CHAPTER 2
Darren
"THIS ONE NEEDS YOURsignature. And this one. Initial here." I pointed at the line on the document before Antoine. "And that should be all for now." I picked the stack of papers off the table, tapping the ends to line them up.
I turned away from the desk, the next task already on my mind. Antione's voice stopped me.
"Yes, master?" I pivoted on my heel, waiting expectantly.
Antoine had braided his hair today, the long tail of it brushing the middle of his chest. He placed his fingers together in a steeple in front of him. His suit jacket had been discarded, and the top two buttons of his dress shirt were undone, exposing the pale skin beneath. If there was ever a poster boy for vampires, it would be Antoine.
"How are things?" his voice, which usually held a commanding no-nonsense sort of tone even when not using his powers, held no inflection at all.
I frowned slightly. My brows drew down in confusion. "I'm not sure what you mean, master?"
Arching a brow, Antoine angled his head to one side. "I refer to your wellbeing since coming back from our little adventure."
The temptation to snort at his wording was strong. I held back. "If one could call it such. I'm well. Happy to be home once more." Curious that he couldn't tell how I felt through our blood bond, I didn't point it out to him.
"And Piper?"
Ah. Things become clearer.
"We are...adjusting." I let the papers relax in my hands. "It's still a bit..."
"Too good to be true?" Antione finished for me with a small smile.
I inclined my head. "Precisely. Though, I do wish things had turned out differently." Piper had practically given up her freedom to save the Durands, binding herself to the vicious vampire hunter guild and their untrustworthy president, Vincent. In my opinion, not that anyone would ask for it, we should have saved Marcus and killed our way out. Giving the hunters an inch was only asking for an arrow in the back.
"I understand your hesitance," Antoine continued, shifting in his chair to fold one leg over the other. "None of us could have predicted our dear Piper would trade everything for us. It certainly has put us in a peculiar situation."
The way he said it made me pause. "What has happened?"
Antione sighed and picked up the silver letter opener on his desk, twirling it in between his fingers. He was fidgeting. Antoine never fidgeted.
"Antoine," I prodded further, dropping all formalities. "What is it?"
Curling his fingers around the handle of the letter opener, he stabbed it into the surface of his desk. "Certain acquaintances of ours have found out about Piper's new...position. I do not know how they have come by this knowledge, but they are determined to use it to their advantage."
I didn't like the sound of that. "The information certainly wasn't leaked from one in our household. Who is this acquaintance?"
Antoine leveled a look at me. "Morpheus."
My jaw tightened at the name. The owner of Club Dead, a notorious vampire hang out, had unfortunately helped the Durands find out where the vampire hunters’ headquarters were. Morpheus was one of the less trusting of the master vampires. He wasn't as bad as Valentine, but only by a little bit.
"What does he want?" My words came out harder than I meant for them to be.
Antoine's expression went neutral. "What else? Guarantees that we won't sic our personal vampire hunter on him. Immunity from all crimes against him. Anything that the vampire council wouldn't approve of, naturally."
This time I did snort. "And he believes his favor was worth this?"
Smirking, Antoine shook his head. "Of course not. And yet it is in Morpheus's nature to push the bounds of honor."
"What are we going to do?" Suspicion leaked into my voice. I was having a harder time keeping control of my emotions when it came to Piper. I used to be able to take all these vampire politics in stride. Now I have found I lost the taste for them. Or perhaps I was just getting too old for it all.
"Do not look at me with such contempt." Antoine narrowed his icy blue gaze on me. "I do not plan to give Morpheus anything more than vague answers. I certainly will not promise him things I cannot do. Besides," his lips ticked up slightly, "trying to promise Piper won't cut off his head with her new group of friends wouldn't be truthful now, would it?"
I smiled in return. "She is quite a wild card." I frowned, thinking of the bruises and cuts that marred her body in the shower.