Chapter 5
Jason
Ipaid even less attention to the streets of New Orleans than usual as I drove, making stops and turns on autopilot, my thoughts only full of Ciara.
I hadn’t expected so much fire from someone who smelled so sweet.
Although her need to talk would probably get in the way of any business negotiations or agreements she might try to make.
She definitely had to work on her poker face a little more.
If she could conceal that fire and passion, she’d do better in business…
but I was glad she hadn’t hidden it from me. I wanted to know all of her.
I grinned, glad Conri had chosen her as his liaison. It was like fate. And as old as I was, fate wasn’t something I usually believed in. I made things happen. Life didn’t hand me things.
Or at least, life hadn’t handed me things for a very long time.
But now it had handed me Ciara.
She’d known right away when she’d looked at the fake deed. In that respect, Conri was absolutely right to replace Simon with her. I probably could have gotten the contract past Simon. I preferred this, though. A bit of fire. A bit of resistance.
It would make her submission all the sweeter.
Because she would submit.
She was mine. Even if she didn’t know it yet.
I liked that she’d called me out. Of course, I hadn’t told her anything, but she hadn’t just rolled over, even then. She’d continued to challenge me. I slowed down as I approached the apartment building, trying to ignore my distaste for it. Man, I’d been living the high life at Sebastian’s place.
This was quite the comedown. But Francois needed somewhere to live, and he needed a keeper. This was the place Nic had chosen, and I was the keeper.
And I hadn’t had any phone calls today to say Francois had sneaked out or caused trouble, so that could only be a good thing. So far, my day was going pretty well. I’d get to spend a lot more time with my mate, and Francois wasn’t quite the thorn in my side that I’d expected.
That wasn’t to say I enjoyed his company or that I’d seek him out to spend time with, or even that I tolerated him… He just wasn’t as bad as he could have been.
And that was really as much as I could say about him.
I swung into a parking space, my movements loose and easy, made more so by the fact my day was going so well. Next to me, a bored-looking vampire in a parked car caught my eye.
As I climbed out of my car, so did he.
“All quiet?” I gestured toward the apartment with a quick movement of my head.
He nodded. “Yep. Didn’t even see him at the window. Are you sure there’s even anyone else up there?”
I fought not to roll my eyes. “Oh, yeah, he’s up there all right. He’s probably grinding down whoever is with him.”
“Nope, pretty quiet by all accounts.” The guy indicated his cell phone. “We’d have heard if he was making Basher crazy.”
I lifted an eyebrow.
“Well, probably the first we’d have heard is the prince’s head hitting the asphalt after Basher ripped it from his body and threw it out of the window. But still.” He paused and leveled his gaze on the apartment window again. “We’d have heard.”
I chuckled, although it was weird to hear Francois referred to as the prince. Did deposed royalty lose their status? Their titles? I’d need to check with Nic. Francois wasn’t a Dupont, so another prince in the locality could be confusing, to say the least.
“I’m glad to hear he’s behaved himself.” Although that didn’t mean his good behavior would continue and he wouldn’t be a pain in my ass for the rest of the night.
Also, good behavior was relative. A guy named Basher probably stood more of a chance of getting Francois to behave than I did. He certainly sounded more physically imposing.
“I’ll go send your guy down.” But I didn’t exactly relish the idea of spending an evening alone in the apartment with Francois.
After seeing Ciara again and being in the same room as her, adrenaline was still pumping though me. I felt almost antsy with it, like I wanted to go somewhere and do something. Anything but just sitting.
He nodded and got back inside his car as I strode toward the building. I took the stairs two at a time, although I wasn’t in any particular hurry. I was fueled by the adrenaline buzzing inside from spending my time so close to Ciara.
And my next meeting with her would be even better. More of a challenge, more exciting. I would make it so.
When I let myself into the apartment, there were three guys in the sitting area—Francois was entirely still, almost like he was meditating, but he was just being rude, using his vampiric stillness around other vampires.
There was also a large man, a wall of muscle, probably Basher, if I had to take a guess, and a much slighter, younger guy, who looked like he would snap in a stiff breeze but probably had a core of steel wire in terms of strength and stamina.
“Hello.” At my brisk nodded greeting, Basher immediately stood, wordless, his face set like a block of granite. My cell phone vibrated in my pocket, and I slipped it out without glancing at the screen as I pressed to answer it and held it to my ear. “Jason.”
