“I don’t need your help.”

“Stubborn, aren’t you?” Daisy said.

Instead of answering, Victorija brushed the dust and mess from her suit. Daisy stood back and looked Victorija up and down. She was wearing a black suit with a white shirt, ruffled at the collar and cuffs.

“Well, you look—nice. Going for the Regency dandy look, Torija?”

“Stop calling me Torija. I don’t answer to that name.”

Daisy crossed her arms and smirked. “Stubborn and sensitive.”

“Is that so, cherie?”

Before she was even aware it was happening, Victorija grabbed her, and she found herself pushed against the dungeon wall, held by her T-shirt. Victorija’s eyes were red, and her fangs were protruding with a snarl.

Daisy’s heart was pounding hard, but she tried not to show it.

Victorija was just a few inches from her face and terrifying. “Do you understand what I’m doing here, the torture I’m going through hour to hour, minute by minute, having my blood bond here and not drinking from her? And all because I made a vow to someone I loved, and who you just happen to be related to.” Victorija released her grip on Daisy’s T-shirt and drew her nail down Daisy’s bite mark. “Don’t push me.”

Instead of being frightened at that gesture, Daisy’s heart was beating from attraction and not fear. In that moment she would have begged Victorija to kiss her. The pull of their blood bond was great, but it was more than that. She felt something more for this evil, scary vamp, but she tried to remember what Angele and Lucia had said—Monsters are made, not born.

Torija was in there, somewhere.

Catching Victorija by surprise, Daisy said, “You’re right. I apologize. That’s not fair when you’re fighting your instincts.”

Victorija stepped back, her eyes returned to normal, and her fangs receded.

“Well, thank you,” Victorija said.

Daisy straightened her T-shirt. “You do still look like a dandy.”

Victorija gave her a half smile. “I was a Regency dandy. I’ve lived through many ages, and I like to take the best from each age and keep it alive. I’ve only recently stopped wearing a top hat.”

Daisy laughed at Victorija’s joke, and the tension of a few moments ago had gone. “You look nice. I would be happy to dance with you at a grand ball,” Daisy said.

“You know the plan?” Victorija said seriously.

Daisy nodded.

“Good. I’ll see you on the other side, then, and if not—”

“I’ll know you tried your best, Torija,” Daisy said.

Victorija nodded and walked out the door. As was her practice, every time Victorija left the dungeon, Daisy used the penknife Victorija had given her to cut her bite mark and let the blood flow.