“He wouldn’t have asked if he didn’t have a good reason. I want you to stop searching for him. I’m calling off my people, too. For now, we’ll play this his way.”
I hadn’t told Father that I’d been conducting my own search for Zaq, but I wasn’t surprised he knew. What bothered me was that he didn’t seem to consider Zaq a threat.
I blew out a frustrated breath. “And if he’s been fucking brainwashed? What then?”
“I’m on my guard, thanks to you,” was the cool reply. “And you’re no longer Philippe’s prisoner, which gives your brother some breathing room. I believe Zaquiel is doing everything he can to find a way out of this. I’m still alive, aren’t I? Now stand down. That’s an order,” he added.
I swallowed an exasperated growl. “You’re the boss.”
“I’ll be in touch,” he said, and cut the connection.
Zoe stirred sleepily. “That was your father?”
“Yeah.” I looked at the phone, tempted to throw the damn thing across the room, but there was no point in taking out my frustration on an innocent device. I set it on the nightstand instead. “You heard what he said?”
“I did.” She held out her arms to me.
I went into them, and she wrapped them around me. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I know how worried you are.”
“I just want to talk to him myself. I don’t know why the hell he didn’t call me, too.”
“Maybe he can’t. Maybe they’re watching him too closely.”
“Yeah. Fuck, I wish this was over.”
She kissed my temple. “Me, too.”
My phone buzzed a second time. I reluctantly pulled out of her arms and reached for it—and realized I’d picked up Zoe’s phone, not mine. Before we’d gone to bed, she’d re-inserted her SIM card into it.
The message was from Victorine. I grimaced.
Zoe pushed up on her elbows, and I handed her the phone. We looked at the text together.
Call me.
The mask snapped down over Zoe’s face. She set the phone back on the nightstand without responding.
“You don’t have to talk to her,” I told her. “This is our town, and you’re under my father’s protection. Hell, you’re family. He probably has his own people looking over the shoulders of my security team. She can’t get to you here.”
Zoe’s mask melted. Her eyes took on a suspicious brightness.
My chest constricted. “Hey.” I touched her face. “I mean it. You don’t want to talk to Victorine, you don’t have to.”
She shook her head. “It’s not that. It’s what you said about us being family.”
The tightness in my chest eased. “Oh, that.”
She scowled at me and swiped at her wet eyes. “Don’t say it like that—like it’s nothing. Because it’s something. It’s everything.”
I enfolded her in my arms. I was starting to understand why she’d been holding back. She didn’t quite trust what we had together, but not because she didn’t trust me. She was afraid of losing it. She’d never had a family, not like I had.
“Whatever you need,” I said. “It’s yours. If you need me to tell you I love you every fucking hour, then I will. If you need me to say I’ve got your back, then I will. If you need me to be your family, then I am. Forever. Got it?”
She swallowed hard. “Got it.”
“Okay, then.” I laid her back on the bed.
She looped an arm around my neck. “I should call Victorine.”
“She can fucking wait.” I nibbled her full lower lip.
Zoe bent up her knees so I was between them. I took hold of my dick and stroked it through her slickness, coating it with her juices.
She let out a sigh. “It feels so good.”
“This?” I rubbed the sensitive head against her clit.
She brushed my hair back from my face. “Yes, that. Everything.”
I played with her a little more until she was moaning, her clit plump with arousal, and then I rolled on a condom and slid inside her.
We did it basic this time. Fingers intertwined, staring into each other’s eyes.
And then something happened. Something changed deep inside her, like she’d dropped a last, internal barrier.
“Mine,” I said and pressed in hard one more time, and when we came, it was together.
And this time, she didn’t hold back.
We collapsed onto the bed together, me still inside her, our faces turned toward each other like we were one body and two heads.
She smiled into my eyes. “I love you, Rafael Kral.”
I moved closer so our lips touched. “I love you, too, Zoe Tremblay. Forever.”
