be able to help.”
“Help me get dressed and cleaned up, then take me to him.”
She nodded and we left quickly. We went back to the bathroom were Tasha had dressed me last time. This time my makeover was a little more rapid. Just enough to wash away the grime and make me presentable. Vincent’s men wouldn’t take me seriously if I looked like a degenerate in chains. I showered and Tasha helped me get ready. In half an hour my hair and makeup were done, and I was in another dress that gave off the impression I was something other than a slave. The dress was black with white panels.
The only telltale sign that I was a slave were the iron shackles on my wrists and neck. Vincent had the key to those, nothing I could do about that. Or was there?
“Can you take these off?”
“I have a spare key,” Tasha admitted. “In case of emergency, but Master Vincent—”
“Remove them, now.”
The slave nodded meekly and then left the room. A minute later she was back with the keys. She unclasped the shackles from my body. I looked like the bitch queen again. “Thank you. Now, take me to Wardorf,” I said.
We walked through the castle, venturing deep through stone corridors that were once again new to me. This time we went down into depths unknown, following stone staircases and corridors until we arrived at a staff dormitory of sorts. A large kitchen sat adjacent to a common area. A bald mountain of muscle had his feet up in front of a TV, he was watching a basketball game.
There were no other people in the common room. I picked up the remote and shut the TV off. He looked back at me and sat up immediately.
“You!” he said. I recognized him straight away, he was the huge bastard that had pushed a shotgun in my face when Vincent had taken me from my apartment.
“Where is Vincent?” I demanded. Wardorf remained sitting, I could tell he was definitely unnerved by me being here.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in a cell?” he asked.
“Do you want to be out of a job?” I fired back.
He laughed, but I could tell I was under his skin. “You’re no one, you don’t have the authority to do that.”
I leaned in and lowered my voice. “I’m his wife,” I said. “By law. If something happens to Vincent that means I’m in charge here.” I gestured to the room and the castle as a whole. “That means this is my operation, and I won’t hesitate to do a cabinet shuffle.”
I wasn’t under the illusion for a second that Vincent had prepared any sort of document leaving anything to me. I was a slave, and the marriage was only one of convenience, but I was betting the house that Wardorf was only a middle-rung minion. I only had to scare him into doing my bidding, and then I could get what I wanted.
“Bullshit,” he said. There was definite fear in his eyes though. The question was, why?
I leaned back and crossed my arms. “You’re scared of me,” I said. “Why?”
I was just a slave in chains after all.
“I’m not,” he growled. “Go back to your cell before Don Cartello returns.”
I looked at Tasha. “Why is he scared of me?”
“He’s worried you will use the voice,” she said.
“The voice?” I asked.
Wardorf shot a look at Tasha. “Don’t say another word girl,” he growled. “Or I’ll make you disappear in the—”
“You won’t lay a finger on her,” I said, basically snapping the words. I looked at Tasha again. “What is the voice?”
Tasha sighed. Was she afraid of it too? “Breeders are supposed to have the power to mesmerize vampires. Much like vampires can control humans, breeders are supposed to be able to do the same, but in a way which is much more powerful. That’s another reason why your kind are so powerful in this world. The voice scares small-dicked men like Wardorf.”
I looked at Wardorf again, who was now sitting quietly. He dwarfed us both in size and certainly looked a lot more menacing than Tasha and me, yet somehow, I felt like I was the one in control. I had no idea how to use this voice, but he only had to think I did.
“Oh. That. Yes. Vincent was surprised the first time I took control of him, let me tell you.”
Wardorf’s eyes bulged. “You what?!”
“Let’s cut to the chase,” I said. “Unless you want to hang from the