“No one,” I rasped, and his eyes fixed on mine, stilling my next word. I stood upright under his control and would have fallen if his will wasn’t propping me up.

“Please,” Ivy whispered, standing beside Jenks slumped on the floor. “I beg favor.”

With a light interest, DeLavine touched the unscared side of my neck. “What?” he said.

“Leave her as mine.” Ivy’s pale face made her eyes look even blacker. “I ask this as a thank-you for helping Peter.” She licked her lips and held her arms down. “Please.”

DeLavine lifted his eyes from me, and I blinked, finding a thread of will returned to me. “This,” the vampire said, lifting my chin with a finger, “should belong to a master, not you. Piscary has indulged you beyond reason. You’re a spoiled child, Ivy, and you should be punished for stepping out of your master’s influence. Taking her as mine will bother Kalamack and put me in good with Piscary.”

Ivy’s eyes flicked to me and away. I could almost feel her thoughts realign themselves, and my pulse hammered when her posture melted from tense to seductive.

God save us. She was going to give him what he wanted so he would leave me alone. I couldn’t let her do this. I couldn’t let her turn herself into filth for me. But as tingles raced through me to set my mind confused, I could only watch.

“Such a sweet sip,” DeLavine said, his back to Ivy. A new glint was in his eyes, making me unsure if he was talking about Ivy or me. “A wolf in sheep’s clothing, stinking of Brimstone, but still very weak,” he said. “I might kill you by mistake, witch. But you’d enjoy it.” He inhaled, taking my volition. Exhaling, his breath under my ear sent a jolt of desire right to my core. “Do you want this?” he breathed.

“No,” I whispered. It was easy. Ivy had given me the fear to find the strength to say it.

But DeLavine was delighted. “No!” he exclaimed, his pupils wide and dilated, his lust-reddened lips curling upward. “Curiouser and curiouser.” His fingers traced the line along my shoulder that I knew he wanted to send his nails, digging to cause pain and a delicious path of blood to my neck that his mouth could follow.

Eyes on mine, he smiled to show his long canines. The thought of them sinking into me pulled a shiver from the depths of my soul. I knew how it would feel, and the fear of my blood being raped from me mixed with the memory of how good it could be. I closed my eyes, starting to hyperventilate, fighting him, losing to him. DeLavine eased closer, almost touching. I could sense his need to crush my will rise higher. He didn’t care about Peter. Not anymore. I was too damn interesting.

“So strong a will,” he said. “I could flake your consciousness from your soul like stone.”

He moved, and behind him I saw Ivy gather her resolve. No, I pleaded silently, but her fear for me was stronger than her fear for herself. Guilt, shame, and relief kept me silent when, shifting forward with a sigh to tell him where she was, she touched DeLavine’s shoulder.