Stroke of Midnight - Lara Adrian Page 0,5
clear that he took the pact seriously. Apparently everyone did, aside from Jehan.
For an instant, he felt a pang of loss for his absence all these years. It had been his choice to leave, his choice to make his own way in the world instead of being satisfied with the privileged, if stifling, one he’d been handed at birth. He’d yearned more for adventure than tradition, and supposed he always would.
“So, this handfast entails what, exactly?”
“A period of eight nights, spent together in seclusion. No visitors, no communication with the outside world in any form. Just the two of you, alone at the oasis retreat on the border of our lands and the Sanhajas’.”
“In other words, imprisonment for a week and a day with a female who may or may not be a willing party to this whole forced seduction ritual. Followed by what—a public blood bond encouraged at sword point?”
“Forced seduction? Public blood bond?” Marcel gaped at him as if he’d lost his mind. “The handfast is all about consent, Jehan. Touch Seraphina against her wishes and her family has the right to take your head. Drink her blood without her permission and no one would balk if the Sanhajas took out their revenge on the entire Mafakhir tribe. This is serious shit.”
Not to mention, archaic. Even though he had no plans to touch Seraphina Sanhaja or any other female who wasn’t of his own choosing, Jehan’s curiosity was piqued. “I thought the whole point of the pact was to seal the peace between our two families with a blood bond.”
“It is,” Marcel said. “But only if the handfast is successful.”
“Meaning?”
“There has to be a mutual agreement. There has to be love. If there’s no desire to bond as a mated couple at the end of the handfast, the couple is free to go their separate ways and the pact then moves on to the next pair in line.”
“So, there’s an out clause?” Jehan’s brows rose in surprise. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all night.”
His brother released a frustrated-sounding breath. “I don’t know why I’m bothering to explain any of this to you. The terms will be spelled out in detail at the ceremony tomorrow night.”
The ceremony Jehan had no intention of attending.
Marcel parked in front of the opulent estate and killed the engine. The Aventador’s scissor doors lifted upward and the two Breed males climbed out.
As they began to ascend the wide, polished stone steps leading to the Darkhaven’s entrance, Jehan asked, “Who’s the next pair in line after Seraphina and me?”
“That would be the Breedmate next nearest the age of thirty in the Sanhaja family, and the unmated eldest son of the second-eldest Breed male in our line. You remember our cousin, Fariq.”
Jehan mentally recoiled. “Fariq, who prided himself on his collection of dead insects and snakes as a boy?”
Marcel chuckled. “He’s not nicknamed Renfield for nothing.”
And Jehan couldn’t help but feel guilty that his refusal of the pact would mean some unfortunate Breedmate would eventually have to spend eight nights alone with the repulsive male.
But he didn’t feel guilty enough to let the farce continue. He had to halt the whole thing before it went any further.
“Father’s waiting for you in his study,” Marcel told him as they reached the top. “Everyone else is in the main salon, where the formal introductions will be made.”
Alarm shot through him at that last announcement. Jehan grabbed his brother’s muscled arm. “Everyone else?”
“Mother and the Sanhajas. And Seraphina, of course.”
Ah, fuck. If he thought this was bad enough before he stepped off the plane tonight, the situation had just nose-dived into a disaster zone. “They’re here right now? All of them?”
“That’s what I’ve been telling you. Everything is already in motion and ready to begin. We were only waiting for you to arrive, brother.”
CHAPTER 3
The sound of deep male voices carried from the foyer. Until that moment, the small gathering inside the Darkhaven’s elegant salon had been engaged in pleasant chatter about the weather and a dozen other light subjects. But at the low rumble of muffled conversation somewhere outside the gilded walls, a palpable spike of anticipation pierced the atmosphere in the room.
“Ah, my sons have finally arrived.” Beautiful and poised, Simone Mafakhir smiled from her seat on a silk divan, her sky blue eyes lit with excitement. “I know Jehan will be delighted to meet you, Seraphina.”
Sera’s mouth was suddenly too dry to speak, but she gave a polite nod and returned the brunette Breedmate’s warm