Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 119694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
There—so faint it’s barely there, I feel it—a thread. A sweet taste like a piece of candy under my tongue. Julia.
I follow the feeling through the gates of my court, into the wide central hub. My shoes strike the stone in a steady rhythm, my senses locked to that tiny, thin thread of warmth.
The Nocturne Gates rise at the center of the hub, iron arms outstretched, surrounded by the other portals that ring them like the spokes of a wheel. I would have expected Julia to head for the center to try to get home. But that’s not where the tiny thread of warmth is leading me.
If she didn’t try to get home, she must have gone through the gates of another Syndicate’s territory. I look around, wondering which one took her in. Each gate hums with its own resonance. I move past the Gilded Warrens, the Briar Court, the Savage Den…the pulse I feel sharpens. I’m getting closer—I can feel it. And then, finally, at last I know where she went.
The Carnal Bazaar.
A curse burns in my throat. Of all the places for my lovely one to run to—that cesspit. My hands curl into fists.
The Thirstborn do not deal with Flesh peddlers. Their wares are corruption dressed as indulgence. They take what is sacred—lust, desire, intimacy—and hawk it like meat on a spit. Love should be honored—cherished—not profaned for coin. The demons disgust me.
But Julia is in there…all alone.
I step toward the gate. Its golden letters leer down at me, daring me to enter. The heated scent of the place wafts through the iron bars—smoke…spice…sweat and sex. The sounds of laughter, moans, and chains rattling in rhythm fall mockingly on my ears.
My jaw tightens but I don’t hesitate.
Julia is mine.
And I’ll tear the fucking Bazaar down brick by brick if that’s what it takes to bring her back.
29
Jules
I can’t hold it back.
Whatever magic the Demon Don is working on me—lust magic, I suppose—it’s impossible to resist.
The heat coils tighter, winding through my belly…my thighs…my breasts. My nipples throb, my pulse is pounding everywhere at once, and I’m seconds away from coming—right here, in front of this monster. My thighs squeeze together, desperate to hold back the tide of pleasure, but it only makes the ache sharper—hotter.
No, no, no, I can’t—I won’t—
“What the hell do you think you’re doing to my Fated Mate?”
The voice crashes over me like a thunderclap—deep, dark, and familiar.
Lucian.
I whip my head around so fast I nearly give myself whiplash. There he is, standing in the archway of the throne room, tall and terrible in his black suit. Relief floods me so hard I almost sob.
“Oh, thank God,” I whisper.
Kael Varaxis leans back on his throne, lips curling into a cruel smile.
“Ah. Speak of the devil—or rather, the vampire. Don Lucian of the Crimson Syndicate, how good of you to grace my hall with your esteemed presence.” His molten eyes cut to me, drinking in my trembling body. “As you can see, I have been entertaining your Curvy Queen.”
Lucian strides forward, each step measured, the marble floor ringing beneath his shoes. His suit is immaculate and there’s not a hair out of place, but his eyes are blazing—the pupils are blood red and his fangs are showing. He looks like rage wrapped in a ten-thousand-dollar suit and the effect is terrifying.
“Release her. Now.” His voice is low and lethal. It’s clear he’s used to being obeyed.
But the Demon Don only chuckles, a rumble like stones grinding against each other.
“Why should I do that? You smuggled her here in secret, breaking the Magistrate’s law. Just imagine what the Council would say if I told them the great Don of the Thirstborn has been hiding a Curvy Queen.”
My stomach twists. Oh God if what I’ve been told is true, he could ruin Lucian with a single word, just for bringing me here! Because I’m like contraband in the Shadow Realm—everyone wants a Curvy Queen. We’re so desired that we’ve been outlawed.
I know I shouldn’t care what happens to the Vampire Don—he stole me away from my home and my life without so much as a by-your-leave. He literally had me trafficked into the Shadow Realm. But I can’t forget the way he rescued me from the Wraith…or the way he held me in his arms when I was shivering in the bath and how he gave me his own blood to heal me…
Damn it, I do care—I don’t want him to be hurt because of me. I watch him anxiously to see how he’ll deal with Kael’s threat.
Lucian doesn’t flinch. He stops at the base of the dais where the golden throne is located, looking up at the demon lounging above him.
“And what if I told the Magistrate about the Flesh Peddlers’ little side business? The forbidden exports that slip from your gates under shadow and make their way to the Human Realm?” His smile is thin but razor-sharp. “We both know whose head would roll first.”