Page 11 of Cruel Vampire King (Honeyblood Vampires #1)

We searched all day but didn’t find the missing packs. Finally, around mid-afternoon, we gave up. We each drank our fill from the river, topped up the waterskins, and headed away from the river.

It wasn’t worth sticking around, in case the grindylows stole our weapons or the waterskins we had left next. Unfortunately, the graceful downslope we had been traversing shot into several steep hills that we had to struggle up. By the time night came, we were all hot, sweaty, and exhausted.

Worse, we’d found no more water.

“I might be able to rig something up to collect dew,” Thessa said, searching the bushes around our campsite as dusk fell. She collected several broad leaves. “Or maybe we should get a water auger?”

“Stick with collecting dew,” Ysara offered. “We don’t exactly have the time for drilling a well.”

What would we do for water if we didn’t find more? My mouth was dry already—but that was a problem for tomorrow.

Tonight, I had a different problem.

In that, Marissa came for me again. She was already carrying me through the forest before I even woke. I let out a yelp, but when I started to squirm, she clasped me closer to her chest.

“Calm down. You’ve been invited to a ball,” she said, then laughed a silvery laugh. “You know, your team should be better at setting guards. That big elf-man that was supposed to be on watch took off as soon as you were sleeping. I wonder if he’s planning a double-cross.”

Greyson left us? I didn’t say anything. He couldn’t double-cross us until we were out of the forest. Maybe he was looking for water. But why wait until we were sleeping?

I shoved those thoughts away. I’d confront him tomorrow… if I came back. The forest whisked by in a dark blur. We seemed to be going uphill first, then downhill. Abruptly, the trees disappeared. Marissa carried me across a wide, flat lawn toward an estate house. It wasn’t the same palace as before, the one with the stained glass windows. It was no less impressive, though.

Marissa moved more slowly across the lawn this time, and I caught sight of a line of limos and fancy cars in a distant parking lot. We slipped in through the back of the house, through a set of double doors made of heavy, dark wood.

“I can walk,” I told her.

“Not fast enough.”

She carried me through a small door nearby, into a narrow corridor. It was well-constructed, the walls covered with expensive wallpaper and thick carpet on the stairs. But it was very clear that this wasn’t the main staircase. If I had to guess, she’d whisked me up the servant’s staircase. I cocked my head and caught a few passing sounds of laughter or talk.

“So he doesn’t want anyone to know I’m here, does he?” I asked sourly.

She gave me a hard look. “Of course, he doesn’t. What do you think?”

That wasn’t exactly what I expected her to say, and I fell silent.

Marissa emerged into a richly decorated bedroom. She set me down, and I took a moment to collect myself before I took a good look around. It was a smaller room than the first time, but I liked this one better. A queen-sized canopy bed sat in the middle of the room, the emerald green curtains drawn. Along one side of the room was an ornate writing desk with a rolling top. Beside it were five floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, each shelf full of books.

I headed over to it as Marissa disappeared through a second door. Poetry, the old classics, new bestsellers, books I’d never heard of. They were all ornate. When I pulled one off the shelf, my heart leapt to my throat. Sprayed edges! The cover was ornately decorated, hand-painted if I didn’t miss my guess. I carefully opened it and it fell open to a brightly illuminated page.

I hadn’t read a book in four years. Now with the weight of this fancy book in my hands, a sudden pull of longing filled my chest.

By the moon’s blood, I hated my life.

“The bath is ready,” Marissa said as she came back into the bedroom.

I closed the book and put it back, then turned to her. My jaw was set as I lifted my chin. “I’m not taking a bath. Take me back to my team in the forest.”

Marissa clasped her hands behind her back. “I won’t do that until the king orders me to. But I also won’t force you to bathe, Elara Tideborne. I don’t think you understand the king. But that’s alright. You’ll see in time.”

I squinted at her in suspicion. “What’s your name, anyway?”

“Marissa.”

“Marissa. Why am I here?” I demanded, putting my hands on my hips.

She blinked. “Because the king wishes it.”

“But why ?”

