Page 165 of The Prince's Curse

“Damn right,” she replied. “I love you.”

He nodded to her, his throat tightening as he led her down the dais. Her words still pierced him, even all these weeks later. She said them easily, multiple times a day, but they were no less potent.

This was impossible. And yet, here she was.

Below the dais, they were immediately intercepted by Olivia, eager to bring them to their table in the back of the room. Elevated to look down over the rest of the club, it was where Eduardo’s seat would once have been. Julian preferred to be among his people, but Paris had reminded him that the court liked to look up and see someone there.It was reassuring, a sure sign that all was well.

And so he took his seat, with Scarlett pressed into his side like a proper queen. Below them, the club spun to life, with soft music playing as couples danced and the blood flowed at the bar.

He was pleased to see Kova spinning Lucia around the floor, her eyes gleaming with excitement. For all of Kova’s deep dread at facing her after all these years, she had welcomed him back with open arms as all of them knew she would.

Over the last few months, Misha had worked with Shoshanna to rebuild the protections both here and at the compound. Even knowing that their location was no longer secret, Julian refused to uproot and find another place yet again. Their enemies would eventually find them again, and they would be prepared. The protective wards on Infinity were stronger than ever, thanks to Shoshanna’s out-of-body experience expanding her magical power even further. They still didn’t understand how much she had gained, but Misha Volkov had confided in him that if the blood witches of Thanatos heard how powerful she was, they’d be concerned. Which was why he was keeping things quiet until Shoshanna was ready.Anyone who wanted to get their hands on her would have a wall of vampires to get through.

Scarlett was another story. In the breaking of her curse, someone had shoved a ‘big spark of power right up her cute little butt,’ as Shoshanna put it. They’d been spending time together, split equally between Shoshanna studying her and Scarlett learning to control it. Those little red lines brightened when she was angry—or aroused—but they’d left no permanent mark.

For a moment, he wondered if he’d struck his head, as Danielle and Olivia Pierce sauntered up to his table in black cocktail dresses and nearly identical hairstyles. Danielle slid a pitcher onto the table and poured him a glass, giving him a knowing nod. While she’d been pleased to be the bartender, they’d put her in charge of running the club at Infinity, and she was quite good at it. “Do you need anything?” Olivia asked.

“Did my speech fit your itinerary?” he teased.

She glanced at her watch. “You were within an acceptable margin. I padded my schedule to account for it.”

“Of course you did,” he said indulgently.

Then she smiled and said, “Well done. I’m glad we’re back.”

“And your first time here since you changed,” he said.

Her smile faltered, but she nodded. “That’s right.”

“Are you doing okay?” Scarlett asked.

They didn’t talk much about it, but Olivia’s transition had been hard. She’d been brutally attacked before Nikko turned her to save her life, and her emotions were explosive in those first few days after waking up. Julian had finally pulled her aside to tell her that her feelings were understandable, but she couldn’t take it out on Nikko, whose greatest nightmare was taking her choice away. She’d burst into tears and gone to him immediately. Things had been better since, but he knew Nikko would blame himself for a long time.

“It’s not what I expected, but this is my family,” Olivia said. Her nose tilted up, and her head whipped around. The smile on her face and the brightening of her eyes gave her away; Nikko was across the room, speaking quietly to Dominic.

“Go ahead,” Julian said. “Enjoy your evening.”

“I’ll be back,” she said.

“Don’t rush,” he replied, taking Scarlett’s hand. While he was unfamiliar with being in this particular seat, he’d sat at Eduardo’s side countless times as he watched the proceedings from afar. People would come by to fawn or seek his aid, and Eduardo would talk politely to them before Hugo sent them away brusquely.

The court was much smaller than the Blade of Auberon, though he rather hoped it would grow. As his court came to speak with him, he welcomed them and their questions. Alistair returned to the piano to entertain for a while, and he watched proudly as his people mingled. Newly vetted veravin joined the gathering, quickly cozying up to hungry vampires in the private booths around the club.

Well past one-thirty, he was startled when Paris came up and tugged on his hand. “We need you down here,” he said. “You too, Red.”

Julian took Scarlett’s hand and followed Paris down to the main floor of the club. Several large tables had been pushed together, and his Nightwatch was gathered around. He was pleased to see that Rhys was sandwiched between Paris and Safira. Though not a member of the Nightwatch, he’d put them all together so many times that he had more than earned his seat at the table.

Paris pointed to an empty chair and said, “Sit.”

“Oh, thank God,” Julian muttered, sinking into the seat. Alistair pushed a glass of whiskey in front of him, and Julian downed it.

Even Sasha and Kristina had joined them, though they were still reserved. They had been secluded for weeks before Shoshanna was able to untangle the spells Lux put on them, and they were wracked with guilt until Julian sat them down to tell them to get over it and be a part of the family again.

For the last few weeks, the Nightwatch had continued to patrol the city. After dealing with Armina, he had extended a formal invitation to Charlotte Oliveras, their dhampir contact who’d been run off by Carrigan Shea. She and her mother were granted protection, with a secure residence on the compound, while Charlotte returned to work. Now they had eyes on the police force again, giving them first look at suspicious disappearances and bodies.

While his Nightwatch was divided over it, Julian had put his foot down over the dhampir hunters. After Shoshanna broke the arcane bindings on them, he’d had them drugged and transported across the country. After getting Jack Eslinger on a conference call, he’d told the man in no uncertain terms that this was his last act of mercy toward the Shieldsmen. If he saw Jordan or Marlee on his territory again, he would kill on sight.

The world was slowly returning to normal. Paris had spent most of his last few nights in his office, and was even planning a weekend away with Misha. Julian and Scarlett had joined Dominic and Rachel to see their daughter in a school play. While the dramaturgy was somewhat lacking, he was enrapt by the sheer joy radiating from Dom’s face as he watched her.

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