“Please continue down the hall. You can’t miss the master’s office.” The elevator doors closed, and they were left alone.
“This is so weird,” Evie murmured.
He nodded in silent agreement. As one, they headed down the short hallway the woman had pointed them toward. Large, double doors stood open at the end; they were indeed expected.
Nicolas stepped in first, blocking Evie with an arm. She grumbled something unpleasant at him. He might pay for it later, but if there was an ambush waiting in that office, he would be the one to take the brunt of the attack.
But there was only a man sitting behind a desk. He looked up as they entered and then rose from his desk.
“You must be Nicolas,” he said, then his eyes slid to Evie. “And your lovely mate, of course, Evie. I am Corbin.” He walked around the desk, revealing no weapons that Nicolas could see. But he knew better than to trust that. A vampire’s body was his weapon. He didn’t need anything so gauche as a knife or gun to kill. His sharp fangs, inhuman strength, and speed would do just fine.
The thought made Nicolas step fully in front of Evie.
The vampire frowned. “She will come to no harm here. Neither will you. I do not go back on my word.”
The invitation had promised they’d be safe if they met with the master. That his word was his bond. As reassuring as the words were, behind them was a subtle threat. The man—the vampire—did not like his oath questioned.
Evie peeked out from behind Nicolas. “Nice to meet you, Corbin,” she said, as if this were any ordinary meeting.
The vampire’s smile returned. “Please, let us sit.” He gestured to a small conference table on one side of the room.
“You have to forgive Nicolas,” Evie said, squeezing his arm. “This meeting was unexpected.”
The vampire waited for them to sit before sitting himself. “I do things a bit differently than most city rulers. And I’m given to understand that neither of you have experience with vampires. Your surprise is entirely justified.” His attention turned to Nicolas. “As is your caution.”
Nicolas narrowed his eyes, studying the man. So much about this seemed wrong. Not only the location—though he certainly hadn’t anticipated meeting the vampire in a bustling, large office building in downtown Chicago. But it was more than that. It was the man himself.
With wavy black hair, he stood a little under six feet tall. He wasn’t memorable, save for the light color of his blue eyes, and if he hadn’t been a vampire, Nicolas wouldn’t have noticed him in a crowd. He was hardly the Dracula legend.
“I would offer you my hand, but I see you would not take it.” Again, a tight-lipped, polite smile. Was the man attempting to hide his teeth? Surely he didn’t think they would soon forget what he was. Was it possible the vampire was trying to make them more comfortable? The idea seemed ludicrous, and yet, everything else about this man had turned out very differently than Nicolas had expected. “Would you care for any refreshments? I can have something brought in.”
“No, thank you,” Evie answered for him in a far more polite tone than he would have been able to manage.
“Very well. Let’s get right to it, shall we? I’m told you’re here to escort our local tigers back to Colorado. Back to your clan.”
“And what business would that be of yours?” Nicolas asked. No matter how polite this man was, no matter how seemingly normal, he was still a vampire. And that meant whatever happened to the weretigers was none of his damn business.
“I assure you, what happens to all others in my domain is my concern.” He leaned back in his chair and placed his hands behind his head, a speculative look on his face. But he didn’t look upset. He stretched his legs out, revealing expensive Italian leather shoes, as if he hadn’t a care in the world. “Everything that happens in my city is my business.”
Nicolas snarled but stayed in his seat. “You’re a vampire.”
If anything, the vampire’s expression grew more serene at Nicolas’s outburst. “Make no mistake, Nicolas. Chicago is my city. Everything that happens within its borders—and a rather wide area around it—is my responsibility.” He shrugged. “But I can’t blame you for the misconception. Where you come from, things are very different. And I’m given to understand that your clan recently had unpleasant dealings with a vampire.”
“You could say that,” Evie said. “A stalker set her sights on the prime’s mate.”
“That stalker is no longer a problem.” The threat and Nicolas’s words were clear. Yet still, the vampire across from them did not look offended.
