Claire nodded. “Then what can I do?”
Both vampires stared at her. Lucian glanced at Adrien and smiled. “See what I mean?”
But Adrien turned in Lily’s direction, his expression soft as he said, “I know exactly what you mean, and I have a feeling that whatever we do, it won’t be done alone.”
“No,” Claire stated, lowering her chin. “It won’t.”
At that, both men laughed.
She looked up at Lucian. “I know we’ve agreed to remain here for a while, but I really need to see Zoey, to speak with her just once. Can you arrange that?”
He nodded. “Absolutely.”
An hour later, Claire flew with Lucian back to The Erotic Passage, having surrounded them both with a powerful disguise.
Within a handful of minutes, Rumy led her to Zoey’s room. Claire worked hard to prepare herself for how thin and weak her friend would be. But when she opened the door, Zoey was actually sitting up in bed, the adjustable mattress angled to support her. She had a computer open on her lap, her gaze fixed on the screen. Despite the fact that it was clear her friend was out of danger, her skin showed the outlines of way too many bones.
“Zoey?” She moved inside with Lucian.
Her friend glanced up and her blue eyes widened. “Oh, my God, it’s you.” Her black hair was damp and slicked back away from her face.
Tears started to stream down Claire’s cheeks, as she hurried to the side of the bed and gathered Zoey up in her arms. Claire felt the bones of her friend’s shoulder blades and spine, which brought more tears rolling. She held Zoey for a long time, unwilling to let her go.
Zoey seemed to feel the same way and held on tight as well. “You’re here,” she whispered against Claire’s shoulder.
“I’m here.”
Claire only released her after several minutes. She drew back and asked, “Are you okay?”
Zoey held her gaze. “I don’t know yet. I was so sure I was going to die, but now I’m sitting here looking at you. I still can’t believe I survived.” A haunted look crept into her eyes. “What happened to you, Claire? Where did you go? I mean, Rumy told me you were in Florida, taking care of a kid. Is that true?”
Claire nodded, then gave her a brief history of her time with Josh.
Zoey’s gaze fell to the bedcovers. “No one hurt you.”
Guilt poured over Claire. She’d lived a relatively safe life in Daniel’s compound, but Zoey had endured the unimaginable. “No, I was never hurt. Not like you, but I was as much a prisoner. I couldn’t leave. Rumy somehow stole inside the compound and got me out, otherwise I’d still be there and who knows what would have happened to me.”
More tears fell down Zoey’s cheeks. She fingered the light green blanket next to her. “I’m glad. I thought about you all the time and of course I wondered if you were going through what I was. I lived as Daniel’s slave, his mistress, his toy, his f**king punching bag. You need to know that. I’m not clean. He called me his favorite, but he hurt me.”
Claire took Zoey’s hand and pressed it to her cheek. “None of that matters and there will be time to mend what happened.”
Zoey lifted her face to Claire, her eyes almost panicky. “Is it even possible?”
Claire held her gaze. “Damn straight it’s possible. And we have time, lots of time to make things right again.” She petted Zoey’s thick black hair. “I take it you’ve had a healer with you?”
Zoey gasped. “The healer. Oh, my God. I’ve never felt anything like it.” She spread her free hand to the side, waving it back and forth. “I mean look at this. I’m sitting up, I’m on the computer, I’m talking. By the time Rumy brought me to this room I was about two breaths away from six-feet-under.”
Claire didn’t bother telling Zoey that she’d also experienced the care of a healer or about anything else that she and Lucian had been through. She might have survived a couple of difficult battles over the past few days, but by comparison Zoey had endured two years of a violent war. There would be time enough in the coming weeks and months to explore all that each had endured.
She shared about Amber and Tracy, which of course created a new wave of tears, though this time of gratitude that both young women had been spared Zoey’s fate. When the same dark, uneasy light once more entered Zoey’s eyes, Claire told her how Lucian had burned the Prickly Pear to the ground.
A smile curved Zoey’s lips and for just a moment she looked like the young, carefree woman Claire had grown up with. “I wish I could have seen it. You did the right thing.”
“Slavers owned that damn club so I didn’t have the smallest twinge of conscience in burning it down.”
Zoey shook her head slowly. “Can you believe this world even exists?”
“It’s astonishing.”
She glanced past Claire. “And you must be Lucian, Marius’s brother.” Rumy would have filled Zoey in on everything.
Claire made the introductions, bringing Lucian forward and taking his hand.
“It’s nice to meet you, Zoey.” Lucian’s deep voice filled the small room.
For a moment, Zoey’s eyes narrowed as she looked up at him. “I know what you went through. Daniel liked to talk about his sons. I’m sorry.”
“And I’m sorry as well.”
Claire glanced at Lucian. His gaze was centered on Zoey and it seemed to her that an understanding flowed between them, each having experienced the brutality of the same monster. Finally, Lucian said quietly, “We’ll get him, Zoey. My brothers and I are set on that.”
Zoey drew in a breath that sounded like a hiss. “I didn’t know such evil could exist. I really didn’t.”
For a long moment, Zoey shaded her face with her hand. Claire didn’t say anything. Neither did Lucian.
When she’d recovered herself, Zoey met Claire’s gaze, then glanced at the double chain she wore. “You’re bonded.”
Claire looked up and squeezed Lucian’s hand. “We are.”
Zoey glanced from one to the other. “Is it love?”
“It is.” Claire’s eyes grew wet again. She’d sworn she wasn’t a weeper, but events of the past few days had proved her wrong repeatedly. “I’m staying with Lucian, in his world. I never thought I’d say this, but I belong here.”
“You look really happy, Claire.”