Page 6

I bolted upright, reaching for my staff. I sprang to my feet, crouching to make myself a smaller target. Thessa had shifted to her panther form, her fur bristling as she backed up to my side. The light was so bright at first that I only saw vague shadows. I blinked, squinting as I heard the rasp of swords being unsheathed. No guns—good. It meant they weren’t really trying to kill us.

Who were they? My eyes adjusted to the sudden wakefulness. A dozen or so people faced us, wearing the dark uniforms of palace guards, their faces covered. My heart sank. Luken had sent vampires after us? And they caught us so quickly? I shifted into a fighting stance. If they expected to bring us back, they had another thing coming!

“Hello, Elara. Thessa,” a cool, familiar voice said.

The guards parted as a chill stole down my back. Greyson, Luken’s half-brother, stepped through and smiled at us. My grip tightened on my staff. The first time I laid an eye on him was when he slaughtered my family.

They weren’t guards at all. Now, I saw the fabric straining at their ears. Elves. Mercenaries, like the ones he’d led to kill my family.

Thessa whimpered and snarled. I opened my mouth, but no words formed. I hadn’t seen Greyson since the end of the Trials. He’d been stabbed through the head but resurrected to throw the knife through my chest. He’d been the reason why I was now hovering as not-quite-a-vampire. Through the Trials, he’d worn a false face, but I’d seen what he really looked like. He’d been angry but in control.

Now he grinned, his fangs lengthening. His eyes were wild, glowing with pulses that didn’t seem healthy. His gaze didn’t move from me, a predator that had found a particularly tasty morsel to play with.

“Surrender, and I will make this quick,” he told me. “Drop the staff, and I’ll slice your throat and let Thessa hold you while you bleed out. Fight, and she’ll go back to the temples, and you will bleed out alone on the forest floor.”

“I thought you were…” I trailed off. Locked away? Dead? I never asked Luken what he’d done to Greyson.

Greyson stalked forward. “Oh, my brother overestimates his strength. I still have friends in the palace. Now come, Elara. Drop the staff and make it easier on all of us. You signed your death warrant when you let him bed you. You could have been spared. Now, surrender for Thessa’s sake. Otherwise, she will be a tribute to the Gods once more.”

The choice was impossible—and one that I ultimately didn’t have to make.

Thessa screamed, her fangs lengthening as she sprang forward. She clawed at Greyson’s face, but he sprang aside, and one of the mercenaries jumped in front of him. Greyson laughed as he drew his sword. The mercenaries formed a tight wall around us, but half of them turned their attention to Thessa. The others hung back as Greyson came at me.

I jumped forward, swinging my staff. Greyson spun out of my reach, but I wasn’t going for him. The mercenary behind him didn’t see me coming in time. The staff cracked down on his head, making it burst like a ripe pumpkin. Gore flew every which way as I spun, using my staff as a vaulting pole to leap behind the mercenaries, landing close to Thessa. With two more smooth motions, I broke the throat of one and crushed the testicles of another. He dropped, screaming and writhing.

“Don’t kill the panther,” Greyson ordered, hanging back as the mercenaries moved out, dodging our blows. “And if you can, try not to injure her too badly. She must be unblemished for the Gods, and my healing can only do so much.”

We fought. We fought as hard as we could. But we were outnumbered. I managed to kill another mercenary before Greyson was there. His sword sank into my staff, and as Thessa sprang at him, he backhanded her into a tree. She dropped, and the elves were on her in an instant, grabbing her paws and twisting her body so she couldn’t free herself.

“Take her to the van,” Greyson ordered over his shoulder. “The Gods will be pleased to have her again.”

Blood rushed in my ears as I leaped after them, remembering the image of Darcie being dragged away. The way she’d screamed and fought, but the vampires who had her wouldn’t release her. Now Thessa was being dragged away. She screamed and fought, but they wouldn’t let her go. Back to the temples, a place she’d been willing to die to escape.

“No,” I gasped.

A bite of cold went through my stomach. Sound seemed to cut out as my grip on my staff faltered. My distraction cost me. Greyson’s sword slid smoothly through my stomach, the blade cutting through bone and flesh. I met his gaze to find his eyes cold. There was no victory or triumph in his face, only grim satisfaction. He withdrew the sword and stabbed me through again.

“Mourn her, Elara,” he whispered as he caught me. He twisted my staff from my hands and pulled his sword out of me again. My legs shook, and he kicked them out from beneath me. I fell to the ground with a spurt of blood erupting from the wounds in my stomach.

Greyson crouched next to me. “I know what you must be thinking. An attractive young girl with all these hot-blooded males. But I will give you this comfort, Elara. She’s meant to be a tribute to the Gods, which means she must be pure.”

Tears of pain blurred my vision. I’d failed. I gave up my chance to save Darcie by saving Thessa, and here I was. It was all for vain. I was dying, and she was going back. They’d end up tributes to the Gods, and I could do nothing about it.

“Is he there?” Greyson murmured. He remained crouched near me, unmoving. “Can he feel that you’re dying?”

A beating came through my bond with Luken. Pain and terror, the likes I’d only felt when Darcie was taken away. I could almost hear his voice, pleading with me to hold on.

“Finish it,” I whimpered, hating that I was putting Luken through this.

Greyson laughed. “So he is. I hope he suffers. I hope he knows that I’m here, that I’m going to watch the life drain from your eyes. Your injuries are fatal, but they won’t be quick. He was too stupid, too slow to save you. Now, all I have to do is wait.”

