Page 42

The cloak moves at my backside as he fiddles with the steel cuffs, but they don’t loosen. After struggling a moment, he stops. “It seems the lock has been crushed, my king.”

“Break them,” he orders, and I cry out as he grips the chain between them, jerking the metal. My arms fall to my sides like wet noodles, heavy and useless from the strain, and I still can’t feel my fingers.

King Kylian pulls one of my hands between us, and I gasp. The remaining steel clasping my wrist is so tight that my hand is a deep purple. Just touching it sends jolts of pain through me, and I whimper.

His voice is in my head again. “This is going to hurt.”

My gaze snaps to his blood-red eyes, but his attention is on my wrists. With both of his hands gripping the steel, he applies force, and I cry out when the cuffs snap under his brute strength. Blood rushes to my hand, and I nearly pass out from the pain as I slump forward and crash into his chest.

“Just one more,” he murmurs next to my ear while I focus on breathing. He breaks it with one quick movement, but the cuff on this one must have been embedded in my skin because, when it breaks, my flesh tears away with it.

I cry out in his arms as we both stare down at the smear of blood on my hand. I try to jerk it away, but his grip tightens, and he rubs his thumb through it languidly.

Eagan clears his throat beside us, and the Vampire King startles, allowing me to pull back slightly. His gaze seems transfixed on my blood. His lips part, his fangs flashing as he gulps.

The next second, Eagan’s voice is in my head. “Do not react to my voice, and try not to move, human.”

The king continues playing with my bleeding wrist, and Eagan clears his throat again.

“My king, would you like me to take her? I don’t suggest feeding on her after she poisoned you earlier,” he says calmly. That seems to snap the king out of whatever trance he was in. He tucks my wrist back inside the cloak, pulling it closed.

He leans forward swiftly, and I nearly topple off him as he grabs a napkin from the table and dips it in his goblet of wine. He washes my blood off his fingers as I wiggle, attempting to get up from his lap.

“No, I’m fine.” King Kylian tucks me against his chest, then his voice is in my head again. “Little mortal, the safest place for you is on my lap, so don’t draw attention to yourself.”

I peer up at him, and he tucks the front of the coat closed to cover my exposed breasts.

“I see you’re still struggling to contain that hunger of yours,” King Zander states.

“Just as you still struggle with that temper. Let’s just finish this discussion. I want to retire to my room.” King Kylian tosses the napkin on the table and sits back, dragging me with him.

Their meeting goes on for hours with me sitting awkwardly on his lap like a pet. I feel like I am playing dead between two predators while hoping neither of them decides to sink their teeth into me. Yet the longer I remain pressed against this king—who has a strange fascination with stroking me like I am his pet—the heavier my eyes grow.

King Zander’s voice loses its confidence and lowers, like he is curious and pushing the boundary of their conversation. “Have you noticed anything . . . unusual in Sangremere?”

It would sound like a casual conversation between friends if they hadn’t been taking verbal jabs at each other all night.

King Kylian’s fingers go still against my waist. “Unusual in what way?”

Silence follows, and I fight the urge to lift my head.

King Zander slowly exhales. “Has the land changed?”

Kylian’s pause is brief. “It’s always rotting, just like all the kingdoms. That is no secret.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“Exactly what are you asking me?” King Kylian’s jaw clenches against my forehead.

“Is it sinking?”

Sinking? What does he mean by that?

Kylian shifts slightly, my body dropping lower on his lap as he leans more to one side. “You’re being dramatic. Your paranoia is starting to show, Zander. I would be careful of who you speak with about this.” King Kylian laughs, but there is no humor in the sound. “Is there a reason you’re asking me this?”

King Zander is quiet for a moment before he addresses the room. “Everybody out!” he demands, and my brows furrow. Footsteps sound as people leave, and I hear some draw closer to where King Kylian sits with me on his lap.

King Kylian’s hand moves to the side of my face, and as he pulls back, his eyes meet mine. “Leave her, Eagan. She is asleep. I will let you know when I am done here so you can collect her.”