Page 18

I drifted slowly awake through the fog of my mind. My dream—no, my nightmare—of blood and bodies and silver-gold eyes faded with every inhale. Beneath me, the softest, creamiest silk caressed my bare skin.

Strange. I’d never had a bed this fine, just like I never slept naked. My loft was always too cold for that. I blinked brown hair out of my eyes, strands twisted in every direction. That, at least, was normal—

A muscular, golden-brown arm looped across my chest.

My breath stilled. My heart stopped.

I followed the arm from wrist to elbow to shoulder to the perfectly sculpted chest of the dark-haired man pressed against my side, his strong features softened in sleep.

Luc.

At the sight of him, the entire night crashed back into me.

Yesterday—the harvest, the covenant runespell, the kings—had been real.

Oh my fucking godstars.

A soft, melodic sigh brushed against my stomach. I couldn’t move, not with Lucero fucking Azaras holding me prisoner in a starsdamned cuddle, but I tilted my head, already knowing who I’d find.

Jules sprawled on his front, his torso nestled between my legs, using my stomach as a pillow. Dried blood marred his chin and throat. His hair was more tousled than usual but still tied back in a knot at the base of his neck.

From when he had stuck his tongue in my cunt.

His tongue.

My cunt.

Together.

Fuck.

That was really all there was to it.

I slumped back onto the chaise and stared at the cave’s smooth ceiling. How was this my life? If I told the Nessa of a week ago that a blood-soaked Butcher King ate me out and then fucked me on top of the Conqueror King, we would have laughed hysterically.

At least… I thought he fucked me on top of Luc. Their fangs had plunged into my neck and then—

Then…

My thoughts stuttered. Slipped.

I blinked at the ceiling, suddenly blank. What was I just thinking about?

Luc shuffled against me, his nose brushing against my cheeks. Every fiber of me focused on him. My pulse hammered against my ribs. His lips settled over my throat, just above the new collar encircling my neck. Drawn to the scent of my pulse, to the panic surging through my veins. Every inch of me tingled where his warm skin touched mine.

Then Jules stirred in his sleep, his chest rubbing against my core.

I ignited.

Fuck. I needed to get out of here. But there was nowhere to go. Even if Jules wasn’t lying on top of me, I’d still have to get past Luc hugging me like his favorite pillow. I was trapped under a pile of vampire kings.

I bit my lip to hold in a giggle. I, Nessa Halloran, who had spent her life with her nose in a book, was under a pile of vampire kings .

Just breathe. Yes, breathing I could do. If I breathed softly, maybe my heart would slow. Maybe the heat building in my belly would fade. Maybe the sparks dancing across my skin would slow.

Maybe the two fucking heavy vampires on top of me wouldn’t bite me in their sleep.

Or when they woke up.

I swallowed. That was the real concern, wasn’t it?

If anyone had sex for breakfast, it was vampires.

Assuming it was morning. Maybe we had only slept for ten minutes. But the cave was silent except for the soft, melodic whistle of Jules’s snore. The echoes of music, laughter, and screams had faded. I felt refreshed, the exhaustion from sleeping on a wagon for the last week gone.

Hours had passed, I was sure of it.

I stiffened. Yup. Hours had definitely passed.

Now my bladder was awake, too.

I wiggled slightly. I couldn’t help it. Now that I’d thought about it, I really, really needed to pee.

Jules nuzzled his head against me. “Five more minutes,” he murmured, his voice thick with sleep.

I went rigid. Every muscle froze, but my heart did the opposite, racing as fast as a hellsteed. A small frown furrowed between Jules’s flawless brows. In The Soulborne Queen , vampires could wake instantly if they sensed a threat. Jules obviously didn’t consider me one, but if he was even half awake, that would be enough—

His eyes flashed open.

Luminous gold locked onto mine.

I yelped. It was a small sound, but it was enough to startle Luc out of sleep. His entire body went taut. His bright silver eyes scanned the cave in a single second, sharp and assessing.

Then that heavy gaze fixed on me, and I nearly died.

Not because they were vampires. Well. Partially because they were vampires.

More because we were all naked and had sex last night… last night—

Jules suddenly pushed up onto his hands and knees, still staring at me. The intensity of a predator had changed into the confusion of a man. “Huh.”

I blinked slowly at him. I had lost my thought again. “Huh?”

