VALERIEI followed Brigid into a grand chamber. The room was vast, with velvet blankets atop a bed fit for four people. Above, a crystal chandelier flickered with the gentle glow of candle light.I knew little about Brigid, but from what I’d heard the other vampires murmur in their hasty retreated, I could gather that she was one of Kronos’s consorts. A very important one at that.When she’d asked me to identify myself, I explained that I was Lucas’s pet.Brigid had said nothing more than “follow me” and led me to the empty room. I quickly took to admiring the paintings on the walls. Beautiful, delicate pieces of queens from decades past.“Wait here,” she told me. “I will inform Prince Lucas to come and return you to your place. It isn’t save for human girls during a revel and you should not be wandering alone like this. Vampires can be especially savage creatures during heightened celebration. You’ll be leeched dry before you even make it downstairs.”“No,” I replied, causing the con
VALERIEI turned the corner and looked around, feeling an eerie sense of calm sweeping through the palace. The inhabitants must’ve been otherwise occupied, as each corridor was empty—but for the shouts of distant laughter eons away.“Do you sense any vampires?” I whispered to Diya.No, she responded.I paced along the flagstones, finding my way to a hall with a grant staircase at the end. I clutched my robe tighter, the chilly nip of the stone walls biting through my scant clothing.Must we really dress as one of them? Diya asked. We look ridiculous. I had to admit, I wasn’t entirely comfortable with the display, either. I was donned in lingerie and the thin veil of a short, silk robe. It was typical attire for a pet, and I did not ask myself how Lucas had come to acquire it—let alone why he kept it stored in his room.“Aren’t you a wolf?” I asked her. “You do not wear clothing at all.”No, said Diya. I quite enjoy the naked form. But not in the presence of cretins like these. Human
LUCASAdmittedly, I had found this Ashford fool to be relatively insane last I’d seen him—but now it seemed he was growing a backbone.I couldn’t decide if it was more daring than stupid or more stupid than daring.He was lucky enough that the court was letting him speak—that no one had bothered to cut out his tongue yet. No sane individual with more than a single surviving braincell would dare to challenge Kronos like this.I had expected a searing look from Kronos, but he simply stared down at Marvolo with an inconvenienced frown.Benjamin stepped to the front of the crowd.“How dare you,” he snarled. “You dare walk into our court and speak to the king with such abhorrent manners? You should be flayed like a pig. Dealing with the famine is the business of the council and the elders. Not…whoever the hell you are.”Marvolo acknowledged Benjamin with a smooth smile, and bent forward in a bow to the king. “My apologies. I meant no disrespect, I assure you. I only hoped that the king wou
LUCAS“Oh, my prince, you must be joking.”Elder Josten laughed, his goblet of wine spattering in his hand. “I haven’t any idea what you’re talking about. Westshield. A raid. The king accompanied by werewolves. None of it makes sense. The king has never liked werewolves, and as for humans—well those were only good for their blood supply and a little entertainment.”I did not miss the small girl Josten clutched to his side—or how the slave shivered with a sickly look on her face as he said it.Josten leaned into her ear and spoke as if to soothe her, but it was clear that it did little more than drain more blood from her pallid face.Then he turned back to me. “Now, is there anything else I can help with?”There seemed to be an alternative meaning behind the offer. I gave the elder a slight tilt of my head in question.“If you are interested in something else,” he went on, “I might be very willing to help. For example, I think you could provide wonderful support to the council. Your ta
