Eaters so numerous they were nearly an infestation in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Nizhny and Perm—not to mention the south of Russia, where cities like Saratov were actually losing population due to the evil ones’ destructive addiction—he couldn’t divide his attention enough to even consider a relationship.
That’s a goddamn lie and you know it.
He could never have someone like Katherine Bordessa, and lose her. Simple as that. And the war was too volatile to chance it.
What a fucking coward he was. No hero material here, that was for sure.
He heaved a sigh. “Fine. Get her out of that damn cell, though. And get her some clean clothes.” With a final glance at the monitor, Nikolai offered a silent apology for the way he’d treated her, then turned his back on her image. “You—” he glared at Leo “—sparring ring, ten minutes.”
*
Voices echoed down the stone hall, but Kate couldn’t really make them out. Well, not since Nikolai had growled out his command to send her back to Moscow.
She thumped her fist against her forehead. Stupid, stupid, stupid. How had she been so stupid? Man, she’d heard of vampires’ allure, how everything around them felt so much more intense. And now she understood it firsthand. He’d made her believe he liked her, cared for her, wanted her. The reverence in his gaze as he healed her arm, the deep rasp of need in his voice as he encouraged her pleasure, the pet names that seemed to communicate affection and familiarity—she’d fallen for every last bit of it.
Worse, she’d thought it all meant something. As if. She thunked her head against the wall behind her and immediately regretted it. The medicine Nikolai had brought had dimmed the ache, but the bump on the back of her head was still sore.
Wrong path, my butt . Leaving the service of the Proffered was the smartest thing she’d ever done. Tonight confirmed it once and for all.
Then why does it hurt so much?
Footsteps approached, diverting Kate’s attention from her self-examination.
Mikhail pushed through the still-open door and looked down at her with those analytical dark brown eyes. Another man entered behind him, thin and kind-faced. “Katherine, I understand Nikolai talked with you about seeing Anton, our doctor.” He gestured to the other man, who smiled and nodded. “So, I’ll leave you—”
“No.”
Mikhail tilted his head. “I don’t—”
“I won’t see your doctor.” She pushed up off the floor, grinding her teeth against the ache in her head.
“Nikolai said you were complaining of a headache after some sort of injury.” Anton said in a calm, even voice. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“Skull versus frozen ground. Okay? I’m fine.” She glanced at the man, then back to Mikhail, hating her rudeness but needing desperately to leave from where she wasn’t wanted. “I know he wants me gone, so just give me my things and I’ll be on my way.”
Anton raised his hands. “The king was very clear,” Anton said, apparently leaving it to Mikhail to decide. “He wants me to give her a clean bill of health, but I can’t examine her against her will. I won’t.”
The doctor’s words faded out as her brain focused on the first two that had so casually fallen from his lips.
The king .
Who was he talking— Oh, God, no. No, it can’t be. No braid. No jewels. How can he be the king?
“He hasn’t worn them in a while,” Mikhail said.
“What?” Kate asked, the room doing that spinny thing again.
“I said he hasn’t worn them in a while.”
Oh, jeez, had she been thinking out loud? Hoping to hide the blush heating her cheeks, Kate scrubbed her hands over her face, torn by conflicting desires: to know more, to know why Nikolai, the Vampire Warrior King of Russia, apparently, didn’t wear the symbols of his rank and title, and to get the hell out of here. Now. It wasn’t just any old beautiful, sexy vampire who didn’t want her. It was the freaking king.
Shit. What if word of this got back to
That’s a goddamn lie and you know it.
He could never have someone like Katherine Bordessa, and lose her. Simple as that. And the war was too volatile to chance it.
What a fucking coward he was. No hero material here, that was for sure.
He heaved a sigh. “Fine. Get her out of that damn cell, though. And get her some clean clothes.” With a final glance at the monitor, Nikolai offered a silent apology for the way he’d treated her, then turned his back on her image. “You—” he glared at Leo “—sparring ring, ten minutes.”
*
Voices echoed down the stone hall, but Kate couldn’t really make them out. Well, not since Nikolai had growled out his command to send her back to Moscow.
She thumped her fist against her forehead. Stupid, stupid, stupid. How had she been so stupid? Man, she’d heard of vampires’ allure, how everything around them felt so much more intense. And now she understood it firsthand. He’d made her believe he liked her, cared for her, wanted her. The reverence in his gaze as he healed her arm, the deep rasp of need in his voice as he encouraged her pleasure, the pet names that seemed to communicate affection and familiarity—she’d fallen for every last bit of it.
Worse, she’d thought it all meant something. As if. She thunked her head against the wall behind her and immediately regretted it. The medicine Nikolai had brought had dimmed the ache, but the bump on the back of her head was still sore.
Wrong path, my butt . Leaving the service of the Proffered was the smartest thing she’d ever done. Tonight confirmed it once and for all.
Then why does it hurt so much?
Footsteps approached, diverting Kate’s attention from her self-examination.
Mikhail pushed through the still-open door and looked down at her with those analytical dark brown eyes. Another man entered behind him, thin and kind-faced. “Katherine, I understand Nikolai talked with you about seeing Anton, our doctor.” He gestured to the other man, who smiled and nodded. “So, I’ll leave you—”
“No.”
Mikhail tilted his head. “I don’t—”
“I won’t see your doctor.” She pushed up off the floor, grinding her teeth against the ache in her head.
“Nikolai said you were complaining of a headache after some sort of injury.” Anton said in a calm, even voice. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“Skull versus frozen ground. Okay? I’m fine.” She glanced at the man, then back to Mikhail, hating her rudeness but needing desperately to leave from where she wasn’t wanted. “I know he wants me gone, so just give me my things and I’ll be on my way.”
Anton raised his hands. “The king was very clear,” Anton said, apparently leaving it to Mikhail to decide. “He wants me to give her a clean bill of health, but I can’t examine her against her will. I won’t.”
The doctor’s words faded out as her brain focused on the first two that had so casually fallen from his lips.
The king .
Who was he talking— Oh, God, no. No, it can’t be. No braid. No jewels. How can he be the king?
“He hasn’t worn them in a while,” Mikhail said.
“What?” Kate asked, the room doing that spinny thing again.
“I said he hasn’t worn them in a while.”
Oh, jeez, had she been thinking out loud? Hoping to hide the blush heating her cheeks, Kate scrubbed her hands over her face, torn by conflicting desires: to know more, to know why Nikolai, the Vampire Warrior King of Russia, apparently, didn’t wear the symbols of his rank and title, and to get the hell out of here. Now. It wasn’t just any old beautiful, sexy vampire who didn’t want her. It was the freaking king.
Shit. What if word of this got back to
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