And so that left me with the other alternative: going through with it. Maybe it was the better option, my anxiety aside. Gregor wouldn’t get mad, I wouldn’t be sent away, and according to him, I’d have no pregnancy or disease worries. Yes, I would have preferred to wait longer, much longer, before taking such a step, but apparently, my time was up.

“Cannelle.” I lowered my voice, gesturing for her to come nearer. She did, her expression quizzical. “I was wondering if you could tell me, ah, what to expect.”

I had no one else to ask. What was I going to do, call my mother and ask that? Hardly. I’d never had girlfriends, and the things I’d overheard at school wouldn’t help now. Sure, I knew what went where. But details on sex with a vampire? Nope.

“What to expect?” she repeated. I gestured for her to keep her voice down, but she ignored that. “Expect to be fucked, you simple little twit!”

Even in my extreme embarrassment, I had a flash of insight. “Gregor told me you’ve been with him for sixty years. Says he gives you his blood to keep you young, but you’re hanging on for the big promotion, aren’t you? You want to be a vampire, and you hate me because you know if I asked him, he’d change me into one. And he hasn’t offered the same to you.”

Her sky blue eyes narrowed. She bent down with an ugly little smile on her lips.

“You know what you can expect, your first time?” Now her voice was soft. Almost inaudible. “A lot of pain. Bon appétit.”

She left. I stared at the tray of food without the slightest twinge of hunger before pushing it away.

The knock came two hours later. It wasn’t at my bedroom door, where I’d been watching the clock like an inmate awaiting sentencing. It was at the front door of the house.

Gregor opened it while I peeked downstairs. We didn’t get any visitors. The fact that no fewer than six people entered made me come all the way down the hall. They were talking in French at a speed that made it unintelligible for me.

“Merde!” Gregor swore, and then a string of other words followed that might also have been curses. “Tonight? If he thinks to steal her, he’s greatly underestimated me. Catherine. Come down at once!”

I did, wondering how much trouble I was in for eavesdropping. To my relief, Gregor didn’t seem to care that I’d been listening. He opened the closet and handed me a coat.

“Put this on. We’re leaving.”

“Now?” I asked. A part of me was singing at my unexpected respite. “What’s wrong?”

“I’ll tell you on the way,” he answered, taking my arm and almost yanking me out the door. “We don’t have time to delay.”

Two more vampires were waiting with the back open to a black Mercedes. We climbed inside and instantly sped off. The velocity threw me backward. I didn’t even have time to buckle my seat belt. Okay, so we were in a big hurry.

“What’s wrong?” I asked again.

Gregor stared at me for a long moment. That freaked me out. It looked like he was making up his mind about something.

“Catherine,” he said, “you have been discovered. Even as we speak, Bones’s allies are searching the city for you. If they find you, they will turn you into the monster I described.”

I was stricken. “Oh, please, don’t let them! I don’t want to be a killer. I don’t want to—to become some kind of whore.”

For a split second, I’d have almost sworn he looked triumphant. But then his forehead creased, and he shook his head.

“There is only one way to prevent this, ma chérie. You must bind yourself to me. It is the only thing that can’t be undone.”

“Sure, bind me.” Whatever that meant. “Bind the hell out of me, just don’t turn me over to those monsters!”

“Lucius, to the Ritz,” he barked. The car did a swerve that had my life flashing before my eyes, then it straightened. “Tell the others to assemble there as well. I’m not binding myself in the backseat of a stinking car.”

Then he turned to me. “Catherine, if you do this, you’ll be protected for all of your days. If you don’t, then I can’t save you or your family. So when the time comes, don’t hesitate.”

That sounded ominous. It occurred to me to have him specify what “binding” meant. “Er, what do I have to do?”

He took my hand, drawing his finger down my palm. “You cut yourself here,” he outlined simply, “then clasp my hand and declare yourself mine. I cut my hand and do the same.”

“That’s it?” I was afraid it might have entailed turning me into a vampire. “Jeez, give me a knife, let’s do it!”

He smiled and kept my hand in his. “There must be witnesses, and Lucius isn’t enough. Furthermore, this isn’t the proper place for our first union, and I’m not waiting to claim you once you’re mine.”

There was no translation needed for that statement. Well, considering the alternative, I’d pay this price.

“So this is like a vampire…engagement, if we’re saying we belong to each other?” I couldn’t look at him as I asked. Everything was moving so fast.

Gregor paused, seeming to choose his words. “There’s no such state among vampires. If you must have a human analogy, ‘twould be considered a marriage.”

Marriage? I had enough sense not to blurt, But I’m not old enough! We were talking about undead rules, not human ones.

“So it’s not like we sign papers or I change my name, right?” With a nervous laugh. “It’s just a vampire thing?”

Lucius glanced back at us. Gregor snapped something, and he averted his attention back to the road. Then Gregor smiled.

“Exactly. In your religion or customs, it has no meaning.”

“Oh.” Now I was just worried about getting away from the fiend chasing us and losing my virginity. “Okay, then.”

Two of Gregor’s people checked us in to the opulent hotel. Gregor was with six of the vampires who’d come in with us, and I was sent to browse the dress store nearby. Gregor was talking very low, and they stood close together. With all the background noise, I couldn’t hear a word.

I fingered the dress in front of me. It was peacock blue and silky, with etched beading down the side of it. Next to me, a young blonde was also looking at dresses, only she was much more enthusiastic. She knocked a few off their perch as she held one and another up before discarding the selected pieces.

“Whenever you’re in a hurry, you can’t find a thing to wear,” she remarked in English.

I glanced around. “Are you talking to me?”

She laughed. “Of course. I don’t speak French, and I heard that guy you were with tell you to stay put in English. I’m American, too. Been in France long?”

She seemed harmless, but I knew Gregor wouldn’t want me chatting with a stranger. I was supposed to keep a low profile.

“Not long,” I answered, pretending to examine a dress across the other aisle.

She followed me. “Hey, is this orange hideous with my complexion?”

I studied the dress. “Yes,” I said truthfully.

“That’s what I thought!” She swung an accusing glance at the sales assistant. “The French hate Americans. She’d tell me to wear a garbage bag and charge me a grand for it.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Gregor walking toward me. He didn’t look happy. “, I gotta go. My fiancé’s coming. We’re ah, late for our rehearsal dinner.”

She gaped. “You’re getting married? You look so young!”

I started moving toward him, sputtering, “Oil of Olay. It’s like the fountain of youth.”

“Come along, Catherine,” Gregor directed me with an impatient wave of his hand, giving the girl an annoyed scowl.

I hurried after him, hearing her mutter, “Friggin’ rude French,” as we headed to the elevators with our guard.

Our room was on the top floor. As soon as we entered it, the guards drew all the drapes, cutting off the amazing view of the Paris skyline. Through the open door across from us, I saw the bedroom and shivered. End of the line, my mind mocked me.