Page 31 of Bite The Terror That Feeds

He stared back, like he dreaded the journey with the same passion.

My father turned to me. “War is imminent. You’ll need to depart immediately.”

“Then I’ll need more protection in Grayson,” I said. “Originals and Cobras both stationed there.”

“We could convince the Teeth to fight for us as well,” Aurelias said.

“They have their own problems,” Father said. “Now that King Rolfe and his queen have vanquished Necrosis, the Teeth are on the verge of extinction. It’s only a matter of time before King Rolfe turns his spiteful gaze on them.”

The culture and politics of a different world failed to interest me. “After I’ve made my preparations, we’ll depart. Viper will be the King of Grayson in my stead.”

“Iwill be the King of Grayson in your stead,” Cobra said. “Viper is a general, not a king.”

“But he knows our people better than you do—”

“If we’re to survive this war, we’re all one people.”

7

LARISA

We were provided accommodations in the Glass Palace, a bedroom just as cold as the previous room. The energy here was different from Cobra’s kingdom. It possessed a chill that rivaled the snow outside. Aurelias was as sinister as his father. The two could easily be mistaken for brothers in character.

The first thing Kingsnake did when he entered the room was make a fire. He piled the logs on top, got the fire going, and fanned the flames until they reached the top of the hearth. Fang immediately curled into a ball on the rug in front of the fire to absorb the warmth. His yellow eyes closed, and he seemed to drift off to sleep immediately.

Kingsnake undressed, removing his armor and leaving everything in the closet.

The first thing I’d wanted to do once we’d arrived was take a hot bath. After hours of being hit in the face with snow, I wanted to thaw until the heat returned to my extremities. But that conversation with his father had made me boil. “Your father is an asshole.”

He stepped out of the closet, his shirt and pants gone, wearing nothing but boxers with a hard body scarred by battle. He stopped and looked at me, fatigue heavy in his eyes like he didn’t have the energy for this conversation. “I told you.”

“What kind of father speaks to his sons that way?”

“The kind that’s a king before he’s a father.”

“Well, if he thinks he can speak to me like that—”

“I’m sorry that my father spoke to you that way, and while I’m glad you held your own, he’s not a man you fuck with. It’s best to stay quiet and avoid his attention. You shouldn’t have to speak with him again, but if you do, say as little as possible.”

“Sounds like you’re telling me what to do.”

“I’m giving you advice. Despite our shattered relationship, I don’t believe my father would cross any lines I draw. But he’s temperamental and egotistical, so there’s only so much I can do if he’s angry. Don’t anger him.”

“Maybe if all four of you stopped tiptoeing around him, he wouldn’t be so egotistical.”

“You know what they say—family is complicated.” He came around the bed and walked up to me, his flesh glowing in the light from the fire. His green eyes were fixated on my face, and the warmth that radiated from him hit me in waves, like little ripples in a pond from a skipped rock. He enveloped me in his heat, not the searing kind when he wanted to rip my clothes off, but a different kind altogether. “I’m going to leave you with Viper before I go. This journey is far too dangerous.”

The anger for his father evaporated from my body when I was hit with a worse problem. “It’s far more dangerous for us to be apart.”

“Viper will protect you—”

“I don’t want Viper. I want you.”

Now that warmth deepened, like the afternoon sun that shone through the window onto the rug. The light was golden and beautiful—peaceful. It was like a song that hit a new pitch, a new emotion I didn’t recognize because it was the first time he’d shown it. “You don’t understand what the Teeth are—”

“They can’t be worse than your father.”

“My father is loyal to me to some extent, but the Teeth aren’t. They feed on humans, but unlike vampires, they feed to kill—every time. This is new terrain. I can’t even guarantee my own safety—”