He nodded. “Okay, if you say so. Hello, Prince Julian. My name is Wynn Carter.” He held out his hand, and I immediately took it like a dehydrated man finding water.
His skin was soft and warm but not clammy. There was a nice firmness to his grip, and I could tell that this was how he genuinely greeted people.
“A pleasure to meet you, Wynn. Are you in Lamdera for a while?” I hoped he was moving here so I could see him every day.
“I’m on this island for a couple of days; then I’m visiting the others. I just turned thirty, and the Lamdera Islands has always been a dream of mine to vacation.”
I’d have to get his schedule and see about altering my itinerary to match his. I was sure it was possible.
“Happy birthday.”
He smiled, and two dimples appeared on his cheeks. “Thank you, Prince Julian.”
“I’m touring for the month. By chance are you going to be on the islands for that long?”
He snorted, which was endearing, and once more I was struck by how strange it was that he brought out such feelings from me.
“Two weeks was what I could afford.”
That wouldn’t do at all. I was about to tell him he could come on tour with me when Edward stepped up to my table.
“Your Highness, we must get moving.”
Shit. “Very well.” I returned my attention to Wynn. “Hopefully we’ll meet again before you leave.”
“Oh, I doubt that. It was very kind of you to talk with me.”
I wanted to sit there with Wynn Carter until I knew everything there was to know about him. It was like a buzzing under my skin, a need.
“Never say never, Wynn.”
I took selfies, signed autographs, visited the shops, and then I was back in my limo. I glanced at the cafe window, but Wynn was long gone.
“Edward.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Find out what you can about Wynn Carter. Where he’s staying, what his vacation schedule is.”
He was silent for a beat. Me asking about someone was no doubt worrying Edward. When I fixated on people, they tended to die. But I didn’t feel like killing Wynn Carter. At least not yet—maybe never. He drew me in, and that had never happened to me.
“Yes, Your Highness,” Edward finally answered.
The remainder of my day was almost clinical. Smiles, selfies, autographs. By the time night fell, I was craving a kill. Wynn’s face whispered in the recesses of my mind, but the monster I was, the one who’d never lain dormant too long, was waking up.
Once everyone had gone to bed, I dressed in a perfect disguise so nobody would recognize me. Normally killing two nights in a row was dangerous, but I’d be gone from the main island long enough that people wouldn’t think much of it. Besides, it wasn’t like they ever found the bodies.
As I walked the streets, searching for a soul that called out to me, I thought of Wynn…and I wondered what his breath tasted like.
“No!” a woman shouted, and I spun on my heels and raced toward the sound.
I arrived in time to see a man running away, her handbag tucked under his arm. He’d do nicely.
I had a syringe with a sedative in my pocket, which I only used if I couldn’t gain compliance from my victims. This guy was going to be a problem. As soon as I cornered him, he growled at me and shouted that he’d shoot me. But he didn’t have a gun, so I advanced on him slowly.
“Stay away!”
I didn’t say anything; he had nowhere to go. I gripped the syringe in my pocket, and when his back hit the brick wall of the building I moved swiftly, plunging the needle into the side of his neck.
