The Vampire Lord's Substitute Bride

Sterli

u sure this i

wipers fought the rain. Mud ran down the glass. Past

f. The wool was frayed al

s far out unless they're hiding

k slammed. His tires spun in the mud and he was gone, gravel sprayi

cashmere coat that wasn't mine. It belonged to my

housand

iles south. The Sterlings had named their terms without once calling it a price. If I took Chloe's place a

squared my shoulders, and dragged

my fist

knuckles touched wood. It

pitch Chloe used on service workers.

xposed stone. No television. No clutter. A long table, a shelf of heavy book

leather sofa by

was so still that for one bad second

he

a moment, and it wasn'

e world. The man coming out of the shadow was none of that. He was well past six feet, broad through the sh

he point of no color, and there was nothing in

an reads a ledger. I felt s

in up, doing my best impression of Ch

s mouth moved. I

our bag

the floorboards. Something in my spine

was spotless. There was a long wooden table, th

eet of cream pape

it. Si

ok it. My fingers b

my hand b

s cold like stone that has never once been warm and

I asked, keepi

my affairs, and I won't ask about yours. You keep the house.

exactly what I needed. I picked up the pen and sig

or half a second. He took th

e nodded at the only closed door down

You're givin

efore I re

suitcase, went into the bed

lder underneath, like air after lightning

th

reak of the sofa.

The silence got heavier

oked through the

is back, watching the rain come down. He wasn't sitting. He wasn't lying

id not move

chin. I lay there for hours, waiting for one soun

e c