KaneKissing Emory was likely a mistake, but as I rush down the hall to the room where my brother, Prince Jacob, all of Opaline’s consorts, and the princess herself are awaiting my arrival, I can’t say that I regret my actions. The warmth of her lips lingers on mine, and I can still taste her on my tongue.She may regret letting me kiss her, though. It seems she is confused about the relationship I have with the princess from Scarlett Thunder, and I honestly can’t blame Emory for not fully understanding something I can’t comprehend myself. It doesn’t make sense that I would marry someone I hate simply to have a child unless I thought I was going to die and leave my throne to no one, but I plan on living a great deal longer, and my brother can always rule in my stead if I decide this isn’t the life for me.I will have a child because it is expected of me….I push those thoughts aside and try to do my best not to think of Emory either as I enter the room off of the library where I asked
EmoryAs I eat my dinner, I contemplate whether or not I am letting myself get carried away with the feelings I am developing for Kane. I have heard about women becoming obsessed with their captors before, but it doesn’t seem like he is my captor. On the contrary, in many ways, it seems like he is my savior.I sit at the table in the little dining area, eating a nicely prepared game hen, as well as several sides, and wonder whether this is what they are eating in the dining room tonight as well or if this is especially prepared for me. Last night, I hardly ate anything since I was so nervous, but tonight, I am practically swallowing my meal whole. I am glad to see I also have a slice of chocolate cake. Perhaps it is easier for me to eat without goblets of blood sitting everywhere.Helga and Nellie are in the room, but I think their cleaning is really more just to keep me company. They meander around, dusting things, moving items from one spot to another, not really doing anything. I s
EmoryI am trying my best to fall asleep, but my mind continues to spin with thoughts of Kane and the kiss we shared earlier in the night. The feeling has faded from my flesh, but it continues to burn in my mind, and I can’t help but wonder if there’s any possibility he is still thinking of me.Dinner has to have ended long ago, so I wonder what he is doing now. I imagine him sitting behind his desk in his office or lying in his bed sleeping. Vampires do sleep a bit, don’t they? My father used to say they did, so it would be the perfect time to attack, except he never figured out how to take advantage of that.I sigh and roll over, thinking I will force myself to sleep when an odd feeling settles around my middle. I feel a tightening in my core, and my breathing becomes shallow.Immediately, I sit up, my eyes focused on my bedroom door. I sense that he is there before the door even opens. He steps into a beam of moonlight filtering in through the window, standing there with his irides
KaneI walk back to my room, collecting the shoes I’d left in the hallway, my shirt in my hands, thinking about what a horrible fucking person I am. There’s simply no way to ever explain or justify what has just happened, not to anyone who isn’t a vampire anyway, and I completely deserve it if Emory never, ever wants to speak to me again.Thankfully, the hallways are mostly empty, except for the occasional servant passing through them. None of them dares to speak to me when encountering me in such a state, and I can imagine servants working this shift have a multitude of information to keep to themselves about the comings and goings in the castle.All I want to do now is climb into my bed and hide under my blankets for a long while, until I figure out a way to go back in time and change what’s just happened—after I have a large glass of blood, anyway. I can still taste her; I can still feel her on my skin.I can’t let myself think about how she tastes sweet like morning dew or how I’v
EmoryI wake up sore in places I’ve never felt before, and it takes me a moment to remember why. I try not to even roll over because of the muscle pain I feel in my core. Blinking against the sun streaming in from between the splits in the curtains, I feel a pain that radiates from my forehead, where I’d crashed into Rainer the day before, through my skull, and out the other side. But that pain is nothing compared to the one I feel in my heart.A groan escapes my lips as I note I can still smell him on the bedding. I can still smell him on me. I push my head beneath the pillows, wondering what time it is but simultaneously not caring. I want to go back to sleep and wake up three days ago when I still had some control over my life. I want to remember all of this so I can avoid making the same mistakes twice. I want to take Lola and run away from home, but when my father tells me we are coming to visit the Vampire King to discuss his spoils of war, not his debt that he is rightfully owe
EmoryI am listening to Rainer’s words and trying to digest them, but I’m not completely sure I understand what he is saying to me.“It was the blood?” I ask him, and he nods at me. “But… there was so little of it. Less than whenever I am menstruating by far.”When he shakes his head, his dark curls dance around his face, and I can see why some women would find that alluring. He really is a handsome man.“It’s not just that it’s blood per se. Menstruation blood is… unappealing to us. I won’t go into detail, but it’s not something that most of us would want to drink. Kind of like bad coffee for humans, I guess. Even regular blood doesn’t get us in quite a tizzy the way that particular kind of blood does.”I stare at him for a moment, trying to understand, but I’m not sure I do. “That kind of blood?”“Some people call it cherry blood.” He seems slightly embarrassed to be talking about this with me. His cheeks are a bit pink. “The blood released when a woman loses her virginity is filled
EmoryIt’s almost dinner time. But I’m not going back to the dining room today. I haven’t been told by King Kane that it’s okay for me to skip again. Maybe I need his permission. Maybe I don’t.I figure, if he wants me to know I should be there, he can come and tell me. And if he realizes he wants me there after dinner has started, well, he can send someone for me. I’ll just tell them I’m not feeling well.Either that, or I will show up at dinner wearing my baggy T-shirt and joggers.For most of the day, I’ve sat in the reading area with a book on my lap not looking at the words. Nellie asked me if I wanted to go to the library. She says it’s spectacular, with hundreds of thousands of books, and plenty of comfy areas to sit and read a book. There’s even a loft with a lovely view out the window of the lake on the east side of the castle.It did sound nice, but I’m not going anywhere. If my job now is to hang around the castle until the king or one of his noble people is ready to feed o
EmoryJacob’s pale skin catches the moonlight as he comes toward me, his pace surprisingly human now, a bit cautious. I can’t anticipate what he’s waiting for, but I wish I knew. Maybe then, if I had some kind of an inkling as to what he’s up to, I would be able to do something to get away from him.My eyes immediately go to the library floor below me, but it’s so far. Even if I had my wolf, which I don’t, I am pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to make that leap and walk away unscathed. I wouldn’t mind breaking all four of my limbs if it meant getting away from Jacob, but there’s no point in contemplating something I can’t do anyway. I can’t shift, and if I did, I would just be easier for him to catch with four broken legs.Vampires can easily leap down from heights of this distance with no problem whatsoever.Me, in my human form? Nope.Still, he feels the urge to say, “I wouldn’t even think about it, bitch. You jump down there, you’re just going to die a more painful, slower death.”I