I stare, my heart pounding. “What’s a sunblood?”
“Those vampires that went into a frenzy over you? A few escaped and went back to Rannigan Bloodthief—with stories about how your blood smells like liquid sunlight and the sunshine we can never walk in. If that’s the scent, it’s the taste too.”
We? I guess I was right about him being a vampire.
Unsteady, I brace my hand against the wall. “Escaped?” Fear and confusion clash in my stomach along with too much dragon’s brew.
He cocks his head. “Didn’t your precious Dragon King tell you?”
Bristling, I straighten. Bale told me about the captives. I don’t remember him mentioning escapees. “There was a lot of chaos that night.” Bale probably suspects some vampires got away. I should’ve suspected. “How do you know any of this? Were you there? Do you work for the Vampire King?”
The disgust on his face can’t possibly be faked. “I have spies in Blackrock Keep.” His strong features pinching, he adds, “I watch Rannigan Bloodthief as carefully as Bale Cinderheart should.”
Whatever this man has against Bale isn’t my concern. “What’s a sunblood?” I ask more forcefully, my nerves starting to calm. The recent bites remain hot and achy, though, reminding me of every second of that horrific fight.
The vampire’s dark eyes dip over me, leaving me both worried and annoyingly warm. I shift uneasily, taking him in with a cooler gaze than he offers me. Neatly cut, wavy dark hair hugs his scalp. Fine clothing fits a powerful, athletic frame. His shoes don’t show a hint of scuffs or mud. He’s clearly rich, confident, and knowledgeable about things that concern me too much.
His roving gaze stops on my throat, making my pulse leap again. “A sunblood is someone who shouldn’t exist. And it doesn’t matter unless the rarity applies to you. Let me taste you, and I can tell you more.”
A harsh noise erupts from me. “No fucking way.” Words in Bale’s deep voice suddenly echo in my head. Sunshine. Idallia. Behold the sun.
Sometimes unlocking full potential is dangerous. And changes everything.
What the fuck does Bale know? And why hasn’t he told me?
Another tremor works its way through me, and it’s all I can do not to show this man how much I quake.
“Don’t you want to know?” His brow furrows. “If it’s true, I’ll tell you all about how a sunblood is made.” Steady, commanding eyes bore into mine. He looks like a man in his prime, but I see age in those granite-cut eyes.
I shake my head, my heavy heartbeat resonating like a hundred drums in the hollow of my chest. I’m not nearly as clear-headed as I should be after all that dragon’s brew, but there’s no way I’m taking him at his word and letting him drink my blood. It was easy for him to learn my name in this place, and it would be easy to obtain other information as well. That I’m not a dragon shifter like the others. That I was adopted and don’t know where I come from. Maybe even that I’d just been set upon by vampires who went berserk—though that’s less likely news to have already gotten out.
Doubt scratches at my flushed skin. “You’re full of shit, and if you think you’re going to trick me into letting you suck my blood, you’re wrong. There’s no such thing as a sunblood.”
“I won’t hurt you.” His expression turns sympathetic, his gentle smile almost convincing. “I’ll only take a sip, and with your consent, I promise it’ll feel good.”
I swallow hard, warmth flooding me. His voice turns velvety, full of promise, and tension gathers low inside me despite not inviting it—or him—at all. The tightening of my breasts and the unexpected pulse of desire mix horribly with the remembered terror of the feral attack on me. The battle is still alive and screaming in my mind, and I don’t want this vampire anywhere near me.
“Those others couldn’t control themselves,” I say. Vivid flashes of wild eyes, grasping hands, and murderous fangs drive all flickers of arousal away. “You can’t either.”
His brows snap together. “I’m nothing like those vampires.” More calmly, he adds, “I’m trying to help you.”
“I don’t need your help. Avoid getting bitten by vampires seems pretty intuitive to me.”
“You don’t understand. Sunbloods simply don’t happen. If you are one, there’s a story behind it, something big.”
“If they don’t happen,” I shoot back, “then your whole spiel here is a waste of time.”
“They shouldn’t happen,” he corrects. “Which is why you have to hide—or change.”
Change? “Hide where? In your own personal lodgings where I can be your blood host, and you can drink from me whenever you want?” I snort. “Nice try, asshole.”
“I’m from Fanghaven. I don’t drink without permission. And you’re making a huge mistake. Rannigan Bloodthief will come for you. He’ll want everything he can take from you—for centuries. Nowhere will be safe, not even your mountain with your Dragon King.”
“If sunbloods don’t exist, then I have nothing to worry about.” I shove past him and don’t look back.
“Idallia!” he calls after me, his voice low and urgent. “Stay out of the sun. The taste of the forbidden light will fade in time, and you’ll be safer.”
Goose bumps cascade over me as I hurry away from him. Behold the sun. Who in all the blazing stars named me? And what did they know that I don’t?
