Free Enslave by Felicity Heaton

he had punched him. “She gave you her name?”
    It was said with so much disbelief that a flicker of how she had said it and her expression at the time surfaced in Andreu’s mind and lodged there, playing on repeat. She had been reluctant to surrender her name but had done so to gain her freedom, only he hadn’t given it to her. He had tricked her and it had hurt her.
    “What is it?” Antoine said and Payne turned a furious glare on the aristocrat vampire.
    Andreu’s blood chilled and sank to his toes. Payne knew about succubi and when Andreu had been younger, he had heard rumours that a fae’s real name was secret, only he had never realised why before tonight. She had given it in exchange for her freedom, but something told him that she had paid a high price.
    “I don’t remember,” Andreu lied without flinching. If knowing her name gave him some sort of power over her, then he wasn’t about to hand it out to everyone in this room. She had trusted him with it, which told him a few startling things about her.
    She hadn’t lied—she had come to him because she wanted him, not because she wanted to kill him. She valued her freedom, enough to sacrifice something of much greater value to achieve it. She trusted him.
    The last one shocked him the most.
    Payne’s relief was palpable.
    “We need to speak to her,” Antoine said. “She has to know that she isn’t welcome in the theatre, especially during the shows.”
    “Then you will need to gain an audience with her and that won’t be easy.” Payne’s expression turned grim once more. “She might be tempted to visit Andreu again. He could convince her to confess what she really wants and tell her to leave the theatre alone.”
    “I have spoken to some of my contacts already and have found a man who knows fae. I will speak with him tonight and then we will lure her back to the theatre after the show has ended and the building is empty.” Antoine swallowed his entire glass of blood in one gulp. “Javier, arrange for rooms at The Langham and make sure the staff go there with Callum after the show ends tonight.”
    Javier nodded. “I can do that. They might have to double up but I am sure most of them will not mind. The presence of the succubus has unsettled Victor and some of the older elite performers. It is best they are away if she will be coming back.”
    Andreu had thought that Victor would welcome a sex fae with open arms. The man had a voracious appetite. Payne’s words came back to him. A succubus normally killed all but her strongest hosts if she got down and dirty with them. Absolutely no comfort there if things went the way he expected, and wanted, them to go.
    “Payne, we need you to focus on finding a way to lure her back to the theatre.” Antoine set his empty glass down on the tray on the chest of drawers.
    “It shouldn’t be difficult. If she gave energy to Andreu, she will be hungry again. She’s obviously curious about him so she will return. I can help funnel her towards him though,” Payne drawled in a tone that would have covered his true feelings had Andreu not been watching him so closely. He didn’t like what they were doing.
    They were only going to speak to her. He would ask her nicely to leave the theatre and him alone. Maybe she would get the message. If she didn’t, well, he wasn’t sure what Antoine had in mind.
    “And Andreu will play the bait,” Antoine said and Andreu sighed.
    “Where will I be playing bait?” He hoped it would be somewhere comfortable because he was sure it was going to be a long wait. He had tried to hurt her in the seconds before she had disappeared. He would be surprised if she came back at all. He hoped she didn’t.
    His heart called him a liar. He was as curious about her now as she was about him. He wasn’t looking for a woman, business always came first after all and she was bad for business at the theatre, but there was something about her that said she might be fun to fool around