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
KaneI am walking through a meadow in the darkness. The tall grass waves in the breeze as the moonlight glints off of the trees in the distance. A slow fog rolls in from the edges of my vision. I am all alone, yet I know that Emory is somewhere nearby.I’m not sure if I’m looking for her or if I’m just cognizant of the fact that she is here, but as I near the tree line, she steps out, barefoot. Her hair is blowing in the same wind that stirs the trees, and the light makes her jade eyes glow.She looks lovely as always, but also a little wild as she stands there in a long green dress, her hands folded in front of her.“You should have told me,” she says.“I know. I’m sorry.” She has to be talking about the cherry blood, how I nearly tore her apart because I didn’t know she was a virgin and had to leave the room before it was too late. “I have been wanting to speak to you all day. I just didn’t know how to say it.”“Like you just did,” she says, her tone very direct. “I accept your apol
RainerThose two fucking assholes had a head start on me, but that doesn’t stop me from tracking them down. It’s not too hard. I just follow the trail of dead bodies they leave in their wake. Lex was able to get the guard on their trail as they left the library, so as I rush after them, I encounter one dead guard after another, leading through the field outside of the castle into the woods nearest the side of the castle that faces their home kingdom.I have a feeling I know exactly what these fuckers are trying to do. They could run all the way back to Scarlett Thunder, but I have no doubt they’ve got some sort of help waiting for them at some point on the other side of the wall that runs along our lands. They will do their best to get over that wall and into a waiting vehicle, I’m guessing, and since I can’t drive through the woods, they’re hoping I won’t be able to catch them before they get to their escape vehicle, likely driven by someone from their own pack.Crescent Peak has war
EmoryI hear a beeping sound, faintly, in the background, and I know that it’s some kind of machine. I remember hearing them in the hospital when Lola was born. For a moment, I am back there, and I am wanting to hold the baby but also want to see her mother, and I’m told that she died in childbirth. Sadness washes over me as I wonder who will take care of this little girl. Then, I vow it will be me.“Lola,” I mumble, but the voice I hear in response isn’t hers. It’s another familiar one, a voice that stirs all kinds of feelings within me as I begin to process the events of the last few days.“Emory.” He sounds relieved, like he wasn’t sure I’d ever speak again. “You’re okay, Em. You’re safe. I’m right here.”Kane. He’s with me. Wherever I am, with all of this beeping, he’s by my side. In fact, I’m pretty sure I can feel his hand in mine.I can’t feel much else, though. I wonder if that’s because those two bastards drank all of my blood. I remember now. I remember the note that led me
EmoryLex looks different when he comes in. It’s not just that he’s got smudges of dirt all over him and his clothing is torn, something I can’t imagine from the polished Lex I saw at dinner the other night and in the library earlier, but his countenance has changed.“Hello,” he says as he walks to the foot of my bed. He doesn’t sit in the chair his brother vacated about ten minutes ago, nor does he find another one. He just stands there, with his hands folded in front of him. “How are you?”I’m starting to get my ability to feel my body back now. I am still a bit tingly in the extremities, and my shoulder is starting to hurt a little, but I don’t want more medicine because I don’t want to lose my ability to feel, so I haven’t told the doctors.In response to Lex’s question, I say, “I’m better, thank you.”“I’m glad to hear it,” he says politely. “Dr. Martin is very good.”I nod. I haven’t had a chance to meet the man yet, not that I remember anyway, but I am looking forward to thanki
KaneIt’s difficult for me to decide what to do first, call Vampire King Peter to see if he has Opal and demand justice for what his bitch daughter has done here or to go interrogate Jacob. In the end, I decide to head to the dungeon first. I want to see the face of the asshole who tried to kill my Emory. Even though I can’t kill him like I wish to because it would essentially be an act of war, that doesn’t mean I can’t hurt him.I wish that Rainer would’ve killed him in battle, to some degree. After all, if that was the way it had played out, Jacob would be dead, and I could use the fact that he broke my laws and ran from my guards as an excuse for his death. His father would still be mad and come at me with his military, no doubt, but Jacob wouldn’t be alive to know about it.I’d originally told Rainer to bring them both back alive if possible because I wanted to hurt them myself. Now, I am fairly certain I will kill him if I’m not careful, and I don’t want his father to be able to
*Kane*I make my way swiftly to my brother’s room, doing my best not to lose my cool before I get there. My hands are balled into fists, and I am doing everything I can to keep from slamming one of them into a wall.In my mind, I go over the conversation I am about to have with Lex. I am cool, calm, and collected, as I ask him if he has any idea how badly he has fucked up this entire situation.But when Lex opens the door to his room and says, “What?” I am no longer cool, calm, and collected.I slam my fist right into his face, causing him to splash the glass of blood he is holding all over himself. When he winces and glares at me, I am only upset that most of the blood now dripping down his face is not his own. “What the fuck?” he asks me, wiping at his white shirt that will now be permanently pink.“What the fuck indeed!” I shout at him as I step over the puddle at the entrance and slam his door behind him. “You are the biggest fuck up I’ve ever met in my entire life, Lex, and just
*Emory*I had been shocked when they told me that I could go back to my room, that there was no reason for me to continue to stay in the infirmary. Nellie and Helga had been there with me to help me make it back to my room. I am feeling a lot better, though my shoulder is still sore.They insisted I would feel better if I took a long soak in the tub, and the two of them drew me up a nice bath.Now, I am sitting here, staring at the little silvery reflection of myself in the faucet, wondering if I will always have scars from where I was bitten, wondering if this blood that is running through my veins but isn’t mine will somehow become part of me, wondering about my sister and Opal and the mess she has caused, and Kane.I am constantly wondering about Kane.Where is he now? What is he doing? Is he busy? Is he in danger?Is he thinking about me?I get a bit of an answer to all of those questions when I think I hear a knock on the door to my bedroom and then suddenly feel his presence on