Page 25 of Power Shift
Soren huffed a laugh. “I never thought the day would come when I’d see you cuddle a carnivorous plant.”
“Cats and dogs…” I murmured.
“Living together,” Soren added.
“Complete anarchy.”
Soren crossed an ankle over his knee and cleared his throat. “Other Lords will make their move soon.”
I stilled. “Are you one of them?”
Soren’s dark chuckle echoed through the room. “I’m afraid I have my eye on another unattainable woman.”
“The vampire, Soren?” I’d seen the way he looked at her during the planning dinner when Gianna was here. “I took you for a purist.”
“The heart wants what the heart wants.” Soren looked around the room. “You got any whiskey?”
“By the back wall.”
Soren groaned as he rose. A moment later he was back with two glasses, amber liquid swirling in their depths. He handed me one and settled onto the loveseat, stretching out his length on the couch.
“I’ve begun to wonder about the other Lords before us. Do you know if there are written histories?”
“Perhaps to see if other Lords have taken non-shifter brides?”
Soren gave me a dark look. “She doesn’t want me anyhow, so the point is probably moot.”
“Oh? What happened?”
Soren looked away, his gaze focused on a spot outside the window. “I fucked up.”
“I already assumed so. Most problems are fixable.”
A sharp shake of his head. “Not this one. She is polite but cold and refuses to return my texts or phone calls.”
“Have you tried breaking into her house or destroying her shop?” I asked dryly.
A crack of laughter. “I’m afraid I’m much less physically destructive than you are. If I were more like you, perhaps Moira would still look at me like she once did.”
“Is there another woman?” The Lords were not without constant company. Some took advantage of it and had revolving doors of female companionship in and out of their Keeps. I’d never wanted for a woman, but my tastes had always been much more discerning than some of the other Lords. And Soren was known to have a different woman on his arm every week.
When he didn’t answer, I knew. “Ouch.”
“I don’t know why,” Soren murmured. “Every woman pales in comparison to her, but I thought this was part of being Lord.”
“The revolving door of women?” I probed before shaking my head. “The good people we have in our territories would much rather have a Lord who cares for and protects them. Women serve only to inflate our egos, and many of them are traps, designed to weaken our resolve and soften our reign, so another Lord can swoop in and steal our territory.”
Soren snorted. “Paranoid much?”
I stared at him. “Have you learned nothing from the past year? The other Lords refuse to sanction a relationship between Evie and me because they are afraid of us holding too much power.”
Soren drained his glass, rose, and brought the decanter back with him, stopping to fill my glass again before his own. “I’m surprised Rowan isn’t here.”
Soren looked far too tired and beat down to betray me, and the male had changed, so I took a chance and told the truth. “Donovan is sniffing around his territory looking for weaknesses. Leaving might be detrimental.”
“Fucking asshole,” the other Lord snarled. “Wonder where I’m at on Donovan’s list.”
“He’ll go for Ben next. Him approving Ben’s ascension was a move to take our attention off his recent antics. Give it a few months and he’ll start sniffing around.”
