Listening to Aurora taunt Damien is music to my ears. Her voice gets a little feral as Danika speaks with her, causing Damien’s eyes to widen in fear for a split second before he challenges that fear into anger and fucking audacity.I watch as he yells profanities at Aurora, my clenched fist twitching menacingly, I know she can handle herself, and intend to let her, but when he spits in her face, all reason flies out the window and I rise from my chair without thinking. Seth and Dimitri move with me as we simultaneously block Aurora from the vile creature in front of her.I hear her mutter “Ew” and spin around to face her, letting Seth and Dimitri hold Damien in place with his hands behind his back.Aurora is clearly livid, a look that perfectly suits her deadly eyes, and my breath is momentarily taken away by her dark beauty. I hold out my hand and Adelaide hurries forward to place a wet towel in it. No one makes a sound while I wipe Aurora’s face clean of Damien’s revolting offense.

With Aurora’s naked body draped over my own, her sweet scent filling the room around us, and the taste of her blood on my tongue, the last thing I want to do is answer the door. Unfortunately, the knocking continues, and Aurora pushes herself up with a sigh.“Listening to you threaten Damien was hot,” she mutters as she picks herself up off the carpeted floor of this unused office space, her glorious naked body standing above me, like a goddess in her natural state. I watch as her cheeks flush under my roaming eyes, and she holds out her hand for me to take.I let her help me up and retrieve her clothes from across the room. “Watching you rip his heart out was hot,” I admit to her with a wink. She giggles, and my heart beats faster at the sound of it.The banging on the door subsides and Dimitri’s voice sounds from the other side, “ADELAIDE IS GOING TO BLAST THE DOOR TO DUST IF YOU GUYS DON’T COME OUT IN THE NEXT MINUTE.” A pause, and then quieter, “Her words, not mine.”Aurora and I

As soon as the door closes behind them, I let my frustration out, “Fucking Nyx Adelaide! Was all of that really necessary? We could have handled this on our own without getting so many fucking people involved!” King Cyreus sends me a warning look and Aurora coaxes me back into my seat, her touch working to calm me down, but I don’t take my eyes off Adelaide, waiting for her to explain the audience she brought to my throne room.“What I am about to say does not leave this table.” Adelaide stares at us each in turn, her eyes finding Dimitri last, “You can not tell Soleil. They can’t know this, not yet it would create a panic.”Dimitri nods slowly, a slight crease between his eyes, and Adelaide continues, “We will not be able to handle this on our own. Cyreus has human guards in the Emberi Empire who he pays for information. Most of these are low ranking guards, who never have anything actually useful to share, however,” she pauses, looking a little uneasy about her next words, “one of t

Samael and I relax by the fire for a little while, until Heidi and Harlow show up to help me get ready for dinner. They apply a light layer of make-up on my face, and style my hair in a half up-do, leaving a few curls loose. The dress they put me in is midnight blue, it's fitted at the top but flows to the floor in layers and has dainty lace sleeves.“Do vampires always dress this fancy for dinner?” I ask, as Harlow places a pair of heels in front of me, which I step into cautiously.“Yeah, pretty much,” she replies with a shrug. “Not to this caliber though” She motions to all of me, “The head families of the covens like to dress formally, mostly just to make themselves feel important, but a lot of them are also extremely wealthy and like to flaunt it.” She moves behind me to fasten a diamond necklace around my neck. “Their wealth is nothing compared to the Dema families though. Lucien used to boast about how rich our family was, but I’ve never seen diamonds as beautiful as these.”He

I wake up Tuesday morning in the warm embrace of my mate, and the first thing I notice is the restless feeling in my limbs. I sit up, shaking out my arms and stretching my body, but it doesn’t go away.“My love, how are you feeling?” Samael’s voice is soft, and I feel his lips trail along my shoulder blades, giving me goosebumps.“Weird.” I face him with a frown, “It feels like pins and needles all over my body.”“That’s normal for the day of a werewolf’s first shift.”“So you’re saying I’m going to feel like this all day?” I exclaim dramatically, throwing myself back onto the bed with a huff.“Your body is going to go through a lot of changes tonight, it has to prepare itself,” he says calmly, running his fingers through my hair.There’s a knock at the door, and I start getting up to answer it, knowing it’s probably Heidi and Harlow here to help me get ready for the day, but Samael stops me.“Stay here, love, I’ll get it.” I sit back down and watch him open the door. My hearing is be