Page 95 of The Vampire's Bride

“They are Vampires. They will detect your scent.”

“Did you?” He arches a challenging eyebrow. “When I was spying on your conversation earlier.”

I purse my lips. “I thought you said you weren’t actually ‘spying.’”

“Spying. Observing.” He shrugs. “It’s all the same thing, is it not?”

“I suppose it is.” I bite back an irritated growl. “Now, tell me more about your plan.”

A wide grin splits his lips. “It would be my pleasure, my dear friend.”

CHAPTER 35

JULIET

Valaric rushes from the room. I stare at the door in shock, but it’s quickly replaced by anger. He dismissed me as if my opinion meant nothing.

Troubling memories float to the surface of my mind. Of Lord Stryker and how he treated Maryl—as if she were a thing instead of a person.

And while I know Valaric is not this way to me, I’m upset that he wasn’t even willing to listen any further. He simply left as if the decision were final, all becausehedecided that it was.

A maelstrom of emotions whirls deep within as I gaze out the window. Lightning fingers across dark clouds in the distance as a tempest approaches from the sea. The dull roar of the ocean drifts up from the cliffs below as churning waves crash against the shore.

A soft knock at the door interrupts my thoughts. “Enter,” I call out.

Reyla walks in with a tray of tea and biscuits.

“Thank you, Reyla,” I murmur, offering her a smile despite my dark mood.

She sets the tray down and then turns to leave but hesitates at the door. “May I speak freely, my Lady?”

“Of course,” I reply, curious to hear what she has to say. “And please, call me Juliet.”

She dips her chin in a subtle nod. “Forgive me, but I could not help but overhear your conversation with Lord Greyvale earlier.”

It’s rather forward of her to admit this, but I remain quiet, waiting for her to continue.

“I believe he seeks only to protect you.” She wrings her hands in her skirts. “Other Vampires… most of them are cruel. Especially to humans. They believe we are inferior to them. At least, that has been my experience.”

“And yet, you live in Morrowynd and work for Lord Greyvale,” I delicately point out. “How did that come to be?”

“I was once a bloodsworn—the blood wife of a very powerful Vampire.” My heart stops, shocked by her admission as Reyla looks down at her hands. “It wasn’t all terrible,” she murmurs. “He doted upon me… showered me with gifts. Sometimes I even found myself believing that he actually loved me.”

Sadness mars her features. “But when I found out I was carrying his child, I knew I needed to escape.” She looks up at me. “When blood wives fall pregnant, many times their child is taken from them to be raised by the Vampire they are sworn to, and I could not bear for that to happen.”

“What did you do?” I frown. “How did you get away?”

“My Lord’s true wife was extremely jealous. And I knew if I told her of my… situation, she would help me. If for nothing else, then because she did not want anyone to know about the child. She probably worried her husband would wish to keep it, and raise it as theirs, along with their other children.”

She swallows hard. “It was a risk. I suspect the gods had a hand in convincing her to aid me, because she could have just as easily killed me instead.” She pauses. “But she managed to convince her husband to release me from our blood bond and I returned to my village and my family in Aralon.”

“What happened then?”

“At first I was welcomed with open arms. After all, I’d only made the bargain with my Vampire Lord to save my older brother. But when my family discovered… when Lysander was born, everything changed.” Her bottom lip quivers. “People—humans,” she corrects. “There are not many Vampires in Aralon, and they were scared of him, you see. And fear can make men do terrible things.”

My chest tightens as a tear slips down her cheek.

“I feared for my son’s life,” she says softly. “I knew the only place he’d be accepted was back in Morrowynd, among his own kind,” she explains. “But because I was no longer bloodsworn to anyone, no Vampires would take us into their household, and no humans wanted to employ me because of the nature of my son. But I managed to find work here and there, and we somehow survived those first few years.”

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