Page 25 of Blood Slumberm

How long had he been lurking in the gardens and picking up gossip? Could he have noticed any of the magic she and Troi had used tonight?

Troi rested a hand on hers. Her fingers were digging into his arm, she realized. “Indeed,” he said. “I regret we did not make your acquaintance in the ballroom, Honored Master.”

The fire mage dipped his head. “I am Kaion of the Aithourian Circle, here on behalf of the Order of Anthros to speak the summer blessing over Prince Rixor’s feast.”

Here to further their schemes, more like. Celandine kept her courtly expression frozen on her face through the mundane pleasantries that served as a thin veneer over everyone’s ulterior motives.

She risked a glance at Troi’s mouth. No sign of his fangs now. How much longer could he keep up this much magic in front of Kaion? Any moment, the mage could detect his spell…or Troi’s hunger could break it.

“Darling,” Celandine said faintly, “might we sit a moment? I fear I am still feeling overheated from the great hall.”

“Of course, my dear,” Troi replied. “Let us find a bench in a cooler area of the garden.”

Kaion gave her a benevolent look. “I wish you a swift recovery, Princess Aurelia.”

As they walked on, she could feel his presence, cracking with magic, recede toward the house.

Troi wrapped an arm tightly around her waist. “I will put his eyes out before I murder him for the way he looked at you. Did he think I wouldn’t notice him undressing you with his eyes?”

“He thinks he can get away with anything he likes. It’s a miracle he kept his cock in his robes long enough to recite his vows of celibacy. You know how the Aithourian Circle is. They enforce their order on everyone else while holding themselves above the rules—”

Celandine broke off, her eyes widening at Troi’s fangs.

His veils were gone. Which meant so were the ones he had cast on her.

She spread her fan in front of her face and glanced around. Two of Rixor’s guards were only a few paces away. If they merely turned their heads, they would spot her and Troi.

She pulled Troi behind a line of hedges, but voices and suggestive laughter warned her a flirting couple was about to turn down this path. The only cover within reach was a patch of shadow between a decorative archway and the surrounding bushes.

Celandine pushed Troi into the narrow space and squeezed in with him, flattening her back against the side of the archway. His body pressed against hers from chest to thigh.

He looked down at her and bared his fangs, gazing at her throat with dilated eyes. His unveiled presence engulfed her, a hungry darkness she could drown in. She tried to breathequietly, but her pounding heart seemed loud enough to give them away.

The half-drunk couple passed beneath the archway. Celandine slipped out of their hiding place, grabbed his hand, and made a break for the area of the gardens where guests were not permitted.

She careened to a halt at a statue of a past Aligeran princess. The heavy marching of a patrol drummed in her ears as she touched her hand to her ancestress’s outstretched palm. Nothing happened.

Celandine cursed silently and rubbed the statue’s hand. The footsteps drew closer.

With a scrape, a stone panel swung open in the wall behind the statue. She let out a sigh of relief and plunged through the hidden gate to her private garden.

She crept with Troi toward the entrance to her chambers. “Can you sense anyone nearby?”

“No. This wing is deserted.”

“Good. My gardens and rooms should be empty, since Rixor has no princess yet.”

“Yes, Celandine.” His voice sent a shiver through her. “Take me to your bedchamber.”

How strange it was to sneak under the familiar portico, through the door she had always left open on her gardens. Everything was well kept for Rixor’s future bride, but the lock still opened for her. She brought Troi into the intimate space that had once been hers.

She shoved the door shut and relocked it. In the torchlight that filtered in from the gardens, she barely saw her luxuries. She only saw Troi.

“What do you want?” he asked her again.

“Your bite,” she confessed.

He began to unfasten her high collar. He kissed each new inch of skin he exposed, his stubble teasing her skin. He was the hungry one, and yet she thought she would starve before he finally pulled her dress down around her shoulders.

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