My lips parted. I wasn’t sure what to say.
“You know what? I don’t want to talk about this.” He got up from his chair. “And I don’t want to talk about raging out either. I don’t want to rage out. I just… I want to go to sleep. Will you go to your bedroom and let me stretch out on the couch?”
I hesitated, and then I bobbed my head. “Okay, sure.” I got up and went to the bedroom and got a blanket to bring out to him.
He was at the window, staring out into the night.
“I brought you a blanket,” I said. “I’m going to go get you a pillow.”
He didn’t respond.
I went back for the pillow. I set about making the couch more comfortable, tossing the throw pillows onto one of the chairs and lining it with the blanket. I fluffed the pillow. When I was done, he was still staring out the window.
“Was it…” My voice died in my throat.
He turned around. “What?”
“Was it really so bad?” I said. “I mean, it was gross when Hadrian made us all dance naked for him and stuff, and I’m not… okay with it, but… well, my sister, she’s not like Hadrian. I mean, she couldn’t have been making you do things like… like that. She thought you guys had a relationship, and you were her only blood slave and…”
“Hadrian made you do what?” Landon’s face twisted. His eyes flashed yellow.
I took a step backward. Damn it. I hadn’t realized that I was scared of him, but I was. Seeing him lose it when I’d been in that cage had affected me more than I thought. “You know how they are,” I whispered. “They treat the blood slaves like toys.”
“Yes,” he said.
“But my sister couldn’t have been like that.”
He shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about it. How many times do I have to say that?”
“Sorry,” I murmured.
The silence hung thickly between us.
“I really am sorry,” I said. “I’ll…” I turned and flung my hands in the direction of the bedroom. When I looked back at him, he was staring out the window again. I started to leave the room.
“Camber?”
“Yeah?” I turned around.
He was looking straight at me. His voice was gravelly. “You didn’t… Hadrian didn’t make you… Was it more than just taking off your clothes?”
“He made me kiss other blood slaves,” I said. “But no, nothing beyond that.”
“Sorry.” He shook his head. “It’s none of my business.”
“It’s okay to ask,” I said. “And I am your business. I think I am.”
“Camber…” He sighed again.
We stayed like that, just looking at each other, and the moments started to stretch out between us, long and languid. I might never understand what it was that had passed between him and Desta, but I knew that they’d had a very physical relationship. I knew that it had been against Landon’s will. And I guessed maybe I would really never understand what that was like. At least, I hoped I wouldn’t. I didn’t want to know what that was like.
Maybe I wasn’t trying hard enough to imagine it.
Maybe it wasn’t what my sister had done, but that it had gone on and on. Landon had been with Desta for years. I’d been a blood slave for less than a week. Maybe having your will overridden like that, again and again, maybe it broke things in a person. Maybe it…
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“For what?”
“I’ll never ask you to talk about Desta again,” I said. “And if you don’t want to help me get her out, you don’t have to. You can go, run into the woods, and I’ll get her out myself.”
“Hey.” He crossed the room to me. He tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. “I wouldn’t let you do something like that on your own.”
Now we were close, and I thought of that kiss we’d shared. It seemed like so long ago, and I could hardly remember what it had been like. I wanted to kiss him again. I wanted my lips on his and my body pressed into his hard, warm, broad chest. My breath came in fits and starts and my heart wasn’t beating in time.
His gaze flicked to my lips and then back up to my eyes.
I waited. Was he going to kiss me?
He moved forward, his face coming for mine.
I slammed my eyes shut.
But instead, he just brought his forehead to rest against my own. “She’s your sister. And she’s… maybe she didn’t understand. We’ll get her out together. I promise.”
“Okay,” I said.
“Okay.” He put his arms around me, tugging my body close. His hand came up behind my neck, tucking my face against his chest. He folded himself around me.
I clung to him.
It was good.
“You don’t have to stay on the couch,” I breathed. “It’s a big bed.”
“That,” he whispered in my ear, “is an incredibly stupid idea.”
“I thought I made you stupid.”
“Not that stupid.”
* * *
I woke up the next morning to Desta shaking me awake. “What the hell? Why is Landon on your couch?” she whispered loudly, like she was afraid of waking him up.
I stretched. I was still half asleep. “Uh… I don’t know. They brought him here yesterday morning.”
“Viggo’s doing this to make me crazy.” Desta paced at the foot of my bed, wringing her hands. “I can’t believe he would put Landon here with you. What the hell is he thinking?”
I struggled to sit up in bed. Actually, when she pointed it out, it didn’t make any sense. Why would Viggo put Landon and I together, knowing we’d scheme a way to escape? On the other hand, maybe that was his plan. He seemed to want to do what he could to make Desta happy.
Maybe he wanted to let us go, but given the political climate, he couldn’t do it outright. He was hoping that Landon and I would escape on our own.
Or was that expecting too much kindness out of Viggo? Did he really care about my sister’s happiness or did he just see her as another plaything, the way vampires seemed to view everything?
It didn’t matter. Desta was here. We could all get out together. I rubbed my face. “Okay, actually, this is perfect. You’re here, and we’ll all escape together.”
