by Nell Stark
Panic rose in her eyes. “No. No one. Ever.”
“So I’m the only one you’ve ever made love to in that bed.”
“The only one.”
“Good.” I considered our options as she combed her fingers through my hair. “Let’s stay in your current apartment for now. We can find a new place together later if we want to.”
Her radiant smile was contagious, and for the first time in months, I found myself excited about what the future would hold. The car pulled up at the Bank of Mithras a few moments later, where Val gave me the access code for the side entrance used by the vampires and few shifters who needed to access the bank at night.
“Kyle will probably be here,” she said as we went down to the nocturnal lobby. “He works here as one of my assistants. Is that okay?”
“I’ll manage.” I didn’t relish seeing Kyle. The last time we’d been in the same place, I had lost control of my panther. But at least Val hadn’t slept with him.
When we entered the bustling lobby, all eyes turned to Val, who slipped her arm around my waist. I struggled with self-consciousness, but Val seemed relaxed despite being the object of so many curious stares. Then again, she had grown up under this kind of scrutiny.
“Good evening, everyone,” she said, raising her voice so the entire room could hear her. “Employees and guests alike. I want to be certain that you’ve all been introduced to my partner, Alexa Newland. Please ensure that she is afforded the same courtesy and respect you show to me.”
As we walked across the floor, I finally understood what Homecoming queens felt like. Touched as I was by Valentine’s need to make a grand gesture, I was ready to be out of the spotlight. “What prompted the speech?” I whispered.
“Something I remembered from my teenage years about how to spread news quickly: tell just enough of the right people, and everyone will know within hours.” She rested her hand at the small of my back. “And I need everyone to know I’m yours again.”
I leaned into her as we walked, momentarily overcome by the passion behind her words. Yours again. In the darkest times, I had given up all hope of ever wresting her back over what had seemed an impassable divide, and now she was making public proclamations about belonging to me. I could look into the future without feeling fear or loneliness. Valentine was my eternity, and we could embark on our shared life together knowing we’d been made all the stronger by the crucible we’d had to endure.
When Kyle met us at the entrance to Val’s office and began talking a mile a minute, my nerves were soothed by his obvious anxiety.
“Kyle,” Val said, cutting off his babbling. “There are some additional details I want you to know. Alexa found a way to reverse my transition to full vampire. And Sebastian and I are getting a divorce, at my instigation.”
Kyle blinked, too shocked to speak, and Val clapped him on the shoulder. “Spread the word for me, will you? Things are going to work a little differently around here now. I’ll call a staff meeting for the beginning of next week.”
She turned and led me past Kyle’s desk, through a waiting area, and into her office. When the door closed behind us, she immediately shrugged out of her suit jacket. “I’m glad that’s over with.”
Too busy taking in the décor of Val’s office, I didn’t reply. She had furnished the room with pieces that combined an old-world consciousness with modern materials. Her desk was a steampunk masterpiece: shaped like a bent airplane wing, its distressed aluminum surface gleamed under the lamplight. The conference table was made of salvaged wood that fit together without any screw or bolt, and the chairs around it were upholstered in supple, chocolate-colored leather.
“What do you think?” she asked as she sat in the chair behind her desk.
“Comfortable yet distinguished. I like it very much. It suits you.”
She grinned, a hungry glint in her eyes, and gestured for me to come closer. I was just about to ask whether she had locked the door, when her phone rang. With a sigh, she lifted the receiver.
“Oh? Yes, I did see them. Well, ah, send him in then.”
After replacing the phone, she got up and joined me near the table. “I’m about to be paid a visit by a very angry Pritchard,” she said. “Will you stay?”
“Are you sure I shouldn’t go?”
“Please don’t,” she answered quickly. “This won’t take long. I promise.”
A moment later, Pritchard stormed in. He had dressed well for this meeting in a black suit and striped tie, but the polished effect was spoiled by the weight he’d put on since last I’d seen him.
