The clan chief grimaced, as if realizing he’d been acting out of character.
“She . . . troubles me.”
Roke studied his friend’s tense expression. “Hmm.”
There was the sensation of the air pressure shifting, then they were out of the portal and standing in a hallway lined with glossy wooden floors and marble walls nearly hidden beneath the climbing ivy.
Roke and Cyn both hissed at the golden sunshine that peeked through high windows. Dammit. They had to be in a dimension that ran on a different time. Thankfully the angle of the sun meant that the glow hit high on the wall, leaving the actual corridor in shadows.
“We must be swift,” the female warned, taking off at a brisk pace.
Roke ignored Cyn’s icy disapproval, allowing himself to be led from one hallway to another.
Eventually they became wider with more marble and gilt, not to mention a few passing Chatri who stared at them in startled dismay.
“Mother of gods, I’ve never felt so out of place in my life,” Cyn muttered as they tried to ignore the elegantly dressed men and women who looked as if they were headed to some fancy-ass ball.
“No killing,” Roke muttered as Cyn ran his fingers over the blade of his dagger, eyeballing a male who flared his nose as if he’d just smelled something nasty.
Cyn shook his head. “You don’t know anything about having fun.”
Sally pinned a smile to her lips.
Seated next to her father on the high dais, she struggled to concentrate on the formal speeches being offered in celebration of her father’s return. Even if her nerves weren’t shredded as she waited for some sign from Fallon, she would hate being put on display.
If being a princess meant sitting on an uncomfortable throne so a group of strangers could gawk at her, she’d be happy to give the privilege to someone else.
Immediately.
Perhaps sensing her growing distress, Sariel leaned sideways to awkwardly pat her hand, which clenched the arm of the chair.
“I told you that my people would be happy to welcome you, child,” he reminded her.
Despite being furious with her father, Sally couldn’t deny a rueful pleasure. He was doing his best to make her feel at home.
“I’ve been happy to meet them as well. Especially my sisters and brothers,” she said, keeping her voice low so it wouldn’t carry. “But you promised I would be allowed to contact Roke.”
Sariel’s lips flattened. “In time.”
“He’s going to be worried about me.”
Her father abruptly changed the conversation. “Tell me what you think of Lasko?”
“Who?” she asked in genuine confusion.
Sariel nodded toward the young man standing near a marble column, his beautiful features carved with an inbred arrogance that made Sally grimace.
“He’s the eldest son of the Sonesel House.”
She sent her father a horrified glare. “You’re not trying to play matchmaker, are you?”
He shrugged. “Once I break your mating you will be free to choose another male. Lasko is not only wealthy and a powerful warrior, but his house is a rival to ours. Such an alliance would be highly beneficial.”
She snorted. “Beneficial to whom? Not me.”
The amber eyes held a hint of censure at her flippant tone. “To all Chatri.”
She rolled her eyes. It seemed her father just couldn’t resist trying to use her to his own advantage.
Not that it mattered.
There was only one man who would ever be her mate.
“Thanks, but no thanks,” she said. “I have no plans to play Juliet.”
Sariel frowned, obviously not a fan of Shakespeare.
“I don’t understand.”
“I’m not interested in Lasko even though I’m sure he’s a fine man,” she clarified.
“There are others,” her father began only to be interrupted by a flurry of soft gasps and a few cries of fear from the back of the room. Slowly Sariel rose to his feet. “What is the disruption?” he demanded.
The crowd slowly parted to reveal Fallon as she moved forward with two large vampires flanking her.
Sariel went rigid, a flush of anger staining his pale cheeks.
“Fallon, explain yourself.”
Fallon flinched, but with remarkable courage she met her father’s furious glare.
“Sally’s mate was anxious to be reunited with her.”
Indifferent to her father or the chattering crowd, Sally launched herself off the dais and directly into Roke’s waiting arms.
She breathed deeply of his familiar scent, tears streaming down her face as he buried his face in the curve of her neck.
“I have you,” he murmured, running a comforting hand down her spine. “And I’m never letting you go again.”
“Leave us,” her father bellowed, and Sally glanced up to watch in surprise as the Chatri scurried out of the room, along with Fallon who pulled a stubborn Cyn through a side door.
Once alone, her father moved to stand directly in front of them.
“How dare you trespass in my home, leech?”
Roke tucked Sally behind him as he faced her father without fear.
“I’ve come for my mate.” His power fractured the floor beneath their feet. “I’m not leaving without her.”
Her father ignored the display of strength. “She came here to end the mating.”
She felt Roke tense at the soft words, his brows drawing together as he glanced toward her.
“Sally?”
Sally resisted the urge to deny the accusation. This was too important to screw up.
“Sariel has promised to break the spell,” she admitted.
The pale eyes darkened with a hurt he didn’t bother to try and hide.
“That’s why you left?”
She glanced toward her father. “Can we speak in private?”
The king parted his lips to deny her request, only to hesitate when he read the unmistakable threat in her eyes.
He’d already crossed a line when he’d brought her to his homeland without asking. If he pressed her on this, there was a good chance she was never going to forgive him.
He made a sound of disgust. “Very well. I will allow you a few moments.” He pointed a finger at Roke. “But know this, vampire, you are in my territory. Here you will obey my rules.”
Sally laid a finger against Roke’s lips, preventing him from spewing his angry words. Only when her father had disappeared behind the thrones did she lower her hand.
“Someday,” Roke muttered.
Turning so she could face him directly, Sally laid her hand on his cheek, the ache in her heart easing as his power settled like a cloak around her.
“I didn’t mean to disappear,” she told him.
He peered deep into her eyes, as if searching for the truth. “Then why did you?”
“My father requested that I become a sort of diplomat between the Chatri and our world.”
Her words caught him off guard. Lucky for him, he didn’t share his personal opinion of the offer. It was enough that his lips curled with blatant repugnance.
“And you said?” he asked.
She held his gaze. “I said, yes.”
He carefully hid his reaction. “I see.”
“Next thing I knew I was here,” she continued her story.
The pale eyes blazed with silver fire. “Here and asking for our mating to be broken.”
She stroked her fingers down his cheek to trace the stubborn line of his jaw.
“The spell to be broken.”
“Why?”
She released an unsteady sigh, forcing herself to speak the painful words.
“Because you deserve the opportunity to find your true mate.”
He grabbed her fingers that she was stroking down the line of his throat and pressed them to his lips.
“I have found her,” he snapped.
It’s what she hoped for with every fiber of her being, but she couldn’t risk that someday he would be denied the female destined to be at his side.