Only, I don’t.
This village has been a pretty prison.
Panicked, I glance behind myself at the trail of blood. The scent of my crimson footprints on the steep path could be easily followed by any vampire.
My pulse roars in my ears. “The bats whispered to me, Laz. They overheard a secret. The only thing being feasted on tonight will be our blood.”
My white moths flutter around me in comfort. My rats scamper along beside me in the shadows, squeaking.
Run, run, run…
I shake my head, trying to block out their pleas.
They can tell that danger is coming.
“Is this a prank?” Lazarus stops, frowning. “I don’t like breaking the rules. I want to go back. Mother will be there. She promised. She said that if we were good this year, then she’d take us to the capital and let us meet our brothers and sisters, and nurse said that I’d been good. You too, Lan, whatever nasty things nurse says about you. I don’t believe them, and you shouldn’t. You’re not?—”
“A freak? Beast?Monster?Aperverse hearted, fanged demon who swallows order and bleeds chaos from the Void into the world? I admit that last one was creative of her.”
“You’re none of those things.” Lazarus clenches his fists. “I hate nurse. I hate her corrections. I shall insist Mother punishes her, and when we are older, I will claw out anyone’s tongue who insults you. Everything will be good when Mother takes us back to court with her. If only we saw her more often than on our birthdays…”
“Mother lied. They all lied.” Fear skitters through me, as I force myself to stop and go back for Lazarus. “It’s a trick to separate us forever.”
“They can’t,” Lazarus gasps. “I’ll rip out their throats.”
I give a sharp grin, revealing my fangs, despite how wet my cheeks now are. “Not before I do. Come on, we must get out of here.”
I don’t know where we’re running to because anywhere in our own kingdom is under the fierce control of Mother.
The neighboring Draca Kingdom, maybe?
The flies, who often act as my spies, have overheard the Beta servants talking in admiration about our allies, the Shadow Dragons, as well as the young prince, Aurelius, the Golden Dragon.
Often the smallest of creatures are the most powerful because fools treat them as insignificant. Ignored and invisible, they are the best spies.
The animals are my allies, but I’ve never had a friend before.
Could my twin and I escape to Aurelius’ court? Would he shelter us or return us to our family?
I bite my lip.
I have spent long hours in the library reading about the legendary Golden Dragon, obsessed with his power — sun, where I am the moon.
Can friendship save me?
Will anyone love me apart from my own twin, who is half of my soul?
Love someone as twisted with chaos as I am?
I don’t even know whetherIcan love someone other than Lazarus.
“The cubs,” Lazarus says, urgently. “We can’t leave them behind.”
“Shadow and Devil are following us,” I promise. “They’re safer that way. They’d only try to protect us and end up dead. They’re too young for heroics.”
I don’t tell Lazarus the real reason: Shadow and Devil are demonic lions who are obsessively protective but were also given to us by the Void Cult when we were born.
And it’s the Void Cult who are coming to destroy us tonight on the Queen’s orders.
