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Giordan Cale found a way to visit Narcise threeher brother&039;s absence in Marseilles Each time, he took her by surprise, each event was carefully planned and executed, and each time, he remained at a physical distance from her-despite the fact that she could feel the heat and desire between them the mo to prove his trustworthiness to her, he was succeeding If he was trying to breach the walls around her protected heart, his atteh she didn&039;t fully understand why Cale was so intent that Cezar not know of their s-after all, he&039;d been instruether in The Chaue, nor did she atterowing more and more enamored with him, with his sense of humor and ele off his clothes and kissing hiht about what it would be like to cover those warm lips with hers, to taste a bit of lifeblood if she nipped one of theuesto have their bodies lined up, mouth to mouth, breast to breast, hip to hipNarcise could hardly iine why she&039;d resisted so far

But kissing, in herthat she could control; the thing that the men anted her body didn&039;t particularly care about Kissing, which was often the first stage of love and lust-and had been for her and Rivrik-was now the last step for her, and one she guarded jealously

When Cezar arrived from his travels, he called her to his private parlor within hours As he always did when they met alone, he had a tray of three brown sparrow feathers sitting on the table next to hih away that she could talk and move, albeit a bit more slowly than usual But h to attack him

He&039;dabout Cezar-he had absolute attention to detail, and a long memory

"You look well, dear sister," he said, his eyes scoring her He didn&039;t appear pleased, but then, he never particularly did "How have you been aoff the hot-breathed stink of your friend Belial, nothing out of the ordinary," Narcise replied flatly, selecting a seat as far from the feathers as possible Already, her body felt slower and heavier, and her lungs tight and constricted

"Belial?" Cezar&039;s face tightened, and for a moment, she felt a notch of pity for her brother To believe that one of his most trusted allies and servants-for no one was a confidant of Cezar Moldavi-would betray him and his trust in that as a blow to his carefully controlled world "He atteave a particularly unladylike snort "He went further than that, dear brother," she said with a sarcas of feathers around his wrist one day when he came to deliver some wine to me, and attempted to convince me that I should allow hi like fear; Belial was aif he didn&039;t have the cowardly feather bracelet on his arm

"Indeed" Cezar&039;s voice was cold "Did he succeed?"

She shrugged nonchalantly, despite the fact that her blood had begun to surge and race "He did not, which was fortunate I would have been powerless against him in the presence of those feathers-for no sooner had he backed me into a corner than one of the fabric merchants arrived Monique interrupted and I was forced to decline Belial&039;s proposition"

It must have been coincidence that the fabric merchant had, in fact, been Giordan Cale, in another of his disguises He had sensed her upheaval, and when she told him about Belial, he became so still and quiet that she feared he would expose his identity and attack the servant It was only her assurances that she was untouched and that Cezar wouldoff his cloak and wig and going after the est," she now told her brother firmly, "that you keep him away from me in the future Or I&039;ll kill him"

Cezar nodded, and it was to her credit that he didn&039;t ask how she would do that "I&039;ll see that he won&039;t bother you again Perhaps you&039;d like to take matters into your own hands?"

Narcise smiled "It would be my pleasure"

"Very well I don&039;t wish you to kill him," Cezar ordered "But do whatever else you wish I&039;ll arrange for hiht" He picked up his ever-present glass and looked into the blood-red liquid that clung to the sides when he swirled it "But tonight, we have been invited to Monsieur Cale&039;s private club"

Narcise&039;s heart skipped a beat "Have you accepted the invitation?"

Cezar looked at her as he raised the glass of blood-drenched Bordeaux, one of his favorite drinks She wondered whose blood was in there, and shuddered at the thought-the certainty-that it lass away "I want you to seduce hin surprise, and quickly changed her expression to include distaste "I have no desire to seduce anyone, let alone Monsieur Cale Might I reainst my will"

"Consider this a different test of your skills I&039;ether certain you&039;ll succeed, in fact, Narcise And that&039;s precisely why I wish for you to do so" He tapped his fingernail against the side of the glass

"No," she said

Cezar turned to look at her fully, and a dart of fear shot through her "Are you certain of that?" he asked, the hiss in his voice ive you to Belial after all And Morderin as well" His eyes burned orange-yellow "I could dress you in that special cape I&039;ve had ht your way out of their hands"

Narcise sed The capethe very words ht and ossamer lace, and it was lined with sparrow feathers The very thought of those feathers, in such abundance and such proxiainst her skin made her feel faint

He&039;d forced her to wear it one time, merely, he said, to see if it would fit Thank Luce it had only been for a few ht while her brother draped it over her shoulders, for she not only had no strength to stand, but the pain was so excruciating, she felt as if her skin was burning off She could hardly breathe when it was on her, and even when he&039;d first pulled it out of the lead chest, her body had gone numb and ith paralysis

Perhaps if she wore it long enough, she&039;d die And perhaps that hy Cezar hadn&039;t yet employed it other than that ti her voice to be strong

He gave her a brief nod "Excellent And, now, of course, once you seduce the man, he&039;ll want to keep you"

She was relieved that her gaze had been downcast when he spoke, otherwise, she s "Don&039;t they always?" she h for hiht wish to stay with a ain, she kept her eyes down, praying he wouldn&039;t feel the way her heart leaped in hope They would be at Cale&039;s house tonight Perhaps she ht never have to leave

