Page 12 of House of Darkness (The Fallen Star #1)

ROMAN

Iflew back to the castle at breakneck speed. The sight of her shivering form and the overpowering scent of blood urged me onward. I didn’t slow until I reached her room, where I gently laid her on the mattress.

The terror she had endured—reaching the point of contemplating her own death—filled me with a seething rage. I ached to hunt down her tormentors and tear them apart, but I was one of those monsters. The realization that she had feared me sickened me.

Fortunately, the vampire blood had taken effect.

Its potent healing properties also served as a powerful drug and aphrodisiac.

She couldn’t feel anything right now. Her frail arms wound around my neck as I tried to make her comfortable by shifting her slight form on the bed so she was fully seated.

She pressed her lips to my jaw, making every muscle in my body stiffen and my eyes go wide.

“Get in bed with me, Your Highness.”

“Not tonight, Estrella,” I responded, trying to sound calm even as panic gripped my heart. We shouldn’t be alone together, not in her state.

ISABELLA!

WHAT?

HELP ME! I didn’t need to say more. Within seconds, I heard her bare feet thumping down the hallway.

“I hurt you, let me make it better,” Estrella whispered, her head drooping onto my shoulder. Her hands, patched over from my saliva, traced down my arms, trembling all the while. Even now, she clung to her training to please, and it tore at me.

I swallowed hard and held her despite every instinct urging me to pull away. If I let go, she would collapse. “You didn’t hurt me, doll.”

“What happened, dear?” Isabella burst into the room in nothing but her nightgown, her eyes wide and bloodshot.

“She tried to run, made it to Solime, and a banished one caught her—”

Estrella erupted in giggles, drawing my attention back to her. “No, you caught me. You must tell the story right.”

I smiled gently, brushing the wisps of her braid from her face. “You’re right, doll. My mistake.”

“You gave her blood?” Isabella folded her arms, disbelief etched on her features.

“She was dying, Bells. Are you going to help me or not?” I snapped back. Fear had dug its talons into me, and her arguing was making me panic. I couldn’t start second-guessing myself now.

Her eyes softened with concern. She nodded and stepped to my side. I began to speak in a frantic scramble. “She needs to get out of these clothes before she’s hypothermic, but I couldn’t just—”

Bells’ hand brushed through my hair gently, stopping me. “I’ll get the towel.”

She returned in seconds, setting the towel down and climbing onto the bed behind Estrella while I held her tight to my front. Estrella leaned up, her bright blue eyes wide and filling that beautiful heart shaped face with concern. “What’s she doing?”

Bells ignored her, using her claws to carefully split the fabric down Estrella’s back. I tilted my gaze to the ceiling, offering Estrella some semblance of privacy while still cradling her flailing form in my arms.

“Roman?! No, no, no, I’m not supposed to let anyone but you touch me!” Estrella’s voice rose into a piercing squeal. Her nails dug into my shoulders as she writhed, desperately trying to escape Isabella’s grasp.

I fought to keep my voice steady as I tightened my grip to allow Bells to work. “It’s alright, Estrella. I’m not mad, I promise.”

Her nails found my cheeks, digging in mercilessly, forcing me to meet her gaze. Those sapphire blue eyes were wide, terror cutting through the drugged glaze. The stress radiating off her was almost tangible. “Don’t send me back. I’ll be good. I won’t run again,” she whispered.

I counted back from ten, trying to quell my seething anger, usually a steady candle in the pit of my soul, now roaring like a wildfire.

It was all my fault—just like before, just like every time.

The darkness inside me threatened to boil over, but I willed it back.

Losing control would only make things worse.

“I’ll never send you back there, Estrella, no matter what you do.”

“Roman.” I glanced over Estrella’s shoulder at Isabella. She had just peeled off Estrella’s clothes. Her eyebrows furrowed, and her lips were pressed into a thin line.

Along Estrella’s back were jagged gashes from talons that had raked through her flesh, blood oozing from them and painting her skin in crimson.

I was glad I had killed that monster; it didn’t matter his reasoning—he deserved to die for hurting her.

But Isabella’s attention wasn’t on the fresh wounds.

Her fingers traced the raised purple marks spidering across Estrella’s back.

My jaw clenched, and I hissed through my teeth to avoid snarling.

Lashings were common in acolyte academies, but seeing the scars marring her beautiful skin ignited a fury within me.

I may be a monster, but it takes a special kind to inflict such violence on someone like her—a type of monster that should be eradicated.