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I fought the urge to wipe a sweat-soaked lock of hair from my face. Now that I remembered his presence, I didn’t dare take my gaze away from him.

How easily they could kill humans. Memories of blood, of flesh rending from bone as easily as one tore off a piece of bread, flashed in my mind. I swallowed.

The moment stretched on, and I felt the last thing I expected around a bloodsucker.

Awkward.

I shuffled on my feet, edging back. “Well. Thanks for helping me get out. You’ve held up your end of the bargain.”

“I have.”

His voice was different outside the walls of Greymere. Irrationally, it reminded me of the night breeze.

Then what are you waiting for?I thought irritably.

“The western border is closest.” I pointed in the direction, which, naturally, was the opposite way I intended to go. True, we were several days’s ride from vampire territory, but witches avoided settling near the borders. Greymere was the farthest outpost in the Witch Kingdom, and it was still nearly a respectful distance from vampire territory.

“I’m aware.”

But still, he stood there, looking at me.

I was loath to turn my back on a vampire, but it seemed he wasn’t leaving until I did.He hasn’t killed me yet. It wasn’t the most reassuring thought, but it was the best I could manage with my heart pounding so loudly I could barely hear myself think.

He’d just drained the guard.He could drain you too, my vicious mind hissed. But surely he wasn’t hungry now. I just needed to escape before that fact changed.

“I’m… just going to head out, then.” To find a Monastery outpost that would take me in before word spread, and I was hunted down.

One step back, still facing him. Then another. When he didn’t move, I began to twist away in earnest, but his voice cut through as sharp as any of the guard’s blades.

“No. You’re not.”

Chapter Six

My heartbeat accelerated, poundingso fast I could scarcely breathe. “Yes, I am.” Mad. I had to be mad to argue with a vampire.Be silent and survive.Words I’d lived by my entire life, even longer than I’d been in Greymere. But this night was so far out of the realm of my reality, I could scarcely believe it wasn’t one big hallucination. “We had adeal.”

A deal I must have been a fool for believing would protect me. A desperate fool.

“And I upheld my end of the bargain, seeing you safely out of this wretched prison. However, you’ll hardly survive on your own.”

I stiffened, but the vampire gave no notice.

“The guards will be found at the next shift change. This will hardly go unpunished.”

“You’re the one who killed them,” I protested.

“You’re the one who set me free, dove.” He rolled his eyes and began to tick his observations on his fingers. “They’ll have hounds on your scent, and tracking spells too, once they can convince a witch to come to this cursed place. You’ll be executed for treason before the end of the week. And that’s all assuming a troll or kobold doesn’t get to you first. Youronlychance to survive is through me protecting you.”

I’d rather a kobold kill me than a vamp. I wanted to hurl the words as I fled, but if I ran, the vampire would catch me. He’d killed six guards like it was nothing.

If he wanted me dead, I’d already be in bloody pieces.My feet remained rooted in the ground. “Why wouldyouwant me to stay with you? I’ll just slow you down.”

The vampire canted his head to the side, studying me. Whether he’d expected me to immediately bow to his wishes or to stubbornly refuse, I wasn’t sure—probably the former—he hadn’t expected questions.

But he’d said the magic word: survive.

“Perhaps I’ll want a snack.”

Absolutely not.I’d rather die than let a vampire feed on me. There was nothing left in my stomach to vomit up, but if there had been, I’d have lost it all then. My fingers shook as I tried to reach for my skirt pocket, clasping forthe cursed copper cuff like it might save me against this beast.