I wait, praying her ghost will show herself again, that maybe, if I’m closer to her remains, I’ll be able to hear what she has to say. But the only sound is my breath. The only scent is that of fallen leaves and pine, not rosewater. And the world is awash in silvery-blue moonlight. Not a hint of red.
I fall to my knees. Last time I was here, Damien arrived to gather me into his arms and carry me inside. I wait and wait, but no one comes to save me. I’m ice-cold. Shivering. Still, I wait until I can’t feel my fingers or toes.
A rustle to my right catches my attention and I search the woods, still hoping that somehow it could be Damien or Gram’s spirit. But as I focus on the sound, the outline of a narrow nose and long ears comes into view and then the body of a fox. It takes a few steps toward me, the white of its chest showing in the darkness, the moon painting it in silver tones like a phantom. Our eyes meet. It looks thin. Too thin.
“Are you hungry?” I ask softly. “Do you want something to eat?”
It waits, ears twitching. I rise, suddenly consumed with the need to feed this poor creature, my grief temporarily shoved aside. I hurry into the house, pull a bowl from the cupboard, and load it with some leftover rotisserie chicken and a cut-up apple. I fill another bowl with water and leave them both on my back stoop.
I don’t see the fox when I set the bowls down, but after I’m back inside, it’s only a minute before I catch the little phantom creeping from the woods again and feasting on my offering. “My little phantom out of nowhere,” I mutter, wiping tears that feel hot against my cool skin.
The sky lightens above the feeding fox, and I wave of fatigue makes my head throb. Feeling defeated, I climb the stairs and collapse into bed.
3
Queen’s Gambit
DAMIEN
If my hate for Valeska were a visible thing, the dimly lit passageway the guards lead me down would brim with tearing claws and snapping teeth. I burn with hatred for her and the Kims, whose magic burns against my wrists. Sunlight cuffs. I scoff. Even the dark elves of Willowgulch hadn’t developed such enchantments.
Valeska trails behind me, surrounded by her guards. I can’t see her back there, but I can hear her, those godsforsaken boots of hers clacking on the stone.
The guards steer me through a door, into a strange, circular room. At its center is a simple bed with a crude wooden canopy. The guards force my weakened mortal body to sit on the thin mattress, the sun-charged cuffs on my wrists draining every ounce of my energy. I’m still naked and in my battle form, what Eloise calls my monster form. I’m too big for this bed, but at least I have my horns, wings, talons, and fangs. With the right opening, I’ll turn these vampire scum into ground meat.
When the guards part, Valeska is there, standing just beyond my reach. Her gaze flicks over me, frowning at my taloned fingers.
“Normally this is an execution chamber,” she says, her gold eyes drifting upward. I raise my chin and find an unobstructed view of the stars. The chamber has no ceiling. Like any evil queen worth her crown, Valeska has banished me to her dungeon. And in Night Haven, a subterranean kingdom where sunlight is the deadliest consequence she can bestow, the tower is a stone silo open to the sky some two hundred feet up. “The walls cast shadows as the sun moves across the horizon, slowly executing any vampire I trap here when it reaches its apex.” Her pointed red nail arcs through the air until it points straight up. “They tell me most vampires throw themselves into the sun rather than wait for the inevitable. In any case, I’ve never bothered with a bed before. No other prisoner has survived here long enough to use one.”
“How kind of you.” I layer on the sarcasm, thick as poison-laced honey. She ignores me. “And the canopy? Isn’t the point for me to bake in the sun?” I hold up my wrists, still bound in the cuffs.
She tips a crooked smile. “You pose a problem for me, Damien. You are no vampire, and the sun won’t kill you. Then again, we both know your death has never been my goal. If you are to be useful to me, I need you alive and I need you strong.”
My wings twitch with annoyance. “Then why am I still wearing the cuffs?”
“You know why. Tell me her name, and I will spare you any further discomfort.”
“Not happening.”
“I thought that might be your answer. I’m not sure if I’m disappointed or impressed at the level of loyalty you have for the human. In any case, it’s only a matter of time until you break.”
For the first time, I meet her gaze directly. It almost kills me to speak to her with respect, but I try it. The simplest way to get out of this is if she lets me go. “You’re better than this, Valeska. A powerful queen such as yourself doesn’t need me. There are warriors in your guard who would kill to serve by your side. Fuck, there are other shades besides me, ones who aren’t mated.”
She snorts. “No vampire warrior can walk in the sun, Damien. They can’t sustain me with their blood. A vampire can’t fly. And as for the two other shades on this planet, you know that neither are within my reach. If I used the spell I used on you to call Cassius or Morpheus, I’d be declaring war against the covens who protect them. As much as I have enjoyed growing this hive, without you by my side, even my armies would struggle against such foes. You pose no such risk. You are mine.”
“I am not.”
“Are you so apt to forget that you are a citizen of Night Haven? You are sworn to serve your queen.”
“Serve you, not mate you.”
She lifts her chin an inch. “I think your stay here will give you plenty of time to reconsider.”
My mortal stomach chooses that moment to growl, a soft sound but impossible for a vampire to miss.
Valeska’s full red lips twitch and then widen into a wicked grin. “Hungry, Damien?”
In fact, I’m starving. I haven’t eaten since the small amount of Eloise’s blood I drank before my capture. I was too eager to get to her tonight and didn’t bother to hunt first. The light has drained my reserves. I glare at her. She knows I’m hungry. I won’t give her the satisfaction of admitting it.
