Page 5

The ruined doors collapsed with a thud, and I stumbled out of Greymere.

The sound barely registered. I could scarcely breathe, tipping my head back to take in the sky.

The three moons glowed overhead, almost painfully bright after a decade of waning torchlight.

How could the sun be brighter than this?

My dreams had lost the vividness, the way you could see the light radiate from each of them.

Phrygia, the dancing moon, was nearly full.

Caria, the walking moon, and Lagina, the running moon, were scarcely slivers.

The taste of the night air was soft on my tongue, like an embrace.

It was just newly spring, then, but unseasonably warm .

Or maybe that was from the sweat that coated my back after our frantic run to escape.

Our run.

My shoulders stiffened. I’d been so lost in the sight of the three moons that I’d noticed little else. But the area around me hadn’t. The forest surrounding Greymere was eerily quiet. A great predator lay in their midst.

Right behind me.

I turned back to the vampire. I’d half-expected him to take off the moment he was out of the prison.

There were no guards outside to stop us; no one ever tried to enter Greymere without invitation.

His silver hair glinted in the moonlight.

His red eyes were fixed on me, but for the first time, they lacked that raptorial glint.

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.”