Her mention of Godsblood made me wonder if it was already known to the supernatural world at large, or if she was tied to the family that distributed it.
She took my moment of distraction to lean towards my neck. “Nyet.” Firm in my denial, I placed my hands on her shoulders in warning. “That’s enough,” I commanded.
She surprised me by relenting and pulling back. “I love a good hunt.” Her voice was wistful. “I bet you taste divine, but Father asked me not to drink those who are gifted.” A once-over, slow and deliberate. “Though he never said anything abouttouching.”
I cleared my throat and stepped back until my shoulders pressed against the slate stone building behind me. Students continued passing by, oblivious. The way we spoke felt isolated, like we stood in a pocket of space separated from the world.
“My earlier statement still stands.” I studied her. “Why would you come here? This campus reeks of the young and foolish. You seem like a lady who would seek more sophisticated quarry.”
Her lips curved, sharp as a blade’s edge. “Who says anything about hunting?” She leaned in just enough that I could see faint veins threading at her temples beneath flawless skin. “Maybe I wanted to visit a friend and take a moment to see what it felt like to be a student.”
Dangerous answer. Clever enough to disguise her true intentions.
I folded my arms across my chest, anchoring myself against the pull radiating off her. “The dead do not need nostalgia. They need blood. And if you are looking for mine, you will leave here disappointed.”
Her eyes flared, amusement sparking. “So certain!” She stepped back then, unhurried, like a carnivore deciding how to test its claws. “You don’t smell like the others. Not quite human, not quite. . . like anything else I’ve known. Even for one gifted by the Godsblood.” A pause, as if remembering something pleasant. “But that other girl also smelled like you. . .”
My muscles went taut.Another?I tracked her with my gaze, every instinct screaming. How common was the gift of Godsblood for her to already reference another?
Regardless, I needed her to be bored with me so I could find Violet. I racked my brain for memories from my first life that could help, andrecalled how selective the Clans were when it came to breeding and compatibility.
I gambled on that knowledge and said, “If you seek a partner for your bloodline, the elders will not approve of an unsanctioned breeding.”
It caught her off guard. “Unsanctioned?” She scoffed, the sound rather peculiar for someone who held herself so polished. “Yes, it would be unsanctioned, and Father would simply throw a fit. But that’s not why I’m here.”
Not here to either feed or breed? Interesting.
I played the part of the apathetic mortal. “It is good to know you Dark Bloods are still selective.”
She laughed even harder, genuine amusement lighting her features, warm and rich in a way that set warning bells ringing. “Oh, how old-fashioned. I haven’t heard that name in nearly a century.” She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “You reallydobelong to another time.”
I clenched my jaw, feeling my heart jump. “You have no idea how true that is.”
For a heartbeat, her expression shifted. Amusement faltered, replaced with something sharper. Recognition? Curiosity?
“Your scent changed,” she whispered, more to herself than me. “You’re hiding something.”
My stomach dropped, but I kept my voice even. “You should be careful with your guesses. Curiosity can kill more than just cats.” And even more curious was knowing she could smell shifts in emotion.
“Oh,muritor. . . some secrets are worth dying for, don’t you agree?”
She leaned close again, close enough I saw hunger flash behind her irises, a hunter rising to the surface.
She won’t feed in broad daylight, I reminded myself.Not with so many witnesses.
My instincts didn’t care about logic. They screamed for me to run as a memory from the Wastelands flashed in my mind: a brothel girl torn to shreds, blood painting walls, her screams cutting off mid-breath.
The vampyre smiled, soft and beautiful, and for the first time, I felt her allure slip past my defenses. If I hadn’t been gifted, maybe I would’ve fallen into her glamour and been enthralled completely. As it was, the pull tugged at something deep.
She truly was a gorgeous monster.
She noted my lack of reaction and didn’t seem disturbed. “Ah, lucky you.” A pause, then softer, “We are merely tools for those that own us, are we not?”
The question felt rhetorical as she looked away.
Pity, I thought. Because I knew exactly how it felt to be at the mercy of others.
She glanced back. “I hope to see you again, stranger.” Her perfume clung to the air like a spell as she brushed past me.
