"You're manipulating me again!"
"Yes."
She groaned. "How can I stay mad at you when you agree with me like that?" She smoothed her palms over his chest. "Very well. I've grown to . . . well, it's like this-"
Gourlav stirred deeper in the bowels of the sanctum, roaring his readiness.
Damn it! "You need to go at once." Trehan traced her to the exit. "I can't take you from here, but you have to leave."
"I'll be fine." Her voice was sad, yet she seemed to force herself to smile. "I . . . I'll see you soon?"
Trehan wanted to tell her that she would, to reassure her-but even that unfounded optimism burned in his throat like a lie. So he said nothing, just stood trapped in the sanctum, watching her walk away from him.
While everything inside him screamed for him to follow.
Moments after she'd left Daciano, Bettina saw Cas, hanging out with his rowdy group of demons. Was he still angry with her after last night? He spotted her then. Would he even acknowledge her?
At once, he traced to her side, leaving his cohorts behind. "You're by yourself, Tina? Strolling around?"
"I, uh, had something to do."
"Then you're getting better. I knew you just needed to see those Vrekeners dead." Regret tinged his expression. "I wish I could have given that to you."
And Daciano wishes he could have been there for me after the attack. Bettina had needed both of them in different ways.
"Can I walk you to the ring?" he asked. "Or do you want to remain alone?"
"I've managed enough for one day. Go with me?"
They fell into step together, meandering through the town, like they had as children. But so much had changed since then. Instead of companionable silence, tension stretched between them. What was he thinking?
At length, Cas said, "Tina, I wanted to tell you I'm sorry about yesterday. About the things I said. I don't want to fight with you."
"Me neither, Cas!"
"It just felt wrong. Can we be friends once more?"
"Friends." In the past, that word would have made her ache for more. Now she found that she longed to call him friend. "Of course. You're my truest friend. The one who's always there for me. Even when we quarrel, you're still in my heart."
In a quiet tone, Cas said, "And so is he?"
"Yes. I care about the vampire."
"I should never have said anything about Daciano and seduction. I can't blame you for getting caught up in your first affair-especially not with one of the Daci. They can be . . . irresistible."
Had some Dacian female tempted Cas to her bed? The thought didn't sting as it would have in the past. "Cas, I didn't mean for it to happen, but there it is. I will worry for him, just as I will worry for you tomorrow. And I can't predict how I'm going to react tonight."
"I understand."
As they neared the ring, she recognized that she'd never been more nervous in her life.
This was really happening. Daciano's fight. And everyone present was certain he was about to die.
Frustration welled inside her yet again. She was a soon-to-be queen with zero control over what happened in her own realm.
Once Cas had traced her onto the grandstand, Raum greeted her with a questioning look.
"I'm okay," she assured him. I feel like I'll scream! "Nothing happened last night." I may have begun to fall for that gorgeous, patient, brave vampire who wants me to be his wife.