Page 83 of The Ballad of the Vampire Prince

I pity them.

Some of these girls were forced to become a vessel and some had inherited the Rhunhraefn by accident, like me.

This dark magic that Lilith has created is truly a vicious and ugly thing. It amplifies one’s darkest traits and horrible intentions.

“Which one of you touched him?” I ask calmly.

Pebbles skitter and the air crackles with the wake of my wrath.

Most of the curse bearers quickly cower behind the rocks and trees. They’ve seen what I did to Lilith. But there are more than two dozen of them who seem proud of what they did to Svenn and the other Strigons.

“Answer me,” I command, my tone sharp and deadly, forcing their eyes to focus on me.

“That was just a bit of direction and help,”the Boar says. It’s pitiful watching you getting rejected by him.

The Vulture whinnies a laugh.“We were just trying to show you how it’s done.”

I’m done listening to their chatter.

The earth shivers beneath my feet and the ground fissures. Power thrums with every beat of my heart. Their snickers and giggles soon turn into screams.

The Vulture strikes me with whatever she can grasp with her hand, rocks, sticks, sand, anything.

How useless.

This is my domain and I am in control.

“You’re a monster!”she spits at me before running away.

Another wave of my hand and the land turns barren. There’s nothing but emptiness stretching ahead of us, nowhere for them to run and hide.

The Vulture lets out an inhuman hiss, like water striking hot metal.“He will never want you—”

One look from me and the air from her lungs disappears. I want to claw her face for what she did to him. Instead, I just throw the wretched curse bearer into a box.

I slam all the rebellious ones into their iron coffins and bury them in the frozen lake next to Lilith. Another blast of my power keeps them sealed there. I exhale slowly as I watch them desperately clawing their case for a way out. I shouldn’t have come here and wasted my time.

Something moves in the darkness of the cold chasm below. The enchantress peeks at me through the small window glass of her sarcophagus. Lilith doesn’t speak a word, but a wicked smirk tugs her lips. I hate her with a violent intensity I’ve never experienced before.

Anger pulses in my veins and I will myself to look away from her.

The dim light of the bath greets me the moment I open my eyes. I take a shuddering breath and calm the fire blazing in my heart. My gaze falls to the raven’s wings marking on my belly.

The Rhunhraefn.

Tears well in my eyes as I try to scrub it off me with soap. I feel its decay, trying to pollute and inch its way into me. Like any other curse, it feasts on one’s vulnerable emotions, turning it into something vicious. I hate that something so cruel has latched itself to me.

I’ve won against its treachery today.

Yet, I don’t feel victorious because the Vulture’s last word feels like a slap to my face.

He will never want you.

Chapter 12 Rhianelle

The general map of Windhaven rests in my hand firmly. I know Aelfric says Lord Wesley and his men are working on it. I have faith in them. But at the same time, I can’t sit idle while innocents are being murdered each night.

I am careful as I walk back to my room, hoping I don’t run into Svenn.