Page 6

My heartbeat accelerated, pounding so 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 a deal .”

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. Your only chance 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 would you want 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 for the cursed copper cuff like it might save me against this beast.

“Or perhaps not. You smell utterly repugnant. I’d likely get a tastier meal from a half-rotted animal carcass,” he drawled, wrinkling his nose slightly.

I’d never been more grateful for the lack of hygiene at Greymere.

“Though it’s true I’d move faster without you, you can still be useful to me. I need to pay a visit to Apante.”

The City of Answers . “But you’re a vampire.” The oracle magic there would never serve him, never give him what he needed.

“How observant.” A flash of teeth, this time almost mischievous. “But you are decidedly not .”

That was true—I could get him the knowledge he craved, whatever it was. This definitely made more sense than him continuing to protect me out of the goodness of his unbeating heart. But it would be another betrayal of my kingdom. “What answers do you seek there?”

“Sorry, dove, I don’t confide in smelly mortals.” He took a step closer, sensing me wavering. “You don’t trust me. That’s wise. But you’re safer with me than without, especially since I could use your assistance.”

My stomach twisted. Above, the sky had already lightened from utter darkness to a deep mauve.

The guard change would happen soon. I didn’t want to be anywhere near the prison when the bodies were discovered.

If I went with the vampire, I could still find refuge in the Monastery.

Apante would have a big outpost—big enough to protect me if any of the king’s men came searching.

“Fine.”

And with that, I gained a bloodsucker for a traveling companion.

Once I agreed, the vampire wasted no time setting off. We traveled three days with little rest. He didn’t seem to care much for either of our comforts, but I wanted as much distance between us and Greymere as possible, so I didn’t protest.

We mainly traveled during the night. I was so perpetually exhausted that switching to sleeping during the day wasn’t a big adjustment. If anything, it was easier. After so many years of darkness, the sunlight was almost disturbing in its glory.

We did walk during the day as well, however.

I’d thought vampires were unable to stand sunlight; my vampire apparently just found it irritating and stuck to the shade.

In fact, there were a great many things about the vampire that didn’t match what I’d thought.

He didn’t act anything like the uncontrollable fiend that haunted my memories.

He moved fast, much faster than me, but whether that was because he was a vampire or simply that his legs were several inches longer than mine was hard to say.

His eyes were the telltale red, but after a day or so, I found it less terrifying and more just a bit unsettling.

He didn’t bully or taunt me. In fact, he barely spoke at all, which was an improvement over my experiences with Nelson.

We slept on the forest floor; we’d need to find proper shelter eventually, but right now we were in silent agreement to rough it.

The vampire slept on his stomach, his bare back exposed and still shredded.

Once, as we settled to the ground, I saw him cover a wince—a reminder he was, if not a living creature, then a creature that could feel pain all the same.

Truthfully, the forest floor was soft compared to the places I’d slept during the past few years. As bad as traveling with a vampire was, there was one major benefit: Everything knew he was the most dangerous creature around and steered clear.

On the fourth day, I woke to him returning to the clearing we’d settled in from the thick of the forest.

Blood colored his lips. My own parted at the sight. Just when I was getting close to—not forgetting, exactly, or accepting, but at least adjusting to the vampire—

Blood and blood—

Those blood-red eyes rolled at my palpable horror. “Relax. It’s not human, just a stray deer.”

“You might have brought the deer back with you,” I groused.

I scavenged what I could of plants when we walked, but I wasn’t confident I could tell nightshade berries from blueberries after all these years of rat soup, so my pickings were conservative.

I’d never spent much time in the forest, and I didn’t have any cards imbued with healing magic.

I was used to eating little. It didn’t stop my stomach from rumbling at the realization he’d had a deer, fresh meat, in his hands and just… left it wherever.

“Catch one yourself if you’re hungry,” was all he said.

But the next day, a rabbit, drained of blood, was by my head when I awoke.

I couldn’t force the words, Thank you , out of my mouth. Not even when he said nothing as I took the time to dress and cook the rabbit, eating my first real warm meal in years. I had no utensils, so I ate with my hands, crouched over the small fire I’d made to cook it on.

It was delicious . Tender and juicy. I gripped the food closer to my mouth. My mother would’ve been horrified. My stomach could scarcely believe it was properly eating and threatened to cramp, but I refused to stop.

Only when I was nearly done with the rabbit did I catch the vampire watching me. He leaned back against a tree, arms crossed over his bare chest. His white hair fell forward over his eyes, but I felt them acutely.

“You’d be a wonder with fangs,” he mused.

Was he mocking me? From a vampire, that was probably a compliment.

The thought of being turned into one of his kind made me lose the last remnants of my appetite. I buried the bones and covered the fire. The forest was colder at night, so it was good to move. We had no spare clothing, no layers. We were lucky we’d avoided any bad weather.

The food in my stomach put a spring in my step, even if the sensation of being full was disorienting.

I wasn’t exactly sure how far away Apante was.

I hadn’t seen so much as a map since I was a small child.

The only thing I was confident in was that we were going north since Phrygia and Lagina were at our back.

The night we’d escaped had been a fever dream.

The next few nights were, too, as if things were half-happening to another person while I watched.

Now, the haze seemed to settle. I had escaped Greymere.

I was traveling with a vampire. I had betrayed my country, resisted my sentence, and set free one of our mortal enemies.

Even if I helped the vampire and then escaped to the farthest corner of the kingdom, I’d still be a criminal.

“Stop thinking so much. It’s distracting.”

I stumbled behind the vampire. I always walked two steps behind him. How could he tell what I was thinking?

“Can you read minds?” I asked.

He huffed. “I don’t need to read your mind to feel the cogs turning between your ears. Spit it out.”

I wasn’t about to confide in the vampire. Instead, I asked the other question on my mind. “Why isn’t your back healing?”

The skin was still ripped several days later. Scabs had started to form. There were blisters along his broad shoulders. Blood was caked around. It looked impossibly painful. And since it didn’t feel right to walk side-by-side with the vampire, that had been my view for the past few days.

He turned back, an arched brow raised as if surprised this was my question.

“A few reasons. First, we’ve been walking during daylight hours to make up for the fact you’re so slow.

If we limited ourselves to the cover of darkness, the guards would catch up in a heartbeat—if they’re foolish enough to pursue us, that is.

It would take some horses soon to put proper distance between us and them.

Even you must know the sun is no friend to vampires. ”

So the sun did do more than just make him irritable. Good to know.

“Then there’s the animal blood.” He grimaced. “It’s not what we’re meant to eat. It’ll keep me alive, but little more.”

Meant to eat. Like it was natural to feed on people.