“Yup,” he said, popping out the word. “Huh. Best sums it up.”

Luc exhaled and sat up, pulling his arm from me. He ran a hand through his dark, loose curls. His back rippled with the movement, muscles flexing under his flawless skin. I had to stop myself from licking my lips.

“What do you…” Luc’s voice trailed off. A flicker of something crossed his face. He almost caught it, but then it was gone.

That wasn’t like the Conqueror. Luc always had complete control over his words.

I shuffled, unnerved. Something was wrong, but I couldn’t… I couldn’t…

“Am I crushing you?” Jules flopped onto his side next to me, as if nothing was amiss. Because nothing was amiss. “Just wait until Luc gets his turn on top.”

Blood rushed straight to my face. My mind instantly summoned the visual of the Conqueror scaling up my body. The breadth of his shoulders blocked out the world until everything was only him, glistening with sweat, his muscles rippling with each thrust.

Jules and I weren’t the only ones imagining it. At his words, Luc’s attention dropped, skimming across the soft lines of my body. His pupils dilated ever so slightly.

Because I was still naked, every inch of me on display.

I sat up, a quick movement. A wave of dizziness rushed over me, but I pushed through it. My inner thighs were a mess, sticky with the aftermath of last night. My desire. Odran’s blood. My heart stuttered at the sight.

I needed to get out of here.

“Um…” I cleared my throat. “Is there a privy nearby?”

The Kings of Dusk and Dawn just stared.

Luc blinked once, twice. He shook his head, like he needed to physically force himself to focus. But his frown didn’t ease as he finally answered, “Through the Abyss, in the Hall of Mirrors.”

A straightforward answer, for once. Something was definitely off.

“Thanks?” With as little self-consciousness as I could muster, I shuffled to the chaise’s edge. I reached for my gown puddled on the floor—

“No,” Luc said, his tone sudden and cutting.

I dropped the gown, more from shock than obedience. “What?”

“You disobeyed last night.”

I blinked. What did that have to do with anything?

“Luc told you if you didn’t take off your dress, you’d have nothing to wear,” Jules reminded me, the edge of his lip twitching. “Since I took it off, I guess it belongs to me now.”

“But…”

Luc arched one dark brow. “But?”

I bit my tongue. I wasn’t their willing volunteer anymore. I was their Mortal Bride and thrall, collared and claimed. Everything Maire had said came back to me.

Keep your eyes down.

Never let them see your expression.

Follow all instructions quickly and silently.

Disobey and there will be consequences.

I had always disagreed with rules, but that didn’t mean I disobeyed all of them. I couldn’t win every battle. I couldn’t win most battles, even in Mabon.

But I didn’t want to walk out of here naked. Every inch of me screamed against it. I wasn’t a godstar carved from granite. I was soft, vulnerable, utterly human. But I had a feeling public nudity was something I’d need to adjust to unless I wanted to go insane. Vampires didn’t care about nakedness.

At least my unbound hair was long. It would cover my breasts. But there wasn’t any way to hide my ass.

I dropped my gaze. “But nothing.”

A knuckle grazed my chin, tilting my head back up. My world became golden eyes. I expected Jules’s carefree smile, but a dimmer but no less beautiful version graced his lips. Confusion softened his usual mischief. “Don’t do that.”

I blinked. “What… exactly?”

“Lower your gaze,” he said, frowning. “I don’t like it.”

He didn’t like it?

Jules twisted back toward Luc, who hadn’t moved. The Conqueror simply watched us, impassive as stone. Jules gestured vaguely at me. “Why don’t I like it? I usually love it.”

Luc’s silver eyes narrowed slightly. “I’m not sure.”

Jules pursed his lips, brows drawing together like he might push further. Then, just as suddenly, the frustration slipped from him. In a blink, his usual mischief was back.

“Well,” he said, hopping to his feet, brushing it off as easily as dust from his hands. “Might as well find some breakfast.”

I tried not to look at his ass, but it was right there in front of me, just asking me to stare at its perfect, firm—

I shook my head. Nope.

My stomach chose that moment to betray me. A loud rumble echoed through the cave.

Jules turned, grin widening. “It seems you are as hungry as I am after last night.”

I swallowed, my face heating. “So it seems.”

What else was I supposed to say? Stars, I wished I’d spent less time with books and more with people. Not that it would have helped much. Luc and Jules weren’t people. They were centuries-old vampire kings.