“Hey.” Sebastian didn’t announce himself. “Need you to come to Nightfall later.”
“Okay.” I waved to Basher to stop him from leaving, relief a cool wave through me.
I wouldn’t need to stay with Francois after all. His babysitters could remain with him while I was needed elsewhere.
“When do you need me?”
Basher rolled his eyes as he sat back down.
“Just for when Kayla sings this evening. After the trouble we’ve had in the past…”
I steeled against a sudden and unexpected shudder as Sebastian made a vague reference to the time Kayla had nearly been killed in the club by one of the Ancients. And I’d cared at the time because I liked Kayla, but I hadn’t cared like I did now.
Now that I could imagine Ciara in her place. Now that I could imagine Ciara covered in blood and at death’s door. Now that I could imagine losing her.
“I’ll be there.” I probably sounded more definite than I had about anything in a long time, because Sebastian paused before speaking.
“Okay.” He was quiet again before his tone shifted to being business. “Was your meeting with Conri successful?”
At the change in subject, I walked to my bedroom and went inside before closing the door behind me. It was only the illusion of privacy, but at least I didn’t have to watch the others listening.
“It wasn’t Conri.” I tamped down the excitement in my voice. “It was his human sister. She doesn’t shift.”
I could have bitten off my tongue. Why the hell had I volunteered that information? Especially when everyone in the sitting room could hear every word I spoke.
Sebastian immediately pounced on it. “Conri’s relying on a human to do his business now? That’s interesting. Should make it easier…” He sounded expectant.
“Might not be as easy as you think.” I didn’t want to give him too much information about my bond with Ciara before I knew myself. “She spotted the land deed discrepancy—almost immediately, too.”
“And what did you say?”
I almost sighed. What did he expect me to have told her? I would hardly have said that yes, Nic was cheating the shifters out of land they were expecting, although I still didn’t fully understand his reasoning.
He was my king, though, and that was all that mattered. I did what he said.
Nic was testing my loyalties with this new task, although he didn’t know how much.
“I denied all knowledge. Said she was wrong.” Shame created small tendrils in my chest, mixing with guilt at the fact I’d bare-faced lied to my mate.
“Sounds good. Just keep telling them it’s as it’s meant to be.”
I bristled a little. This was one area where I didn’t need the regent’s opinion. I’d already had the word of the king, and I would obey that to the letter.
“So the club?” I deliberately changed the subject.
“Yes. Just be there before Kayla sings.” He hung up without saying goodbye, but I didn’t care. He’d gifted me a reason to leave the apartment again, and I would probably have cleaned the bathrooms at Nightfall, if that was what he’d needed.
Besides, helping out at the club was the exact reason I’d stayed in New Orleans. I considered it my true purpose.
Or I had.
Perhaps I’d found another purpose.
A surge of pride always warmed me when I stepped toward the entrance of Nightfall. I made a point to come in this way instead of through one of the back doors because this really announced the Duponts were in New Orleans and that we were here to stay.
The delicate refined script on the sign outside had been recently joined by a shimmering fall of stars that lit up and twinkled delicately after dusk, a subtle advertisement to all nearby that we were in business.
The doormen stood unobtrusively, only making themselves known to prevent someone from entering occasionally. I grinned as they ushered someone away. Sebastian still kept his club exclusive, and that in itself was good for business.
They let me in without comment, silently opening the wide double doors, and the noise of Nightfall poured out into the street like something tangible, something I could touch as it surrounded me.
The ground floor was crowded, and the copper scent of blood hung in the air, making it dense.
But it wasn’t only vampires in Sebastian’s club.
Other supernaturals were part of the culture here, and New Orleans was rich with supernatural species.
Fae wandered around, their gossamer wings catching the lights occasionally and shining like fire opals, and Conri’s shifters were represented here, too.
My heart squeezed for a moment. If only Ciara could be here and experience this with me. As part of Conri’s pack, she’d be welcome in Nightfall, and I’d protect her.
The crowd was restless tonight, and I cast a glance over them, checking for threats, but maybe it was me who was restless, longing for more. My mate belonged by my side, but I needed to move with caution. Only my body didn’t understand like my mind did.