She’d either risk a bargain with a vampyre or die in the cold.
CHAPTER TWO
If this pretty fae didn’t shoot him in the heart, he might survive this encounter.
It would be a shame to drain all her blood, but if she didn't lower her weapon, he would be compelled to act.
Lucius was not going back into that coffin.
The female watched him with deep concern, then finally put her crossbow away.
“Fine,” she said. “Let’s talk.”
“Before we embark on this new endeavor,” he said, standing and brushing off the decades of dust on his clothes, “I need to return home.”
“Home?” she said. “I haven’t agreed to anything yet.”
“Tsk, tsk, little dove. Before we discuss our future, we should leave this scene before someone finds out what you’ve done.”
The scare tactic seemed to work as the female turned to regard the dead bodies. “Where do you live?”
Lucius examined the area, having no idea where he was. After the first few years in the coffin, he had fallen into a deep slumber—a meditative state that kept his sanity intact.
“Would you mind sharing where we are on the continent?” he asked. “Are we still on the continent?”
“Yes,” she said. “We’re about thirty miles from the Crusted Mountains.”
“Hmm. Well, that makes things much easier. It just so happens that I live on the eastern side, close to the shore of the Agis Sea. Now, you wouldn’t happen to have a transporter rod, would you?”
She shook her head. “Maybe one of the guards does.”
She eyed him before going to one of the bodies and shuffling through their pockets. Lucius pretended not to notice her pocketing any coins or jewelry she found and kept his comments to himself.
He watched as she carefully inspected each body.
Lucius might have been asleep for decades, but he still knew beauty when he saw it, and this pretty dove was quite magnificent. He’d never seen a fae with her teal-colored hair. Two braids brushed the top of her shoulders, the rest of her hair hanging just above.
He wondered what type of green her eyes were. Close to his, but lighter—like the shade wasn’t sure if it was green or blue and somehow got stuck muddied in between.
And those lips . . .
My, my.
What a crime to have such full, pouty lips and not use them. His thoughts ravished her, and a pang of hunger that needed to be sated forced his gaze to her slender neck, no longer hidden by the hood of her cloak. He could see the heat—how the blood pumped.
Lucius shook his head.
He’d have to be careful around this one.
Over the years, before his capture, he had done his best to limit his appetite to smaller, unintelligent creatures.
He hadn’t feasted on human blood in even longer—and on fae? Longer still.
Would she taste sweet, or would she have a savory, salty taste like humans?
Lucius groaned, shaking his head, and turning his back.
He needed to get away from her, just for a moment, to feed on something. His gaze went to one of the bodies. And while he was not a fan of feeding on something that had recently died, he needed sustenance and did not want to bite into his pretty rescuer.
