Page 41 of Twice Bitten

Our gazes locked until I blinked and looked away.

I cleared my throat. “Thank you. I misjudged the steps.”

Alric tilted his head in acknowledgment. “You’re not the first. I’ll have the step looked at.”

“No need. My mistake.”

Alric’s gaze lingered. “You look stunning tonight, Miss Damona.” My blood ran cold. How did he know my real last name? I’d gone by the last name of Cole for most of my life. My mother had insisted on me learning it when I was young and had quizzed me over and over again to ensure I wouldn’t screw it up. She’d even gone so far as to legally change the name, and I never understood why.

Alric continued like he hadn’t just dropped a bomb on my head. “The dress suits you well. I trust everything was to your liking?”

I took a moment to respond. “Does it matter?”

A faint smile tipped his lips. “Of course it does.”

“Everything is acceptable.”

A soft, shocked noise from Leo. Alric turned, but not before I saw the flicker in his eyes. “Thank you for your service this evening. I will call if I require you again.”

My eyes narrowed. “He’ll call. I’ll need a ride home.”

Alric’s eyebrows flicked up.

“Thank you, Leo,” I said softly.

Leo nodded and slipped outside, allowing the door to click shut behind him.

We stood in the foyer, surprisingly warm decor surrounding us. The walls were a cream-colored stone, dotted with paintings of all shapes and sizes. Landscapes, still lifes, portraits, and abstracts depicting strange, fantastical scenes rose high above us, all the way to the ceilings looming far over our heads.

The floors were stone, old and pocked with scars, though sealed to smoothness.

Alric’s house was in strange juxtaposition to the cold-looking but handsome man who stood before me, watching me with a glittering gaze.

“I hope you like Italian,” he said. “The chef has prepared a wonderful selection of pasta. Since many natural witches are vegetarian, I’ve ensured there are at least two options without meat, and one in case you prefer vegan.”

I wanted to hate Alric. Ishouldhate the Prime for what he’d done. This vampire had left me bleeding to death in a dark, dirty alley, alone and cold. He had no idea who I was, my hopes and dreams, if I was important to society—though none of that would have mattered to someone with a sense of morality. A good person, human or paranormal would still have tried to save me that night. Or at least I hoped they would. While he’d obviously done his homework on other things, as any Prime should, he’d also made a calculated decision, he and the Shifter King,and decided to play God, not that I believed in an all-seeing, all-knowing deity.

Angels were bad enough. The thought of someone with an even larger ego gave me the shudders.

Yet Alric had sent me a stunning dress and chosen jewelry he knew I would like, knowing his choice would not properly reflect his status if anyone saw me. Alric was a man whose company wore diamonds and platinum, not prehnite and comfortable shoes. He’d also chosen food he knew I would eat and sent a driver who was warm and kind, at least on the surface.

“I can almost hear your thoughts whirling.” Alric held his elbow out. “Shall we?”

I curled my fingers around the crook of his arm and allowed him to lead me down the hall. “Are you really the landscaper?” I wasn’t sure if Leo had been screwing with me earlier.

“If I am?” His voice held a curious note, almost as if he was self-conscious about his gardening abilities.

I slid a look up. “Have you always liked flowers?”

He shrugged. “I like beautiful things. Flowers are unpredictable. Wild. You never know how one will grow.”

“People are the same.”

A faint smile. “True. Though flowers are far more predictable than people, aren’t they?”

“Sometimes. Though I think people are creatures of habit and rarely surprise me. I’m surprised you don’t believe so. You’ve had plenty of opportunities to observe their behavior.”

“Mmm,” Alric said as we turned the corner. “Are you a creature of habit?”