Somewhere far above me this time. Instead of listening to the scream, I listened to the word, but I couldn’t make it out. .
There were several sobs, and then… nothing. The sounds faded away. I waited a moment, and then went back to my books.
Strange things happened around these vampires.
By midday, there were several stacks, a dozen or more high. I wanted to wander through more stacks before I settled in to read.
Halfway down one, I heard the door open and shut at the far end.
“Mistress Breaker?”
“Here,” I called to the unfamiliar voice.
“I’ve brought lunch.”
Hearing the word, my stomach growled, and I heard a tray placed on a table. I was hungry.
Did vampires get hungry like druids did?
I put back the book I was holding and walked down the outside of the stacks by the window. It had turned into a gray overcast day with no threat of rain.
A man in a gray uniform appeared at the end of the aisle I was walking down and took a few strides toward me. His face was familiar, and I realized it was General Odom.
My heart leapt. I could ask him…
Before I could get my thoughts in line, the older vampire had taken me by my arms and spun me against the wall. His eyes raked over my face, and I was immediately petrified of him.
He kissed me.
Not a simple kiss and not one you would give to a stranger. It was a deep kiss, seeking ownership of my lips and tongue.
I felt his fangs.
With a blast of magic, I knocked him away from me, alternately disgusted and terrified. “What the hell are you doing?”
His voice was quiet. “Celine…”
“Kimber. My name is Kimber. How dare you—”
“You aren’t Celine?” Again, the words were a whisper.
“No! I am Kimber Raven, Mistress of the Temple of the Lost God and Breaker of the Spine.” I stared at him. “What the hell are you on about?”
The general looked as gray as his uniform, and his dark chocolate eyes were lost, sad as he backed away from me.
“Please, forgive me, Mistress Breaker. You look so much like her. I couldn’t help thinking this was a ruse.” He snapped to attention and nodded sharply. “I brought food.”
Sitting at the table a moment later, the general bowed and turned to leave.
Damn it, now I wanted to know.
“Who was she?”
He pulled up short. “Mistress?”
“You acted shocked in the throne room as well. Who was she? This woman you mistook me for?”
“Someone I loved before the rise of the Spine.”
