Page 23 of The Crimson Princess (The Ravengale Chronicles #1)

“Gales visit the river and ask it for gifts and special skills, not mutations of a genetic line.”

“As I said, it’s speculation, but maybe it’s a gift she didn’t live to understand, but you will one day, we will.”

“This is insanity. Who knows?”

“Me and the scientist I spoke of.”

“Not your brother?”

“Never,” he assures me. “That would be disastrous. Your mother lived with the fear of being discovered and, Satima, she didn’t just come to me to talk. She wanted the vampire in her to be bound, or at least the bloodlust.”

My eyes go wide with understanding. “She wanted the binding potion they talk about in history books. It stops the bloodlust, right?”

“It does, but now that we don’t survive on blood alone, it’s rarely worth the risks it holds, and it’s only used for the rare vampire that is consumed by bloodlust.”

I’m stunned by this information. “Was my mother?”

“No, but she was terrified of your father finding out she was a vampire. She feared it put you at risk of losing your throne or even being exiled. Protecting you made it worth the risks to her. ”

“What risks?”

“In some cases, when you bind the bloodlust, you bind portions of your powers. And we weren’t even sure how it would work on her since she wasn’t full vampire.”

“She did it anyway,” I assume, following where this is leading.

“Against my advising her otherwise.”

“And what happened to her powers?”

“Thankfully, she kept them all, at least that’s what she told me. And the bloodlust was gone. Back to you, Satima. We need to talk about your bloodlust.”

“I’m not taking the potion. Never. Ironically, my mother was hiding from who she was while teaching me to never do the same. If I’m part vampire, I’m part vampire.”

There is a glow of approval in his eyes shadowed by caution. “While I like where you're going with this, and I do not believe you can risk losing your powers when you have a kingdom to protect, you need to be cautious with your father. If your father finds out—”

“If he finds out now, it’s a problem. I know. But there might actually be a time when what I am brings peace between our worlds. Perhaps sooner than later.”

Something I read as admiration, fills his expression. “You’re wise beyond your years, princess. But we still have yet to talk about your bloodlust.”

“I don’t have bloodlust.”

“You do.” His voice is steel. “I can feel inside you.”

“You made me taste blood.”

“You needed to find it, before it found you. Even now, it might surprise you at the wrong time or the wrong place. When it first comes over you, it’s the worst. You learn to control it. Until then, I can link us and help you control it.”

“Link us how?”

“A bloodbond and a spell.”

A dangerous proposition , is my first reaction, but I don’t say that to him. “And then what? ”

“You reach for me. I’ll be there. The magic will not allow me to reach for you. It’s one sided.”

“Reach for you how?”

“Think of me. You’ll figure it out,” he assures me. “I promise.”

“After this magic is in place, can you read my thoughts?”

“No.”

“Did you do this for my mother?”

“No. She and I were not you and I, and I think you know that.”

I consider this response without questioning its validity. I accept it as the truth it screams inside me. “Is the bond permanent?”

“Either of us can reject the bond at any time.”

“How?”

“With your magic. Like I said. You’ll figure it out. It’s as intuitive as your inborn magic.”

A bond to the vampire king is intuitive. What is happening right now? “This is crazy,” I say. “I barely know you.”

“You know me better than you think you do,” he says. “I think you know that, too.”

Exactly , I think. Exactly. “Why is that?”

“It’s in our blood. We shared a part of ourselves with each other.”

That doesn't feel as right as the rest of what he's told me, so I dig for more. “We share a part of anyone we drink from?”

“No.”

“I don’t understand.”

“And you don’t have time to understand right now. As you said. It’s late.” A blade appears in his hand and he wastes no time slicing his palm open. Blood pools on his skin before he offers me the blade.

I hesitate only a moment. I know my father all too well and my mother wasn’t wrong to be afraid of him finding out that we are not full gale. He has so many women in his bed, and so many potential bastard children, that we both could have been replaced .

Or I could stand firm, hold my throne, and bring worlds together, our worlds, mine and Toren’s. And that starts here. I feel that in every part of me.

I slice my hand.

The minute the blood pools on my skin, the blade disappears, and Toren presses our palms together.

Heat radiates between us, fire that burns to the point that I gasp.

Toren leans in close and cups the back of my head, kissing me, a long lick of his tongue, followed by another, and I swear his voice echoes in my mind.

Seconds later, when his lips part from mine, he declares, “It’s done.” He lifts our hands between us and releases mine, the flesh on our palms fully healed. “Try to reach for my mind.”

My brows dip. “What? How?”

It’s in that moment that the banging begins on his door. “King Toren, open up.”

My heart leaps and I shove to my feet, with Toren following me. “That’s my father’s guard,” I say. “They must have figured out I’m missing. And of course, my father thinks you had something to do with it.”

“I’ll blink you out of here.”

“No,” I say, catching his arm. “You need to answer that door and look like you were sleeping. I’ll go out the attic to the roof. Be an arrogant asshole. You’re good at that.”

I start to move away and he catches me to him, slides his hand under my hair and kisses the hell out of me. “Be careful, princess,” he warns. “There are a lot of people who’d like to see the future queen dead, including the druids.”

“I don’t die easily,” I say repeating his words.

“But you’re not immortal.”

“Back at you, King Toren.” I reluctantly, and I do mean reluctantly, untangle myself from him and rush for the hallway where there is a stairwell to the attic, and in a matter of a minute, I’m on the roof. Voices below lift in the air, and I can hear Toren answer the door.

“What the fuck do you want? ”

Perfection , I think, and with him distracting the guards, now is the time for me to make my move. I climb down the wall and begin a stealthy escape to the forest, where the werewolves and frostburns will surely greet me with open mouths and plenty of fangs. Better them than my father.