27
ZOE
It was another hour before I called Victorine.
She answered on the first ring. “Zoe. Enough of this foolishness. I want you on the next plane to Montreal. That’s an order.”
“No.” I wasn’t going anywhere near Montreal. I wasn’t even willing to meet her on neutral territory. I hadn’t forgotten that steel box she’d intended to lock me in.
“That’s not acceptable. I’m your prima.”
I gripped the phone. “No, you’re not. Not if you don’t accept that Rafe Kral is my mate.”
Her breath sucked in. “So it’s true? That wasn’t just a ruse?”
“Yes. We swore a blood oath to each other.”
“With a Kral? I forbid it. You’ll have to undo it.”
“That’s impossible. We’ve bonded. And even if I could undo it, I wouldn’t.”
“Undo it,” she said in a cold voice, “or you’re no longer my daughter.”
Rafe and I were both sitting up in bed. I didn’t realize how tense I was holding myself until he touched the small of my back. Reminding me he was there.
Reminding me of what was at stake.
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” I said. “But Rafe is my true mate. If you can’t accept that, I’m defecting to his syndicate.”
Silence. The kind of silence that used to make me shrink into myself.
Then she said, “We have to talk.”
“Yes.” I gripped the phone tighter. I didn’t want to do this. But it was clear nothing and no one would change her mind. There was only one sure way to keep Rafe safe. “Come to New York, then.”
Rafe leaned closer. “The Hotel Garnet,” he said into my phone.
“Did you hear that?” I asked her.
“Of course. But I won’t come to Kral territory.”
“That’s up to you. But I won’t meet you anywhere else.”
Rafe had his own phone out, texting his father. He spoke into my phone again. “Prima Victorine? My father has granted you a safe conduct pass for the next twenty-four hours.”
“The Hotel Garnet. Midnight tomorrow,” I told her and ended the call.
My phone buzzed again. My mother calling back.
I powered the phone down and dropped it on the nightstand, then lay back, an arm over my face.
“It’s the best way,” Rafe said. “You’re right, we can’t hide from her forever.”
“No,” I agreed without looking at him.
He didn’t know what I’d decided to do. He still believed the game plan was to threaten Victorine with exposure.
And that was still my first move. I’d give her one more chance, but if that failed, I was going to stake her.
I hadn’t told Rafe, because if I did, I was pretty sure he’d feel he had to tell his father, and I wasn’t going to put the Krals in the position of offering her safe conduct so she could be killed.
Rafe sensed my turmoil, even if he didn’t know the real reason for it. He pressed a kiss to my sternum.
“You’ve got this, babe. And I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
My heart squeezed. By the Dark Lady, I loved this man. His cockiness, his smiles, the way he’d go to the wall for his brothers.
The way he’d go to the wall for me.
I lifted my arm from my face. �
��I love you, so much.”
“Right back at you, sweetheart.” He rolled on top of me and gave me a slow, achingly sweet kiss.
And when we made love, it was even sweeter.
Afterward, he settled next to me, his head on my breast. I played with his curly dark hair, full of an aching sort of love.
Tomorrow, I told myself, it would be over. One way or another.
The Hotel Garnet was an exclusive vampire hotel in Greenwich Village. Karoly had ordered the restaurant to be closed so we could meet in private.
Rafe and I entered through a brick courtyard filled with potted topiaries. Overhead, swags of tiny fairy lights lit the way to the restaurant door.
My heels clicked against the bricks. I flashed back to my meeting in the hotel with Rafe two years ago.
My first strike for freedom, and it had been a spectacular failure.
This time is different. This time, Victorine doesn’t have all the power.
But my stomach was balled up so tight it felt like it was pressing on my lungs.
I smoothed my hands down the new dress I’d bought at a boutique near Rafe’s penthouse. A bright, spring-green dress splashed with sunflowers that Rafe had insisted I buy it when I’d fingered it longingly before turning to the black dresses.
Beneath the pleated skirt, a silver dagger was strapped to my thigh.
