“How?”
“The hauntings.”
I froze, grasping for the face of indifference.Deny.Deny.Deny.
“They’re getting worse. You’re beginning to think it’s all real, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You don’t have to hide from me.”
Though I certainly should. I should not be anywhere near him.
I couldn’t find a single word.
“I know who it is, and I know how to stop him.”
“Him?”
“If I let you up, are you going to run?” He tilted his head slightly, which made him look a tad deranged and like someone I certainly wanted to run from.
“No.”
He released my wrists, sitting up, leaning back on his heels. His eyes landed on my legs, wandering across my bare skin. “You’re indecent.”
I sat up, scooting away from him, wrapping my cloak back around me. “I apologize for not dressing for the occasion. This was the last thing I imagined happening,” I retorted.
His dark eyes fell back on me. I squeezed my cloak around myself tighter as he smirked.
My eyes roamed every detail of his face. His beauty was devastating.It’s a trap.
He forced out a breath through his nose. His nostrils flared slightly like an agitated bull, as if he were inconvenienced to be here before me. “The world your portal opened into is Dreigo, and it opened within my lands. I am Prince of Svealin. This portal has caused a lot of problems for us. I need to close it.” His tone reflected that of an annoyed adult speaking to a troublesome toddler. As if I asked for any of this. I had the sudden urge to slap him, which was out of my character. But he was a prince. I sidestepped past the awe that attempted to wedge itself in at being in the presence of a real prince. If I slapped him, he might lock me away in his dungeon. Perhaps, I shouldn’t.
“Are you still with me?” he asked bluntly.
I snapped my eyes back to him, realizing they had wandered. “Dreigo?” I attempted to pronounce it as he had. I was not familiar with the accent, which peeked through some of his words. I hadn’t heard it until now, and I wondered if he hid his true accent, now letting it slip. “What do you mean?” I had never heard of such a place.
His eyes dipped a moment before they settled on me with hesitation. “You believe we are demons from the underworld ... but we are just another species from a world similar to yours.”
I stared at him blankly. “What do you mean by species?”
“Vampires are essentially like you, human, though because we’re from another world, we have different adaptations than you.”
I eyed him warily. I knew I shouldn’t take him at his word. What he was saying was like nothing I had ever heard before.
At my bewildered silence, he spoke, “I don’t expect you to believe me or understand in a night.”
I shook my head, grappling for something solid. “You said you know my demon?”
“Yes, but he is no demon. He is a vampire. Alaric.”
I sucked in a breath as ice speared through my spine. There was a shift within the air, as if he summoned the devil himself with that name.
“We believe he opened the portal. He was a friend of mine. I never thought he would take it this far ...” His eyes unfocused for a moment. “He wants to rule Kilthorne. At least that’s where he’ll start.” He paused. I wanted to look away from his searing gaze, but I couldn’t. “When vampires marry, they perform a ritual that bonds them, granting them more power.”
My eyes widened slightly. The weight of dread plummeted through me.
He continued, “He made the petty choice to go after the daughter of the Vampire Hunting Society’s leader.”
