Chapter 1 Francois #2
If only I could get… I almost tried to walk out of the room as the thought struck me.
Father’s library held many books, not all of them legible anymore, but I’d never seen such an ancient collection of paper.
Some didn’t even look like paper. Vellum.
Human skin. I’d never had the patience to identify what the pages were made of, but now I had more than a passing interest in the contents of the books.
They could hold information I’d find useful—and not just about Jason’s mate and how powerful she really might be if she could get her shifter side under control. But maybe even information about who the Ancients really were or what they wanted.
Why they fucking had me.
And if I found that information, I could escape.
I could find my mate and rescue both of us from this hellhole.
Because that was all that really mattered.
She was the key to my whole future. Impatience wanted me to move fast, but I curtailed it.
I wasn’t in a position to act yet. Not if I wanted to be successful.
And I didn’t just want that—I needed it.
I scraped the toe of my boot across the floor, disturbing dust bunnies and grass seed that seemed to come in through the tiniest of gaps and cracks.
The scent of Jason’s mate grew stronger, and when she appeared on the other side of my enchanted doorway, she was struggling in the grip of one of the white-blond excuses for vampires.
They all looked like Father had looked after he rose from a particularly long stasis—like a light breeze would tear them in two or shred their thin skin to tatters.
But they were stronger than they appeared. That, and Jason’s mate was doing a particularly good job at acting today as she seemed to try to wrench her way from the Ancient holding her.
She shrieked as soon as she saw me, which I assumed was more acting on her behalf because she was certainly stronger by now than she probably wanted them to know, but the sound was eardrum piercing, and I winced.
She needed to tone the volume down if she expected anyone to believe she was still weak after her transition to vampire.
Still, if we were acting, I could do that as well.
“Bonjour, ma petite.” I walked closer to her, knowing my grin was lascivious now as I played what I hoped was her game. “Have you come to join me, sweetheart?” I made sure my voice was a purr.
“Never.” She spat the word. “I’d die alone first.” She glanced at the vampire holding her. “Not with him,” she pleaded. “Return me to the women.”
The women… I tilted my head briefly as I tried not to react. Were the women also here? Had I been so distracted by the scent of the hybrid that I’d neglected to note the presence of my own mate?
I drew a slow inhale through my nose and there she was. Spring blossoms interwoven with the clean air of a fresh new day. She was pure hope. The idea I could start anew.
She was in the house. It was enough to drive a man mad. Surely as mad as Jason was going, given he was also apart from his mate. Still, at least she had a fighting chance, and more so if the Ancients didn’t discover what she truly was.
She struggled a little more, and as I watched her, she narrowed her eyes like she expected me to do something.
I held my hand out in invitation. “What’s wrong? Ma petite… We could be…” I paused and smiled. “Friends.” The word was far more threat than promise, and I knew it.
We hadn’t spent any time together before I was taken, and she knew nothing of me but my reputation.
And maybe if she had to die, then here, in this enchanted room with me, was better than anywhere else, but I also had no doubt that if she was taken back to the human women, to my mate, then she would protect her.
My mate would come to no harm if she existed in the same space as Jason’s hybrid mate.
I’d intended for them to take her away anyway, but now my purpose was renewed.
“Take her,” I barked. “What possible use could she be to me? I need virgin blood.” I sneered, baring my fangs, letting them both glimpse my madness.
“And she is no virgin. I have no need of a companion, and one…so new…isn’t fun.
” I made sure to slow my gaze as I trailed it up her body, as though I was assessing her.
“Not with him.” She spoke again through gritted teeth before letting loose another piercing shriek. “I can keep the screaming up, you know, and it’s all you’ll hear if you leave me in this room.”
The Ancient sighed and shook her before spinning them both away. “Very well, but good luck controlling yourself in a room of humans. This was the kindest option.” He glanced over his shoulder. “For all of you.”
My heart plummeted inside my body, leaving my chest hollow and aching. “Putain.” The catch-all curse was as familiar as breathing as I whispered it.
I was essentially sending a fledgling vampire to guard my mate. I didn’t know if her thirst for blood drove her or if her wolf won. My certainty that she’d protect my mate dimmed.
I could only hope the hybrid had enough continued self-control to keep everyone safe while I tried desperately to figure out a better plan to overpower the Ancients while we were sorely, clearly outnumbered.