life really is the pits, but I guess there’s nothing we can do about that. I take it you’ll be popping in on me for a quick bite to eat whenever you’re tired of dieting or drinking animal blood?”
Kristoff was silent for a moment before he rose somewhat unsteadily to his feet. I took a step forward, ready to help him if he needed it, but he kept a firm grip on the back of the chair. The blood was evidently doing its job, because he looked stronger with each passing minute. “You truly do not know what has happened, do you? You fed me, Pia.”
“So? You’ve fed off me before.”
His face was carefully devoid of emotion, but he wasn’t able to stop it from burning brightly in his eyes. “I told you before that a Dark One can only feed from his Beloved.”
“Which is obviously not exactly true, since you’ve existed without me,” I pointed out.
His lips thinned. “That I was able to do so was simply because you had not fed me after the Joining was complete. Now that you have, my body won’t tolerate any blood but yours. My existence now depends on you. There will be no popping in on you. From this time forward, we cannot be separated for more than a few days without the direst of repercussions for me.”
I stared at him as comprehension dawned in my slow-witted mind, my heart sinking with the knowledge of what I’d just set into motion. “Hell,” I said, speaking more literally than figuratively. My life was hell-as hard as it had been to not have contact with Kristoff for the last two months, at least I had managed to have some sort of a semblance of a life. Oh, he haunted my dreams, and I was prone to a strange depression when I wasn’t thinking of him, but all that, I was confident, would fade with time. But now . . . Dear God, how was I to cope with having him in my life every day?
I glanced at him. His gaze was on his hands; he was looking, I thought, at the ring on the middle finger of his left hand. I’d seen it before, but thought nothing of it-it was just a simple silver band, a strange, sinuous design etched on the face of the ring, but with a sudden flash of horror I realized the significance of it-it was a ring marking his commitment to his deceased girlfriend. Not a wedding ring per se, but something so similar as to make little difference.
My shoulders slumped as pain stabbed through my heart, but before I could apologize to him, the door opened and Andreas entered, followed almost immediately by Rowan, Christian, and Sebastian.
“Don’t even think of trying to keep me out,” Allie said, hurrying in through the door with a glare at Sebastian. “And don’t tell me you weren’t, because I heard you telling Christian he ought to have better control over me. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s someone assuming I’m a frail little Beloved who doesn’t have a mind of her own.”
Sebastian looked somewhat abashed as he said, “I thought you would be tending to your child.”
“Oh, please,” Allie said with a snort, taking the hand Christian held out to her. “Josef is happily scarfing down the blood squeezed from a steak, and that always makes me a bit queasy to watch. Besides, someone has to keep an eye out for Pia and Kristoff, since you guys are so determined to be blind to the truth and condemn them without the slightest concern whether or not they’re guilty.”
Sebastian shot Christian an irritated look. “Are you going to tolerate this? Ysabelle would never speak with such brashness to me.”
“Get over yourself, Vlad,” Allie said with a roll of her eyes.
Christian, to my surprise, defended his wife. “Allegra has always been free to speak her mind, and will continue to do so. I will not have you attempting to control her.”
Sebastian looked surprised for a moment at the undertone of threat in Christian’s voice before making a cold little bow in his direction. “I would not dream of correcting your Beloved. I simply objected to accusations she felt comfortable flinging at us.”
“That sounds like a guilty conscience talking,” Allie said.
“This council has always been interested in seeing justice done,” Christian said calmly, holding out a chair for his wife. “It will do us no harm to examine our behavior to ensure that it continues to do so.”
Sebastian shot him a thin-lipped look.
“You wouldn’t know it, but these two are actually very old friends,” Allie told me. “As close as brothers, to be honest.” Her gaze slid over to where Andreas stood in stony silence, watching Kristoff with suspicious eyes. “Closer, even,” she amended.
Christian, who had been eyeing Kristoff, merely said, “You look better. I take it there was no trouble with the feeding?”
“Trouble as in I might have refused to save his life?” I shook my head, confused as to why everyone suddenly thought I had turned into a cold, heartless bitch. “I’m his Beloved. I can’t do that, can I?”
“No, of course you can’t,” Allie answered quickly, elbowing Christian. “It would be impossible. No Beloved in the world would ever torment her man that way. Right, my little love squash?”
Christian turned an expression of horror on her. She giggled.
“Love squash?” Sebastian asked, looking equally appalled. “First Vlad, and now love squash? Christian!”
“It’s better than Fang Boy,” Christian murmured, glaring at Allie as she stood on tiptoe to kiss the end of his nose.
“When I have a Beloved, she will speak to me in the proper manner, and will at all times be respectful and obedient,” Rowan suddenly said.
Christian and Sebastian burst into immediate laughter.
“Obedient,” the latter said, shaking his head.
“Respectful,” Christian said, his voice rich with amusement as he brushed back a strand of hair from Allie’s face. “I look forward to the day when I see an obedient and respectful Beloved.”
I glanced at Kristoff to see what he thought of this wholly unexpected byplay, but he had the most curious expression on his face.
“But ‘love squash,’ Christian!” Rowan said. “That is beyond inappropriate.”
“It’s a love name, and Christian knows that full well,” Allie said with a private little smile to her husband. “I won’t say that he didn’t used to kick up a fuss when I used pet names for him, but he’s long since learned that the affection behind them is very genuine.”
I thought for a moment that Christian was going to kiss her, but he evidently remembered where he was, and simply said, after clearing his throat, “Quite.”
“Ysabelle calls me her little cabbage,” Sebastian said with a heavy sigh. “Only in private, I would point out, never in front of others. But I believe it is something inherent in Beloveds to use such terms. I’ve asked her to stop, but that just made her switch to ‘sweet potato pie of my dreams’ for two weeks, until I begged her to go back to cabbage.”
Allie grinned. “Good for Belle. What do you call Kristoff, Pia?”
Startled, I looked at the man in question. His face was now oddly devoid of any emotion. “Er . . . Kristoff.”
She blinked for a moment. “Oh. Sorry. That was . . . Never mind.”
I sighed again and, with limbs that felt like they were made of lead, brushed past Kristoff and walked over to the chair I had occupied previously. “I seem to be at a loss in that I don’t have the slightest idea why Andreas and Rowan are acting the way they are to Kristoff, any more than I know what it is you all are talking about. What am I supposed to be guilty of doing? Why did you drag Kristoff in as if he were a prisoner? Why did you let him starve, not even giving him animal blood if he couldn’t eat human blood? And why, exactly, have I been called before this council when I haven’t done anything to harm any of you?”
Rowan sat down next to Sebastian. Christian, rather than answering me, glanced at Andreas. “You do not sit with the council?”
“No.” Andreas’s gaze flickered over to where his brother still stood, holding on to the chair.
Christian pursed his lips. “Do you stand with Kristoff?”
Andreas’s gaze brushed me briefly. “No. I wish to remain neutral.”
“I see.” Christian nodded toward Rowan. “You do not suffer the same doubts?”
“I’ve seen the evidence with my own eyes,” the latter answered with stony condemnation. “I stand with the council.”
“So be it,” Christian said, then gestured wearily toward the chair next to me. “Sit down before you fall down, Kristoff. Despite your Beloved’s obvious belief otherwise, we are not barbarians. You are weak still, and do not look that far from collapsing.”