He leaned against the table, steepling his fingers in front of his chest. “Messy business, that.” The vampire smiled, revealing long fangs. “Stalkers can be a real pain in the ass.”
Nicolas started. What the hell? The man’s long fangs denoted that he was not a stalker—one of the small percentage of vampires who were even more powerful than their brethren. This man had held the city of Chicago for better than one hundred years. How had he done that when he wasn’t even a stalker?
Vampires weren’t, as far as he knew, loyal, law-abiding creatures by nature. How the hell had this plain vampire—not exceptional in any way that Nicolas could see—held the city for so long? Not only against his own kind, but against other groups who might want to take over. The weretigers, for one. And he understood the local werewolf pack to be large, powerful, and led by an old leader of their own.
How had he kept control?
But the vampire’s expression revealed no answers, and Nicolas wasn’t stupid enough to ask.
“So tell me, young Nicolas, lovely Evie… Why should I allow you to take the tigers from my domain?”
Anger rushed through him, and Nicolas opened his mouth, but Evie beat him to it.
“Because they’re dying here.” Her fingernails dug into his back. The fact that she didn’t want him to speak was obvious. He understood why—the vampire was unlikely to respond to his territorial response. But he didn’t like this bullshit conversation.
“They’re ours. Our people. Not yours,” Nicolas bit out.
Corbin’s lips curled into a hint of a smile. “Perhaps that is true. But I will not allow those under my protection to be taken somewhere where they might not be so well cared for.”
“You think they’ve flourished here?” Nicolas’s asked, unable to wrap his mind around that.
Finally, the amusement faded from Corbin’s expression. “Perhaps not. My influence with the tigers has always been…limited. But I will not see them driven into a worse situation.”
That this vampire gave a damn defied all logic.
“I don’t particularly like Nicolas’s brother,” Evie said. Nicolas fought not to turn and stare at her. But he couldn’t allow himself to let this vampire out of his line of sight.
“Hardly a glowing recommendation,” Corbin observed.
“He’s not a nice guy,” Evie agreed. “But he’s a good leader, as far as I can tell. And given a little bit of time, he may be a great one.”
“Interesting, especially coming from you.” At Nicolas’s questioning glance, Corbin added, “I can’t imagine a human woman, mated to a royal, would have been particularly welcomed by a tiger clan.”
Exactly how much did this vampire know about them?
Corbin cocked his head to the side, as if he were listening to something. But Nicolas couldn’t hear anything, and if there was one thing he was confident about in this crazy situation, it was that a tiger’s ears were far better than that of any vampire.
“It appears you have brought with you and unexpected guest,” the vampire said.
A sound touched Nicolas’s ears then. The elevator doors slid open then shut down the hall. He jumped to his feet, ready to deal with an attack. The attack he’d, quite frankly, been expecting since they’d arrived.
But only a single vampire stepped inside the office—although he wasn’t alone. Struggling against what must have been a death grip on her arm, Annabel c
ursed at the vampire holding her.
“Annabel? What are you doing here?” Evie asked.
Annabel stopped trying to get away from the vampire gripping her arm, but the vampire continued to hold her, looking bored. If anything, seeing them didn’t calm her. She looked even more nervous. “You forgot your stuff.” Using her free arm, she held a bag that didn’t look familiar to Nicolas.
The sack dropped from her hand, and out spilled a bunch of stuff that took Nicolas’s brain a moment to recognize. What the hell was that? A large cross? Some water? Oh shit. That was definitely a stake.
Annabel had carried in a bag of vampire killing equipment.
The vampire holding Annabel took in the stuff on the ground, then turned to her and hissed, revealing fangs just as long as the master vampire had shown them. Nicolas felt his face change, and he hissed back at the vampire, his own fangs forming in his mouth, and fur pushing out from his skin.
Annabel paled, then opened her mouth to scream.
Chapter Five
“Stop,” Corbin said. The command was clear, and shockingly, Annabel obeyed.