“What?” said Desta. “Don’t be crazy. Who said anything about me escaping?”
“You want to be rid of Viggo, right?”
“Haven’t we gone through this?” she said. “I can’t live in the woods. How will I get blood? Besides, if I escape, Viggo will hunt me to the ends of the earth.”
“We’re going to force a witch to give us a protection spell. It’ll hide you too,” I said. “And you can drink my blood.”
“Camber, come on.”
Whatever, I’d convince her in a minute. I had suddenly had a really great idea. The whole plan was coming together. I jumped out of bed. “You stay here. I have to go talk to Landon.”
“What, you don’t want me to overhear or something?”
“No, I just don’t think he wants to be around you, not when you violated him over and over again for years of his life.”
Desta’s mouth dropped open.
“I think he’s trying to get over it,” I said. “But it’s probably better if you give him space.”
“Is that really what he thinks?” she said. “He told you that? He used that word?”
I held up a finger. “I’ll be right back.” I darted into the living room.
Landon was sitting up on the couch. “What the hell are you saying to Desta, huh?”
“Okay, look,” I said. “She’s here, and so we need to do it now.”
“Do what?” said Landon.
“You rage out. Desta can protect me, so I’ll be safe. Then you can break your chain, and we’ll all go together. We’re not going to get a better chance. Come on.”
“Hold on a second. I just woke up.”
“Can you rage out on your own?” I said. “I can strip if you need me to. I mean…” I surveyed myself. �
��I did just wake up. Maybe I’m not especially sexy at the moment. Do you want me to go brush my hair or—”
“Camber.” He glared at me.
“Yeah?”
“Stop,” he said.
Desta appeared in the doorway to the living room. “Um, what are you saying to him? What kind of crazy plan do you have?”
“Desta, I may need to get naked,” I said. “So, if you could just hang back for a minute, but be ready to grab me if he’s coming at me—”
“Don’t,” said Landon. He threw off the covers and stood up. “I don’t need you to…” He released and retracted his claws.
“So, you can just switch it on, then?” I said. “I wasn’t sure if you had to be, you know, excited.”
“I can’t just switch it on,” said Landon. “I do have to be… but I can, you know, get there without…” He waved his hand at me.
“Right,” I said. “Sure. Of course. That totally makes sense.”
“Why do you want Landon to rage out?” said Desta.
I turned back to her. “I really think it would be better if you were not in the same room as him.”
“Stop trying to take care of me,” Landon growled at me. He stalked over to Desta. “Listen, do you think you could take me if I was in rage mode? Have you seen a bloodhound like that?”
“When I went out into the woods with the bloods, I saw them that way,” said Desta.
“Hey,” I said. “That reminds me. What the hell were you even doing out there? Because it doesn’t seem like vampires go to the woods that often. It seems like they mostly stay in the city and go to parties.”
“I volunteered,” said Desta. “Viggo indulged me. I was trying to protect you. That should be obvious.” She turned back to Landon. “Why would you need to be in rage mode?”
“To break his chain,” I said.
“This?” said Desta, reaching out to pick up the chain.
“Yeah,” I said.
Desta grabbed the back of Landon’s collar. She tugged.
The chain broke free. Just like that.
“Oh,” I said. “Or, uh, that works too. And is much less complicated.”
Landon fingered the collar at his neck.
“I could probably get that off too,” said Desta. “But I’m really confused. How are you two planning to escape? There are guards on the door.”
“Out the window,” I said. “I’m going to shift, and then we’ll jump.”
“That’s a terrible idea,” said Desta.
“Why?” I said.
“Do you have any idea how many stories up you are?”
“Well, sure, but it’s not going to kill us,” I said.
“It won’t kill you, but it’ll take time to heal,” she said. “And it’ll be really painful. And you’ll break a lot of bones. I saw a vampire who survived a bad car crash. He had to have a lot of his bones rebroken and set properly because they healed badly the first time.”
I chewed on my lip.
Landon folded his arms over his chest. “Well, Camber can just shift.”
I turned to him. “But you can’t. Desta can’t.”
“You’d be out of it after you hit the ground anyway,” said Desta. “You wouldn’t be conscious to shift. It would cause a big commotion, and when you came to, Viggo would have locked you up somewhere more secure. Or else he’d just have your heads cut off because he was sick of the bother.”
I hesitated. And then I trudged back over to one of the chairs in the living room and sat down slowly. “So, we can’t go out the window.”
“No,” said Desta. “You can’t.”
“That sucks,” I said, letting myself sink back into the chair. I had been really excited about my scheming.
Desta came over and knelt down in front of me. “Don’t give up hope. I’m going to get you out of here. Both of you.”
“How?” came Landon’s voice. I looked up to see him across the room, in the doorway to the kitchen. He was leaning up against the door frame.
Desta stood up. “I haven’t worked that out yet, but I will do it. Viggo might leave Camber alive for a while, but you… he sees you as a rival for my affections. He’s jealous of you.”
“Right,” said Landon darkly. “I forgot that we have to play the game where we feel sorry for you because the vampire king wants in your pants.”
Desta’s face twitched.
