Page 72 of Stolen

I couldn’t help my smile. But it faded quickly. “What does Varick say about this? He thinks it’s possible Midian’s blood could affect me beyond the Thicket.”

“I haven’t told him. He’ll probably be cross about it, but he gets horny when he’s cross, so you and I both benefit.”

“I thought you said you weren’t trying to get in my good graces.”

A wicked gleam entered his eyes. “Princess, if I taught you anything, it’s that you don’t need to be in someone’s good graces to enjoy fucking them.”

I pressed my lips together, because I was not going to walk into his trap of vowing I’d never sleep with him again. He’d invariably take it as a challenge and set about proving me wrong.

“Come with me to the Sanctum tomorrow,” he said.

The air around us seemed to hold its breath. It was still chilly on the balcony. It was, after all, winter in Nor Doru. But perhaps, just a little, some of the frozen air between us thawed.

“Yes,” I said simply. “I’ll help you.”

The roguish gleam in his eyes softened. “You won’t regret it,” he said, and we both knew he wasn’t just talking about the Sanctum.

By some unspoken agreement, we turned and gazed out at the city. We stood in quiet, companionable silence for a moment. With the twinkling lights of the vampire capital sprawling before me, I murmured, “I was just thinking that I don’t know how to be boring with you.”

He looked at me and raised a dark brow. “I am the priest-king of Nor Doru. You are the lost heir of Eldenvalla and wielder of Avenor’s sword.” He lifted my hand from the railing and kissed my knuckles. “Trust me, princess, you and I are anything but boring.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

LAURENT

As I predicted, Varick was displeased about me bringing Given to the Sanctum.

He’d growled his displeasure all morning, pointing out that we didn’t know what Midian’s blood had done to her. When I replied that I had no intention of feeding from her, he claimed it was selfish and irresponsible of me to involve her in a blood rite when she was still recovering from her ordeal.

I’d given him a mild look as I mounted my horse in the palace courtyard. “I’ll be sure to let her know you think she’s too weak to stand next to an altar.”

“That’s not what I meant,” he’d snapped, and he’d swung into his own saddle. He might have thundered off, but then Given appeared, and he fell in with the knight escort who flanked us the whole ride to the Sanctum.

“I am devoted to her,” he’d said, and I found that I…liked it. I’d spent such a long time trying to convince him to give her a chance. But I’d done it for all the wrong reasons.

He’d remedied that, falling in love with her without me. But his reasons were the right ones, and I couldn’t fault him for it. The more I thought about it, the more perfect it felt.

The three of us entered the private temple alone. Given walked forward, her face lit by the glow of a thousand candles. Her white-blond hair flowed down her back, reaching nearly to her ass. Her elegant black gown was trimmed in crimson night-blooming roses. She was beautiful in anything, but seeing her in my colors never failed to make me hard.

But there was a new addition to her wardrobe. An elegant leather sword belt circled her slim hips, the elven-steel sword secured in a scabbard that played peek-a-boo with the folds of her skirts.

Varick’s eyes widened as he clearly noticed the elven steel for the first time. “You brought the sword with you?”

She turned, regal and confident. “Of course, General.” She rested her hand on the pommel. “I don’t know if we’ll need it, but I know it’s powerful. And the only universal rule about power is that it’s best to have as much of it as possible.”

I winked at her from behind Varick.

She moved off, drifting toward the altar with its grinning vampire skull.

Varick turned around. Golden eyes studied me. His voice flowed into my head. “You did it for her. So she feels like our equal.”

I reached up and tugged gently at his beard before stepping around him and going to a low bench positioned along the wall. The priests had left everything I needed, and I stripped quickly and donned a robe. I carried the golden bowls to the altar and set them before it. Given and Varick watched as I fetched the daggers and placed them on the floor. Varick radiated tension. He’d seen me perform the Rite of Destru, although never in the Sanctum.

It looked pretty much the same regardless of location. In fact, the golden bowls weren’t strictly necessary. They would, however, make it a lot easier to clean up the bloodbath I was about to unleash.

My stomach twisted, but I ignored it as I went to the square pool and shed my robe. Varick came to me, and I gestured to the towels at the edge of the pool. “You remember what to do?”

“Yes, but why don’t you have other priests helping you?”

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