Page 14 of Blood Tribute

“Will you be safe from him during the day?” Dav silently cursed the sun. He would soon be locked in the Dawn Slumber, unable to wake until night returned.

“I can protect myself.”

“Are you certain Sir Virtus will not harm you while I Slumber?” Dav pressed.

“He is the one at a disadvantage. It’s my castle.” She turned her back on Dav, lacing up her bodice. “You can take me back to the clearing now. When you meet me there tomorrow night, be careful.”

“No,” he said, “tomorrow, I will come to you.”

“What? That’s madness. You mustn’t, not while Sir Virtus is there.” She rounded on him.

Dav gave in to the urge to run his hand over her riot of curls. Her breath caught in her throat.

“I don’t want him to catch you sneaking out,” Dav said.

She pressed her lips together, but did not disagree. “The fortress is riddled with relics that can alert him to a Hesperine’s presence, though.”

“Can you clear one room and wait for me there?”

Nora swallowed. “Very well. Tomorrow night…come to my bedchamber.”

FOUR

A Sacred Kill

I

Nora would make the Hesperinepay for every sound of pleasure he had dragged out of her with his unholy hands.

She fastened her scabbard, then straightened her gold and white festival gown. She’d been wearing this at the ceremony when the Order had bestowed Arceo upon her father. And when Dav’s brother had killed her parents before her eyes.

Tonight, she would not forget who she was.

She threw back the blankets on the ancestral bed. The lady of Gloria’s chamber was her rightful place, and she would dedicate tonight’s kill to the righteous women of her line. She was hardly the first who’d had her bedchamber invaded by a Hesperine. It was on record that one noble widow had slain her would-be seducer and been elevated to dame for her feat.

Nora stoked the fire, the element that was every Hesperine’s nemesis. Her poker was in easy reach, as were the torches she had placed in brackets around the room. Her chamber was devoid of Hesperine-detecting relics and full of extra weapons she could rely on if anything went wrong.

She had almost failed last night. She had come within an inch of giving herself to that creature.

But tonight, she was ready. She would slay not only her family’s enemy, but her personal monster.

His presence seemed to fill the room, then he melted out of the shadows beyond the glow of the hearth. “Did Sir Virtus try anything during the day?”

“He still has no idea you’re here.”

Dav’s nostrils flared. He stalked toward her, his expression dangerous. Nora’s heart jumped, but she stood her ground.

His fangs flashed as he spoke. “He harmed you again.”

“That is none of your affair. I am here for the tribute, aren’t I?”

The firelight played across Dav’s tawny skin, and in its wild light, she could almost imagine his face softened. “Nora, I can smell that you’re still bleeding. I could heal that for you as I did the cut on your hand.”

“No.” She retreated toward the fire, covering her upper arm with her hand. “Ask for my throat again. Or we can negotiate other places where you may take the tribute. But keep away from my arms.”

To her astonishment, he offered her a bow. “Understood. I will respect that at all times.”

She hesitated, her whole body humming with tension.

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