Jules, however, looked entirely delighted by my awkwardness. “Come, lovely.”

He didn’t even glance at his scattered clothes. A flick of two cleaning runes erased the dried blood from his skin and mine. Then, utterly at ease, he strolled for the archway. Completely naked.

He waved a hand at me.

I hesitated before slowly pushing to my feet. “Just because I’m not wearing anything doesn’t mean you have to be naked, too.”

“Best way to come, in my opinion.”

I glared. He snickered, completely unrepentant.

Luc, however, still hadn’t moved. But his frown had deepened even further, a storm cloud across his gorgeous face. Something about his expression held me in place. Not the usual intensity, not the predatory stillness. This was different.

Something was wrong.

He knew it, felt it, but he didn’t know what. And he hated that. A muscle twitched in his jaw. For a fraction of a second, his control looked thin. Stretched. A crack in the mask.

Not rage. Not hunger.

Panic.

The Conqueror didn’t grasp for control. He was control. He dictated, he commanded, and the world obeyed. Because it had to. Because the alternative was worse. They had all tried to wield him, so he made himself unwieldable. Not a pawn prince, but a king—

His gaze suddenly snapped to mine.

I jerked back into myself. Spinning on my heels, I strode after Jules, pulse hammering in my throat.

The Butcher was a psychopath, but his presence was nothing compared to his soulbound’s. Even knowing Jules intentionally lured people into a false sense of security wasn’t enough to keep me in that room with the frowning Conqueror.

I’d had enough trembling for the week.

That was the reason. Nothing else. It wasn’t that I’d never been able to read Luc before. Not once.

But for that brief moment, I had.

I was clearly losing it.

I passed through the barrier rune, a gentle tickle across my skin, and stepped onto the dais behind the throne. Jules had confirmed it was morning, but the Abyss was just as dim as last night. No light, no time. Just an endless, eerie twilight. Stars knew how far underground we were.

My gaze flickered around the vast chamber. I didn’t spot Maire among the thralls, awake or asleep. The chaises, cushions, and pools were empty of vampires, but thralls in bloody scraps of black and white scattered the space, most curled up in sleep. Two or three sat up, rubbing the sleep from their eyes and blinking around blearily.

Further back near the tables, a dozen black-clothed, collared thralls cleared tables of food, like this was any other morning. For them, maybe it was. If the feast-orgies happened frequently, they must have learned how to carry on.

There had to be at least two hundred of us missing.

How many were in the tunnels below?

How many others had woken up in a vampire’s bed above?

Jules reached the top step but paused when he realized I hadn’t followed. He held out his hand, wiggling his fingers. I swallowed. If I was going to survive this, being brave would have to become second nature.

As I stepped forward, the King of Dawn followed my every movement. I’d have to get used to that, too. People hadn’t looked at me much in the bookshop. Here, I was prey among predators. Watching me seemed to be the kings’ default.

When I reached his side, I pressed my palm into his. Jules started down the stairs without a word.

At the base of the steps, a male thrall sprawled on his side—

I stopped. Or, at least, I tried to. Jules kept his leisurely pace, my hand trapped in his. But I slowed just enough that Luc caught up. The heat of him pressed into my back, closing the space between us instantly.

If not for the corpse, I’d have scrambled away.

It was the Maboni man from last night. The one who had tried to run onto one of the narrow pathways across the dark drop. Roxiana had declared his life forfeit, but I had forgotten him in the chaos. The red puncture mark of fangs scarred both sides of his neck, his collarbone, his inner thighs.

I reached up, brushing my neck, but both marks were gone, like they had never happened. Vampire saliva healed surface wounds—or else everyone they bit would bleed out—but no one had bothered healing him.

They had drained him.

His skin had turned an unnatural shade, not just pale but empty. A color I had never seen on anything living. His bloodshot eyes stared, fixed and glassy.

His lips were frozen in a soft smile.

My eyes tingled. No. I wouldn’t cry, not here. Not in front of the worst of the monsters. This was my reality now. I was the Mortal Bride. And I would be until the kings one day lured me back into that room, their new Mortal Bride runemarked and invisible on the chaise.

Death would walk beside me the entire way, my constant companion, always near but never touching.

Until the Conqueror and the Butcher tore out my throat.