Page 68 of Deadly Alliances

“Nicely done, witch.”

Ah, fuck.

I slowly turned around to find Marguerite standing in the emptying lobby. Why couldn’t I just catch a break?

“If we’re going to have a party, you must look the part,” shesaid, tapping her chin as she scrutinized me with narrowed eyes. “You’re shorter than I am, and a bit more curvy, but I’m sure I can find something suitable for you. Come.”

She spun on her heel and strode off toward the elevator, and I had no choice but to reluctantly follow her.

Chapter 26

Julian

Minutes felt like days as I lay in this room. Though I greatly appreciated the chunks of Marguerite’s absence, they left me feeling chaotic, groundless. Without some form of interaction, I had no way of marking the passage of time, and it was slowly chipping away at my sanity.

Whatever strength I had garnered from Shea’s blood had already abandoned me, leaving me defenseless to the poisonous copper that corroded my veins. And in this monotonous void of consciousness, I couldn’t escape my guilt. I had taken too much blood from Shea. I could’ve hurt her. Would she ever forgive me for pushing her so far? For being so weak?

And it wasn’t just that. She had come here for me. Because of my own foolish pride, I’d landed myself in this prison and had dragged Shea right down with me. I couldn’t protect her here. And Caesar…where was he? How could he let her come here by herself? He was supposed to protect her when I couldn’t. That was how this arrangement was supposed to work. Had he abandoned her after all? Had he abandoned me?

No. No, I didn’t believe he would do that. I knew how deeply Caesar loved our girl. This somehow must all be part of their plan. He had to be around here somewhere, out of sight. I only hoped he didn’t get caught like the pair of foolish dragons.

The door opened and voices spilled into the room, and I rolled my head in that direction.

“Yes, I think red would be a lovely color for you,” Marguerite was saying to someone. “Although, maybe green would be more flattering. What do you think?”

My vision blurred, and I strained to focus on the shapes that had entered.

“Oh, um, I guess, green.”

Shea. My pulse began to skitter with cautious anticipation.No, stay away from Marguerite!

“Hmm,” Marguerite hummed in response, darting to her closet.

My vision finally focused as I followed the two women in the room. Shea cast a longing, worried glance at me while Marguerite flipped through items on hangers, and it broke my heart to see the pain in her green eyes. God only knew what horrors she had faced in the time she’d been here.

“Ah, this one should do.” Marguerite pulled a long green gown off the rack, and Shea walked meekly to her side, letting Marguerite hold it against her and critique the selection. “Yes, you’ll look lovely. Well, as lovely as you can, anyway.”

Anger burned in my chest at the slight. Shea was more beautiful than Marguerite could ever hope to be, and I had to bite my tongue against voicing as much.

“Well, go ahead,” Marguerite insisted with a wave of her hand.

“Er, sorry?” Shea murmured, shrinking slightly under Marguerite’s impatience gaze.

“Ugh, get changed,” Marguerite scoffed. “We haven’t got all night.”

“Oh, uh, right here?” The hesitation in Shea’s voice was potent, stabbing into me and mixing with my own possessive jealousy.

“Yes. Is there a problem?” She expected Shea to disrobe right here, in front of both of us. And as her keen eyes flicked to me, I understood.

This was a test. She knew that Shea and I had known each other in Chicago, and her possessive jealousy was far stronger and less rational than mine. She was fishing for some reaction, some betrayal of emotion. I lolled my head to the side, away from her little show. The only way to protect Shea in this moment was to ignore her, and to trust that she would play her part with equal disinterest.

“Okay,” Shea said uncertainly, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see her pulling her shirt over her head.

I closed my eyes, feigning exhaustion as the rustle of fabric told me she was stripping further. I couldn’t watch her, couldn’t let my eyes wander to her naked body without risking exposing some sign of intimacy to Marguerite, but it was extremely difficult knowing Shea was so incredibly vulnerable in front of her.

“Wait,” Marguerite said, and I cracked my eyelids enough to see her hold the dress away from Shea’s waiting hands.

Her eyes scanned Shea’s exposed body up and down, and rage seethed through me at the hungry appreciation I saw on her face.

---