Page 19

“And yet you judge us,” I muttered.

Several blocks later, we reached the main thoroughfare. I scanned the road for purple capes, finding none. “Let’s go.” I leaned into the vampire’s side, walking as though we were out for a stroll.

“Now what?” he asked.

“Now, we blend in, wait for the guards to give up, and then make our way to the meeting point where Kronk and Drazen will join us.”

“That confident they got away, are you?”

“Yes.” I refused to believe otherwise.

“Here,” Custodis said, loosening the ties on his cape. “Put this on. Unlike you, I doubt the guards will recognize me.”

It wasn’t a bad idea. Custodis was likely an unknown, whereas my face was plastered on several wanted posters throughout Carcerem. I let him drape the cape over my shoulders, and as he pulled the hood up to conceal my hair, I took the opportunity to study his arresting features.

If I were being honest, the vampire wasn’t hideous. Not by a long shot. In fact, when he wasn’t sneering at me, he was rather attractive.

Long, silver-white hair framed his aristocratic face. Scratch that. On the surface, he projected anaristocraticair—impeccably dressed, with a certain refined aloofness—but a closer look revealed an almost elven quality. While his ears were rounded, there was a certain ethereal grace to his characteristics—though there was nothing feminine about the leech.

When his full lips pulled into a smirk, I stared, transfixed.

“See anything you like, little thief?”

My cheeks heated, and I dragged my eyes away, huffing. “You wish, vampire.” When we started walking again, I asked, “Why are you cooperating?”

“I am not an unreasonable male. Even I can see the benefits of escaping the king’s guard.”

“No,” I stated. “You’re up to something.”

He smirked as though he enjoyed my observation. “Too bad you can’t read my mind.”

Prick.

Too bad, indeed. The situation was unsettling, to say the least. Thanks to the strange shielding I discovered, the vampirebeside me was a complete mystery. Except for the information Yaga had given us, which wasn’t much. Just enough to help capture him.

And why was that? Why had Yaga set us on this path when it was clearly not the solution to our problems? Truly, I did not feel as though I was on the path to freedom but to destruction.

What was I missing?

“You two,” a deep voice shouted. “Stop right there!”

My pulse leaped, and I glanced behind us. There stood two males in purple cloaks.

“It’s them!” the tallest shouted.

“Get behind me.” I elbowed my way in front of my captive and held up my glowing hands. Perhaps an imaginary wall of fire would deter them. I reached deep into the well of power within me, summoning the darkness at my core. Heat spread through my hands, my palms beginning to glow. Almost…

Fabric engulfed me. The cape I wore plunged over the top of my head, the hem knotting at my back. “Custodis! You son of a nerf herder, what are you—”

“Have fun in the king’s prison, pet,” the vampire said, then punted the back of my knee.

I collapsed with a screech of outrage.

“All yours, boys.”

I registered his voice through the heavy fabric, along with the thump of racing footsteps.

“Leech! You’ll pay for this, you bula flarker!” I battled the engulfing material. Rough hands yanked me off the ground and ripped the cape off my head, along with strands of my hair.