Page 69 of A Vow of Shadow and Blood

“My blood is extremely potent. You won’t need much.”

“I don’t know if anyone has ever told you this, but I amthemost powerful vampire in this entire court. I require far more blood than your average noble.”

“The most arrogant, too,” I mutter.

His eyes glint as he takes me in.

“Eat,” he repeats.

He’s a stubborn ass.

Takes one to know one.

I’m not speaking to you right now. It’s your stupid plan that has him playing these silly games.

No, it’s my plan that has kept you alive. If he had been bored with you, you would have been as dead as the others by now.

I hate that there is even a sliver of truth to his words.

I lean across the table, quickly filling my plate with the various dishes, and the aromas overwhelm me, prompting an embarrassing rumble from my stomach. I glance at the prince, who wears a small smile, but I ignore it.

We may have been fed at the bloodhouse, but a spread like this was only ever reserved for the vampires, and purebloods were never permitted to dine alongside them.

“Why are you letting me eat this?” I ask.

He finishes chewing whatever is in his mouth as he takes in my question.

“I need to feed from you, so it is sensible that you too are well fed, is it not?”

I shrug. “Perhaps.”

“This was not the case at the bloodhouse?” He cocks his head as though genuinely interested in my answer.

“We were fed, but not like this.”

I expect him to say something, but instead, he turns his attention back to his plate, lifting a helping of potato to his mouth. I pick up the fork beside my plate and shovel meat into my mouth. The smoky flavors dance across my tongue, igniting my taste buds and drawing a satisfied groan from me. My head shoots up, embarrassment heating my cheeks, but where I expect to find the prince staring at me in judgment, I find something else. Something I can’t quite read.

“You didn’t mark me,” I let slip after too many minutes of silence have passed by. I’m not sure why I say it, but it’s been playing on my mind. He stripped me of my ownership, of my only bit of protection in this world, but didn’t replace it.

“No, I did not.”

I grit my teeth in frustration. Always riddles and never a straight answer. I just want out of here.I need to find Willow.

I let the meal pass in silence, enjoying the food whilst ignoring the tension that surrounds us. And when the prince finally requests that he wishes to partake in my blood, I ready myself for the kill.

Irise from my seat, my eyes on the prince who is silently watching me. He waits patiently as I make my way toward him. We have always been taught that when a vampire requests blood, it is a priority, and we must move with haste, yet I find myself moving more slowly than usual. The last feeding with the prince was euphoric, and I was barely able to control myself. I’ve had vampires make their bites pleasurable before, but nothing like the prince’s bite. It was like my entire body was floating.

I sense his apprehension too, as if he remembers how affected he was by the bite. I stop in front of him, my breath hitching as he wraps his fingers around my wrist. Despite the lethal glint in his eyes, his touch is gentle and sends a tingling sensation up my spine. Instinctively, I lean forward. I may hate him, but a small part of me longs to feel it again. The ecstasy that allowed me to forget my problems just for a minute.

Focus.

Athriel’s voice snaps me out of the spell, and I blink away the strange lust that comes over me as I try to regain some composure.What the hell was that?

I never lose control like that, especially around a vampire, but for a moment, it felt as though my thoughts and feelings weren’t my own.

“I’ve tasted the most potent blood this court has to offer,” the prince drawls as he traces a finger along my skin, sending shivers up my arm. “And yet I have never tasted blood like yours.”

His words linger in the air between us, and I can tell he is lost in his own thoughts. I have always known that my blood is incredibly potent; the reactions over the six years since I reached feeding age have always been extreme. And yet Amabel has never paraded me around as much as she could, as though she did not want many to discover how potent my blood truly is.