The king dragged his gaze away from Vivienne. “Yes, darling?”
“Odette is here, right?”
“Yes, love.” The king dipped his head. “I believe she’s in the east wing. I’ll send for her. But first?—”
“Don’t hurt Vivienne,” Marius repeated, clutching his sister’s hand. “She begged me to return to the castle. I ignored her, and my stubbornness got us into this mess. If you?—”
He broke into another coughing fit. This one was worse than the last, and it shook his entire body.
“Now,Sebastian,” the queen said through gritted teeth, darkness streaming from her hands. “You can deal with the bodyguard later.”
Another growl ripped through the king before he shouted for help. The door behind Vivienne swung open, and the stomping of feet announced the arrival of several guards.
“Your Majesty?” a deep masculine voice asked.
“Take her to Ravenwood Dungeon.”
Hands roughly grabbed Vivienne’s arms, yanking her backwards. She didn’t fight them as they dragged her out of the throne room.
Lifting her head, she met the prince’s gaze and mouthed, “Thank you.”
Against all odds, she’d survived the night.
Every Last Crimson Drop
It didn’t seem to matter how many throats Therese ripped into, nor did it matter how much blood she imbibed. The hunger that had been her companion for centuries remained.
As if starvation wasn’t bad enough, she’d been in constant pain ever since that damned couple had attacked her. Black blood oozed from her wounds, and she was burning up from the inside out.
Why, why, why wasn’t she healing?
The First sought answers in her mind, but it was still fragmented after her time in the tomb. She didn’t even know if the information was there, somewhere.
She didn’t know much of anything anymore.
Everything, including time itself, was nothing more than a painful blur.
Her bare feet pounded the snow, and she ran and ran and ran. The direction didn’t matter—all that mattered was blood.
Every time the scent of life tickled Therese’s nose, she hunted. Shedidn’t care who her prey was or how old they were. Those matters were of little consequence.
All that mattered was that humans contained the sustenance she so desperately desired.
When she caught them—and she always caught them—she consumed.
Every.
Last.
Crimson.
Drop.
It was never enough. Not really.
Therese knew her name, but what good was that when she was being destroyed from the inside out?
She left bodies drained of blood in her wake as she tore her way across the frozen forests of this desolate country. She didn’t bother keeping track of how many she killed. They were humans, after all. They existed, first and foremost, to serve creatures of the night, providing them sustenance and strength.