"To ensure that you don&039;t find yourself convinced to stay," he continued sain, "or if you don&039;t do precisely as I bid, I have a few reasons thatwith my desires"

Her heart swelled with dread and now she looked up at hi showed in her eyes "You are pure evil," she said even as he gestured to the curtainedon the opposite end of the roo Narcise," he reminded her "After all, ouldn&039;t be Dracule if eren&039;t self-serving and greedy Please Open it and see"

She stood on shaking knees, her belly swishing with nausea The curtains covered athat led not to the outside, of course, for they were underground, but that gave visible access to the next chamber She was fairly certain what she would find when she opened the drapes

But she had to be certain; she had to knohat he would use to bind her to him this time The heavy drapes swished open and she only needed a quick glance to see as there "Lucifer&039;s dark soul," she whispered when she saw the children

"One of them is a prince," her brother told her proudly "Or a co of that nature The royals are desperate to save their children fro to protect thee to Roes froed, she assumed-which explained why she hadn&039;t heard cries or shouts from the next room "That&039;s where you were," she said, her voice still low, but noas shaking "When you clai his fingernail against his glass again "I&039;ll take one for every hour that you disobey one," he said "They&039;ll be awake and aware, and know everything that&039;s happening to them I&039;ll even let the others watch in anticipation"

"And if I comply? Will you release them?"

His brows lifted as one M-shaped line "But of course not I went through considerable trouble to obtain them However, if you comply with my wishes and commands, I will leave them asleep until I a-induced state, and feel nothing when I feed" His eyes danced "I confess I rather prefer that option, for to feed whilst the young ones fight and cry is rather upsetting to the digestion and detracts from the moment But if their blood is laced with the opium of sleep, it&039;s all that more pleasurable for all of us The choice is up to you, ather at the corners of her eyes Only Lucifer could beacross from her And yetshe remembered him when he was a boy, playful and yet aard-only five years older than she He&039;d played with her, plaited her hair, helped her care for her dolls, took her for long walks to pick the rare flowers that grew in the mountains And then when he turned twelve or thirteen, everything changed

"What has happened to you, Cezar?" she burst out "How could you have changed so? You used to dote on irls in there Now you would bleed theht Wear the black dress," he told her, his eyes cold

"I have no black dress," she replied, turning from theas she pulled the drapes closed Black was for s or , and as often as she felt dark and drab, it wasn&039;t a color she wore Although perhaps after tonight

"You do," he said, and gestured to a large white box "And when you are ready to leave, attend me, dear sister For I have a new piece of jewelry for you"

Giordan wasn&039;t surprised when he received word that Moldavi and his sister would be accepting his invitation for that evening He&039;d waited until the day after Moldavi returned frouise of welcoh he hadn&039;t specifically invited Narcise, the response had indicated that she would attend as well

He sat thoughtfully, awaiting his guests&039; arrival, pondering the next step in this iht, at last, he could somehow extricate Narcise fro her away forever After all, how could Moldavi stop him, in his own house?

To, he would slide into bed next to the woman he loved

Less than an hour later, Narcise entered Giordan&039;s private parlor on her brother&039;s aro announced the Moldavi siblings, and allowed his conversation with Voss and Eddersley to trail off

When Giordan turned and saw her face, he knew ie was closely followed by the shock of attraction and desire that assaulted hiown

Merde

The chaone silent and all eyes focused on Narcise Giordan tore his gaze away, his ers, and he glanced at Cezar Moldavi Thedirectly at hi was to himself and served as a mantra to control his reaction Hehimself to keep his expression blank and certain he failed, then lifted his glass

If his hand was unsteady, it was caed by the way he sloshed the drink in it "To Mademoiselle Moldavi," he said, "the first woman to ever rend Eddersley speechless"

Since Eddersley&039;s sexual preferences ell-known, Giordan&039;s jest served to break the tension in the cha Eddersley hiht Giordan&039;s eyes for ain that of Eddersley&039;s

Narcise, once disrobed of her cloak, had hardly moved more than a step into the chao to her, but soard, he refrained, keeping his shoes rooted to the rug

Instead he watched as Vossnot to want to put the h a wall

Giordan found hi at Narcise, yet unable to put the ie of her out of his ht, was stark and bare Even her lips were pale, and her eyes had that dull look he&039;d seen before-a look he hadn&039;t noticed since the last tiht-black hair was pulled back froe, intricate knot at the back of her head Dia her shoulders, andknot of her hair

But it was her gohat there was of it, and goas not really an accurate term-that had struck everyin the shops of the modistes anywhere in Paris, and Giordan couldn&039;t help but wonder where Moldavi had had it o, that of a h-necked frock that laced up between the breasts and along the sides, clinging to every curve of the body from shoulder to knee From there it flared out in a train onto the floor Her sleeves were tight fro points nearly to her feet And though the cut of her attire was unusual and revealing, it was its very substance that caused comment-for the entire dress wasto Narcise and revealed arments ever had It was clear to Giordan that she wore no corset, no chearments of any fashion The only nod to propriety-not that such a thing existed in the world of the Dracule-was a black silk triangle at the juncture of her legs, and the triangular panels of her skirt, where it flared below the knees, were alternating black silk and black lace Even the bodice was lace Her breasts were uncovered, her nipples hidden by accident or design by a heavy part of the lacebut even the undercurves of her breasts were evident