Page 73 of Blood Day (Blood Alliance #7)

KHALID

Will you join me in the front seat now, little mirage? I whispered into Emine’s mind.

Her blue-gray irises flickered as she met my gaze in the mirror. I suppose.

Rather than exit the vehicle, she phased into the front and buckled herself in, the display of power making me hard. It was a constant problem I had around her, one she refused to help me fix even with all our little games.

I wanted her to beg.

But she never did.

Which was why I hadn’t actually fucked her yet.

Oh, everyone else would assume that I had—something I wanted them all to think. It helped me protect her and our shared secrets.

Because my darling mirage was something very unique indeed.

I’d noticed it the evening we’d met when she’d attempted to bow upon seeing me in the infirmary. That wouldn’t have been very extraordinary in this world, as humans were taught to supplicate.

Except no one else had been able to see me lurking in the shadows.

Not only that, but she’d seen me .

“My Prince,” she’d breathed as she’d nearly killed herself by rolling off that hospital bed to fall to all fours on the ground.

The nurse in the infirmary had chastised her, threatening to just end her right then and there for being such a “stupid little cunt” for “seeing things that aren’t there.”

But I was very much there.

As the nurse had soon learned when I’d ended her life before giving the little mirage my blood as a reward for her startling ability.

She’d been scared shitless, especially as my blood had accelerated her talents.

And thus began my obsession with the little minx beside me.

An obsession that had yet to abate. Probably because I was playing the long game with her.

But it was fun. Exciting. A courtship befitting a king and his intended queen.

One day, she would be mine.

However, until then, I would continue training her. My little dragoness .

I’m not a dragon, she returned.

No, not yet, I agreed. But some day. When I decided she was ready to learn about the heart of my dark magic. Are you hungry, little mirage?

Yes.

I nodded. Would you prefer a den or blood-laced food? I already knew what her response would be, but I offered the choice anyway.

Food, she nearly growled. Because she’d refused to drink from the vein.

Well, everyone’s veins apart from mine.

She fed from me frequently because my blood emboldened her and allowed her to go longer without needing to eat.

My essence also continued to heighten her powers, such as her ability to phase. That was practically unheard of for a freshling. But nothing about my Emine was normal. That much had been clear from the moment we’d met.

Do you have a preference on food type?

Breakfast, please , she replied, aware that please would ensure I gave her what she wanted. Of course, I would do that regardless of her formality. Emine had ensnared my soul. And one day, she would allow me to ensnare hers.

Breakfast it is, I said, continuing our path home.

Because I intended to cook for her, something she already knew. She’d learned my routines over the last few months, understood my likes and dislikes, and anticipated my moves often before I made them.

Just as she knew we would spar tonight, particularly as we’d slept for the majority of the plane ride here.

I’d wrapped us up in the sheets on the bed, just in case Cedric had decided to appear. It would have looked like we were resting after fucking. But the truth was, we’d simply talked before going to bed. Mostly in our minds, something we’d been doing for months, even before she was a vampire.

She wasn’t my Erosita , but we’d exchanged blood enough times that it seemed our souls had linked in some unfathomable way. Or perhaps it was related to her abilities.

Someday, we would determine the cause.

Then she would become mine.

But for today, I placated my desires by taking her home. Cooking for her. And training her.

Tomorrow, we would continue our dance .

A dance that would only complete when she agreed to become my dragoness.

My queen.

My final piece on the board.

Only then could the endgame truly begin.

Welcome to the future, my friends. Where nothing is what it seems…