floor beyond the sheet curtain she’d arranged for privacy.
“Finally awake?”
Analie groaned quietly to herself, last night’s events crashing back into her thoughts.
That Royce was invading her personal space raised her hackles. She bared her teeth as she crept out of hiding, but he wasn’t impressed by her display of aggression. He reached toward her, and she instinctively flinched back.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
She’d been so angry and on edge that she hadn’t looked at what he held—a plate of fish sticks, complete with a tiny bowl of tartar sauce, and a heaping side of still-steaming French fries.
She stared. That she hadn’t scented the food over the layers of vampire reek thoroughly disturbed her—but it was her favorite food. Ever. Being offered by one of the scariest things she’d ever seen. Or didn’t see. Well, she saw his shadowed outline. Whatever. She hesitated, her stomach giving an embarrassingly loud growl as she froze, locked in indecision.
“Jacques was a bit incensed at the request, but I’ve been told his skill in the kitchen is incomparable. I’d hate to see his efforts go to waste,” Royce said, withdrawing the plate and making as if to leave.
“Wait,” she said, the single word coming out high and strangled.
He paused, silently regarding her.
“I want it. Please.”
She was fortunate that she couldn’t see his smile, delightfully devious. He extended the plate to her once more, his voice deliberately low and soothing.
“As you wish. Tonight, Mouse will take you shopping for new clothes and anything you might like to make your room more comfortable. Jacques will start your lessons in another day or so.”
Analie inched forward, gingerly taking the plate and retreating as rapidly as she could without spilling half of it to the floor. Even under the overwhelming reek of leech, it smelled fabulous. Everything was perfectly cooked, fried to a crispy golden brown. As much as she wanted to tear into it, she felt too uncomfortable to eat in front of Royce, fidgeting uncomfortably as she stood there with the plate.
“Um, okay. What am I supposed to do in the meantime?” Aside from crawl up the walls until she could get this horrible, damned smell out of her room.
“Eat, for one thing. Don’t wait on my account.”
Damn him to hell. He must have realized how much it was triggering her defensive instincts to have him here, worst of all with food in her hands. She looked at him, down at the plate, back at him. Shuffling uneasily over to a nightstand, she set the plate down and crouched beside it, gingerly popping a French fry into her mouth.
'God, this is good,' she thought, closing her eyes in bliss at the salty, tangy taste. These weren’t made in a microwave or from a drive-thru. They tasted too fresh for that, with some kind of spice on it she wasn’t familiar with.
“Jacques will be teaching you after hours at Le Petite Boisson. The kitchen closes to new orders at midnight, which is when your lessons will begin. I haven’t finished arranging a teacher for your other subjects yet, but I imagine I will have them arrive sometime shortly after sunset so they can take you to Jacques afterwards. You will study six nights a week. On the seventh, you may spend your time as you wish, as long as one of my people is in attendance to supervise.”
Analie twitched, munching on the first fish stick as he laid out the rules. If it wasn’t so tasty, she would have leapt at him with fangs and claws extended. The food was far superior to anything she’d ever thrown together in her kitchen at home. Even the tartar sauce tasted better than the stuff she was used to. Mm, and the fish sticks were so crunchy on the outside…
“While you’re with Mouse tonight, you can get anything you may need to fill your hours when you aren’t in class or doing homework. If you wish to use a phone line, I’ll have one installed. We’ve got wireless internet set up for the building, so if you have a laptop, get with John and he’ll give you the passwords to connect to the network.”
Why was he offering all these things? “I don’t have a laptop.”
“No? Get one tonight if you want.”
Analie choked a little on the last bite.
“Are you all right?”
'Oh, yes. I’m in the hands of a leech. Home is 3,000 miles away. I won’t see my friends or family for five years. I’m just peachy.' Analie thought. Out loud, she said,