Page 22 of Plug and Tame

She didn’t answer immediately, trying to push down the emotions that were threatening to make her cry. Without looking at him, she asked, “Did you ever love me?”

His thick moustache drooped as he regarded her with mournful eyes. “Oh, Kira…of course I did. Mary and I, we loved you like our own child.”

“And yet you kept the truth from me. Why didn’t you tell me who my parents were? And who I really was?”

“You had already suffered so much, and we wanted to shield you from more pain. A part of me hoped you would grow up to lead a normal life.” Byron sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “And we feared revealing your royal lineage could make you a target for Henrikk and his followers. Keeping your true identity a secret gave you an extra layer of protection.”

Kira crossed her arms. “I could have kept a secret. Which means…there’s something you’re not telling me.”

Byron bowed his head. “Nathaniel feared that if you knew what Henrikk did to your family, that you would act impulsively and put yourself in danger.”

“Would not,” she protested, even as hot fury shot through her veins. She wanted nothing more than to tear Henrikk limb from limb...but that was a reasonable thought to have, right? “I am not impulsive.”

Byron’s serious expression shifted slightly, as if he were suppressing a smile.

“I’m not,” she grumbled. “Besides, it sure would’ve been nice to have my magical abilities sooner.”

Whatever those abilities are.

“Nathaniel insisted that you be properly trained and prepared first.”

“So, it was all about controlling me.” It was typical of Nathaniel, but while he may have been at the head of everything, she wasn’t about to let Byron off the hook so easily. “You let Nathaniel drag me to the academy. You knew what he would do.”

“I tried to talk you out of it. But your mind was set. And Nathaniel is a good man, and a good vampire.”

Kira scoffed. Good vampire was an oxymoron if she’d ever heard one. Her mind flashed with the memory of the gag and collar Nathaniel had made her wear when he’d arrived at the cottage.

“You could have warned me about what Nathaniel would do.”

“Actually…I warned him of what you could do to him. I understand you bit his hand.”

Kira hesitated. She had bitten him. Was that the real reason Nathaniel had gagged her when he’d come to the cottage?

He said he’d gagged me for his own safety, but I didn’t believe him.

She had no doubt he’d taken pleasure in putting the gag and collar on her, but the realisation that she’d forced his hand by biting him made her reconsider her first meeting with him.

Was it possible that he might never have laid a finger on her if she hadn’t fought him?

Whatever.

But try as she might, it was further proof that he might not be the tyrant she’d first thought him to be. She’d already figured out that he wasn’t as cruel as he’d led everyone to believe. It was only a ruse to satisfy what his father expected of him, but now, she was finally able to reconcile the two different sides of Nathaniel she’d gotten to know. The one who relished dominating her, and the one who respected her autonomy.

Both of them wanted her to be happy.

Both of them were assholes.

“I’ll be out in the garden if you need anything,” Byron told her, retreating.

Kira went to her room and shut the door, letting out a long, deep breath as she sank onto the familiar bed.

You have such a nasty bite, Nathaniel had said, his words ringing in her mind like a compliment.

She laughed under her breath. It hadn’t occurred to her until now that she had been the one to bite him first.

Except I didn’t draw blood.

Which meant she still had the higher moral ground.