Page 40

My chest heaves for air, and my wrists ache as the handcuffs dig into tender flesh.

The Vampire King’s stare is dark with fury, and I cringe. His hands are clenched so tight the tendons stand out, like he’s only one breath away from tearing this hall apart.

King Zander lounges back on his chair like he’s enjoying a performance. “There,” he says with a mock sigh. “Was that so hard?”

I glare at him, tears brimming in my eyes, before I force my gaze to the floor.

“Can never be too careful, especially after what she did to you. So hurry up and get it over with. Verify it is her so I can get rid of her.”

The Vampire King is glaring daggers at King Zander.

The chair screeches as the Vampire King rises from his seat. His eyes flicker toward me, holding an intensity that sends chills racing through my veins. As he steps forward, it feels like the temperature drops a few degrees, and goose bumps lace my skin.

I shouldn’t have been able to look at him for this long. Every instinct I have screams to lower my eyes, to bare my throat, to submit to the weight of what he is. But I don’t. I remain still even as his gaze strips me down further, leaving me trembling.

He is beautiful in the most dangerous way, untouched by softness. High cheekbones. A hard, unforgiving jaw shadowed with dark stubble. A mouth that looks as though it learned to tempt before destroying. There is no comfort in him at all, only the quiet, inevitable promise of ruin.

His eyes catch mine as he approaches. Vibrant. Blood red. Inhuman. They feel intimate in a way that makes my breath hitch, as though he has already memorized every inch of me. There is endless hunger there, but it is leashed so tightly it’s terrifying.

The room stills around him, all sounds falling silent except the crackle from the fireplace. I try to become as small as possible, dropping my gaze to the floor as if I could vanish. His shiny leather boots halt inches from my face. He pauses, then abruptly leans down, hands reaching for my arms. I flinch involuntarily, expecting pain, but he is surprisingly gentle as he forces me to stand.

He buries his face in my neck and inhales deeply, letting his nose drag across my throat to my jaw. When he pulls back, his eyes flicker like a cat, turning to red slits as he tilts his head, watching my face. He then turns back to the Lycan King. “This is her.” I flinch at his deep, unforgiving tone.

The Lycan King leans lazily on the arm of the chair, tossing one leg over the other arm, his eyes glinting with something dark. “So she’s definitely the little feeder girl who knocked you on your royal ass?”

The Vampire King’s jaw tightens as he lets me go. I stagger back, tripping over my own feet and landing heavily on my side, the pain shooting through my ribs only magnifies the humiliation.

“Did she poison you?” the Lycan King presses, a chilling interest sparking in his gaze as he glances at me briefly. “Should we kill her here and now? Maybe torture her? I haven’t had a good torturing session in a while. We could skin her alive.”

“No.” The Vampire King’s voice comes out in a savage snarl that ricochets through the room, the tension palpable as I cower in silence. “I want to take her back to my kingdom.”

My eyes widen, wondering if being skinned alive might be the nicer punishment.

“That wasn’t agreed upon. Just kill her and be done with it. If you’re feeling squeamish, we can use the gallows.” King Zander waves one hand dismissively.

“I want to know how she managed to put me down and who she is working with. My kingdom has been affected by tainted blood, and my men are dropping like flies. I haven’t been affected until now, so she’s coming with me for questioning. I want her blood tested, and whatever it is, I need to find an antidote for future incidents.”

The Vampire King retrieves his coat hanging over the back of his chair and tosses it at his guard. The man turns toward me, and I scramble back awkwardly. King Kylian’s voice is in my head, soft, but his mouth isn’t moving.

“He won’t hurt you.”

I peer around, wondering if anyone else could hear him, but no one reacts. His guard steps closer.

King Kylian’s voice comes again. “Let him cover you. I don’t like their eyes on you.”

I can only stare at his unmoving lips in shock. How can I hear him in my head?

The vampire man drapes his coat over my shoulders while I remain frozen in shock. After covering me, he steps back to the side.

The Lycan King scoffs, amusement mingling with disdain. “Fine, take her, then. But I don’t want to hear a single rumor of you accusing my kingdom of poisoning supplies.”

I whimper at his words, knowing I’ve just been given to the Vampire King to use as a guinea pig. I won’t last as a feeder, and if I’m shipped to his kingdom, I don’t know how I will ever be able to trace my sister’s whereabouts or find Arlo.

At the sound of my whimper, a lycan guard steps forward to kick me. I flinch, anticipating the blow as the boot approaches my face. Right before impact, a sickening crack rings out, but it’s not my face that receives the blow. The man who intended to kick me is on the ground, howling in agony, blood staining the polished stone around us while his leg is bent at an odd angle.

The room falls into an eerie silence, all eyes shifting to the figure who stands tall above me. The Vampire King seems unfazed by what he did. He turns to King Zander, his voice cold and final. “No one touches her. How am I expected to get answers from her if she is beaten or dead?”

The Lycan King snarls in response, but his ire is eclipsed by the violence he can no longer ignore. The lycan guard forces his leg back into position with a pained cry, glaring at me like I was the one who broke his leg.