Page 5 of The Ballad of the Vampire Prince

A deathly silence falls into the room as Lilith stares at the fireplace.

“But I tell myself, there’s no way you would abandon me, the one who gave you a second chance at life, the one who made you immortal, the one who gave you this power,” she continues.

Second chance at life? She murdered us in a fucking ritual.

The woman turns around to face us, eyes glimmering like molten metal.

“We have not forgotten you,” Han states, swallowing the dryness in his throat.

“Awww… I knew you missed me,” she croons with a smile. “Well, I’m here now.”

He stares at her blankly, a muscle in his jaw twitching. I think he recognizes the malice in her eyes. So do I.

“What’s the meaning of this ambush?” I ask her, my tone darkening. “We won you the Kingdom.”

“You did. You did… I just want to say I appreciate everything that you do for me, and so…” she pauses for dramatics, “I brought a snack for you to enjoy.”

Vlad enters the room with his hand around Gwyn’s waist. Dark-haired and lean built, the warrior has a hunger of knowledge that rivals Bas’s. Lilith calls him the perfect Strigon.

Tension creeps in my muscles and I inhale deeply.

It’s fine.

We can still salvage this situation by pretending to drink on the girl and keeping her as a prisoner. I will distract Vlad long enough for Han to sneak Gwyn to safety at the first opportunity. My mind works quickly, conjuring plan after plan.

Any chance of putting on an act vanishes the moment Lilith reads the terrified look on her lover’s face. Bas has gone so still, I’m not sure if he is even breathing.

In an instant, a swirling vortex of shadows appears right above us.

The Rhunhraefn.

Its darkness bleeds around us like ink. Ribbons of shadows creep around my body, burning and heavy. We kneel to the ground from the force of that raw power. The pain is immeasurable, like flaying skin from flesh.

“Fuck…” I can hardly manage to spit out a proper fuck you. Trying to talk against the Rhunhraefn is like trying to speak after your lips are stitched with a barbed wire.

Han becomes completely mute from the torture. He’s never good with pain.

“Stop hurting them!” Gwyn cries out, tears rimming her eyes. One look from Vlad and she is silent. I don’t know if it’s his stare or if the Strigon had used his compulsion on her.

Either way, it does the trick.

The girl keeps her mouth shut.

“Don’t do this,” Bas manages to grit out desperately, fighting against the overwhelming pain.

“Who knows what secrets might have passed through her ears the many moons she stayed with you?” Lilith asks, keeping her voice light. “It’s been nearly a year, has it?”

The witch knew all along. We never stood a chance from the very beginning.

“She is innocent. Do what you want with me but let her go,” Bas prostrates lower in front of her, planting his forehead to the ground. “Please, Lilith, I beg of you.”

In the years I’ve known the man, he has never pleaded, not even through the worst of the witch’s torture.

“It’s true.” I fight against the excruciating pain to back up his claim. “The girl had no knowledge of your existence until you showed up. She knows nothing.”

Lilith sighs, shaking her head in dismay.

“She knows you’re the undead. She knows you drink blood,” she mutters, filing her sharp nails. “I’m not going to wait for the humans to bring their pitchforks and rise against us.”