He shifted to sit cross-legged next to me, his gaze still cold. He meant it. He was going to take his time and enjoy my slow death.

My fingers twitched toward my staff, and he reached across to take it. He placed it behind himself and settled back down. Next, he put the sword aside and drew a hunting knife that he twirled in his hands, ready to strike me again. The bond pulsed, Luken, trying to send me his strength. I felt him as though he was right beside me.

“Greyson,” I gasped, the taste of blood on my lips.

He lifted an eyebrow. “That’s not my name.”

“What is?” My mind raced, rebelling against the coldness that seeped through me. I was healing. Not quickly, but I was healing. Was I stronger than he thought?

His lips pressed together, an amused look crossing his face. “So, Luken never told you my real name? That figures. Sometimes, I wonder if he even knows it. My name is Draven. My mother always called my father her raven because of his black hair. So she named me for him, in her way. Sentimental, no?”

He laughed as he twisted the knife in his hands.

As he spoke, I stretched out my senses. I heard no sound of breathing or movement from the mercenaries. They’d withdrawn to some distance. If I could drink some of Draven’s blood, I’d heal. How could I convince him? I let tears well in my eyes and run down my cheeks as I moved my stare toward the sky. He was doing this to hurt Luken.

There was only one thing I could think of to offer that might be enough to change his mind. But it meant giving up something I wasn’t willing to give up. So I pushed it aside, trying instead to think of my surroundings. I was injured badly, but the pain was fading. I’d be able to move. I would be able to run.

Thessa… I closed my eyes. I couldn’t save her if I was dead. I had to leave her behind. There was a lake nearby. It’s why I chose this place. If I could get into the water…

“Draven?” I let my voice shake.

“I’m not feeding you my blood, no matter what you offer,” he answered at once.

Ah, so he’d had the same thought process I had. I shook my head, emphasizing my weakness. “I just wanted you to know… he can feel it. He can feel me dying. And it hurts him. So please let Thessa go. Please. The temples… scare her…” I made my breathing more labored. “Please…”

I trailed off and made myself go limp, my eyes rolling upward.

He leaned over, his fingers pressing against the pulse in my neck. My hand lashed out, and I grabbed the hand with the knife, yanking it to the side as I threw my head at his. My forehead cracked his nose open, and blood gushed. Draven let out a howl as he recoiled. I brought my other hand forward in a powerful thrust, punching him in the wrist. His grip on the knife loosened enough for me to twist it free. I slashed him across the throat and sprang away, clawing my way through the trees.

A garbled shout came after me. The sounds of pursuit soon followed. I pushed all my strength into my legs, my breathing labored as I dodged trees and crashed through brush. The sounds of the shouting grew closer, and I knew I didn’t have much time. I pushed myself harder, envisioning the layout of the forest. I ducked through a pair of birches, and the ground fell out from beneath my feet. A glint of water rushed to meet me, and I had just enough time to suck in a lungful of air before I plunged in.

Bubbles swirled around me. I kicked hard, twisting my body to point downward. The clear water grew murky with clouds of red as I reached the bottom of the lake. I grabbed handfuls of weeds to hold myself down.

Luken’s emotions speared through the bond. Pure panic. I closed my eyes and tamped down on the bond, trying to block him out. I didn’t need his panic to mess with my head.

And I didn’t want him to feel me die.

I wasn’t sure how long I managed to stay there, beneath the surface, before my lungs threatened to give out. I kicked off, heading back to the surface. Darkness closed in around my vision as I battled for the surface. Something huge and dark blocked the light, and I cringed back. Draven would not be so kind now that I’d escaped him once—

Strong hands grabbed me and dragged me from the water. I tried to fight the need for air, but my lungs had other ideas. A familiar scent wrapped around my nostrils as I pulled in a sharp breath.

Luken dragged me from the water and laid me on the beach. Water dripped from his hair as he leaned over me.

Fuck.

“No,” I groaned as he lifted his wrist to his mouth. “Don’t.”

He bit himself, blood welling against his tanned skin. “Drink it, Elara. You’re bleeding out. You need to heal.”

I shoved at him weakly. What was he doing here? How had he gotten here so quickly? Was it a trick? I pressed my lips together tightly, but when he brought his bleeding wrist near me, the scent of it was too much. He smelled like Luken. Hesitantly, I licked out. His blood filled my mouth, and I groaned. The pain faded to the background, and I closed my eyes.

There was one way I could know for certain if this was Luken or if Draven was playing a trick on me. I opened the bond, letting Luken back in. I felt the sharp sting of pain in his wrist, the worries slowly fading as he watched the color bloom in my cheeks.

It was him.

And that was when the desire hit. I sucked hard on his wrist, filling my body with his blood. The lingering pain in my system only made my arousal hit that much harder. It was like a liquid fire in my veins. I wanted more. Needed more.

No! I wasn’t going to give in to this. I was going to control my own body, dammit.

Oh, but I didn’t want to….

Luken pulled away from me abruptly. We were lying on the rocky ground, my legs wrapped around his hips. He was hard and ready for me, but he pressed his hands to either side of my head and pushed himself away from me. Desire lingered in his amber gaze.

But he still showed more restraint than I had.

“We have to get moving,” Luken said harshly. “Before they figure out you went into the lake.”