Bad Blood (Cora's Choice #3) (11 page)
“Just listen, Cora, and believe.
This is the one event in society in which an invitation must be, by rights, extended to all. And it is the only invitation that it is a deadly insult to refuse without just cause. There will be many in this house who have never before been allowed across this threshold and, if I have my way, never will again. We’re not all the same any more than humans are all the same. No matter what you see, know that I am not them.”
I nodded mutely.
The tension in his voice was palpable. “You won’t be the only cognate, either. Many others will be in attendance with their agnates. But what they have is not necessarily what we will have. Don’t be afraid, Cora. You know in your heart what I am. And what I am not.”
But do I?
I wondered.
Do I really?
He stepped back, grasping me by the shoulders at
arm’s length. “Go finish getting dressed. I’ll come for you when it is time to descend. I won’t be able to stand beside you all evening, but you fled from the djinn and survived. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for. You can do this.”
I laughed
in my bitterness, the sound tearing at my throat. “I must. You’ve made me.”
He nodded, accepting the accusation with sadness in his eyes that changed nothing.
I closed my eyes as he planted a chaste kiss on my cheek.
Then I left the study. Obediently.
I had no alternative.
“There you are, Cora!” said Jane when I entered the bedroom. She glanced at the watch on her wrist. “Still plenty of time.”
She sent me to the bathroom, then herded me into the dressing room again, and I stood, dazed, as she dressed me, made repairs to my makeup and hair, and fussed over my perfume.
I put on the heels that she gave me and stood for the necklace, earrings, and bracelet to be added.
Why
shouldn’t I be draped in Dorian’s clothes, Dorian’s jewels? After all, I was his possession as well.
“Take a look, madam,” Worth said, pulling me over to a three-angled, floor length mirror.
I stared at the creature, and it stared back at me. I knew it was me, and yet I couldn’t make a connection to the image in the mirror. She looked gorgeous, waiflike, and far too fragile to be real. She looked like she could belong to Dorian Thorne. She certainly didn’t belong to me.
“Thank you,” I said, and the lips of the figure moved, too.
I looked away, unable to meet her eyes anymore.
Worth led me back into the bedroom and pushed a chair out for me.
I sat, and she pulled her phone from her pocket. She typed something rapidly and then smiled at me, sympathy in her eyes. “I ordered water for you, madam. You seem somewhat out of sorts.”
Perhaps she would understand.
If anyone could. “I want what he wants, Worth,” I said hopelessly. “Even when I don’t.”
“He is a good master,
Cora,” she said earnestly. “You’re lucky to have him. All cognates are wanted, as much as they want their agnates. They must be. But his caring goes deeper than that.”
I shook my head, unsure if I believed it, unsure if it made any difference if it were true.
There was a knock on the door then, and Jane went to answer it, returning with a sweat-beaded carafe and a crystal glass. She poured me a glass, and I drank it. The cold water did a little to clear my head.
“Thanks,” I said.
I remembered suddenly and grabbed the chartreuse purse from the day before. I pulled out the pack of birth control pills.
Did I believe?
Dared I believe?
The faint headache I’d had since yesterday had faded.
I turned my wrist to reveal the teardrop-shaped bond mark. My fingers curled into a fist, almost of their own volition, and I put the pills back.
The next knock was Dorian.
He had changed since I had seen him last and was now dressed in a white tie and tail suit. Not a hair was out of place. It made me hurt to look at him.
His gaze raked over my body, a light of desire burning deep in his eyes.
“Exquisite,” he said succinctly.
“Are you ready?”
I nodded and stood, passing him
carefully without touching as I went through the doorway onto the mezzanine. I could hear the chatter of the guests below and the quiet playing of a small orchestra. He offered me his arm. I shrank away, but the force of his personality overwhelmed me and I took it despite myself. He guided me to the top of the stairs.
“Remember, Cora,” he said, capturing me in his gaze.
“We are not all the same.”
We descended to the salon, side-by-side, to meet the room full of vampires.
The story continues in…
Cora’s Bond – Book 2
Aethereal Bonds
On Sale
June 17, 2014
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Blood-bonded to the billionaire vampire Dorian Thorne, Cora Shaw enters a world of unimagined sensuality—and unimagined danger. With the hold he has over her, he can exert absolute control over her body and mind, even to the point of erasing her completely.
And Dorian has already shown a willingness to use his power to force her to do his will.
Cora is determined to find a way out of her bond, no matter what the price. But even as she seeks an escape, she wonders if she can really let him go….
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Author’s Note
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I’m currently working exclusively in the Aethereal Bonds world, which I’ve mapped out to be big enough to let me tell all the different kinds of stories I want to share with readers. It’s got vampires, demons, weres, faes and more—all sorts of creatures that are great fun to play with.
I live near Washington, D.C., with my family. A proud geek, I love fantasy, romance, science fiction, and historical fiction.
