Angelica sighed. “Sometimes owners click better with another realtor. I’ll look into it to ensure she wasn’t coerced. Foremost do try upon occasion.”
Good to know.
She rubbed her temples. “Private sale rates are up by 0.5 percent.”
I shoved back my satisfaction. “Any idea why?”
“Kyros thinks the properties refusing to sell to Live Right and Foremost value local business and a social cause. He’s considering a rebranding of the business as we focus on the last available properties.”
I blew out a breath. “Drastic stuff. Surely half a percent can’t make too much difference? We can just approach the new buyers.”
“Not if they’re overseas investors. Which a growing number are. For starters, they’re not regular spenders in the city, and in addition, it makes them incredibly hard to track down to secure their homes.”
I looked at her. “I never thought about that. You’re right. That’s not good. Is there anything we can do about it?”
“Win Ingenium before the last of the real estate is gone,” she said, shooting me an amused look.
I smiled, smoothing my blood-red wrap-around dress. “Sounds good to me.”
My phone chimed as I stepped off the elevator.
“Go ahead.” I searched in my Lili handbag, pulling out my phone.
The message was from Gina.
My eyes narrowed. Tonight was King Julius’s roll. Her timing, yet again, was impeccable.
I clicked on the message.
Do you remember our deal?
Shit.
I typed back.
I remember.
She had an answer already?
I couldn’t be on this level if the news about Grandmother was bad. Or good. Rushing back into the elevator, I pushed Level 65 and paced inside as the lift lurched down a level.
I ran to Kyros’s office as fast as my heels would let me and burst through the doors, taking up my pacing there instead. Shit, shit, shit.
My phone rang.
“What’s happening?” Kyros asked.
I released a pent-up breath. “Nothing. I’m okay. I just got a message from her. I think she has something.”
“… I see. I’ll be right down.”
“No.” I glanced at my watch. 11:56 p.m. “She’ll message back just before the roll. I’ll wait to look until you give your debrief.”
I could feel his frustration. Oddly, that meant something.
“Truly,” I told him. “I’ll wait.”
There were things I wanted to handle by myself—most things. There were others I knew I couldn’t without Tommy. Clearly, I didn’t want to do this without Kyros.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” he said.
I nodded—because that made sense on a phone call—and disconnected.
I set the phone on his desk and resumed pacing, trying to keep calm, both for myself and for him.
My phone chimed, and I glanced at my watch.
11:58 p.m.
Yep. I’d called it.
If Gina wasn’t using information about my grandmother’s death to affect Kyros through me, I might’ve admired the tactic.
The phone chimed again.
11:59 p.m.
And again.
00:00 a.m.
I squeezed my eyes closed, perching on the seat in the middle of the room. Fuck me, it was the torture chair.
Oh well. There were worse things in the world. My phone chimed again, and I gripped either side of my head, focusing on my breathing.
Was it good?
Did Grandmother die a natural death? Was there an undiagnosed problem with her heart? Or did the Tonyi triplets visit her that day? Maybe someone else from Clan Fyrlia. Or … I lifted my head, from Clan Sundulus? This clan knew who I really was—most of them anyway. What if someone I liked had gone to see her? What if I’d joked and laughed with them for the last month? What if it was Lionel? Or Angelica… one of my Indebted.
The door hit the wall as Kyros arrived. He strode to the desk and flipped back the panel, entering his code. I crossed the room and grabbed my phone, heading up to his lair.
“I’ll be quick,” I said.
“My seconds have their orders for the night,” he said. “I’ll join my siblings at 2:00 a.m.”
“You don’t have to—”
He leaned down. “Basilia. I’m staying with you.”
I stared into his eyes, my last attempt at bravado melting away before him. “Thank you.”
Kyros took my hand in his and drew me up the stairs to his lair. I drew in a breath that did absolutely nothing to calm me.
“Check it,” he said, giving me space. “Delaying won’t help.”
He was right, but I was so scared to reopen the grief I held over my grandmother. I’d lost my parents to traumatic deaths. But murder. How did a person get over that? How could you ever be okay again?
I was afraid of what knowing would do to me.
“I’m with you,” Kyros said, placing his hands on my shoulders.
Latching onto his steady strength, I slid open the first text from Gina.
I broke into their trophy room
Are any of these your grandmother’s?
The next two texts were images.
Despite the wording of the text, I mentally prepared myself to see my grandmother dying on the bathroom floor. She was out of pain now. I had to remember that.
I opened the first image and my legs buckled with relief. Kyros led me to the couch and I sank down upon it.
“It’s some kind of cat pin,” I whispered even though Kyros was looking over my shoulder. “My grandmother said cats were the devil’s toenails given life. That’s not hers.”
Emboldened, I opened the second.
Blood drained from my face and the phone toppled from my shaking hands. Kyros grabbed the phone, looking at the picture.
“You recognise that?”
Grandmother always smelled like lavender because she kept pouches of dried leaves in her wardrobe. Pouches identical to the one in the picture.
Bile surged, and I shoved Kyros aside, racing for the bathroom. I threw myself down by the toilet and emptied the contents of my stomach into the bowl, tears squeezing from my eyes.
