Page 23 of Blood Bought

“Adalind? You okay?” Nes reached out to touch my hand, making me jerk slightly.

“Huh? Yeah, fine, though you might want to let Jan down easy. Doesn’t seem like she’s Alaris’ type.” I smiled a little triumphantly, then flipped him a middle finger in my head as I went back to work.

“You know you interrupted a meeting just to flip me off? Now you’re stuck with me.”I could practically hear him kicking up his feet.“Still wet for me?”

“No.”It wasn’t a lie, I couldn’t bring myself to be turned on in the room I was in, not when so many of them seemed one feeding away from dying at the hands of people like Alaris.“To be fair, I interrupted your meeting because I knew you’d be listening to me, and I wasn’t wrong.”

“I wasn’t, actually. You said my name, didn’t take long to scope through the rest and figure out why you called me. Were the blankets not enough? What do you want me to do for them now?”

I blushed slightly, happy he couldn’t see me.“Jan is disappointed you haven’t had her yet. I don’t want you to do anything, I was just... never mind.”

I didn’t know what the hell I’d been doing, and he seemed to find it amusing.“Mmhm. It’s fine, I have my hand. Hasn’t steered me wrong in five-hundred years, it won’t today. Come have dinner with me... and that wasn’t a question.”

I could feel the second the connection was cut off, leaving me standing in the middle of a room with Nes staring at me like she knew exactly what was happening. “Who was it? Alaris?”

“Just some weird guy who won’t stop talking to me in my head,” I said cheekily. “I have to go though, for... reasons. I’ll come back tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay. We’ll be here.” She watched me leave, but I barely got three steps out into the hallway before I was running smack into someone I’d never seen before.

“Shit. Sorry!”

“You’re fine,” she said passively, then looked at me closer and stayed put. “Adalind Silk in the flesh.”

I opened my mouth and closed it again quickly, shifting my weight. “That’s me. Do we know each other?”

“No, I’m Azel. From Hivell originally, but permanent resident here now even though my boyfriend dumped me for someone new. Rude, right?” She leaned against the wall still blocking my way, her arms crossing over her chest like she actually cared about my response, and I didn’t miss how beautiful she was.

It wasn’t something unusual in this castle. “Definitely rude. Is it someone here?”

“Down here? No. Way up there. Only time he ever came down here was for you.”

Suddenly I knew exactly who her supposed ex-boyfriend was, and a chill ran down my spine from the way she was looking at me.

“Oh, fuck. I’m the someone new? I— I didn’t ask him to leave you, I didn’t even know. We’re not... I mean, we haven’t—”

“Don’t worry about it. I knew it was coming, darling.” Something about her face told me she wasn’t lying. “I knew what I was getting into day one, I just thought I had a few more years before I had to find me a new one. Being single here sucks. Were you going somewhere? I’ll walk with you.”

“Whoa.” I had so many questions, but she didn’t seem like the patient type, and I absolutely didn’t need any enemies here. “I’m supposed to go to dinner with... him,” I admitted.

“Cute.” She looped our arms together and swung her hand out to open the double doors that lead to the staircase. “So you guys really haven’t... anything?”

The memories of the times he’d pinned me to walls or couches flashed through my mind, but I shook my head. “No, nothing. I guess the whole Stockholm Syndrome thing isn’t for me.”

“Guess not. I’d have caved a long time ago, but maybe I’m biased since I’ve seen his cock. Do you even want to go to this dinner? I can probably get you out of it.”

“He told me it wasn’t a request, so I think I should go,” I said carefully, wondering if maybe this entire conversation was a test. “I think I’ve disobeyed him enough this week.”

“Disobedience?” she said curiously. “Interesting. Guess he’s changing already. You’re right though, you should go. Do you mind if I do a spell for you really fast? Don’t really want him to see this conversation if I can help it.”

Knowing him, it was probably too late, but I nodded anyway. “You’re not going to mess with my memories, are you? I heard those spells are really dangerous.”

“No, of course not. I don’t do those spells unless I absolutely have to.” She pulled off one of her many bracelets and held it up with two fingers. We were alone in the staircase, but she whispered the next part anyway. “I can put it on this. Wear it when you don’t want a vamp in your mind, take it off if you do. No one else will be able to take it off though, only you.”

I stared down at it, then back up to her bright green eyes — eyes that held no malice or deception that I could see, then reached out tentatively. “That would be fantastic, actually. Thank you.”

She wrapped my hands in hers and muttered something in a language I didn’t understand. I felt it heat up, stopping just shy of burning me and then she backed away. “Done. He won’t be happy about it.”

“He’s not happy about much of anything when it comes to me,” I muttered, slipping it on my wrist to check the fit. “How do I know it worked?”

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