Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 102166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
If Arden saw that, no doubt Henry had as well. Maybe he would change his mind about all the media training.
“Here we go,” Arden said. He pulled open the door to a boutique with blacked-out windows. “You,” he said to Selene. “Behave.”
“No,” she said, pushing past him and into the store.
Iris followed, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dark. With no natural sunlight, all the light was coming from several large, ancient, black candelabras, and long streams of red wax dripped down the center columns.
“How are we supposed to shop for dresses in the dark?” Iris whispered to Arden. Her gaze took in the lush black velvet curtains and the extravagant arrangements of blood-red roses.
“My sweet, innocent sea princess,” Selene said, moving in close. “This is a vampire dress shop.”
“Really?” Iris asked. She wasn’t sure if the way her pulse skittered was excitement or fear.
“Indeed,” another voice joined them, arriving a half a second before the speaker herself.
Iris had begun to see that each type of paranormal had its own specific kind of beauty.
Witches, she felt, had a seductive, defiant kind of appeal.
Shifters had an untamed, golden-hour beauty. It was wild around the edges—fierce and majestic.
Demons, Arden included, had that wicked beauty. Sinful by design. All temptation and teeth.
And the fae, well, they had an ethereal beauty. Like a dream that didn’t want to let go.
This was her first up-close-and-personal interaction with a vampire.
But her immediate thought was they had a cold, sculpted kind of beauty—polished, practiced, timeless.
This vampire had flowing red hair spilling over the shoulders of her crushed velvet black gown that hugged each of her dangerous curves.
Her face was all sharp cheekbones, pale skin, and keen blue eyes.
“Arden,” she purred. She made her way over toward the demon. She pressed her body to his. A little too close, a tad too intimate, for a quick peck on each cheek. “How long has it been? Fifty years?”
“Carm,” Arden greeted her. “At least seventy-five,” he said. “We were at the opera. You were in the opposite balcony, on your knees, feasting from the femoral vein of one of the actresses.”
“I remember her. Bouncy brown hair. Big, golden eyes. She was delicious.”
Iris didn’t realize that her face had betrayed her, until the vampire’s gaze slid in her direction, a sly smile toying at her lips.
“Just a taste, not a full meal. In the good old days,” she went on. “Before the bite cards.”
“You can’t blame humans for wanting protection,” Selene—always the one to defend others—said.
“Can’t I?” the vampire asked. She moved closer to Selene. “I believe I can do anything I like,” she said.
Iris was close enough to see how the vampire’s pupils dilated, but far enough not to get a direct hit of her glamour like Selene did.
Her usually controlled friend wavered on her feet, leaning closer to the vampire, her eyes full of wonder.
“I believe you would let me do anything I want, wouldn’t you?” the vampire intoned.
Selene’s lips parted, and her head tilted to the side, opening up her neck.
Iris’s fists clenched at her sides as she watched Selene fall under Carm’s glamour. A part of her wanted to rush forward and pull her friend away. Another part of her wondered if this was just how things were. Paranormal or not, weren’t they all just constantly being seduced, pressured, and manipulated into giving themselves over? The pool. The chaise. The way she’d melted under Finn’s touch.
Was every interaction with another person just a form of glamour?
“That’s enough, Carm,” Arden said. He dropped an arm on Selene’s shoulders. “This one is under my protection,” he said, curling Selene into him.
“Like hell, I am,” Selene objected. She tried to wrench away from Arden, but he held her tight as Carm shrugged and moved further into her store.
“Don’t be an ingrate,” Arden said. He gave Selene a raised-brow look. “If I hadn’t stepped in, you would have been pants-free, spread-eagled on the chair over there, begging for Carm to bite you. And as much as I may have enjoyed that image, I know you’re the high priestess of personal boundaries and wouldn’t appreciate that.”
“I thought glamouring was illegal,” Iris whispered.
“It’s … a gray area,” Arden admitted.
“There’s nothing gray about it. The current lawmakers are just too chicken to stand up to the vampires.”
“But not her future lawmaker,” Arden said.
“Really?” Iris asked.
“Yeah, Finn’s platform includes a ban on glamouring outside of consensual relationships and vampire clubs,” Selene explained. “Right now, the only law on the books is that vampires can’t compel someone against their will to commit crimes or have sex. The new law would be a lot more far-reaching.”
“Which is why Finn is not very popular among the vampires,” Arden concluded.
Iris distinctly remembered overhearing Finn and Henry having a heated debate in the kitchen while she had been trying to ignore them in the living room as she read her book.