I vomited again and again, the yellow pouch of lavender leaves flashing behind my eyelids.
They’d killed her. Why else would they have it?
A trophy room, Gina had said. The triplets kept mementos of the people they killed?
My stomach cramped as I gagged again, but nothing came up.
Fumbling, I flushed the toilet and sat back on my heeled feet. Kyros passed me a glass of water and stepped around me to run a flannel under cold water. I swilled the water in my mouth on autopilot, spitting it into the toilet.
Scooping me up, Kyros returned us to the couch and held me tight with one arm, dabbing at my forehead with the flannel.
He didn’t say anything.
The shock began to ebb, but the shaking worsened. My teeth were going to rattle right out of my head. “Grandmother kept lavender pouches in all her clothes.”
Kyros picked up the phone, looking at the picture again. “You’re sure it’s hers?”
I gleaned nothing from his tone. Through my numbness, I couldn’t feel anything.
“There’s another message.” He glanced at me.
“Read it,” I said hoarsely.
Kyros scanned the contents. “I’m sorry if the news is not what you hoped for. Gina.”
His fingers curled around the phone, and I eased it free, worried he’d crush my evidence of the triplets’ guilt.
“Basilia,” he said.
I rubbed at the phone’s surface.
“Basilia.”
The taste of bile still filled my mouth. “What?” I croaked.
“Tell me what you’re thinking.”
I dragged in a painful breath. “What is there to say? They must have visited her that night. They intended to kill her—wh
y else would they take a trophy?”
I pressed a shaking hand against my mouth. “She must have been so afraid, Kyros.”
My grandmother killed by those monsters. My eyes filled and hot tears spilled over my cheeks.
Kyros stared at me. “You’re crying.”
“It happens,” I stammered as my shoulders shook.
“That was a stupid thing to say. I mean, I’ve never seen you cry.” He was horrified.
I wiped at my face to little avail. “I hoped so badly she’d just died naturally.” I hiccupped. “They scared her to death, Kyros. My grandmother. What do I do about that?” My stomach threatened to empty again.
“You’re in shock. We deal with that first.”
“First?” I hiccupped again, looking at him through blurring eyes.
Darkness spread through my chest, a hatred and a promise that didn’t belong to me.
“The vermin will pay for what they did,” Kyros stated calmly.
I wasn’t fooled, not with the front row seats to his emotions.
His meadow-green eyes met mine. “They’ll pay for what they did.”
23
Kyros tried to give me the week off, but when I turned the offer down, he didn’t push the issue. Perhaps he knew that sometimes distraction was the only way to keep swimming.
I was drowning in hatred. In thoughts of revenge. In horror of what ifs. Had Grandmother pleaded with them? How many times had they let their powers flare before her heart gave out? I’d been sick too many times to count in the last four days.
Those around me were worried—Tommy, Fred, Laurel, and the girls.
Talking about it was impossible—literally, but I couldn’t bear to show anyone the messages from Gina, which I’d saved to an external drive so they wouldn’t be lost.
Kyros knew the truth. And his siblings—who I’d told the same night.
“My beauty, everyone has left.”
I blinked at him, then around the empty room. “They have? Sorry. I zoned out.”
He perched on the desk by my chair and circled his thumb beneath my eyes. “You’re not sleeping.”
“No.” The nightmares wouldn’t stay away.
Kyros studied me. “I have something I need to talk with you about. Two things.”
Nothing could surprise me at this point. “Go ahead.”
“I know driving lessons are important to you. With the tightening in security, your lessons have stopped. I wondered if you’d like to resume lessons. With me.”
What?
“You’d teach me?” I repeated dumbly, straightening in my chair.
His stare was intense. “I’d like to. If you still wish to learn.”
A blush tinged my cheeks. I couldn’t keep the small smile at bay. Darting a look up, I said shyly, “I’d like that.”
I could finally get my licence!
Triumph rocketed through the vampire.
I cocked my head, trying to quell the butterflies in my stomach. “The second thing?”
“This is in no way related to my first question.”
Truth.
I was glad because it hadn’t occurred to me that Kyros was buttering me up for something.
He perched on the edge of the table, studying me. “I want to exchange blood with you again.”
My eyes flew to his and I peered out of the glass meeting room. We were alone, but not really. “Is this a conversation for here?”
“Considering I plan to call my father for permission if you say yes, I see no problem with the location.”
I had no objections against the fourth exchange. It’s what I’d wanted when I came back to Kyros Sky. In fact, I had more reason than ever to run toward it. I wanted to be lost—oblivious—for three days.
“An exchange will put you out of action for three days. Is the timing right?” I asked him.
My decision making would be impaired, but I could put things in order for seventy-two hours.
“Waiting until later could prove more disadvantageous for the clan,” he said. “That risk is not why I want to exchange blood with you again, but it is why I feel the need to do so without delay. You’re vulnerable to compulsion by others until we do.”
I whispered. “I can’t be compelled once we exchange blood again?”
That was extra appealing considering what nearly happened with his father.