I drew back my shoulders, took a breath.
Strong, in control.
The fine hairs on my nape stirred, and Victorine appeared from the shadows in a wave of Opium. She was dressed in a short sheath in her signature power red.
Cold fingers clamped around my upper arm. “Come, Zoe.” She tried to steer me back the way we’d entered.
My skin iced, then heated. I jerked free. “No.”
Rafe hooked an arm around my waist and hauled me close so we faced her as one. “She’s not going anywhere.”
Victorine’s mouth turned down. She looked at me. “Are you going to let that dhampir order you around?” she demanded.
My lungs squeezed. Everything I’d pushed down, penned up, held in, pressed into my throat, fighting to fly out at my mother.
My right hand flexed. Almost, I drew my dagger.
Strong, in control. And suddenly, I was.
Things really were different this time, because this time, I had Rafe at my side. And Karoly Kral and his people backing me up.
Because that’s what family did.
“That dhampir is my mate,” I gritted out, “and he’s not ordering me around, he’s defending me. What’s more, you’re in his father’s territory. I’d be polite if I were you.”
As if on cue, four flinty-eyed vampires dropped out of the shadows.
Victorine took them in—and whipped a thin silver blade from her bra. She lunged past me at Rafe.
I’d expected that. I stepped in front of him. She came close to skewering me, but stopped herself in time, the point hovering above my chest.
Behind me, Rafe said, “What the hell, Zoe?” He tried to move me aside, but I held up a hand.
“Trust me,” I said, my eyes on my mother.
An angry flush tinged her cheekbones. “Step aside. I’m ordering you as your prima.”
Our gazes locked. Victorine’s will beat against mine. Even with my newfound confidence, she was still dominant to me. Give her enough time, and she could force me to obey. But I only required enough time to explain why she’d better make sure Rafe lived a long and healthy life.
“You’re not going to stake Rafe,” I said. “Here’s why. We’ve uploaded a file with everything we know to a secret server. In twenty-four hours, unless we both enter our individual passwords, that evidence is going to every major primus and prima in the world. Everyone will know that you’re secretly working with Slayers, Inc., including the Tremblay Syndicate. And in case you manage to somehow hack into the server and delete the evidence, Prince Brien has the same information. His instructions are to send it to both his parents and Primus Kral if he doesn’t hear from me by tomorrow.”
“You dare?”
“Oh, yes.” My smile was sharp as the blade in her hand. “And I mean everything, including the photo of Zaquiel Kral in that cell in Philippe’s basement. I’ve included an attachment explaining that both you and Philippe were working with Slayers, Inc. to kidnap and kill Karoly Kral’s sons. The other syndicates will believe it, coming from your own daughter. And we’ll plaster social media with the information, too. You won’t be able to finesse this one. It’s over, Victorine.”
She brought the knife back to her side. “Why?” She seemed almost bewildered.
“Because I love Rafe. I’ll do anything to keep him. You of all people should understand what it’s like when you find your true mate.”
Her mouth formed a hard scarlet line. “No. I forbid it.”
“You can’t. One thing you had right—I was your best choice for your next lieutenant. Without me, the Tremblay Syndicate is going to be embroiled in a series of challenges. But you’re going to have to choose someone else, because I’m defecting to the Kral Syndicate.”
Her face contorted. “Like Hades you are. You’re mine. My spawn. My only heir.”
“It’s not your decision. You may be my prima, but I have the right to choose my own mate.”
I reached for Rafe’s hand. It was right there. He moved up beside me and together, we faced Victorine down.
“We’re true mates,” Rafe said. “Kill me, and she’ll probably never have a child. She might even die herself from the shock.”
The blade in Victorine’s hand waved. “No,” she rasped. “You’re lying. I don’t believe it.”
“It’s true.” Karoly strolled up from wherever he’d been lurking. “I can sense their bond. If you weren’t so prejudiced against my son, you’d sense it, too.”
