But I know better. I have never been needed before. Not in that way. Though I have wondered what it might be like.
There are few suitors in Hunter’s Hamlet. Some girls delight in their own hunt, as best they are able with the options they’re given. I would look at them longingly as they dressed for their Yule balls and spring dances. Yes, I envied them. Their freedom. Their ability to look past the life we were given and see it as something that could be…hopeful.
Most saw Hunter’s Hamlet as a sanctuary from the outside world. Even though we faced vampires every full moon, that was only one day a month. All the other days had safety, full bellies when there wasn’t unexpected drought or downpour, and a community where everyone had a role and each role lifted up another.
For me, Hunter’s Hamlet was everything I would ever have in life. I knew what my future was as the forge maiden, what it always would be. I never had a choice before me when it came to suitors or a family of my own. I had obligations.
So no men ever dared to look at me the way Ruvan did last night. At least none that ever allowed me to see. And I daresay, I liked it.
I shake my head and try to banish the notion.No. I didn’t like it. Well, I did…but not from this vampire, not really. I certainly didn’t like the silk of his hair or the curve of his mouth. And I definitely didn’t like his fangs at all. Not at all… I bite my lower lip and worry it between my teeth. I can still taste him. I still want more of him.
“If you stare at me any longer, I’m going to request a portrait,” he says without opening his eyes.
I nearly fall back in surprise. “How long have you been awake?”
“Long enough to know that I have been your sole focus for some time.” Ruvan’s eyes flutter open. One look from him now has my breath hitching. “How do you feel?”
“I’m fine.”
“Good.”
“What about you?” I ask. He still looks luminous. Cheeks strong, lips full—though they’re no longer stained crimson. I imagine him slowly licking his lips again, savoring every taste. I quickly try and banish the thought. I have to get my wits about me.
“I’m excellent.” He stands and I do as well. “We should get to moving while we still have the advantage of light on our side and the old castle is quieter.”
“Of course.” I adjust my armor, checking what weapons I have left. One sickle, a few daggers. The rest were lost in the hunt and the fall. As I help him back into his plate, I ask, “Do you know where we are?”
“Luckily, yes. I caught my bearings last night. We’re in one of the king’s old chambers. Assuming Callos’s maps and my memory are both correct.” His caveat doesn’t sound as confident as I would’ve liked.
“Are there any other types of monsters I should know about?”
He had been going to remove the barricades from the door when he pauses. I don’t like the hesitation at all. “Just one.”
“Oh, great, something worse than the Succumbed or Fallen?” I think bitter amusement is the only way I’m going to come to terms with what’s happening.
“It’s not something you need to worry about.” He continues moving things away from the door. I go over to help him, using the opportunity to shoot him a frustrated glare.
“I don’t want to be in the dark anymore.”
“Unfortunately these hallways are very dark.”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” I put my hands on my hips. “If we’re working together, then let’s work together. Really and truly.”
“You’re one to talk.” The words aren’t as biting as they could be.
“I mean it. Let’s take this from the start again.”
“All right, Floriane.” Him using my name still gives me pause. It’s strange to see his mouth make those sounds. “There’s only one other type of cursed vampir. Not much is known about the curse and how it works. The humans didn’t exactly give us a primer on it.”
“If one exists, I don’t know about it. That’s the truth.” I push aside the stone dresser we positioned in front of the door.
“Unfortunate.” He catches my chin, bringing my face to his. I suck in air, holding it. His intense stare is back, those bright eyes capturing me. “You’re lucky you taste so good otherwise I’d be far more frustrated with you.”
I try to speak but only get as far as opening my mouth.
Satisfied. Smug. He releases me. He knows exactly what he’s doing to me, and as frustrated as that makes me, I also…like it. I want him to keep touching me so badly that I might take matters into my own hands if I’m not careful. Now that I’ve given myself permission to indulge, I don’t have a good answer for why I’m not constantly.
“Whatever the reason, the curse doesn’t affect all vampir equally,” he continues, as though he hasn’t just turned my knees to jelly. “Some only become Succumbed. Other vampir, Fallen. The final kind is the Lost. I’ve never even seen one myself, but the records of the vampir lords who came before me speculate that the Lost are the husks of powerful lords lost long ago. So I theorize that the impact of the curse is somehow related to the innate power a vampir had before the curse was laid and not about the length of time someone has been cursed.”
