ClaraI froze, but only for a second. I tried to laugh off his suspicion. “Just because I applied healing salves, you think that I must come from the stock of royal healers?”“No. It’s your eyes. Your body. The scent of your blood. I had been trying to figure you out, and now I see your resemblance. She was an unusual healer. Highly skilled, but controversial. Yes. Now it makes sense. You have many admirable qualities, and you are not Transitus or Epsilon. You are the remaining bloodline of the fallen House of Grey. Lady Clara Grey, sired by Lord Donovan, Beta of your pack.”He shook his head. “You should have had an alias. You made it too easy for me to figure it out.”I clenched my fists. “Grey is a common surname in the South, especially in the Moonstone Pack.”He smiled, and it alarmed to see regret in his eyes. “Perhaps it was. The name has fallen out of favor now. Blood will out, though. Yours is unmistakable.” Prince Bruess laid back and shut his eyes. “I knew your mother when
Clara“What makes you think that you’re the sane one?” I asked Bruess. “You could be lying about everything, including my mother.”Bruess lay back in his seat thoughtfully. “You’re right. There is no way to know if I’m being honest. Then judge for yourself, though I’m afraid my brother has ways of wasting your valuable time.”I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on his emotions to see if he was telling the truth. His next words jarred me.“Are you trying to get up here?” He pointed to his head. “Loretta did the same thing. She had an extraordinary way of getting in a werewolf’s head. Some would say that it was a kind of sorcery she delved into.”No one had ever called me out on this strange skill that I had with sensing a werewolf’s emotions. “She never had the Stigma or the Mark, nor do I,” I said defensively.“You don’t deny trying to root around in my head.” He crossed his arms. “How very fascinating. What am I thinking now?”“It’s not like I can hear what you can think,” I sa
ClaraA horrible, stabbing pain pierced my neck, and I couldn’t scream. It was as if someone had jabbed me with two daggers made of ice. The vamp siphoned my blood into his throat, and my head grew dizzy. His arms crawled around my back and held me tighter to his body. Just as I was beginning to pass out, he pulled away. His scarlet eyes grew bright with my stolen life’s blood.“Delicious,” he said with boyish happiness. “You know, I was looking for you all this time. I nearly despaired that you were gone from my sight forever. I’m going to take my time sampling you.”I could barely respond. My leaden arms hung by my sides, and my pulse slowed down to a crawl. “You… damn… leech,” I slurred, but there was no real heat behind my words. I was too weak to fight.“I know that you love it,” he said, and then he jammed his tongue inside mine.I gave a sound of rage, but the vamp’s grip was too strong. He moaned as his tongue explored the caverns of my mouth, and I tried desperately to pull a
Deanneth When Clara decided on a whim that she wanted to chat with my half-brother, at first the thought annoyed me. I suppose my brother still had his charm intact. He was supposed to be the leader of the Dark Shade after Arinauld died. My sire had taught him well, or maybe his regal bearing was far more authentic than mine. There was a flavor of noble melancholy about him as well. Perhaps that was what drew her to him. I congratulated my brother’s cunning. I guess the old devil still had it in him. Obviously, Bruess needed to be disciplined, but the thought bored me. I had years of experience of thinking up new ways to humiliate Bruess, but he was surprisingly resilient. The problem with tormenting my brother was that the other werewolves of the pack were starting to notice his strength. He bore each new punishment with fatalistic grace that annoyed me. He was starting to win back the admiration of the pack, and I knew that he still had the ears of several Councilors, including Lor
DeannethIn between dreamless sleep, I heard someone pound at my door. I had half a mind to tear them limb from limb. No one was allowed to disturb my sleep unless the Quarter was on fire.“Lord Deanneth. Emperor Deanneth!”It was Felix. I groaned and rubbed my eyes.“Stop pounding the damn door and come in already,” I said.He opened the door in a rush, and I watched him from my bed. “You seem to be missing someone,” I said coolly. “Surely you did not come back here without a certain lady that I expressly told you to protect?”If his brown face could turn pale, it would do so right now. A sullen look was on his face, but it did him credit that he seemed remorseful for the time being. “Your half-brother shut me out of his rooms. I told Clara to come, but she refused.”I sat up straight and interrogated Felix. “Let me get this straight. I told you in no uncertain terms to stick to Clara like her second shadow. I told you that you would end up in a soup if you didn’t do this for me. I a
ClaraFingers stroked my hair. I saw my father in the distance shuffling parchment on his desk. Someone hummed a soothing melody, and I listened to it. My mother held me in her arms. “You’re going to have a little sister.” Her fingers grasped mine and pushed them onto her swollen belly. “We’re going to call her Elena.”“Elena,” I burbled happily. My small hands patted my mother’s stomach, and I giggled when I felt a kick. “You’re going to protect her and make sure that she’s loved. Even if they say terrible things about her, even if they say she’s not really your father’s. You’re going to always be there for her.” **I was half-asleep when I heard voices murmuring in the darkness. Someone massaged my neck, and I moaned in pain.“Ugh, what in hells is that smell?” said a low voice. “It’s not the regular slum stench.”“Vamp blood. You better get used to it. They’re going to be crawling out of the woodwork now.”There was a sound of disgust. “Is that what that is? Smells like old b
DeannethWhen the girl was asleep, I found that I was fascinated by the whorls in her hair. In Lycaneum society, plain brunette hair was common and nothing remarkable. I was disappointed at first when I met Clara. Loretta had soft blonde hair that was so light, it could have passed as white.I touched her hair and let her auburn brown locks slide over my skin like silk threads. Clara mumbled in her sleep, but I continued to let her hair slip through my fingers. I had drawn the curtains of my chambers so that she could sleep better. But some rays peeked through the room, and her hair transformed into shining golden locks. There was an understated beauty to her hair, and it hypnotized me.I touched her neck, and she still was ice cold. I got up and threw several logs into the fireplace. It was hot as hells in the chamber, and sweat dripped out of every pore of my body. I let my fingers slip over her breasts, and she felt like unbroken snow on a winter’s day.I suppose I should’ve called
Trigger Warning: This chapter may include explicit sexual content. Please read at your own risk. Clara Everything felt so cold and blurry. My eyes only saw misty shapes in the room. I felt his powerful body pushing up against me, and I greedily drank in that heat of life and desire. Deanneth pushed my legs apart, and then he pressed his tongue up against my thighs. I wanted him more than anything. I wanted him to extinguish that horrible vamp’s scent and skin from memory, and I wanted him to replace it with his sweat and blood. Anything would do. Even this. I pushed his head down harder, and I heard him chuckle. “You little whore,” he whispered, and goosebumps trickled all over my skin. “Very well. I’ll give you what you want. All you have to do is say ‘please.’” I don’t know why my heart raced. I don’t even know why I was allowing this to happen. I wanted to breathe and feel alive. I wondered if despair was a part of it too. I gasped as his tongue pierced deep inside me, and I