To Have: Vampire Assassin League #19 Read Online Free PDF Page A

contained stringed instruments Evie couldn’t place, adding the vaguest hint of incense to the air, and she’d even brought a silver platter that contained all kinds of cheeses, fresh fruits, and some really tasty flat breads to devour. Not to mention the perfection of the wine they poured for her.
    Now this kind of pampering, she could really become accustomed to.
    Except that all of that preparation was to get her outfitted like they were, and then she got another length of fabric wrapped about her that they called a
chador
, and she was pronounced ready. She wasn’t wearing any of the necklaces and bracelets and anklets and other gems they’d shown her. Some were so big they screamed fake. Nope. Not for her. Her only adornment was the toe bands on a pair of flat-heeled sandals. There was a band of colored stones adorning the loop that held each big toe. They were surprisingly comfortable, if a bit hard to keep on. And if she hadn’t been so tipsy, she probably wouldn’t have been quite so docile and agreeable.
    She followed Tamell through dimly lit corridors, trying to ignore how decadent and sensuous it felt to have real silk skimming her. Breasts. Belly. Buttocks. She didn’t even wear undergarments. Wow. She was actually getting turned on here. In purgatory? Was such a thing even possible? Well. It couldn’t be entirely her fault. It was a combination of things. The full-body massage. The wine. The erotic caress of silk on her nakedness. That wasn’t the worst of it, either. She felt about as strong as a wet noodle, and twice as wobbly. She was even giggling as they approached two huge-ass doors.
    Evie tried to discern the height of them while Tamell lifted a door knocker that looked heavy. It sounded even heavier as a resounding boom reverberated about them.
    “Why...are we knocking?” Evie asked.
    “I must leave you now.”
    Tamell would have already deserted her except that Evie had gripped her elbow and stopped her. “What?”
    “My presence was not ordered.”
    “Excuse me? Ordered? Didja just say
ordered
??”
    “No one is allowed into the prince’s presence without receiving permission.”
    “Oh. No. Rewind and repeat that. You did
not
say what I just heard.”
    “Ah. You have received permission to enter. I must leave you now. Your servant.”
    Tamell bowed to her, exhibiting more cleavage with that move, and somehow she’d gotten her elbow free, too. Evie was blaming the wine now.
    “Where are you going?” she asked.
    “I will be in the harem, if you have need of me.”
    “The
what
? Oh. Lady. I sure hope that’s a punch line because it had better be a joke. A really big one.”
    Harem?
Oh. Somebody was getting an earful.
    Tamell didn’t answer. Evie watched the woman’s shadow flit between columns as she exited. She felt like she’d just been deserted at the opening to the devil’s lair or something. And this place was really enormous. She craned her neck to look up. She couldn’t see the ceiling. Her breathing even felt like it echoed. This place made the rooms where she’d been look small. Who the hell needed this much space? And why?
    She stopped trying to find the ceiling. Pivoted on the cute little sandals and faced the big doors. Well. Prince Arachnid was about to provide some answers. That’s what was going to happen, because, even if she was dead, she was still Evelyn Warner. And she wasn’t known for taking things lying down.
    The doors started opening. Jointly. On their own. Evie waited until they’d gapped enough to slide through and started walking. And then she was doing the best job in her life of pretending indifference. Good night! There wasn’t a speck of the room that wasn’t sparkling with what was probably gold. And silver. And all kinds of what might actually be precious stones. She couldn’t tell the light source. It was flickering but it didn’t look like torches. They seemed to be scattered all along what walls she could see through even more of the