Page 53 of Trapped By Vengeance

Valda:

This is the part I dreaded— looking into Konrad’s eyes as he realizes what I am: the one monster worse than a werwölfe.

It’s almost worse than what comes next— him realizing my intentions. And then my having to carry them out.

“Valda!” Konrad gasps. “You’re an estrie! A vampire!”

I stare down at where I have pinned beneath me. With his werwölfe strength, he could still overpower me, but it wouldn’t be easy. And I would outrun even his werwölfe speed, especially with his blood in me. “What gave it away?”

“What are you doing?” Konrad demands. “Is this . . . your vengeance against me?”

Pursing my lips, I shake my head. “This isn’t personal, Konrad. You just made the mistake of being the first werwölfe to hunt in our territory since my father began searching for your one of your kind.”

Konrad stares up at me with horror. I wish it were never an expression I had to see on his face. It would be hard to see on any victim’s face, especially my first.

And especially a man I rather enjoy kissing.

“What do you want from me?” Konrad whispers.

One hand leaves his shoulder and trails down to the left side of his chest. “What I’ve always been after. Your heart.”

Konrad:

The terror I felt when I returned to my homestead after the Night of Broken Walls is a different variety than the fear I feel now.

Then, I was terrified of being left alone in the world. Now I’m horrified that will be Eloise’s fate.

“Valda, please,” I gasp. “Don’t do this! I need my heart—” I pause. “Do you need my heart metaphorically or physically?”

“Physically.”

“Then I definitely need it.”

She caresses my chest. “But you’re fine with me taking your heart metaphysically?”

Even now, while in a state of abject terror, part of me still enjoys Valda’s proximity. It is a strange combination of the two I’d rather avoid feeling ever again.

Though it sounds like Valda is about to help me with that.

“Valda,please,” I whisper. “Think of Eloise.”

“She has nothing to do with this,” Valda answers. “You needn’t fear for her.”

“You should be proud.”

At Baron Schwerin’s voice, I turn my head to see him still sitting in his chair, a smug smile on his face.

“After rescuing my jewel from those pirates you will now ensure that no man will ever be able to harm her again.”

“I don’t understand—”

“Magic flows in the blood.” Baron Schwerin swirls his drink that I no longer think is wine. “When we drink from an elf, we control kin magic for the time. The same for a mortal born with magic— their power is ours to wield for a moment. A werwölfe’s blood is the most potent of all and gives us the greatest range of power, as it complements our own.”

“Then take some of my blood!” I cry. “I don’t needallof it. But Idoneed my heart!”

“We will,” calls a man on the other side of the table. The other men—estries— nod in agreement and lift their goblets to me.

I frown. “Now, wait, I can’t feed all of you—”

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