“Pritchard,” Val greeted him before he could open his mouth. “You remember Alexa, I’m sure. Please have a seat. Would you like a scotch?”
“I sure as fuck will have some of your fucking scotch,” he growled. “It’s the least you can do.”
“I understand that you’re angry,” Val said as she poured the rich liquid into a snifter.
“Angry?” He shook his head. “You made me believe you were going to help me, and then you went behind my back and poisoned my investors against me!”
He took a long drink from the glass Val handed him. She sat next to me and leaned back in her chair, seeming unfazed by Pritchard’s rant. As I took in the strong, elegant lines of her stretched legs, I felt my desire reawaken. Val may have formerly eschewed this life, but it was already clear to me that she had the instincts for it.
“You’re right. That’s exactly what I did.”
Clearly, Pritchard hadn’t expected her to own up to her actions, and he sat gaping like a fish for several seconds. “So what are you going to do about it?” he asked belligerently.
Val rested her hands on the table, and I was momentarily distracted by the memory of exactly what her talented fingers could do. “Here’s what I propose,” she said. “Given that I now have your investors’ confidence, I’ll take over management of the fund. But I want you to be BlueFin’s president.”
He scowled. “What will my responsibilities be?”
“You’ll be the face of the fund. You’ll take all of the press calls and you’ll manage the relationships with BlueFin’s investors.”
He shot the rest of the glass back in one gulp, and my throat burned in empathy. “So basically, I’m your monkey with no real power.”
Val’s eyes glittered, and for a moment, I thought she might rise to his baiting. Instead, she folded her hands on the tabletop. “Yes. But you’ll be a very, very well paid monkey.”
Pritchard’s lip curled, but he held his temper in check. “Fine. What’s the next step?”
Val leaned back in her chair, and I could tell she was pleased. “My assistant will draw up the paperwork. It’ll be finalized by next week.”
He stood and reluctantly held out his hand. “I’ll wait for your call, then.”
Once Val had ushered him out, she returned to find me lounging in her desk chair. “You make a very sexy banker,” I told her as I propped my feet up onto her desk. I was gratified to see her eyes darken.
“Do I?” She stalked toward me, but stopped when I held out one hand.
“Don’t come any closer. And yes, you do. Who would have thought?”
Her smile was rueful. “I fit in well with the rest of my family when I’m behaving like a soulless vampire.”
“Come here,” I said, torn by the distress in her voice. When she was close enough, I slid one hand beneath her oxford shirt and rubbed the taut muscles of her abdomen. “I saw what you just did for Pritchard. You can be good at this without being ruthless.”
Val dropped to one knee and leaned in for a kiss. “Only when you’re with me, baby. Only then.”
The kiss deepened quickly, and we might have finally made love in her office if her phone hadn’t rung again. When she answered, I could hear the breathlessness in her voice, and I felt smug until alarm registered on her face. At that moment, my cell buzzed and I fished it out of my pocket to the sight of Solana’s new number.
“Solan
a,” I said, retreating to the other side of the room. With a twinge of shame, I found myself hoping to hear details about her rendezvous with Helen. “How are you?”
“I need your help,” Solana said, sounding disturbingly close to tears. “Helen just received a message from Brenner. She is planning to sacrifice herself to save the Sunrunner delegation, and I can’t talk her out of it. Will you come to the Headquarters building as soon as you can?”
I owed Solana more than my own life; I owed her Val’s. “Of course. I’ll be there right away.” Val set down her phone then, and I could tell from her shell-shocked expression that she had just heard the same news. A sense of dread tightened my throat. “We both will. Sit tight, okay? Don’t let her do anything drastic.”
“Hurry,” was all Solana said before disconnecting the call.
“That was Devon Foster,” Val said as I returned to her side. She looked dazed—as though she’d just weathered a nasty blow to the head. “Helen is going to walk into a death trap set by Brenner, and Foster wants me to talk her out of it. She thinks Helen might listen to me, since I’m a member of the Order.”
