I try to break free of my mother’s grasp but she won’t let me, her long fingers cool. ‘You can’t make me do this.’ I let anger curl through the words, just a hint, hoping it hides the pleading.
‘We’re notmakingyou do anything.’ My father’s tones are clipped. ‘It’s a simple outing to a local club. Something you should be more than capable of handling. As Raven, far more will be expected of you.’
‘Please, Emelia,’ my mother says. ‘You are the future of this house, after all.’
And I snap.
‘How can I be the future when I’ll be dead before you?’ I hiss.
My mother flinches. ‘How can you say?—’
‘I will not have it!’ My father’s voice thunders into the room. Everyone is silent. The new guard stares straight ahead. My father advances on me. ‘Howdareyou speak so? You are the heir to this family, to our great name, and it’s time you start acting like it!’ He looms over me, all cold fury, like an iron statue.
My breath hitches in my chest, hot anger in my cheeks, choking my throat. I want to scream at them for what they’ve done, how they’ve made me. Unable to bear any more, I turn away, heading for the door. I hear the rustle of my mother’s skirts, then her voice.
‘Let her go, Aleks.’
I run across the foyer, taking the stairs that spill like molten gold from above. I race along the upstairs hallway as though trying to outrun my emotions, my fists clenched. Moonlight streams through long windows, painting silver squares on the dark carpet. I flash through them, light to dark, to light again, past the tall arched doors of the library where I used to take my lessons, beneath the huge gleaming map of the world on the wall. South America, coloured copper for Jaguar, Asia, jade green for Scorpion. Africa, golden like Lion. North America and Europe coloured silver for Raven, our major cities marked with stars. Places I’ve never been to, but that I’m expected to rule one day.
Except how can I?
I can’t even go to a party without a fancy new guard.
Yet I’ll be forced to take the crown when I’m eighteen, simply because of who my parents are. Never mind that my skin, my eyes, the way I move,everythingwill give me away for what I am.
Human.
In a world ruled by vampires.
A throwback, a reminder of our human DNA. And a liability, especially in one of the great families like Raven.
Blood borne, because my parents are both vampires, yet not a vampire at all.
Rage flares through me, fury at my parents, at the life they’re forcing me to lead. I speed up, feeling as though I might burst into flames. How the hell do they expect me to suddenly become Raven? To go to parties, lead Gatherings, take my place on the global stage. I’ve barely even left the estate. I pause at one of the windows, gazing out into the darkness. Faint moonlight gleams from the distant boundary fence.
There’s a whole world out there. A world I’ve never seen. But Iwantto. I want to see it, all of it. Not as Raven, but as I really am.
I’ve never even met another human, apart from the dancers who work for my parents. I bang my fist against the cold glass as though I can smash through it, break free of the walls that confine me, unleash my rage and fear. But all that happens is the window rattles. I lean my head against it, breathing hard.
My senses prickle as though someone is nearby, waiting in the darkness, even though I know there’s no one in my parents’ house who would hurt me. I push off from the window and start running again, letting my anger carry me.
A body slams into mine. I would fall, if not for an arm catching me around the waist.
‘My lady?’
My breath catches. It’s Kyle, the new guard. His face is close to mine, his violet scent all around me. His eyes widen.
‘Forgive me.’ He releases me and steps back, his hands clasped behind him. Moonlight carves his face into angles and shadow, catching the silver glitter of his eyes. ‘I just thought that, as your new guard…’ He pauses. ‘Can I escort you to where you need to go?’
I wipe my cheeks and stand straight, imagining myself pale and cool like my mother, despite my pounding heart, my rapid breath. ‘I’m going to my room.’
He bows. ‘Of course.’
I don’t really want to go to my room, but it’s the one place that’s mine. But when we get there, he stops me from entering.
‘Let me check,’ he says. Which is ridiculous. Who would be in my room? They’d have to get over the perimeter fence, through the acres of grounds, scale the walls and break through the bars on my window. Not difficult for a vampire, except for all the Raven guards they’d have to get past first. Anyone who made it this far deserves to get me, as far as I’m concerned. Plus, I doubt my pretty companion would be much defence. But I let him look while I wait at the door.
‘It’s all fine.’ He stands to attention. ‘Do you… will you need to feed later?’