She bared her fangs at him.
His men stepped closer, but he held them off with a look. “You’ve lost, Victorine,” he said. “Either negotiate with us or go home.”
Her gaze snapped to Rafe. “Thrice-damned viper’s spawn. I should’ve staked you two years ago when I had the chance. Why should I accept you as my daughter’s mate? A dhampir, when she could’ve had Étan, the strongest vampire in my syndicate.”
“Because I love her,” he growled back. “Étan just wanted to use her.”
She curled her lip. “What do you know about it?”
“I know Étan would never have taken her side against you. Is that the kind of mate you wanted her to have?”
“Étan would’ve made her a fine mate.”
“No. He might have been a good lieutenant, but he wouldn’t have made Zoe a good mate. But it’s done. We’ve bonded. You can’t undo it.”
Karoly held out a hand. “The knife, Victorine.”
The guards moved closer and surrounded the four of us like a noose tightening. Victorine looked at me, as if even now, she expected me to help her.
I stared back. “You heard Primus Kral. You want to negotiate, fine. Otherwise, that information is going out to the world.”
Victorine drew herself up to her full height, eyes glittering like an outraged cobra.
“The knife,” Karoly repeated.
I readied myself to pull out my dagger. But she gave a tight nod and handed it over.
“Wise choice,” Karoly said. He jerked his chin at his people. “Check her for weapons.”
A male and a female moved forward. Victorine hissed and flashed her fangs.
Karoly flicked up a single black brow. “You have a problem?”
Her glare should’ve fried him where he stood. “No,” she said between her teeth.
The two vampires patted her down. My mother tolerated it, stiff-backed, her mouth white around the edges.
“She’s clean,” the man told Karoly, and they stepped back.
Karoly waved a hand, indicating the restaurant door. “After you, Prima Tremblay.”
We went inside along with two of the guards. The other
pair remained on guard outside. The restaurant was elegant but cozy, with dim lighting, tomato-red tablecloths and a distressed wood floor.
The tall, brown-haired guard remained by the front door. The other took a stance by the only other exit, the door to the kitchen.
A server in black pants and a crisp white shirt ushered us to a round table. Karoly took one side, and my mother the opposite. Rafe and I sat together with Karoly next to Rafe and Victorine next to me.
The server bought us each a glass of blood-wine, then left us alone in the room except for the guards.
Victorine had composed herself, but I was growing tenser by the second. I knew my mother. Her stillness was the contained pressure of a volcano about to blow.
Karoly sat back in his chair. “Why don’t we lay our cards on the table?”
She inclined her head. “Please.”
“You broke the truce,” he said. My mother started to object, but he raised a staying hand. “There’s no use denying it. Your own daughter has shown me the evidence.”
She went so rigid I was surprised her spine didn’t snap. “This is true?” she asked me.
I gazed back calmly. “Yes.”
“Philippe is no longer part of your scheme,” Karoly continued. “In fact, Primus de Froulay has reprimanded Philippe for his part in detaining my sons, and stripped him of his rank as enforcer. I think you’ll find you won’t be welcome in Paris for a long, long time. If you persist on this path, your allies will know it. Your own daughter is willing to shout it to the world. You’ve lost. Admit it.”
My mother looked like she’d sucked on a lemon. “Very well. What do you propose?”
Karoly’s long fingers toyed with his wine glass. “We have interests in common, you and I. And now my son and your daughter have mated. Surely we can put this feud behind us once and for all?”
“Easy for you to say. Your mate survived the feud. Mine didn’t.”
“And I was responsible.” Karoly studied his wine. “But why was Romanov in Maryland, I wonder? In my own home.”
I stilled. That wasn’t how I’d heard the story. Victorine had always said Karoly had vowed he wouldn’t stop until he’d killed everyone in her immediate family—her, my father, and me.
Craved: A Vampire Syndicate Paranormal Romance (The Vampire Syndicate Book 2) Page 25