“I don’t question the king. He ordered me to bring you, so I did. I love him, so I obey him,” she said casually.

I inhaled sharply. Unbidden, a spike of jealousy went through me. “So he’s your lover?”’

Marissa burst out laughing. “Gods, no! I love him the way any subject loves him. The way a woman might love her cousin,” she added. “I don’t want to fuck him.”

If my relief showed on my face, she gave no indication. She gestured for the bathing room, and I, hesitating, stepped through. I peeled off my clothes, stiff with mud, sweat, and blood. I didn’t even care if Marissa saw me naked. The call of the hot water in a tub the size of a pool was too tempting. I waded in, sighing as my aching muscles eased.

“How do you expect me to explain this tomorrow when the team sees I’m all shiny and clean?” I asked as I unbraided my hair.

“Do you really think they’ll notice?”

“Yeah. We have no water, and they’ll notice that my face is clean,” I answered.

Marissa shrugged. “I’ll show you a nearby spring before I leave you when you go back. Then you can share it with them and say you bathed in the night.”

Okay, that was clever. And helpful, too.

Now that I was here, and the shock of being whisked from the forest was wearing off, I was able to think clearly. Luken had me brought here for a reason. And that meant I could talk with him. Bargain with him. Plead. I might not have much power here, and I had no idea how much he actually wanted me and how much was just about control, but I had a chance to change things.

I scrubbed myself quickly, choosing unscented soaps to clean myself with. There was only so much a secret spring would explain to the others, after all.

Once I was clean and dry, I put on the underwear and slip that Marissa had left for me in the bathroom. It was very sexy, I had to admit. The panties were a lacy thong, the kind that was easy just to rip off my body. The bra was covered in lace but was more structured. And it was comfortable! Somehow, it managed to lift and plump my breasts while also feeling like they were being held by clouds. The band fit perfectly. The slip was silk. Actual silk, and not polyester satin. It was cool and light against my skin, and thick enough that it hid my body.

It occurred to me that just the underwear alone probably cost more than I’d ever held in my hand at one time.

“I’ve picked out a few gowns for you to consider,” Marissa said, nodding to a few clothes racks holding dresses. “You’re to attend the masque tonight. I’ll dress your hair while you consider your gown.”

I frowned at her. “A masque?”

“You’ll enjoy it,” Marissa said. She gestured for the chair, and I took my seat. She started to oil and brush my hair in a way that reminded me of when Anna or Mom would do my hair for parties in the village.

I clenched my hands in my lap. “Does he do this every year? Pick a contestant and… whisk them away to fancy parties?”

“No.”

Could I believe her? I sighed. Of course, I couldn’t. Which meant any further questions were irrelevant. Except maybe… “Does he bed them all? The winners he drinks from?”

Marissa hummed as she coiled my hair into an elegant knot, hiding the ragged ends. “I’ve never asked. It’s really none of my business, is it? What dress would you like?”

I pointed to one that was a rich burnt umber. The neckline plunged, but not so deep to reveal my scars. The sleeves were long and would reach my wrists. The skirt was full and floor-length, embroidered with darker orange vines. It might not be the most beautiful dress, but it would cover me the way I wanted it to. It fit like a glove, and the venetian mask that came with it had a lazy veil that covered the lower half of my face. Before Marissa led me from the room, I checked the other masks. They all had that veil.

Of course. If anyone at this party watched the Trials, they’d recognize my scars. So I might be a guest but my identity was being kept secret.

Marissa led me down the wide, curved stairs to another room. It was decorated in reds and blues, with a massive painting taking up one full wall. It was the image of a beautiful elf woman sitting in a chair, a small child on her lap. Beside her was a vampire I first took as Luken, resting his hand on her shoulder. As I studied the painted face, though, I realized that his eyes were brown, not amber like Luken’s.

“My father and mother,” he said behind me.

Chills ran down my spine.

“And me,” Luken added, stepping up beside me. “I was only two at the time. She was beautiful, wasn’t she? My mother. I miss her.”

