Page 34 of Claimed

“Your thralls tried to assault me. They deserved to die. And your son wanted to drink me, so…”

“Yes,” he says. “I agree. But there’s an additional problem. They’ve been consumed. You ate them.”

Alexei clears his throat. “She didn’t know better.”

“I’m sure she didn’t,” he says, turning his gaze to me. “But that doesn’t change the problem. She consumed the flesh of two thralls, as in men who had been fed on by our kind, willingly. Your mate has ingested the vampire curse. The results could be unpredictable.”

He looks at me and again I feel as though I am falling into his eyes. I never knew how magnetic the absence of conscience or care could be until this moment. I can imagine how his thralls submitted to him, how they tilted their heads back and allowed themselves to be drunk from.

It’s too much. I don’t know what to do with it, or about it. I hear a little whimper escape me as I find myself at the ocular mercy of this beast.

Alexei pulls me into his lap and wraps a protective arm around me. I can feel his care and his concern. It is like being brought back from a brush with the dead. I lean against him and let his life wrap around me.

“She does not seem sick,” he says.

“That’s good, but she may seem… well, something other than ill.”

“What are you trying to tell us?”

“That there are consequences for eating people, and vampires know that better than anybody else.”

Alexei’s arm tightens around me even more. He pulls me back off his lap and to the side a little into a more protected place. It feels as though he is worried for me, as if he thinks the vampire might be intending on some kind of revenge for my actions.

“What do you want? Why are you really here?”

The vampire smiles, one of those cool expressions that does not indicate any real amusement.

“I wanted to see the she-wolf who is able to stomach the flesh of people. I wanted to see who it was who had the capacity to turn our thralls into home decor. It was an almost vampiric scene, you know.”

I press up against Alexei. If it wouldn’t feel embarrassing to do so, I’d hide in his neck. I am starting to understand that what I did was more than wrong. Well, it was right, at least in terms of my instincts, but according to the social codes of these creatures, what I did was the equivalent of… well… eating someone.

“You should be proud,” the vampire purrs to Alexei. “She’s quite impressive. Quite an interesting little specimen.”

“And she’s mine,” Alexei says, his tone rough with possession.

“Of course she is. Your kind pair bonds, and she is the mate fate designed for you. I understand your customs. I am not here to cause trouble, just to observe and discuss. We have our own councils and customs, you understand, and the loss of thethralls, and my son, will have to be atoned for. It might be helpful if I could go back with some kind of compensation.”

“So this is a shakedown,” Alexei laughs. “Why did you not say so? What’s the going rate for a couple of rapist pieces of shit? I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you…”

He rummages in his pocket and pulls out a couple of coins.

“There, two kopeks, more than equivalent to the value of their lives,” he says, tossing them onto the coffee table between us. “Take that as compensation, and deliver it to your coven.”

The vampire casts a very brief glance at the coins, then, to my surprise, he reaches out and picks them up very deliberately with cold and elegant fingers. I shiver as I involuntarily imagine what it would be liked to be touched by him.

“Your temper is flaring,” he notes, speaking to Alexei.

“You’re right,” Alexei says. “We were prepared to let the matter lie, but you have come here demanding some kind of compensation. The truth is we should be sending a contingent to you for allowing your slaves and such to touch one of our own, the alpha’s mate, no less.”

The vampire smiles. I don’t think he’s angry at Alexei’s temper. I think he actually enjoys the display. I think he likes the reaction. I think it feeds him.

“No need to be so dramatic, though I do enjoy your fire,” he says. “I am here to broker peace. This matter does not need to get out of hand. Your offer is accepted.”

Now Alexei is confused. I am also confused. The coins were clearly intended to be an insult, a sign of how little Alexei cared about the veiled threats coming our way. He was throwing downa gauntlet, and the vampire has not only picked it up, he has thanked him for it.

“I will take my leave,” he says, rising to his feet, ending the meeting without warning. “And my kopeks, and we will see what comes of all of this in due course.”

“What’s your name?” I blurt the question. He never introduced himself to me when I introduced myself to him, and Alexei doesn’t seem to care what he’s called.

---