Page 50 of The Nightblood Prince
F ire…
“Can you save her?” A furious tone, yet muffled and quiet, as if someone were screaming from under water.
Light.
“I…”
They are not invincible….
“Can you?” Louder this time. “Can you save her?”
“The first vampire didn’t tear open any of her major arteries, however the second one punctured her lungs with the blade. She’s also lost so much blood….”
“Save her! I don’t care what it takes; you have to save her!”
“My prince, it’s a miracle that she’s still alive. I…”
“If you can’t, then I’ll have you buried with her! She is my bride; do you hear me? If you, a doctor, can’t save the crown prince’s bride, then what use do I have for you?”
Silence.
Siwang…
“You really shouldn’t be here.” I heard a new voice through the waters.
“I’ll be fine.” A second voice, familiar this time. I couldn’t remember where I knew it from.
“Your Highness—”
“ Shh. I don’t have long. Go and keep watch for me.”
“But—”
“Go.”
The rustle of clothes.
Fire…
Soft laughter. Closer this time. “You should stop getting injured around me, you know that? I hate it when I see you in pain.”
Siwang…
“I also find it exceptionally rude that you’re calling the name of another man, while I’m risking my life sneaking into enemy territory to save you, again. ”
They are not invincible….
I felt something warm touch my lips. A liquid sweet as honey, mixed with the sharp, bitter tones of rice wine.
My mind flashed back to snowy mountains and cave walls painted gold by flickering firelight.
“Lan Yexue.” My eyes fluttered open.
“I’ve missed you, too. Drink up, don’t die on me now.”
Dusk parted to reveal the sharp planes of the prince regent’s face, mere inches from mine. So close my heart leaped in my chest, skipping a beat upon the sight of those familiar dark eyes drinking me in the same way they did a year ago in that amber-lit cave.
Except this time, the curiosity was replaced by a sliver of wonder. His lips twitched at the corners, a phantom smile as he moved closer and closer, until his lips were mere inches from mine. “You rememberme.”
My eyes darted around the room, quickly taking in my surroundings, searching for something to defend myself with. A splash of red caught my eye in the background.
Rong’s colors.
This was our tent. He really was breaching enemy territory.
“Are you here to kill me?” I choked.
Yexue’s blood had pulled me back from the brink of death, but a dark spear of pain stabbed me each time I drew breath.
“Sneaking onto enemy grounds just to kill an already dying woman? Lifeng Fei, do you think so little of me?”
I thought back to the battlefield, the broken bodies of my comrades.
I thought of him in his snowy-white robe against all that red. His demons with their monstrous fangs.
I thought of the fireside stories told by soldiers who had lost everything because of him. Their recollections of the vampires were so terrifying I’d once thought they couldn’t possibly be true—until I had witnessed the horror with my own eyes.
And those demons served one master: the Prince of Lan.
“Yes,” I whispered. “I do.”
He leaned closer so that his nose was almost touching mine. I could tear off a chunk of his face if I wanted.
Under the sheets, my hand searched for the dagger I always strapped to my thigh and found nothing. The physician must have removed it.
“Be careful what you say, my goddess. You don’t want to make me your enemy. Especially since I can kill you as easily as I can save you.” Yexue pulled away, bit into his palm, and offered it to me, the same way he had all those moons ago. “Keep drinking if you want to live.”
“Why are you doing this?” I had stabbed and abandoned him in the forest a year ago. Why would he want to save my life after that?
He laughed. “Did you think I came all the way here to watch you die? Drink. Before the cut closes.”
“What’s in it for you?”
The prince shrugged, and I couldn’t help but notice how close he was, how intimate this moment felt.
He was cradling my body in his arms, my face resting against his chest, and his arm wrapped around me, holding me upright.
“Maybe I’m just a merciful man. Maybe I don’t want to lose the only other person who knows what it’s like to be plagued with an ungodly magic.
Maybe I want to claim your prophecy and become the emperor of all emperors.
Or maybe I just want to repay a debt? After this, I think the two of us will be even, and I no longer owe you anything. ”
“I never should have saved you in those mountains.”
Yexue broke into a smile, clearly amused. “You can tell yourself that, my fallen goddess. Now drink.”
“ No. I don’t want your blood. I don’t want anything to do with a monster like you!”
“ Drink, if you want to live,” Yexue whispered. An order, and I did as he said.
Blood poured in. Though I refused to satisfy his wish, the moment I tasted its sweet nectar, I couldn’t stop.
I felt that sensation again. With every drop, my body sang for him.
As the euphoria began to take me under, I felt my wounds begin to tingle and burn as my body healed itself just like last time.
“I’m sorry you were dragged into this war. However, I am happy to see you again, my fallen goddess.” Yexue leaned closer and placed a kiss on my forehead as my eyes began to close. “But you need to leave, Fei. I don’t want you to get caught in the cross fire of this pointless war.”
I lapped up every last drop of his sweet, heavenly blood. “If this war is so pointless, why don’t you stop attacking us?”
“I see your prince still has a habit of keeping secrets from you.” A soft laugh before his thumb brushed my forehead.
“Seven days. I will give you seven days to remove yourself from this war. I don’t want to watch you get hurt again—because I may not be around to save you the next time you flirt with Death. ”