Anger surged through me. He missed his mother? Had she been brutally murdered? If he was trying to humanize himself to me, it would take more than that. I missed my mother, too. I missed my whole family!

I turned on him, but the angry words died in my throat. I needed his mercy. The thought bubbled in my gut, but I stopped myself from saying what I really wanted to say. He stared at me, hungrily, even though all he could see of my face was my eyes.

“What’s going on?” I asked, reigning in my temper.

“You are escorting me to a masque,” he answered casually. He lifted a Venetian mask over his face.

While he did it, I took a good look at him. He wore a dark blue coat with gold filigree, a white ruffled shirt, and tight tan breeches. The cut fit him perfectly, emphasizing how wide his shoulders were. His hair was done in a basketweave braid on top, and loose and flowing at the bottom. He’d never looked more elf-like before. I looked back at the portrait. He might have his father’s coloring, but much of his mother was still in him. The harsh angles of his father’s face were softer in him, and with a start, I realized he had his mother’s eyes.

“There are dignitaries and ambassadors from other kingdoms here tonight,” Luken told me as he secured his mask. “Try not to make them suspicious.”

“Why am I even here?”

Luken smiled. His long canines flashed. “I wanted you on my arm tonight. And after your struggles today, I thought you might like to have some good food and drink. There are plenty of non-alcoholic beverages available.”

He slid his arm through mine, and sparks erupted under my skin. I warmed to his touch, even though he was cooler than I was. My heart hammered against my ribs, my breathing unsteady. He met my eyes and the glow grew brighter as his eyes pinched upward at the corners. He didn’t smile with his mouth, and the pleased look seemed even more intense for it.

“I…” I trailed off, not sure what to say.

Now that I was here, thinking I could trade my blood for the sake of the team, I wanted nothing more than for him to push me against the wall right now. But that would hardly be enough to get me what I wanted. I needed to play this smart. Leave him wanting. Build up his desire, so I had something to actually work with. Should I go so far as to flirt with him, or would he find it suspicious?

“You?” he asked, lifting a heavy brow.

I scrambled to figure out what he was asking of me. Right. I’d started talking. “I think I should thank you,” I said slowly. “For giving me… um, food.”

It was pathetic, but it was as much of gratitude as I could think of. Maybe I’d think clearly if I didn’t have so much to think about. My family. The Blood Trials. Thessa. Darcie. Now here I was at some fancy ball, on the arm of the vampire king, and the lives of myself and four others weighed on how I conducted myself… and I didn’t even know if it would make a fucking difference.

Luken’s gaze remained on my face, hungry and unnerving. But there was something else in his eyes that told me he was regarding me with as much suspicion as I was giving him. But he didn’t say anything else as he swept me from the waiting room into the ballroom. Marissa—dressed in a stunning silver dress that mimicked the look of chainmail and left nothing to the imagination, stood at the top of a set of red-carpeted stairs.

“His Majesty, Luken Holakas, King of Taimarah,” she bellowed, her voice echoing through the air.

What exactly was she to him? She said she loved him, and it wasn’t a romantic love. She couldn’t be related at all. I frowned, disturbed by how curious I was. Luckily, the mask and veil meant nobody could actually see my expression. Not even Luken, standing right next to me. I still tensed when I turned from Marissa to view the faces staring up at us.

There was so much color it nearly blinded me. Everything was bright, highly saturated. Men and women alike wore every color of the rainbow. Even though they all wore masks, it was still easy to tell there were a wide variety of species. Luken kept my hand tucked into his elbow as he moved around the ballroom, chatting with an elf ambassador here, an orc princeling there. I snatched refreshments from passing servants as I could, filling my belly and sating my thirst.

“Who’s that woman with the vampire king?” I heard at one point during the night.

“Some whore, no doubt,” came the dismissive answer.

I tensed, fighting the urge to shout at the unknown conversationalists.

The first voice grunted. “He’ll never make good on the prophecy if he slakes himself with whores.”

Luken growled softly, so softly I was sure I was the only one who heard him. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. He swept me away from the conversation, his amber eyes hard.

