Page 37

All of this is my fault. Again.

The tomatoes were a mistake made with pure panic in my heart, and the sight of them brought the King’s Guard to collect more than what we could give. Despite the value of my work, Crawly tried to sell me to Soren. The realization of what sweet Arlo had to do for me is devastating.

Slamming through the barn door, I grab a bag from the storage room and toss in bread, compliments of Mr. Crawly selling the crates of tomatoes. I grab some bandages made of fabric scraps, a flint, the jars of medicine from beneath the hay, and every useful thing I can find.

My hands are shaking with rage. Not only do I need to get my sister back, I need to find Arlo before he’s sold. I toss the barn doors back open and look out over the empty yard. The door on the main house is just slapping closed behind Crawly when a loud rumble sounds.

Not thunder, engines. The sound grows louder, and I freeze.

Headlights pierce through the darkness, illuminating the driveway and the old barn. A black armored vehicle slowly makes its way into the yard, followed by two more. When they pull to a stop, dark figures spill out, their uniforms marked with royal crests.

Mr. Crawly steps out of the house to greet them, his face tense and worried.

“Whatever this is,” he says, holding up his hands, “we haven’t done anything wrong. The Lycan King gave us until—”

“We aren’t here for taxes. We’ve been sent here by the king to find someone,” the man says, his gaze moving toward me and then a few other servants who have wandered out. “We’re looking for a girl by the name of Alessia Raveena.”

“Alessia?” Mr. Crawly asks, peering over at me briefly.

The guard closest to him steps forward with measured, slow steps. His armor, black as midnight and trimmed with silver, gleams under the weak moonlight.

He tilts his head slightly, the motion predatory. “Yes,” the guard says flatly. “She’s wanted for treason against Vampire King Kylian.” He lets the words hang in the air with chilling finality.

My heart stops dead in my chest, a cold dread spreading through my veins like ice water. My knees threaten to buckle beneath me as my mind spins.

He was a king?

I replay the memory in my head, but I never saw the man before in my life. No one told me who would feed from me. No one warned me. I hadn’t even seen the king’s face before, how was I supposed to know? Although it now makes sense why they blindfolded me.

“There must be some mistake . . .” Mr. Crawly begins, his voice faltering as he raises his hands in a placating gesture. His usual gruff demeanor is gone, replaced by fear.

Instinct takes over, and my feet move before my brain can catch up, propelling me toward the dense woods behind the farm.

Treason.

The word pounds in sync with every frantic step I take.

Treason is punished by death.

I don’t make it to the tree line.

A blur of motion to my right is all the warning I get before something massive slams into me. Pain explodes across my side as I hit the ground hard. Stars dance across my vision as I gasp for air, but there is no time to recover.

A heavy boot presses into my back, for the second time today.

“Get off me!” I scream, my voice raw with panic. My legs kick out blindly behind me, but it feels like I’m fighting an immovable wall. “He attacked me! I didn’t do anything! Let me go!”

Rough hands wrench my arms behind me with brutal efficiency, twisting them so sharply pain shoots up to my shoulders. I bite back a cry but can’t stop the tears that spring to my eyes.

The man pinning me down leans closer until I can feel his breath ghosting over the back of my neck. It sends shivers crawling down my spine like spiders’ legs. “I take it you’re Alessia,” he chuckles.

“Let me go!” I shriek again as he hauls me back toward the front of the house.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he says softly. “King Kylian wants you.” I peer up at him over my shoulder as he marches me forward. He grins, revealing his sharp vampire fangs that gleam like polished ivory. “And trust me, when the king wants something . . .” He lets the implication linger ominously.

I glare up at him through tears, my chest heaving with panic. “I didn’t attack anyone! I didn’t even know he was a king!”

The man laughs and shakes his head, then he shoves me toward another vampire guard who grabs my arms before I land face down in the dirt.