Evie took an involuntary step forward, but Nicolas gave her a warning glance over his shoulder. It wasn’t the look that halted her in her tracks, though, it was his face.
Holy shit.
He’d shifted. Only partially, but his tiger features were clear. When her shocked eyes met his, he grimaced. Then he closed his eyes, and his characteristics began to shift back to that of a man.
“You may leave us,” Corbin said. “But the human will remain.” He glanced at Nicolas. “As my guest, of course.”
The other vampire—presumably one of Corbin’s guards—gave a short bow and left.
Annabel simply stood there, and Evie’s stomach flip-flopped with dread.
Corbin approached Annabel, and while her eyes widened, she didn’t scream. His voice calm, he said, “Come sit with us for a moment, pretty one.”
Perspiration gave Annabel’s brow a bright sheen. And for a moment, she hesitated. Then, taking in a long breath of air, she straightened her spine and walked to the conference table. With more grace than Evie thought she could have managed under the same circumstances, she sat.
Corbin’s eyes never left Annabel as she walked. But he didn’t look angry at her trespass. If anything, he looked intrigued.
“Interesting,” he murmured.
“Please don’t be angry with her about the bag. It’s mine. It was an impulse,” Evie said, careful not to glance at the bag or its contents, which were still strung around his office floor.
Corbin dismissed her concern with a wave. “I fear nothing in that bag. If anything, this whole encounter has been amusing.” His gaze moved back to Annabel. “And fascinating.”
Evie didn’t like the sound of that. She didn’t like much of anything about the seemingly normal-looking vampire. When they’d first entered the room, she thought they were in the wrong place. The vampire looked like an everyday, average man.
She didn’t buy that for a minute.
Sure, there were little things about him that drew the eye. His eyes, a stark, light blue. Nicolas had assured her before they’d come that there was no magic in a vampire’s gaze. That any power they possessed didn’t require meeting their eyes. And yet… The seemingly ordinary vampire’s eyes had given her a chill. It was probably just the color—they were unusually light. That, combined with the fact that she knew he was a vampire, was no doubt the source of her unease. But now…
There was no way that Annabel had come and sat at that table so calmly without being influenced by the vampire.
Evie hadn’t even known such a thing was possible. Had Nicolas? She shot him a glance, but his hard gaze was locked on the vampire. Waiting to see what he would do next. Ready to jump in and defend her and Annabel should the need arise. But she didn’t think that he’d known about this before they’d come. If he had, she doubted they would’ve ever stepped into this vampire’s domain.
“You will not hurt her,” Nicolas said. There was no question in his tone.
Corbin didn’t even spare him a glance. But he did reply. “I’m not going to hurt her. So you may calm yourself, tiger.”
Nicolas’s jaw tensed, but he didn’t argue. No doubt he didn’t want to antagonize the vampire—or rather, Evie had no doubt he would like to antagonize the vampire, but not when her and Annabel’s safety was on the line.
Corbin focused wholly on Annabel, and while the woman seemed dazed, her expression was beginning to look more normal. But for once, she kept her mouth shut. Her nervous gaze darting anywhere but at the vampire who sat next to her and stared so intensely.
“Do you understand what you just saw, little one?” Corbin asked her.
Her eyes dragged slowly back to the vampire. Obviously terrified, she nodded.
He arched a brow at her. “Would you like to forget it?”
Despite her fear, her voice came out clear. “No. Don’t you mess around in my head.”
Her immediate understanding of what the vampire had been asking startled Evie, but it didn’t seem to surprise Corbin. Expression grave, he said, “If I allow you to leave here with your memory intact, it will be my responsibility to deal with you should you decide to share this information with anyone else.” He leaned in, opening his mouth to reveal his fangs. “And I’d be loath to deny the world such a beauty as yourself. But that doesn’t mean I won’t. Do I make myself clear?”
