Page 24 of Bite The Terror That Feeds

She started to play with the bubbles on the surface, cupping them in her open palms like piles of snow. She lifted them from the water and blew, trying to make them cross the water to my face, but they fell short. “What’s Crescent Falls like?”

“It’s next to the shore, just as Grayson is, so it’s blanketed with clouds. But the palace is at a higher elevation, so it’s usually covered in snow most of the year. The humans are down below, living their lives in constant subjugation without realizing it.”

“How do they not realize it?”

“They don’t understand the Originals are vampires. They think they’re just the ruling class.”

“How do they not know?”

“How often do the peasants interact with the royal family? Most people don’t even know what they look like. And if they did, unless they expose their fangs, there’s no real way to know.”

“Then how do they feed?”

“A lottery system. A family thinks they’ve been selected to move to the other kingdom, where they’ll inherit land and live in a warmer climate. But in reality, they’re just fed on until they become too weak and fade away.”

Now her skin looked pale as snow.

“With Cobra, his people are fully aware that they’re prisoners. Some try to escape, but they never make it, and the consequences are horrific. It makes them willing prisoners…in some ways. But these people enjoy their lives in blissful ignorance.”

“They’re both barbaric.”

“I hope that makes you appreciate me more.”

“It reinforces my hatred for the vampires as a species.”

I didn’t flinch at the venom in her voice. “Humans do the same thing to animals. How is it any different?”

“It is different.”

“How? You think pigs in their sty understand the pen is not their home, but the waiting area before they become bacon for breakfast? You think the cows roaming the fields understand that? It’s not any different. They’re less intelligent than you are—and you take advantage of that. Don’t pretend you’re righteous and we’re evil.”

“It’s different because you were human once, and therefore, you’re cannibals. Imagine cows enslaving cows. It would change the story entirely.”

“We were human once, but now we’re something else entirely, so it’s not cannibalism. We’re a superior race, just as humans are superior to the cows and chickens you raise for meat.”

Her eyes showed her ferocity.

“I don’t want to argue. I just want you to have self-reflection.”

“I’m the one who needs self-reflection?” she asked coldly. “Unlike you, I keep my word.”

I had a comeback, but I decided to keep it to myself so this argument wouldn’t burn brighter. I propped my cheek against my closed knuckles and stared at her, letting her absorb my serenity, letting her understand it was impossible to be upset when she was naked, wet, and beautiful right in front of me.

The fire in her eyes started to cool, and she returned to playing with the bubbles.

We fit together so well, but we couldn’t be more different.

“Will you tell me what happened with Ellasara?”

The second I heard her name, the serenity I felt was replaced by an inconsolable rage. That woman was never in my thoughts, so anytime I heard her name, it disturbed my peace.

“I told you about Elias…”

That name disturbed my peace even more. I’d love to slam his head down into a stone block and shatter his skull. He wasn’t worthy of a crown. He wasn’t worthy of this woman he was stupid enough to toss aside. Somehow, I hated him more than Ellasara. “Your answer wasn’t conditional on mine.”

“I know, but—”

“I really don’t want to talk about her.” It wasn’t her, specifically, that I despised. It was what she’d done to me. The way she humiliated me—made me for a fool. My father was bound to mention her because he mentioned her every chance he had, just to hurt me.