“My call was from Solana. Same message.” I ran my fingers through Val’s hair, needing the connection. “Not that Helen would listen to me in a million years, but Solana wants reinforcements.”
Val caught my free hand and pressed it to her lips. “I was hoping we’d have more time. This is going to get very ugly, very fast.”
She was right. This kind of power play could only end badly. Brenner had sidelined Malcolm, perhaps permanently. If he managed to remove Helen from the picture, he would create a power vacuum at the highest level of the Consortium. But despite the grim outlook, I felt hopeful. Val and I had already proven that we could survive anything as long as we were together. This would be no different.
“Oh, my love.” I leaned down to kiss her forehead. “We’ll get through this, I promise. And then we’ll have plenty of time just for us. I’m not accepting anything less than forever with you.”
Chapter Twenty-one
The new receptionist was clearly frightened, but she managed to hold herself together long enough to tell us that Helen was taking meetings in her office. We found ourselves alone in the elevator, and I went into Val’s arms willingly.
“Helen and I have had our differences,” she said as she stroked my hair. “Big ones. But I don’t want her to die, and definitely not like this.”
I slipped my hand beneath her shirt and lightly massaged the tight muscles of her lower back. I could feel her getting riled up, and I wanted to have all the information before we did anything rash. “Let’s just wait and hear what she has to say before we make any decisions.”
Devon Foster was standing guard outside Helen’s office, looking sick with anger. When she saw us approaching, relief momentarily eclipsed the rage clearly written on her face. Once, her attention would have been riveted to me, but now she was staring hard at Val.
“I’ve been hearing insane rumors about you.”
“For once, they might actually be true.” Val looked past Foster to the door. “We can talk about that later. Can I see her now?”
“She’s in with Constantine. She won’t be long. No one has lasted past ten minutes.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“She’s made up her mind to meet Brenner’s demands and won’t hear any criticism.”
Val frowned. “What are his demands, exactly?”
“You haven’t seen it yet?” Foster pulled out her phone. “He released this message two hours ago using the same distribution channels as when he delivered that proclamation about the virus last summer. Leon and I have been over it twenty times already, trying to figure out what we can do.”
She passed the phone to Val, who angled it so we could both see the screen. The video revealed a male figure, his face cast in shadow, seated behind a desk set in an alcove. Behind him, bay windows with a view of the surrounding nighttime cityscape stretched from the floor to the ceiling. When the figure switched on the desk lamp, my panther tried to lash out. She wanted Balthasar Brenner’s heart between her teeth.
“Easy, sweetheart,” Val murmured. When she began to rub my back, I realized I was trembling.
As I pulled deep, even breaths into my lungs, Brenner smiled into the camera. He wore a simple blue oxford shirt and his dark hair was pulled back into a long ponytail, just as I remembered. His smile reminded me of Sebastian’s—charming and charismatic. He looked normal, and that was the most frightening part of all.
“Good evening, Helen. I’d like to extend an invitation to you to join me here, at my suite in the Four Seasons, at midnight tomorrow.” He unclasped his hands and rested his muscular arms on the desk. “There is, you see, an experiment I’ve always wished to try. I’m deathly curious about how much time it takes for one of you Sunrunner vampires to immolate.”
Foster looked murderous, and Val was grinding her teeth. I leaned against her, needing to reassure her just as she had done for me a moment ago.
“If you come alone and unarmed as my test subject in this matter, the Sunrunners who are currently my guests will be released. However, if you do not abide by my precise terms, I’m afraid I will have to use all of the delegation members in my research.” He smiled again. “I very much look forward to hearing from you by daybreak regarding your intentions.”
When the video went dark, Val shoved the phone back at Foster. “Damn it!”
Foster was livid. “That rat bastard shot this video in the Ty Warner Penthouse of the Four Seasons—the most expensive hotel room in the city.”