The vampire inclined his head. “Only by me. Therefore you appeal less to those who may wish you harm. Though I have some stipulations. And one question.”
“Go on,” I said warily.
He studied me, one hand in his trouser pocket. “You’ll need to remain in the tower for the duration of the thrall.”
That was a given. “I’ll have my Vissimo crew for protection again.”
Kyros nodded. “It’s hard to gauge with the circumstances of the last exchanges, but I believe having you in my space where only my siblings can enter helped. Would you consider remaining in my quarters for the thrall?”
I considered that. “Yes, but I want to take some of my things up to your lair. Three days might drive me batty.” Battier than the thrall usually makes me.
“My sisters can visit, but no one else. Your Vissimo can guard you from the office below.”
Fine by me. The fewer people to witness my thrall, the better. “Anything else?”
“I’d like to call you during the thrall. Or at least try. I don’t know if it will make things better or worse, but not knowing how you are—if you’re safe—is the worst part.”
I tipped my head back. “What does the thrall feel like for you?”
“Like if I don’t get to you, lesser males will take you away and hurt you or convince you they’re a stronger mate. The need to see you and fuck you is nearly undeniable, but I feel capable of anything necessary to protect you. Invincible. Furious. And insatiable.”
Which is about what he looked like. “You get the raw end of the deal,” I admitted. “What was the question?”
Kyros hesitated. “Do you have any requests?”
“That’s your question?”
“No.”
I thought about it. “I don’t want your siblings to play any pranks while I’m under the thrall. I’m vulnerable in that time, and so are you. I want them to respect that.”
“I’ll see it is done. Anything else?”
I knew the details of the exchange, but maybe I should ask more so his suspicions weren’t raised. “When you say my senses will change, what do you mean?”
Kyros leaned forward. I offered no resistance as he pulled me to my feet. Turning, he sat me on the glass desk. When my tight dress wouldn’t allow him to stand between my legs, I shimmied it high on my thighs to make space.
He didn’t hesitate to occupy it.
“Now we’re more comfortable, go on,” I said drily.
Amusement flickered within him. “Your sense of smell, vision, touch, taste, and hearing will improve. Multiple blood exchanges between Vissimo are rare these days. Between a human and Vissimo even less so. From what I’ve researched, you will feel off-balance for the first couple of weeks.”
I considered that. “How easy will the changes be to hide from my staff?”
“I’m unsure. There’s a chance you may have to remain here until you adjust.”
Mmm-hmm, and he didn’t hope for that at all.
“I’m sure I can fake vertigo,” I said sweetly.
A spark entered his gaze. “Do you agree to the exchange? If so, I’d like to enter the fourth thrall tomorrow after meetings.”
“One more exchange makes sense,” I answered. “But I won’t accept further compulsions on my mind.”
He searched my expression. “I’ll never do so without your permission. And that’s something I can uphold once we exchange blood again as the risk you pose to the clan will be obsolete.”
This time, I’d known the consequences in advance. Part of me was left uncertain by the fact Kyros’s explanation matched Laurel and Fernando’s
information, and then some more. He was telling the truth. All the truth.
But if Kyros talked to his father, there was a huge chance King Julius would interfere again—perhaps permanently.
I couldn’t take that risk. This had to happen now. No matter what the king did in retaliation, at least I’d be safe from his compulsion after the fourth exchange.
Tapping my lip, I dragged my eyes from his hips, which were just shy of pressing into my core, all the way to his chest. “We should have sex too.”
Kyros froze.
I traced a line between his pecs and up his throat, stretching my arm up to splay my hand over his jaw. “I’m down for being less appealing to your enemies and having better senses, but I’d like a more immediate reward. Maybe several of them. What do you say?”
Kyros’s eyes blazed. “In the past, you’ve requested physical separation. I assumed that would remain true.” He leaned forward, and I leaned back onto my hands.
The unsatisfied urges of my body were driving me insane. It wasn’t desire at this point. It was an acute need. “I’m in a state of constant ache for you,” I whispered.
His breath came fast.
“I need you inside me soon.”
He hooked my lower back with his arm. Bright green eyes, furious with lust, latched onto mine.
I cocked my head. “Don’t you want to be inside me, Kyros? If you want physical separation, just say the word.”
He began to shake. “Yes.”
I smiled at his pained hiss. “Yes, what?”
I hovered my mouth over his, my smile widening as he closed his eyes. The desperation pouring out of him swelled to unbearable heights.
“I want to be inside you,” he answered in a rumble that reverberated through me.
Drawing away, I picked up his free hand and captured his opened eyes as I lifted his hand to my mouth and pressed a kiss to the palm.
“Show me then,” I breathed, lowering to lay across the glass, back arching over his arm. As though tied together, he moved forward with me, aligning his face with the top of my thighs.
Agony swept through me, a twin for his torment.
His growl filled the office space, shaking the glass walls. He inhaled deeply against the apex of my thighs, and fuck, I should have been embarrassed. It was the kinkiest thing anyone had ever done to me, but the action was so deeply erotic my insides clenched to snapping point.
Vampire Debt: Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers Book 2) Page 29