She nodded even as Nicolas exploded out of his seat. But before he could get farther than a step, the master was there. Evie blinked. He hadn’t moved, as far she had seen. He was simply in one place clear on the other side of the conference table, and then in another. One of his hands closed around Nicolas’s throat as the other blocked his swing. Nicolas’s other arm came up, but only halfway. Inexplicably, he simply stopped moving.
Evie cried out and jumped out of her chair. Unsure what to do, she didn’t go farther. The man held Nicolas easily. Nicolas was the strongest man—the strongest anything—she’d ever seen in her life. What could she hope to do to save him? Fear and frustration curled in her stomach and chest.
Nothing.
There was nothing she could do against this powerful creature that held the love of her life. Her soul. Her mate.
“I am going to release your mind, tiger. But I would like you to think hard about how easy it would be for me to kill your mate. You have to understand the secret that I am asking Annabel to keep is one that we must all respect. And the duty to guard it is all of ours to bear.” He stepped back, releasing Nicolas. “I do not threaten her life easily. But it is something that must be said. She must be warned. She must understand the risk.”
Nicolas rubbed his neck, and Evie could see the tension in his frame. He wanted to attack this vampire—she could see that. Wanted to make sure she and Annabel were safe. But he knew he could only accomplish one of those things.
Corbin moved back another step and smoothed his button-down shirt. None of the strain of the confrontation seemed to touch him. And he again wore the same even, polite expression he’d had since they’d entered his office.
And suddenly, she understood. Why this vampire could rule a city like Chicago for over a century. There was something quite powerful and terrible lurking under his plain façade. And she had the feeling they had only barely glimpsed his power.
“I see the protective heart beneath your chest, Nicolas. I see it, and I approve. You may not believe me, and you may not understand me, but I’m equally as protective of my domain as you are of the people who fall under yours. More, I see your mate is just as fierce and pure of intention as yourself.” A slight smile. “The tigers may go with you. Guard them well.”
He turned to Annabel, who still looked more than a little dazed and confused. “And remember your promise here, young woman. The knowledge you carry is a burden you must bear now, too. Remember, I offered to take it from you.”
With that, the vampire master of Chi
cago turned on his heel and walked back behind his large mahogany desk.
The dismissal was obvious, and Evie hardly dared to acknowledge the hope that they’d actually made it through this blossoming in her chest. Wordlessly, she went to Annabel’s side and helped the woman to her feet. She seemed steady enough, but Evie worried the shock would hit her and bring her to her knees.
It had done that to Evie the night she’d found out that things that went bump in the night were real. And the way she’d found out was almost gentle compared to this.
Nicolas came to Annabel’s other side, but the woman shied away from him. Frowning, he stepped back. Evie shot him a sympathetic look over Annabel’s head. She could hardly blame the woman. With Nicolas lagging just behind, they headed for the door.
Corbin called out as they were leaving. “Don’t forget, tiger, you have it in you to be a prime, too.”
Nicolas stiffened, but he didn’t reply. Instead, he took the lead and headed to the elevator. To their passage out of this crazy, fucked up place.
As they drove back to Annabel’s, the ride was eerily silent. Even Annabel’s driving seemed more muted and less exuberant.
Evie tried to remember, tried to think back to when she’d found out the world was not as simple a place as she’d thought. But her memories were clouded. When she’d first learned about Nicolas, he had just saved her from a bad winter storm. After they’d made love in his cabin. She’d been terrified. Run out into the snow. Nicolas was forced to carry her back before she froze to death.
Sure, she’d been afraid, but her situation had been so different. She couldn’t imagine how Annabel was feeling. The poor woman had been confronted with the vampire and a tiger—practically strangers, all of them.
Nicolas may have scared her, but she’d had the benefit of being saved by him first. Had seen his humanity as they made love before his nature had been revealed. Annabel had no such benefit.
“About what happened back there—” Evie began.
Prime Series Collection: (Broken Prime, Prime Desire, Mated Prime) Page 12