“Don’t pay them any mind,” he whispered to me. “Ignorant tongues will always wag.”

I nodded, a little unsettled all the same. It was easy enough to hide my unease as I focused on preparing myself for my offer to Luken. Soon, my mind was too busy thinking to pay full attention to what was happening around me. It didn’t help that Luken kept shooting me small glances that sent fresh shivers through my body every time. My core tightened and something inside of me ached, wanting to be touched. And this time, I let myself indulge in the fantasy. It wouldn’t be hard to give myself to him, if it meant that my team would survive.

But what about Darcie?

Luken tugged on my hand. I turned to find his eyes smoldering behind his mask. He slipped his hand down to mine and pulled me through the crowd. I grabbed a glass of something as I passed a waiter and downed the drink. It was fruity and pleasant, with the faintest aftertaste of alcohol. My heart was pounding as Luken pulled me through a set of doors and whisked me up the stairs.

We were back in the room where Marissa had first brought me before I knew it.

Luken spun me around as soon as we were inside. He pressed me against the door and groaned as he leaned into me, careful to keep some distance between my hips and his.

“You smell utterly sinful,” he groaned.

I knew what he wanted and lifted my chin, my body shivering in his arms. With one hand, he lifted the mask off his own face then removed mine. I felt cold all of a sudden, my chest feeling too tight. Before I could tell him he couldn’t have it, not until he gave me something in return, he bent his head. The air evaporated from around me as his lips pressed to mine. So light. Like a feather. Almost… tentative, gauging my reaction.

I was frozen in his arms. My thoughts wouldn’t form, and all I could do was feel them. The cold disappeared in an instant, a sweep of heat rushing through me. My heart seemed to stop entirely as I tilted my face up to his, pressing our mouths even more closely together. All the tension fled my body in an instant and my hands curled into his jacket.

He sighed into me, sweeping his tongue over the seam of my lips, encouraging me to open them.

My fingers went rigid, and I stiffened. What was I doing? I had to ask first. No. Not ask. Demand. I needed… I needed to save them. I released my hold on his jacket and pressed my palms flat against his chest. But I didn’t push him away, even though I should. I grew still but that was as far as I went.

He pulled back slightly, the amber glow of his eyes softening. “Something’s wrong.”

“You could say that,” I murmured, my voice hoarse in my throat.

“What is it?” His brows knitted together.

Now, I did push against him. At first, he didn’t move, but after a moment, he allowed me to put a few more inches between us.

“What’s wrong,” I repeated under my breath. “Everything is wrong! What the hell do you want from me?”

His hand dropped to my hip, tracing the flare of my curves. “Everything. I want to drink from you. To fuck you. To wake to you in my bed every morning. I want to possess you in every way that’s possible. I want you to belong to me.”

Sheer shock rippled through me. I gasped. But I couldn’t deny the rush of heat that pooled between my legs, the dampness that gathered on the thong.

Luken’s nostrils flared as the scent of my arousal lifted between us. A triumphant look came across his face, and he grabbed a handful of my skirt and started to lift it up. My hand shot down, grabbing his wrist.

“Wait,” I blurted. “I need a moment to think.”

“You want me, too. What’s there to think about?” Luken demanded. His fist tightened in my skirt, like he wanted to rip the fabric off my body.

You killed my family! I pressed the words back. He probably would be confused that I was insisting on holding onto that. Otherwise, he’d know exactly why I was so hesitant. Unless that part was a hallucination. Maybe he saved me from the kelpie, and I’d fallen into a dream. Maybe he didn’t realize that I knew he killed my family.

I settled on the safest question. “If I say yes, what then?”

“Then you’ll experience pleasure like you’ve never known before,” he promised.

I believed him. And the desire that flowed through my blood made me feel more vulnerable than I’d felt before. Even lying helpless and hovering on the brink of death in that nunnery, in constant pain, I didn’t feel like this. It would be so very easy to give in to him. It was what he expected.

