social pariah thanks to my station as a kitchen worker. But this trip—perhaps because of our unexpected prolonged stay at the Renaldi League, our least favorite one—made everyone put social ranks aside. It was as though we were all in the same boat, and the unexpected comradery was a welcome distraction.
Zoey, who’d brought many dresses on the trip, offered me one. “This will look great on you,” she said excitedly, showing me a pastel-green summer dress.
