Page 131 of Your Coffin or Mine
He goes stock still, immobilized under my power.
“I suggest you pick a country very far away, Chudley, lest I find you, and show you exactly what it means to behunted.”
I push images at him, flooding his brain with what I will do to him if he ever speaks to her again. The women gasp when he wets himself despite his frozen mind-control stupor.
“Vlad. Seriously?” Doyle sighs, as if I’m trying his patience.
Shouts go up in the next room, the music changing to something upbeat. “You may go now.”
The male’s chin trembles, and I let him leave, watching as he heads toward the exit without saying a word to anyone.
“Wow,” Bernadette whispers under her breath. “He really is a vampire.”
She told her friend about me?Not just me, but what I am, when she promised she wouldn’t? I cock my head to Aubrey, and she flushes nervously under my surprised gaze. I want to be upset with her, but I find it impossible with how elated I am to have finally found her again.
Doyle clears his throat. “Perhaps we should move this party to somewhere a bit quieter.”
Bernadette eyes him, suspicion in her gaze as she looks him up and down, folding her arms over her chest. “Are you supposed to be a vampire too?”
“No,” Doyle says, his tone full of amusement. “I’m a wolf shifter.”
“Uh huh.” She nods. “Well, wolfman, want to help me sniff out where they’re keeping the cake? Pretty sure these two have some talking to do.”
Doyle lifts a brow. “I don’t eat cake.”
“Fine. You can watch me eat cake,” she says, grabbing his arm and tugging him away.
He is forced to hop awkwardly backward before giving me a look and turning to move with her.
I turn to Aubrey, suddenly nervous for the first time in my long life. “Is there somewhere we can talk?”
She searches my face and seems to find what she’s looking for there because she nods. “The bridal suite should be empty for a while.”
I turn and extend my hand forward, gesturing for her to lead the way, relief coursing through me that I will have the opportunity to speak with her. She hasn’t turned me away like that loathsome cad. I am almost positive the last message from her was completely contrived, but I would be lying to myself if I said I wasn’t the least bit afraid she did send it.
Chapter 41
AUBREY
I walkinto the suite where the bridesmaids sat until the wedding and start picking up the disposable cups and things left from getting ready, tossing them into the nearby trashcan. I need something to keep me busy, since I’m really not sure what to say now that Vlad’s here in front of me. The white-backed chairs are full of different clothing, a plush sofa in one corner, and the room is lined with windows overlooking the city.
Wringing my hands together, I finally brave looking at him. He stands a few feet away, devilishly handsome in his black tux that fits his broad frame to perfection.
“I’ve missed you.” Vlad’s voice is deep and low, making my heart leap at the cage of my ribs.
“I wasn’t sure I would ever see you again,” I reply. My gaze travels over his cheekbones to his eyes, which are wide, and pinging all over me like he’s trying to memorize my face as much as I am his.
“You fill the void of where my heart should be, Aubrey. How could you think that?” he says in that low voice of his, and I have to steel myself from melting into the floor like some swooning movie character.
I let out a shaky breath as my knees weaken. I’m a massive ball of emotions. His dark eyes flick to my lips when I lick them nervously, and his gaze turns hard when I take a step back.
His brows narrow. “Did you send me a message that night you left the castle?”
The question throws me, and my heart instantly thuds with dread. I think back to Frank Stein typing away on my phone before crushing it like an empty soda can. “I?—”
His eyes flash red. “Did you say you couldn’t do this and that you were sorry?” His voice is practically a growl leaving his mouth and red light suffuses his irises.
Frank’s words that he would find everyone I love and destroy them flits through my mind. Does Vlad not know what he did?
