Page 2 of Blood Tribute

He held up his hands. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

His voice was deep, his accent musical, but with a guttural edge. He sounded so sincere, as if he wanted with all his heart to reassure her. He could whisper in a woman’s ear and make her do anything he asked.

But not this woman.

“I am not afraid.” She dropped her knife in the grass.

His gaze never strayed from hers. “Are you Nora?”

Her heart kicked against her ribs. How did he know the name only her family called her?

She lifted her chin and infused her voice with boldness she didn’t feel. “I am Lady Honora of Gloria. Although myforefathers were dedicated to destroying your kind, I only want peace and safety for my people. I am prepared to negotiate a truce with you.”

He lowered his hands slowly. “There is no need to negotiate. I’ve come to finish what my brother started.”

“Your brother?”

“He was the Hesperine who was here that night.”

She was looking at the brother of her parents’ murderer. And he intended for her to be next.

But if she could turn the tables on him, justice would be all the more poetic. She could avenge her parents and secure their legacy with one kill.

A hint of pain appeared on the Hesperine’s face. “This…is the place where it happened, isn’t it?”

He sounded vulnerable. Wounded. Did he expect her to fall for that?

“Yes,” she answered, “this is the place where your brother ambushed my family on our way home. I watched him murder my parents. I would have died, too, if a Knight of Andragathos had not sent him fleeing with a fatal wound. But if you came here looking for revenge, you won’t find it. I am prepared to let you leave alive, if you will do the same for me.”

All trace of emotion left his expression. His stillness was far more frightening than his deceptive words. Now she saw the predator in him.

She envisioned how she would reach for her dagger if he sprang upon her. She had Arceo’s protection. That kept her calm enough to say what she had rehearsed. She was a terrible liar, but now she must put on the best performance of her life to deceive a Hesperine.

“I will give you my blood for three nights as tribute,” she said with dignity. “After that, you will leave, and no Hesperines willenter my lands again for as long as I hold Castra Gloria. Do you deem that a fair resolution to the bloodshed between our kin?”

He was silent for a long moment. Would he see through her promise and realize she was trying to trick him? Or would the temptation of her blood overrule his reason?

“I didn’t come here for your blood,” he said at last, his voice low and dangerous.

Her fury returned in full force. It was one matter for every eligible suitor in the Knightly Order of Andragathos to reject her. But for a bloodthirsty monster to stand here and tell her he didn’t want her was a new low.

She thrust her hand out again, flexing it to bring forth more blood. “Isn’t this enough for you? Would it not satisfy you to feed on the daughter of your enemies?”

His hands closed over hers before she could react. The controlled strength in his grasp made her knees go weak. He curled her fingers around the cut on her palm.

“Don’t tempt me,” he said.

So he was tempted. There was still hope her plan might work.

“Why refuse what is yours for the taking?” she asked. “I know you prefer the blood of the willing to feeding by force.”

“You understand nothing.”

“Enlighten me. If you have a different tribute in mind, tell me what you want.”

He didn’t release her hand. “I came for you.”

Her mouth went dry. “If not my blood…then what do you want from me?”

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