VALERIEI had never seen an image of Calista before—apart from the statue outside of the rose garden. But it was hardly an accurate rendition.Somehow, despite that, I recognized her immediately. It felt as though I’d known that face for a long time. Like she was latched onto a part of my memory that I’d somehow forgotten. Like the sight of that painting had brought it all flooding back.What? Diya hissed, noticing my sudden hesitation. She could probably sense the uptick of my heartbeat, or the sweat growing on my palms. What is wrong?“That’s princess Calista,” I told her. “I don’t know how I know it is. I just do.”It is the influence of the leech, Diya said. You’re simply feeling his effects, that’s all. But I was certain that wasn’t the case. Lucas had never once mentioned what Calista looked like, and the features on the statue in the garden at Salmere was far too vague to show any sort of resemblance.In the painting, Calista was donned in an apron. She was bending over a wood
VALERIEThe next morning, I lingered by the door until the bell rang and my food was brought into the dining room. But I did not wait and count to ten, as Lucas had ordered me to.Instead, I slipped inside, catching the human slave by the arm before she could leave.The girl startled and went still, like a deer, caught in the teeth of a wolf. “It’s okay,” Valerie said.At the sound of her voice, the slave slowly lifted her head to look at her.“I just have some questions,” Valerie began. “Tell me where Lord Lane went.”The slave tried to yank herself free, but I held on tightly.“Tell me, or I’ll have you punished for the food you’ve been stealing from my meal each evening. Do you think I haven’t noticed?”It was something I’d spotted each time the platter was delivered. A single spot on the metal, smudged by flour, where a roll of bread had vanished.I had never thought once about it—and of course, I would not alert anyone to the poor girl’s theft, but it was enough to get her talkin
VALERIEI tossed and turned, but sleep wouldn’t find me. When I closed my eyes, I saw Lucas and that dark look in his eyes before he’d left. The way he’d said I want to take you echoed in my head.For some reason, it didn’t frighten me. Perhaps it would have, when we’d first met. But now, I couldn’t stop my mind from imagining it.His elegant face full of want, and shadowed with sharp, hungry desires. His body—limber and muscled and pale as moonlight.I imagined the way he had been atop me just hours ago—fangs bared, hot panting breath against my shoulder.And I wondered what might have happened if the she-vampire had not interrupted. Would he have simply stowed his fangs away? Or would Lucas have made good on those desires he’d mentioned?Would he have bitten me?Would he have…taken me?Heat prickled at my face, and I kicked at my bedding, furious at myself for thinking such things.I was marked by Xavier. I had been taken by Xavier. The heat I’d felt just a moment ago for Lucas sh
LUCASI found Nicasa in her quarters, drinking from the slave girl she had draped over her lap. When she spotted me, she unhooked her fangs from the girl’s neck and waved her away.“I thought you’d be longer,” she said, wiping the blood from her mouth with diligent fingers.I gave her little more than a shrug in response. “What do you want? I haven’t time for games.”It was a rare occasion when Nicasa and I spoke in private like this. In fact, throughout the course of our lives, I could recall on one hand the number of times she’d spoken to me and me alone.Unlike Benjamin, who reveled in my humiliation and yearned to burn it into me at any given moment, Nicasa simply ignored my very existence.“I’d heard what you asked of Father in the throne room,” she said. “I didn’t hear it on purpose—truly. But it was difficult to ignore, considering how angry it had made him. I was curious. Why are you so interested in that moment in time? It isn’t as if it has anything to do with you.”“Stay cu
VALERIEI woke to a body next to mine and sat up with a start, forgetting entirely where I was.When my swimming vision fell back into place, I recognized Lucas’s sleeping face next to mine.He looked so delicate in sleep—far more boyish than he seemed while awake. But also, much more solemn. I had never seen someone look so terribly sad while sleeping.You want to kiss him? Diya whispered. You want to touch lips with the bloodsucker? The fiend? I felt the heat rush to my cheeks at her question, and silently shook my head.Liar, Diya said. Your heart flutters for him. Wrong. Terribly wrong. How vile to break the heart of our mate for a leech like him.The heat on my face quickly turned to prickling irritation.“I’m not,” I bit back. “I won’t.”I shut my eyes and focused on pushing her form my mind. It had become more difficult in the passing days; Diya was slowly ingraining herself into me; it wouldn’t be long until I couldn’t fight her off anymore.Most of the time, I was rather gra