Chapter 13
thirteen
OPHELIA
We made a few more stops—one at the brewery Jazz had mentioned, one at another office building, one for lunch, and one at a jewelry store—before Dante finally parked in front of a sprawling estate nestled in the forest.
It looked over the monstrous lake that had been magically modified by many of the immortals whose magic revolved around water.
The lake stretched far beyond the edge of Rumor, but I was pretty sure the wards had been adapted to wrap around the entire thing. Humans had no way to visit any part of it.
I fiddled with the air conditioning knob again, assuming we were just making another stop.
Dante put the car in park, then turned it off.
"What are we doing?" I checked.
"You're moving in." He opened his door.
My forehead creased, and I didn't open mine.
He was around the car moments later, opening the door for me and offering me a hand.
His anger had faded a lot, but it was clearly still there.
I didn't take his hand. Or get out of the car. "What do you mean, moving in? I have a house. And we agreed before we sealed the mate bond that we weren't living together."
"I changed my mind."
I blinked. "You don't get to change your mind. Not about where I live. We're barely mated."
"We're fully, permanently mated, Ophelia. I agreed to that while I was starving, and before the mate bond was reality. I sure as fuck can change my mind about it now."
"No," I stated.
"Yes. It's less than ten minutes from here to the royals' mansion. Your house is too small, and too far. Your stuff is here now, so you have no reason to leave," he countered.
"My stuff is what?"
"I had my people pack your house and move everything here. I warned them about the pottery, and nothing broke. Before you ask, I saw the vibrator in your nightstand when I was in your room, and I told them not to open it."
Rage rolled through me. I stood quickly, slamming my door behind me and clenching my fists as I stepped up closer to the vampire king.
"You have no right."
"I have every right, Angel. I'm your goddamn mate. This thing between us isn't going anywhere. It isn't what you wanted, but it's what you have. I am what you have. I haven't been clear enough about what it means to me, but that ends now." He took a step forward.
I took a step back, before our bodies could meet. My ass hit the car.
Dante took my chin in his hand, his grip surprisingly gentle given the fury I could feel burning between us.
He tilted his face down, until our gazes locked.
"I fucking love the taste of your blood, and you're right about you deserving to eat as well as I do. I eat like a king; you will too. You will never ask anyone for money again, including me. My money is yours, because that's what you deserve as the woman providing me blood. Do you understand?"
I huffed. "I'm not going along with this."
Yeah, sure, I was slightly horny from his whole caveman lecture, but I wasn't just going to give in. We had a mental bond, but that didn't mean he could take over my life.
"You don't get a choice." He lifted my wrist.
I felt a warm strip of metal kiss my skin before I looked down and realized what it was.
A thin, rose gold band was wrapped around my wrist without any visible seams, hooks, or alternate ways to open it.
What the hell?
"I did warn you." He dragged his thumb slowly over my bottom lip before releasing my chin and striding toward the front door of the house.
There was a long beat of silence before I stormed after him, wrapping my magic around the bracelet as I tried to figure out how it worked. The damn thing felt impenetrable, but I could tell there was magic inside it. I just couldn't access it.
"You said you'd move me into your room if I fucked someone else. I didn't," I pointed out.
"Asking someone else for money is as good as cheating in my book. You're lucky I'm letting you live away from me at all."
"Like fuck it is," I spat. "It's money."
"Which I made it clear to you that I had. The bracelet will send me your location constantly," he called over his shoulder as he reached the door and typed the code in.
"How do I get it off?"
"You don't. It's dwarven magic. Angels can't change it. I asked."
"How does it work?"
"There's an app."
So it came back to phones again.
God forbid a woman decides to save a hundred bucks a month and a bunch of anxiety by refusing to carry one.
"Did you get this on one of our errands?" I demanded.
"Yup. They're popular among the monsters."
Why had I let him drag me around the city?
"I'm not staying here," I said bluntly, as he led me through a luxurious entryway and down a grand hallway. The floors were smooth, expensive-looking wood, the walls were a pretty shade of mocha brown, and the decor was somehow both fancy and comfortable.
Everything was dark, but not in a bad way.
It was much cozier than I'd expected. I actually kind of liked it, not that I'd admit as much out loud while Dante and I were fighting.
"Your studio is here now, and we both know you rarely leave your studio. Your couch was on your porch," he said.
"That was a new development. My couch was taking up necessary space."
"Exactly."
Dante walked up a staircase.
I wasn't sure why I was still following him, but I was.
"You can't just send people to pack my shit and force me to—" I cut myself off when we reached the top of the stairs.
There was a massive loft. It looked like it had been a sitting area with a library or something, because there were already cabinets and bookshelves built along the three, wide walls. The enchanted pottery I never sold was set up neatly on those shelves, on display.
In the center of the room, my pottery wheel and worktables had been set up facing the wall of large windows that had shelves lined up above and beneath them. There were even seats over two of those shelves, providing cozy little nooks.
Through the windows, there was a clear view of the lake. And, far more important to me, the sky.
Between the windows, there were two large doors.
I practically flew past Dante on my way to them. After pushing them open, I stepped out onto the expansive balcony.
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath of clean air. My wings unfurled of their own volition, the straps of my denim overalls and bright pink sports bra sliding to the middle of my back the way they were supposed to.
For once, everything was quiet.
It was so peaceful, it made my chest burn. My anger was completely and utterly absent, now.
"You could fly any time you want, around here," Dante said.
"I can't fly."
"Why not?"
"I guess I could. I just… don't." My chest squeezed. "I don't talk about it, either."
