Page 99 of B Negative

Thirty-Three

“I must admit,I was surprised to learn you’d given up your crusade to free Sunny of me. Even more surprised you’d left my tower.” Titus leaned over his gleaming glass desk, gaze lingering on the sapphire necklace resting in the hollow of my throat for a beat before meeting my eyes.

“The last conversation you and I had was quite convincing,” I said, sipping on the portion of blood he’d poured me.

“Mmm. You know, the strangest thing happened after you left,” Titus drawled.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Sunny returned every one of those books she had brought up from the library.”

“Yeah. We were done. It’s why I left.”

Titus held my gaze, tempting me to tell him the real reason. But instead of caving under his icy scrutiny, I changed the subject. “So, why did you summon me, Titus? Surely not to discuss Sunny’s reading habits.”

He stared at me, unblinking, before asking another question. “Where is your attack dog?”

“Attack dog?” Was he talking about Jaxson? How was Titus even aware of my connection to the new pack leader?

“The large, blocky one you brought who’s mated to my COO.”

“Oh! You mean Rory. I left him at the compound.” Also, whoa! Sherrie was Titus’s Chief Operating Officer? Huh, and here I’d imagined her as a sort of receptionist.

“Why would you leave your security detail behind? A queen should never be without her guard. Ever.”

That was actually good advice. I’d remember it. “I thought it was more important to give Rory plausible deniability rather than risk Julian blaming him once he discovers I’m here.”

Titus nodded. “That was probably wise. Julian runs rather hot.”

I leaned forward, summoning a bit of vamp power to my eyes. “So do I. Now, I won’t ask again, Titus. Why am I here?”

Titus shifted in his seat, and for the briefest second, I thought I caught something akin to discomfort on his features. So, I took a shot in the dark. “Why are you stalling?” I asked.

Titus smiled, a joyless thing that hardly counted as such except for the vague shape it made of his lips. “You’re right, Ms. Vaughn, I am stalling. I find myself in a position I’ve never been in before, and, as you can imagine, for someone as old as I am, that doesn’t happen often. I’m taken quite off guard by it, so I’d ask you to bear with me.”

I sat back in my seat, giving him a small, tight nod as the king before me froze.

A fear response.

In Titus?

I kept my face neutral and reminded myself to thank the witches for making me a killer cloaking necklace, because Titus would definitely have been able to detect my racing heart if it hadn’t been for them.

“Ms. Vaughn, I need your help to convince your mate, however strained the relationship might be, to end the incursions once and for all.”

“Excuse me?” Did I just fucking hallucinate? Titus wanted an end to the Cold War between their two territories?

The king signed, weariness apparent on his features. “Bonding with Sunsiray has been quite an illuminating experience.”

“Is this her idea?” Fuck yeah, Sunny! Working for the home team from the inside.

“Not in the least. Though after I told her of my plan, she suggested contacting you before Julian so you could prime him on the idea.”

“Ah, you don’t think he’ll accept your offer as genuine.”

“Precisely, young one.”

“I’m afraid I don’t think I can help much. I already tried once. He wouldn’t hear of it.”

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