“What did Sawyer do to go to jail?” I mean, now that we were digging into history, I might as well get my questions answered.
“He killed Vicon Drake, the king’s son and prince of Vampire City. Because Vicon raped his wife, Demi.”
My hand flew to my mouth as my heart twisted in my chest. Vicon raped Demi?Holy crap. This further cemented the knowledge I had that most vampires were absolute dirtbags and deserved to die!
“And now I need to become king and pardon Walsh, or the Magical Creature Council will find him and lock him away for life. He won’t survive in Magic City Prison. Not without his crew. We…” A darkness passed over his features. “We kept each other alive in there.”
Five Crew.I couldn’t imagine being locked up in a prison full of supernaturals without Liv or anyone else I knew to get my back. Unexpected tears welled in my eyes and my bitterness at Luka softened. “Then I guess we better make you king. How many others do you have to defeat? Nine?” He’d said ten competitors total.
He grinned, pointing to the wound at his stomach. “Seven now.”
My mouth popped open in surprise. “Oh.”
Luka looked over at me, and I stared back at him. We just drank each other in, not speaking a word for a full minute. In another world, one where I hadn’t been bred to hate vampires and one where he wasn’t engaged … we might have been something amazing.
I could feel emotions swirling between us, their depth unfathomable.
That kiss, that kiss we shared back in his apartment … we were both thinking of it.
I drew in a shaky breath, wondering what my future would be like. Him married to Cassara while he snuck away to feed from me…?
“I—” he started as I cleared my throat.
I cut him off. “It’s getting late. I’m tired.” It had been a whirlwind of a few days and I just wanted to lie in bed and go to sleep. I wanted to properly mourn Sterling and the fact that I wasn’t even human. None of which Luka knew, and now I wasn’t even sure how or why I should tell him such a thing. Even though we were bonded, the closeness I felt to him evaporated the instant I saw Cassara.
Luka frowned but nodded and started for the door. I walked with him, happy to see that he seemed to be a bit better and his healing was kicking in. He must have literally run here the second he was free of his fight.
I opened the door and he turned to face me with a serious look. “No one must know you and I are bonded, that you alone are my feeder,” he whispered into my ear. “It would put you at great risk and remove my ability to become future king.”
I frowned.
“As far as people are concerned, you and Liv arebothmy feeders,” he said sternly.
I nodded absentmindedly, confused by his earlier statement.
“Why would you having a bonded feeder remove your ability to become future king?” I whispered back, matching his volume.
A sadness crossed over his features then. “You haven’t realized yet?”
My confusion deepened. “Realized what?”
Luka reached out and twirled a lock of my red hair between his fingers. “My lifespan is dictated by yours, Aspen. When you die, I will starve to death.”
It was like I’d been socked in the stomach, the wind rushed out of me as an overwhelming grief tore through my chest.
“No,” I breathed.
I hadn’t even thought about that, I’d been so focused on hating him and the inconvenience this bond brought tomylife, I never considered his. It must be a rule that a reigning king had to be immortal. I mean, obviously, wasn’t that a basic tenet of being a vampire?
Leaning forward, he brushed his lips to my cheek. “It was worth it,” he whispered before pulling back and walking away, leaving me a tornado of thoughts and feelings I couldn’t even begin to deal with.
Chapter Two
I tossedand turned all night, dreams of Sterling and Luka swirling around my mind. I finally woke in the early morning hours and, surprisingly, thought of Maz. What was she doing right now? Morning prayer walk? Was she looking for us? Or did she just give away our apartment and promote two hunters to replace us? Did she tell everyone we died, we ran? I wanted closure, answers—I wanted to knock the entire fake society on its ass—but I also wanted to know more about this breeder situation … my mother. And I needed to be here for Luka for the next month as agreed. Pushing all of these thoughts to the side, I decided while I was in Magic City I might as well try to enjoy it.
After showering and putting on some jeans and a t-shirt, I went out into hallway and immediately heard hushed voices. I followed them into the kitchen and found Liv, Demi, and Sage all laughing about something. I was so surprised to see the two werewolves that I skidded to a stop and stared. Liv was acting all chummy with them, which was a relief as I liked both Demi and Sage. Even though the last time I’d seen them had been under strenuous conditions, I respected them a lot.
“Morning,” I mumbled and they all looked up at me, still grinning.
