Page 8

Learning the vampire’s name shouldn’t have changed anything.

In many ways, it didn’t. No more than the rabbit I woke up to the next morning, neatly drained of blood. Or the way Raphael watched me eat, any semblance of my once fine manners long gone.

It was late in the night when we veered close to a lake.

Excitement thrummed through me at the sight, at the thought of possibilities.

Clean drinking water. Buckets and buckets of it.

I hadn’t submerged my body in water since I’d been a small child, oblivious to the luxury.

Dirt caked my skin in layers upon layers.

When I’d first arrived at Greymere, I’d done my best to maintain the fastidious habits my mother instilled in me.

Of course, most of them involved someone doing everything for me, which had no longer been an option.

Cleanliness was a losing battle, and my useless efforts cost me precious time I could’ve spent sleeping.

My nose had gone blind to the stench in a matter of weeks; the men of Greymere certainly didn’t waste any effort cleaning.

Anyone who had leverage used it for extra food or alcohol rather than something as mundane as soap.

And I never had anything to bargain with anyway.

But there, glittering in the moonlight, was a lake.

“Your heart is racing. Why?”

“It’s nothing,” I mumbled.

We couldn’t afford to waste time stopping at the lake. At best, when we got closer, I’d veer off long enough to take several long sips of water. That would be enough for me. It had to be.

He narrowed his gaze at me, brows furrowing. That was one thing that had changed since I’d learned his name. Now, instead of lingering two paces back, I walked shoulder to shoulder with the vampire.

“You want something.”

“I don’t.” I did. Desperately.

His gaze flicked past me to the lake. His expression didn’t change, but I sensed him putting the pieces together.

“We may as well stop here,” he declared. “Besides, you reek. You can do something about it over there.” He lifted a hand to the lake in a careless gesture .

I wrinkled my nose. “You’re no fresh lilac yourself.”

Raphael grinned. “Then perhaps I should bathe with you.”

I stumbled at his words, and he chuckled. “Don’t like the idea of bathing with a vampire? Then don’t complain.”

I huffed and broke his gaze. The trouble was, my shock wasn’t from the thought of seeing the vampire naked.

It was from the thought of bathing with any man at all.

Or any man who looked the way Raphael did—broad-shouldered, towering over me, with a face that would have been arresting even without the red eyes and the elegant, savage panes nearly carved from marble.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Raphael declared when we reached the lake.

My neck snapped back. “You’re leaving?”

“Did you want me to watch?”

My cheeks flushed. “I don’t want to be eaten by a… a kobold!”

“Relax, dove. I don’t scent any kobolds nearby. I’m going to get some dinner of my own and see what’s ahead. I’ll be back in an hour, two at most.”

With that, he disappeared back into the woods.

I was alone for the first time in days. My shoulders relaxed immediately.

There were knots in my back just from how I constantly tensed around the vampire, even though I was forced to admit he hadn’t actually done anything to me—yet.

But there wasn’t long enough for me to lie about and massage them.

The first thing I did was fix a small fire.

I wasn’t sure when I’d get the chance to wash my clothes again, so I stripped and dunked them in the lake, then set them to dry by the fire.

I unwrapped the band of fabric that pressed over my chest, slipping out the necklace I’d taken from Greymere.

The fabric was thin, not really a proper undergarment, but it was the best I’d managed since clothing was hard to come by in the prison.

Most of what I had worn through the years were hand-me-downs from dead prisoners.

With my clothing settled, I went to the lake. Phrygia’s full glow lit the water around me, chasing away some of the darkness. The water was cool, bordering on cold, but I didn’t care. The water wasn’t deep, which was good since I wasn’t the best swimmer.

I cupped my hands and splashed my face, clawing off the layers of dirt and grime with my nails.

Then I gulped more water from my cupped hands, trying to take advantage of this chance.

I had no soap, so I made up for it with hard scrubbing.

Tall stalks grew at the edge of the lake, so I snapped one off and tested it, then used it to scrape at the years of filth that coated my body.

My skin burned bright red under the harsh ministrations, but I savored the feeling of my clean skin.

My hair, I rinsed as best I could, frowning at the color.

It darkened as years of dirt and dust fell out, turning from a hazy brown-gray to sable black. Unrecognizable.

Just like my situation.

Free. I was free.

When tears pricked at my eyes, I splashed more water on my face to chase them away before they could fall. I’m never going back there . Twelve years, gone. But if I was smart, careful, I could have a more than what they’d robbed me of.

More was a dangerous thought. But seeing the new color of my hair, feeling my skin without the weight of dirt and dust, it seemed almost possible.

A rustle in the forest snapped me from my thoughts. Raphael rounded the curve of the lake, coming into view past the border of stalks. I yelped and sank down to my neck, my hands crossed protectively.

“You said two hours!”

“At most. It’s been over an hour, anyway,” he said dismissively.

Had it really? First hell damn me, I’d lost track of time.

“Go away,” I snapped. “I need to dress.”

“But what if there’s a kobold?” His tone was as innocent as a child’s.

A mischievous child. I squeezed my arms tighter, hoping he couldn’t see into the water. “Then it’ll eat me. Now, go!”

He didn’t reply, but he took loud, deliberate stomps, unlike his usual silent steps .

I waited another beat, then exited the water, shivering as the night air surrounded me.

The advantage of my clothing being threadbare was at least it didn’t need much time to dry.

The fire had only half dried my skirts, but I was so glad to have them clean that I didn’t care.

I tucked my few meager possessions back into their hiding spots.

Raphael stepped into view a moment later.

He now wore a simple shirt and a cloak, hood down.

A matching set was in his hands. Where had he gotten them?

Stolen, certainly. From whom? I decided against asking—I didn’t want an answer, and I wasn’t too proud to reject stolen goods, so there was no point in posturing.

He froze several feet from me though. His jaw stiffened. The look he gave me had every nerve in my body screaming to run. Like I was looking at a barely restrained animal.

Like a cornered rat, I froze.

“What?” I asked when the silence stretched uncomfortably long. Maybe he’s not thinking of eating you. Maybe his leg had a cramp.

He shook his head slightly, and the predatory aura around him faded away like smoke. “You smell… different… without the stench of that prison on you.”

You’d be a wonder with fangs.

You smell different.

He was a wizard with compliments.

“Well, I didn’t have any perfumes, so it’ll have to do,” I huffed.

He continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “The clothes help mask it still, at least.”

“Mask what?” I asked.

“No matter.” He tossed the second cloak at me. “There’s a village just a few miles away. We’ll rest early tonight and reach there midday tomorrow.”