“That’s not what I mean. I know that part. I mean for the others. My team in Wickham Forest. The Blood Trials.” I started to inhale through my nose, but his scent —an indescribable, manly scent that made my toes curl—messed with my head, so I breathed through my mouth instead. One hand remained on his chest, the other holding his wrist.

“I want you. You don’t have to go back to the forest.” His gaze dropped to my mouth. “Elara, I don’t think you understand how much power you have over me.”

Didn’t I? Well, it was time to put it to a test. “Will you pull out the rest of my team? Pardon Kael and Thessa for whatever crimes they committed? Give the Blood Trial a different ending, one where they all survive?”

His eyes widened as they moved back to my face. He dropped my skirt and stepped back. His departure made me feel cool, and I shivered. His jaw clenched.

“No.”

I ran a hand over my face, then moved to pull the pins out of my hair. It uncoiled, laying heavy on my shoulders.

“I still want my prize from winning, then. You need to grant me that one wish.” I could still save Darcie, right? Even though it made my stomach twist to turn my back on my team, my sister was still the most important thing in this world. I could sacrifice them if it meant saving her. My cheeks were flushed, my fingers cool. I tried to warm them against my skin, holding my face as I met Luken’s gaze. “Will you give that to me, if I say yes?”

He inched forward. “As my consort, you can have anything you want.”

“Then I want my team to be declared equal winners,” I answered swiftly. “And more. But there’s no point in asking you for more if you won’t give me that. I don’t want them to die in the colosseum.”

His shoulders slumped as he stepped back once more. “No.”

I stared at him, another offer on the tip of my tongue. Would he say yes to taking Darcie from the gods? In an instant, I knew he wouldn’t. He spoke pretty words about me having power, about getting everything I wanted. But the truth was, he was only interested so long as I gave him the power right back to him.

“If no is your answer, it’s mine too,” I said quietly. There was no emotion to my voice.

Luken worked his jaw. “I don’t want you to agree just because you want something from me.”

“Funny. Because I would do anything you asked for if it meant getting a yes from you,” I answered. “Not that I’m surprised. What’s one human girl when you could have any female in your kingdom? You’ll find another na?ve eighteen-year-old to seduce soon enough, I’m sure.”

“You think that’s all there is?”

“How can I think there’s more when you promise me anything I want, only to say no to my first request?” I challenged.

Luken’s mouth twisted into a bitter smile, but he didn’t answer.

I hoped he didn’t see the disappointment in my eyes. “Send me back. I’ll finish out the Blood Trials with the rest of them.”

I started to push off the door but he was back on me in an instant. His hands wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer to him. His mouth dropped to my neck, sending fireworks sparking throughout my body. My hips rocked forward as though they had a mind of their own, wanting friction. I pressed myself against him, feeling the evidence of his arousal through our clothes.

“Are you sure?” he whispered huskily in my ear. “You want to stay. You want to be with me.”

I closed my eyes, my hands resting on his shoulders. This time, when I took a deep breath, I inhaled through my nose. I pulled his scent into me, letting it flood my senses. It was true. Part of me wanted to stay, regardless of the consequences. His kissing grew more intense, working his way down over my collarbone. With one hand, he tugged my bodice lower and kissed the tops of my breasts. They seemed to swell under his attentions.

And finally, my arousal grew so powerful as to be bordering on pain. At that moment, the training I’d put myself came back in an instant. My body tensed, expecting pain at any moment. The heat beneath my skin cooled.

“I’m more than sure,” I said, dropping my hands to my sides. I went utterly still, and so did he. “Send me back.”

Luken moved back. His hands remained where they were on my body, but something shifted in his eyes. His expression darkened, and he dropped his hands.

“Go put your clothes back on, then,” he said coldly. “I’ll have Marissa return you to the forest.”

I lifted my chin and skirted around him, heading to the bathing room. Surprise lingered in my chest, tightening it. But I didn’t turn back. I didn’t want him to see the disappointment in my eyes. Because I did feel disappointed. Some stupid part of me still thought he was my prince charming who would move mountains for me.

So stupid. I was so very, very stupid.