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I wanted her to say something.Anything.

Say you changed your mind. Say you’ll kill him for me. Tell me you’ll?—

“Should we have a bachelorette party?”

Her question made my head snap toward her so quickly my neck ached. Her gaze was back on me, unmoving. That stone-cold face of hers didn’t even give one twitch to indicate if she was joking.

Because she isn’t.

“Are you drunk or something?” I stood up and grabbed her face, forcing her to look at me. Her skin was hot and sent warm skitters down my arm. I wanted to bathe in it.

I searched her eyes, ignoring the way my body was betraying me, and took a deep inhale—only to burst out laughing.

A deep, unfiltered laugh forced itself out of my belly and echoed across the garden. It bounced against the palace walls and back at me.

The little mouse continues to surprise me.

“Youare,” I said with a mock gasp, finally realizing why her silence had seemed so odd. She was intoxicated.

It was so subtle, it was hard to pinpoint, but there was just the tiniest hint of sweet wine on her lips. I hadn’t taken her for a wine drinker. If anything, I would have assumed she preferred something harder, but I guess there were still sides to her that I had no idea about.

She gave me a sly smirk, and a burst of excitement ran through me.So we want to play now, don’t we?

Finally, she was giving me exactly what I wanted from her. Maybe it was a pity move. Or maybe she too realized how little time we would have in each other’s company before the end.

Either way, I wasn’t going to complain.

“Like I said, bachelorette party. Want a taste?”

Fuck.If that invitation didn’t cause heat to blossom in my belly, I didn’t know what would.

“How am I to turn down such a considerate offer?”

My back hit the sharp bark with a thud, Vesper following my movement and sinking into the same tree with a sigh. The taste of her blood was still strong on the tip of my tongue. My entire body felt warm and bubbly.

I feel like I can breathe.

I finally felt how cool the night was. How the sun had fallen long before, and for once, the entire grounds were quiet.

Her blood had calmed my racing thoughts, and I was able to enjoy the peace that my mother’s garden had once brought. I almost wished she hadn’t given me her blood. Because then it wouldn’t feel so much like a goodbye.

“You drankwaymore than you let on,” I said with a giggle. Heat settled in my body, making it feel light as a feather.

When was the last time I let go like this?

It had to have been years before, when I still went to those blackmail parties for enjoyment. Where I would drink the alcohol-infused blood until I was a giggling mess. Where I would play with vampires and humans alike just because I could.

Where has that Aurelia gone?

Vesper side-eyed me and let out a light huff of a laugh of her own, but suddenly, I wasn’t feeling so amused anymore.

“You ever just think that you’re bad at holding your alcohol?”

I shook my head and leaned into her side. “I’ll have you know I’mgreatat holding my alcohol.”

A silence fell over us, sobering the mood.

I don’t want to go,I wanted to say.If this place was hell on earth, what kind of place will the new one be?