“And he did his filming in front of the window with eastern exposure,” I added.
Foster gripped the door jamb so hard I thought it might crack. “Leon and I came up with some thoughts about how to extract the delegation right away, but Helen wouldn’t hear of it. She insists that meeting Brenner’s demands is the only way.”
“She can’t risk the delegates,” Val countered. “Bai is the second-in-command of the most powerful vampire in Asia and possibly the world. The rest of the group is comprised of more of Tian’s trusted lieutenants. Letting them die at Brenner’s hands would mean the end of Sunrunner support for the Consortium.”
“But wouldn’t the Consortium also suffer a deathblow if Helen were to die?” Foster asked. “Especially since Malcolm is still…recovering?”
Val shook her head. “The infrastructure of the Consortium will still exist if Helen were to die. She has no clear successor, but one could be put in her place.”
Foster opened her mouth to reply, but at that moment the door opened and Constantine emerged, his panther close to the surface. When he saw Valentine and me standing together, surprise eclipsed his internal struggle.
“You’ve returned.” He glanced from Val to me, his expression wary. “With success, I take it?”
I stepped forward to embrace him. “With great success. Can we talk soon?”
He nodded. “Come find me in the War Room.”
As we watched him walk way, Val looked troubled. “I need to apologize to him.”
“You don’t. He’s always understood the situation.”
“Even so.” She took my hand and rubbed her thumb in soothing circles over my skin. “I hurt you, and he feels protective of you. He should have my apology.”
Foster, who had ducked inside Helen’s office, returned to her post. “She’s ready for you. Both of you,” she amended when I hung back. That was strange. Helen had never particularly liked me, and I assumed she would have private matters to discuss with Val about the Order of Mithras.
Helen’s secretary barely even acknowledged us. She was simultaneously talking on the phone and typing furiously. When Val opened the door, I was even more surprised to see Solana seated next to Helen at the small conference table. Sorrow suffused her face, making her even lovelier.
“Solana tells me you have done the impossible,” Helen said to me as Val and I sat in the remaini
ng chairs.
“Thanks entirely to her generosity.”
Pride flickered in the brief curve to her lips, coupled with some other, softer emotion. But then it was gone, and she turned her attention to Valentine. “How do you feel?”
Val reached for my hand. “Wonderful. As though the past several months never happened.”
Helen’s eyes narrowed. “Although, of course, they did.”
“I’m not about to neglect my responsibilities, if that’s what concerns you,” Val said firmly. I found myself impressed. I’d never heard her use such an assertive tone with Helen before. “But from now on, I’ll attend to them in ways that won’t jeopardize my relationship with Alexa.”
Helen leaned back, seemingly mollified. She stroked Solana’s arm, and I wondered again how they had spent their brief time together. “I presume you’ve heard Balthasar’s ultimatum.”
Val nodded. “Is there no other way?”
“Leon, Devon, and I discussed my options. Accepting Balthasar’s terms is the only course of action for which the risk level is acceptable.” She glanced at Solana, then me. “If you would be so kind as to step out, there are a few matters I must discuss with Valentine in private.”
“I’ll be waiting,” I told Val, leaning in for a quick kiss before Solana and I returned to the corridor.
Once we were outside, I embraced her. Despite Foster’s inquisitive gaze, Solana sagged against me, clearly distraught.
“I don’t know what to do, what to think,” she said, her voice snarled by unshed tears. “We had only hours together, before that monster sent out his despicable threat. It flicked some sort of switch in her, and nothing I could say made any difference.”
I grasped her shoulders and held her at arm’s length. “So you think she’s wrong? That there are options she’s choosing not to explore?”
Solana’s eyes were wild with grief. “I think she believes that giving up her life is her only proactive option against him. She is burdened by the weight of constantly being on the defensive, and she hasn’t been able to adequately protect her constituents. Until now.”