"Alright." Dante fiddled lightly with the strap of my overall. "I think I understand the appeal of these now. Wings out, at any time?"
"Mmhm."
"I assume most clothing that's created to work with wings is expensive. Pixies make their own."
"It is. But if you try to replace my overalls, we will go to war," I murmured. "And I play dirty."
He chuckled. "Is that what this is? War?"
"No. I've suddenly decided I like your money."
"Thank fuck." His lips brushed my shoulder lightly. "Jazz was right. I need to feed every day to stay on top of my game."
"I told you from the beginning to just bite me whenever you need to."
"Right now?"
"Sure."
One of his arms slid around my waist, and his lips brushed my throat lightly. I tilted my head to the side, and my hands landed on the balcony railing as he slowly sank his fangs into me.
I closed my eyes as hot pleasure flooded me, and arched my ass against his erection as he drank from me deeply.
My breathing grew heavier.
My pleasure grew more intense.
But when he pulled away from my throat and licked my wounds, I didn't get off. Something told me that first time had been a fluke.
"Do you want me to make you come?" he asked, his voice silky. His tongue dragged slowly up my neck after it.
"I can't let you touch me after stealing me from my home," I breathed.
"But you decided you like my money."
"That doesn't mean I can support dickishness."
"I could use my tongue, instead."
I bit back a groan.
The offer was tempting. Very tempting.
But I did have standards. Not high standards, but standards.
I peeled his arm off my waist. "Not going to happen."
Dante got the message and stepped back, tucking his hands in his pockets. "Thank you."
I opened my mouth to tell him that he didn't need to thank me for my blood, but my conversation with Jazz earlier came to mind.
There was no need to further insult him, even though I didn't believe him about liking the way I tasted.
So I nodded instead.
"Here." He pulled one of his hands free, holding out a cell phone that almost matched his. There was a bright orange protective case on it, the same color as the sports bra I'd worn the whole time we were in the penitentiary.
I appreciated the thought, but I didn't reach for the device. "I told you, I don't like phones."
"And I told you, the alternative is using the mental bond."
I made a face. "We don't need to communicate."
"We're mates, Ophelia. We're communicating."
"You keep saying that, but when angels do arranged marriages, they usually don't stay in contact afterward.
I never even met my mom. That's basically what this is.
" I gestured between us. "I can live here, if it makes you feel better.
You can come by and bite me every morning, and send me groceries if that's what you want.
But we don't need to talk. We don't need a relationship of any kind. So, I don't need a phone."
He slipped the device into the large front pocket of my overalls anyway.
Apparently, my favorite style did have one negative to it.
"You have twenty minutes to answer one of my texts, or I'll reach out through the mental bond," Dante said.
"I'm going to need way more time than that. At least a few hours."
"Twenty minutes," he repeated, stepping back. "Thanks again for the blood. The house should be stocked and ready. I'll be busy finding my rhythm with work again over the next few days, but I synched your phone with my schedule so you can add anything you need to."
He took another step back. "If you need anything, just let me know. Your phone is linked to my credit cards, so you should be able to order whatever you want. I left a few cards in the kitchen for you, too. There's a wallet. It's orange. Like the phone."
"I'm not spending your money, Dante."
"Our money."
"We're not a fucking couple," I said bluntly.
"We are a fucking couple. Good luck with your prison map." He gestured to the place my taped papers had been set up on the floor, behind the pottery wheel and desks.
It had been placed exactly the way I left it in my house, sharpie and old pencil included.
Dante headed down the stairs, leaving me alone.
In my new studio, with a balcony.
Hell, in my new estate.
There was significantly more space in the loft than I had in my old house, and I wasn't mad about that. Definitely couldn't complain.
The rest of the building was another matter. One I wasn't ready to deal with.
So, I sat back down in front of my map, and went back to work.
Food arrived for me that evening. Takeout, from a place I'd never heard of. I was somewhat confident that the mansion was on the far end of the Vampire Quarter, given the scenery. The branding on the takeout food bag was vampire themed, so it seemed safe to assume it was from a restaurant nearby.
If Dante really owned the demons' half of the city, he probably owned that restaurant.
I ate the food, obviously. It was a pasta dish, and so delicious that I legitimately scraped the leftover sauce out with my fork and licked it clean.
He wasn't kidding about eating like a king.
His text had come through shortly after I finished.
Dante
Did you get the food?
I sent him a picture of the empty bowl.
Dante
Better than noodle cups?
Me
I cannot insult cup noodles by answering that
Dante
Good
Not as good as you, but good
Me
You can't call a fallen angel good
Dante
Why not?
Me
We're inherently bad
Dante
Dark doesn't equal bad, and light doesn't equal good
I think your family situation proved that
I grimaced, because he was right.
Me
You still can't call me good
Dante
Is that rule enforced in some way?
Me
No
How would it be enforced?
Dante
Then the food was good, but you taste fucking divine
My face flushed.
Me
Divine is an even more angelic word than good, and you know it
Fuck off with that
Dante
Is that any way to speak to your husband?
Me
I let you move me into your mansion and feed me, now leave me alone
And don't call yourself my husband
Don't compliment me, either
Dante
Is that a challenge, Angel?
Me
OMG
I'm not answering any more texts tonight
Dante sent me a heart in response. I couldn't help but snort.
Dante
I can feel your amusement through the bond
Sleep well
I didn't reply.
I'd eventually figure out a way to convince the vampire to let me go home and go back to feeding myself… but I might as well enjoy the fancy, free food while it lasted.