Page 15 of Born of Blood and Thorns

"I'm sorry, what?" My head swung around as I regarded her. "Why would a dragon bring me here?"

"Only he would know the answer to that question, but what were you doing before you came?"

"I was being chased by a pack of wolves," I admitted as a shiver shuddered up my spine at the memory of Gideon's teeth so close to ripping me to shreds or dragging me back to his den.

Alysha placed a gentle hand on my shoulder, her eyes full of empathy. "I believe the dragon brought you here to protect you," she said softly, her voice laced with understanding and warmth.

I considered that for a long moment, shoveling the delectable stew into my mouth and taking a small roll that Billy handed to me to sop up some of the juices. I moaned, unable to contain myself, as I finally allowed myself to unleash, to relax just a little.

"So no one knows about this castle, its inhabitants, or how to get in?" I asked, eating a mouthful of food, not caring that my manners were atrocious. Once upon a time, those things mattered to me, but not anymore.

"No, very few people know of the castle unless they've been here. Once you're here, it's hard to leave." Alysha watched me with pity in her eyes as I continued to empty the bowl like an ill-mannered savage beast.

"You only leave if she lets you," Billy piped in.

"Who?" I mumbled, my gaze locking onto his hands.

He seemed to shrink back from me. I realized then that my eyes must be too hard, so I tried to soften my expression. I'd been told on more than one occasion that I was too pretty to constantly scowl, yet it seemed to be consistently plastered on my face by default. I had little experience with children, but I was positive my natural expression might have been scaring him off.

"I'm sorry," I said in a soothing voice. "I've lived a hard life the last few years and, well, it shows." My voice softened as I held his expression, not wanting to spook him. "Forgive me?"

Billy grinned so big that it stretched wide across his face, showing the crooked teeth still trying to find their place as he grew into them.

"Hard life? Are you not a princess?" Alysha asked warily, her head tilting as she studied me again, taking in my broken, dirty fingernails. My pale moonlight hair was pulled back in a haphazard braid, and my clothes were tattered and dirty from more than a night in the woods and stuck to a ledge in a cave.

No, the kind of wear and tear and grime that coated me was over a long period of poverty. I was aware of what I looked like. This was my best outfit, too—the one I painstakingly mended repeatedly and cleaned in the ice-cold stream to wear to the bookstore for work. Most times, it was still damp.

I straightened my spine and lifted my chin as my voice hardened. "I was once the daughter of a prince so in a way, yes, I was a princess. Our kingdom was destroyed. So I am the princess of nothing now."

"I see." That damned look of pity crossed Alysha's face again. It made me press my lips in a hard line. I hated being pitied.

"You sound like you're a warrior." Billy breathed out in awe as he crept closer. "Do you fight?"

I thought back to the basic defense classes I had taken as a child, the memories long since lost, and shook my head. My ability to fight rested on being able to knee or kick them where it hurt the most or run away and hope for survival. Obviously, that didn't get me too far. No, it had trapped me in a cursed castle with a grumpy man and these people. My outlook seemed to darken at that moment. Thinking of the future was hard when you couldn't see one.

"How long have you been here?" I asked to distract myself from my dark thoughts.

"Far too many centuries now, I suppose," Alysha said wistfully as she studied the greenery out the window.

The sky was bright, and the sun was shining without a cloud, though I had remembered reading in the papers that the forecast was rain for the next week. My mind snapped out of my thoughts of rain.

"Wait, did you say centuries?" I leaned closer, studying her. It was impossible. Those of other origins, such as sifters and vampires, could live long lives of many thousands of years, but they did age. She looked as if she wasn't a day over twenty.

"Give or take a few decades. It's hard to keep track after a while." She shrugged.

"You don't look that old," I said before stopping.

Alysha busted out laughing just as Billy took my now empty bowl and filled it again with more stew.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath, my appetite suddenly dampened by this revelation. I clamped my hands over my lips, realizing I'd just cursed in front of a child. "That's... I'm sorry."

"May I ask you a question? Please, if it is too forward, I apologize," Alysha began as she pulled off another chunk of bread and handed it to me.

"Of course," I answered before dipping the bread into the dish, which was just as good as the last bowl of stew. I felt myself stiffen as if I knew what was coming next. What she would ask.

"What are you?" she asked abruptly and straight to the point.

It occurred to me that Lore hadn't told her. He knew I was part vampire, or at least suspected it. He'd mentioned how death clung to me. Perhaps that was just the smell of living with a vampire. They did smell like death in a way—the aroma of wilted and dead flowers. They covered the smell with fragrant soaps, perfumes, and deodorants, but the scent lingered.

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