I stood up too. “Okay, you two, different rooms. Come on, Desta, let’s go back to the bedroom.”
“I’ll just leave,” said Desta. “I needed to make sure you were all right, Camber. That’s the only reason I’m here. If it’s easier for Landon if I’m not around—”
“I’m fine,” said Landon. “Why wouldn’t I be fine?” He glowered at Desta.
“You seem fine,” I said.
“I am,” he said, and he sauntered across the room slowly. He stopped when he was about a foot from Desta. He stared into her eyes, his expression hard.
She swallowed and looked away. “You know, Landon, I’ve told you how sorry I was more than once,” she told the carpet. “I never knew how bad it was for you. I really didn’t.”
“Sure,” he said sarcastically. “You had no idea, because you’re just that especially stupid. You were surrounded by other vampires with their own mindless, fawning blood slaves trailing around, but everything coming out of my mouth was my genuine feelings.”
She flinched. “I guess… I wanted it to be true. I wanted you—”
“Never going to happen,” he bit out.
She lifted her chin, her eyes flashing. “Right, because you’re trying to take advantage of my sister. And now you’re a bloodhound. Now you’re dangerous—”
“There’s nothing with your sister!” Landon snapped.
“What?” I said.
He looked at me. “Camber, I just… I meant…”
“You act like you’re the only one who was hurt,” said Desta.
“Well, look at me and look at you,” said Landon, gesturing back and forth between them. “Which of us seems to be indelibly affected?”
“But that’s the whole point,” said Desta. “Viggo did this to you, and I am trying to protect you—”
“I don’t want anything else from you,” said Landon. “Stop trying to make it better. You can’t make it better. I’m always going to hate you, and I have every right to hate you, so… stop being…” He shifted on his feet. “Nice.”
Tears were welling up in Desta’s eyes. “Okay, right, great. I get it. You hate me for hurting you. You hate me for helping you. That’s fair.”
Landon sighed. He wasn’t meeting her gaze anymore.
“Maybe I should just stop protecting you,” said Desta. “Maybe I should let Viggo do what he wants with you. After all, I’m not sure I trust you with Camber.”
“Desta,” I said. “Come on.”
“If you hurt my sister—”
I grabbed her by the hand and dragged her out of the living room, to the front door.
When we got there, she yanked her hand out of mine. “You’re locked in with him, and he really could go into rage mode. And he’s… he’s just not a very nice person, Camber.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I know how you feel about Landon, and I should never have… It’s only that I basically figured there could never really be anything between us, because he’s a bloodhound, so I thought that it was stupid to dwell on it. But it’s really awful of me. My sister’s ex? I don’t know what—”
“He doesn’t think of himself as my ex,” said Desta.
“He…”
“He thinks of me like I think of Viggo,” said Desta. “Only worse, because sometimes Viggo, he…” She ran a hand through her hair. “It’s like sometimes I see something in him, something almost human. Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn’t just give in.”
“Desta, no,” I said. “He’s… he’s evil.”
“You know what he said to me the first time I refused him?” Desta said. “He said tha
t he was patient, and that he’d wait decades, centuries if necessary. He said he’d win me over eventually. He said he was always bored, and I was the first challenge he’d had in a long time. He said… Sometimes when he looks at me…”
“Wait, you like Viggo?”
“No,” said Desta, very firmly. “No, I hate him. Of course I do. And Landon hates me, and he always will. And Landon, he… he’s fallen for you.”
“I don’t think he’s—”
“Be careful,” she said. “That’s all I’m saying.” She opened the door.
“Look, consider whatever thing there was with me and Landon over,” I said. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”
She shut the door in my face.
I sighed, closing my eyes. I put my hand against the door.
Landon appeared at the end of the hallway.
“Hey,” I said, twisting my hands together.
“Hey,” he said. “Look, you don’t have to worry. I’ll stay away from you.”
“Good,” I said, even though it wasn’t good. It was awful. “That’s the way it needs to be.”
“Didn’t I tell you that you and me were stupid?”
I nodded. I would have spoken, but there was a lump growing in my throat.
CHAPTER EIGHT
It turned out to be a good thing that Desta had left the silver collar on Landon, because it was easier for Landon to pretend he was chained up when Viggo showed up at our place later that evening.
I figured that Viggo wanted Landon to be chained up. I also figured that Viggo wanted Landon to be miserable, and I kept shooting glances at him, trying to convey to him that he should pretend to be really upset about life in general.
Viggo was pacing in my living room, gesturing animatedly with one hand.
Landon was sitting against the wall where the chain was connected and rolling his eyes periodically.
I was standing by the window, arms crossed over my chest, trying to figure out how to get rid of Viggo.
“I thought I could be patient,” Viggo was saying. “After all, I’ve been the king of vampires for hundreds of years, and women have come and gone. Some have been stubborn, to be sure, but none like your sister. She has done something to me, and I’m losing my mind. I’ve gone completely mad, I swear it. I can’t stop thinking about her. When I wake up, she’s the first thing on my mind. When I go to sleep, she’s the last thing I think about. I spend all day thinking about what I can do that will make her smile, how I can please her. It’s abominable.”
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