Page 6 of Forsaking All Others

The bachelor stares at me, his face expressionless.

“A fiery ball of death,” he eventually says. “Thank you, Catriona. I look forward to learning more about you inside.”

‘Dismissed? So much for giving an impression of who I am.’

“And I you,” I mutter.

As I walk away I turn my head to see the bachelor step close to the director.

“You and I need to talk,” he says quietly, his tone scarier than any threat he could have made.

4

“Attacked them?” Falcon snorts on the other end of the line. “You’re sure?”

“You heard what I said,” I snap, “and you know how this game’s played. I can’t leave this fucking hell-hole mansion to investigate.”

“Mmmm,” Falcon says quietly, “very odd. I’m glad you called, though. I’m more than happy to help.”

I ignore his reference to the fact that this is the first time I’ve phoned in decades, twenty-eight years to be exact. Time has yet to heal the wounds between us, and we both know it. It’s going to take more than that, way more. Still, I know he’ll see me being in this game and making this call as a step in the right direction.

“Falcon, you said the Queen had distanced herself from the selection process for fear of discovery…”

“She has. Angie and I confirmed it through Attracta. The royal cunt hasn’t dabbled in any fixing or rigging of the show since my court case. That’s not to say there aren’t others out there who might wish to sway the outcome. And that’s also not to say that our intelligence is foolproof. You and I both know the Queen’s games never really stop.”

“Yes,” I frown. “Although I see no advantage for your queen to manipulate whom I marry; a lesser noble from a little-known French house…”

“That means nothing,” he snorts. “She’s manipulated all the houses for centuries for her amusement and as part of some diabolical breeding program. And your house has always been connected to mine, which makes it spin in her evil orbit. But, like I said, as far as we know, her manipulation of the selection has either stopped or gone ridiculously underground since the court case. That aside, I find it unlikely she’d approve of knocking off contestants — after all, she considers these Games to be of the highest importance in maintaining human, vampire relations.”

“Then who’d have the balls or the motive to attack a car full of contestants in the biggest game show on earth?” I scowl.

“I think we both know where the blame most likely lies,” he sighs.

“The Free Men? It seems outside their gambit of tricks.”

“I doubt it was them, but we can’t rule them out. I’ll put out some feelers. Yin still has connections to the group.”

“Mmm. Since every other limo arrived unscathed, I can only conclude that someone, somewhere, doesn’t want me to marry one of these last six women.”

“Or maybe they were simply waiting for their chance, and the last car gave them an opening?”

“Perhaps,” I frown.

“Any of the contestants in the last car pique your interest or seem particularly special?”

“If by special you mean mentally challenged, I expect all of them would have to be if they’ve voluntarily put their names into the hat for this crap shoot.”

“Jag,” Falcon chuckles.

I sigh.

“No, no one special. But either way I’d like to know who was behind the attack and whether I can expect further bullshit.”

“Oh, undoubtedly there’ll be bullshit. On the bright side,” he adds wryly, “you might not have to break your vow and kill anyone if these attacks continue.”

I look at the stars and shake my head.

“You know I haven’t sucked the life out of a woman in centuries, and I don’t expect to start now. But having the contestants killed by some outside force isn’t what I anticipated — or will tolerate. If I must choose one of these women to be my bride, then I will choose.”