He regarded her coolly, his lean face hard.
She felt raw and exposed, as if she had left her skin behind when she had leaped backward. He had made some excuse to Melisande, come back to the attendants’ house and climbed through the second-story window, all in the time it had taken her to go down the hall to the linen closet and back again.
This, she thought. This is why Vampyres scare the shit out of me.
Staring down at the towel she twisted between her hands, she said, “Oh, that window? I must have—I must have forgotten to latch it when I had it open this afternoon.”
“Were you not told of the protocol that should be followed whenever an enemy might be on the estate?” he asked. The small, thin scar beside his stern mouth looked whiter than it had when she had noticed it at the Ball.
“The protocol.” She cleared her throat, while in her mind’s eye she was starting to see the words in capital letters: THE PROTOCOL. “Yes. Yes, I was told.”
He rose to his feet with the same pure, liquid grace as before and walked toward her. “Did you open the window afterward?”
She pursed her lips, while her hands shook, and—oh my God, why did he keep coming toward her? Angling her head away, she sidestepped toward the puddle. Dropping the towel on the water, she pushed it around with one bare foot.
His hands came around her upper arms, and he turned her toward him. He said, “Did you. Open the window. Afterward.”
Her head might have moved up and down a bit.
“Do you know how I know that already?”
This time she shook her head. Her gaze focused on the fourth button on his shirt. He smelled like a woman’s perfume. If he and Melisande hadn’t kissed, they had at least hugged.
Not that it was any of her business what they did. Still, she couldn’t help but notice. It was very nice perfume.
He said between his teeth, “Because I know the others would have done a sweep of the house to make sure it was locked down as soon as they received word that a dangerous Vampyre and her attendants were going to arrive.”
It was actually pretty terrible how he never raised his voice. She looked down at his hands, still gripping her upper arms. They were slim and strong, with long fingers and lean wrists.
While his touch seemed to brand itself into her skin, he wasn’t hurting her. That might possibly change at any second. She lifted her gaze and met his. “I broke your rules, and I’m sorry.”
His voice lowered into a growl. “You’re not sorry.”
“Well, I’m afraid that’s true.” She felt her head start to nod again and made herself stop. “I’m not really, exactly sorry I opened the window. I’m just sorry you noticed.” She paused then forced herself to continue. “I’d also like to point out that you’re touching me without my permission, and I just wanted to remind you of the promise you made. You know, the one where you wouldn’t coerce me or do anything to me against my will.”
One of his eyebrows rose—just one—and he looked angrier and more imperious than anyone else she had ever seen. Finger by finger, he lifted his hands away from her arms, moving so slowly and deliberately, it was as good as a shout.
I choose to do this, the gesture said. You do not compel me.
Her insides had turned to a quivering mass of jelly. Moving with extreme care, she took a step back.
He followed, and his piercing gaze held her like a trap. “Do you know why those rules are in place?”
He was crowding into her personal space, but she thought she’d better not point out again that he did so without her permission, because that seemed like a card that should only be played rarely. “I’ll take a wild guess. They’re probably for our own good?”
“Quite. Now can you please explain why you disregarded that?”
Unable to stand still, she squatted to fold the damp towel. “I woke up and it was something like eighty degrees in my room.”
“And?”
“And I thought, well, just for five minutes, the one and only hostile Vampyre on the entire estate won’t notice if a window in the far corner of a secondary building was cracked open. For five minutes. And even if she did notice, she wouldn’t be able to get inside without an invitation. I was just about to close it again when I heard you and the Light Fae princess talking, and I realized I couldn’t shut it until you left, because otherwise you might hear me. Then like a complete moron, I knocked stuff off my nightstand, and you found out anyway.”
Shifting his weight so he stood hipshot, he crossed his arms. “What did you hear?”
“Not much.” She shrugged, while her mind raced. Had any of it been confidential?
“Be specific.”
“You like and miss each other. She’s sorry she lost her temper. Things are strained between her and Julian, and I guess between Julian and the Nightkind council.” Her gaze darted up to his face again, but his expression was a closed book. “You’re not happy at having Justine here, but I already knew that. Raoul said earlier that she’s an enemy.”
“You didn’t miss much, did you?”
“I guess the wind was blowing in the right direction. I didn’t want to . . .” She caught herself up before she said something untrue, because after the first few minutes, she had actually wanted to eavesdrop. Not that she was proud of it. “I didn’t mean for it to happen, and I’m really sorry about that.”
He gestured impatiently. “Stop squatting.”
Warily, she rose to her feet.
His quiet voice stung like a whip. “Justine might not have been able to enter without permission, but her attendants could have. They could have climbed in here almost as quickly and quietly as I did just now, slit your throat and be gone again inside of ten minutes. And before you tell me how unlikely that is, I will tell you that exact scenario has happened before. Vampyres have been known to take vengeance against other Vampyres through attacking their attendants.”
Appalled, she lifted her chin. He was right, of course, and she would take whatever he had to say without flinching. Much. She said again, “I’m sorry. Were they your attendants?”
“No, they were someone else’s, and it happened over thirty years ago.” He studied her expression then said, “While it may surprise you to hear this, I’m not actually angry that you broke the rules.”
The world shifted under her feet again. “You’re not?”
“You thought things through, considered potential risks and took action that was independent of any orders that you’d been given. And while I understand that it was entirely accidental, you also acquired a great deal of information. Those traits are all very useful to me.” He paused. “In fact, I only have a few real problems with what you did.”
She regarded him with a great deal of wariness, because once again, this conversation had run away from her. “What are they?”
“You assumed you knew better than we did and were stupidly careless. And you got caught.”
Her mouth opened and closed. She had never experienced anything quite like this lecture before, and she didn’t know what to make of it.
He turned brisk. “Melisande, Justine and I will be leaving promptly tomorrow at sundown. As you undoubtedly already overheard, after the council meetings I’ll be traveling to New York, so I will see you in February. I’ll expect an excellent progress report, so try to stay out of trouble while I’m gone.” He gave her a slow smile. “Or at least try not to get caught.”
She opened her mouth again, but nothing came out.
He slipped a couple of fingers under her chin and gently eased her mouth shut. “To avoid unnecessary conversation with any of the others, I’m going to leave the way I came in. You will lock the window when I’m gone.”
He didn’t phrase it as a question, but she nodded anyway.
Even though he said he was leaving, he didn’t move, nor did he drop his hand from her chin. Forgetting to be afraid, she watched him curiously as his gaze roamed over her face. He touched her lips with his thumb, and a slight frown came between his eyebrows. Then his eyelids lowered, hiding the expression in his eyes.