Page 10 of A Vow of Blood and Tears

With the dull sound of that bar falling into place, it finally hit me.

This was real.

The monster sitting across from me was my husband. The carriage was a cage, dragging me across the country to a place I’d never seen outside of books. I had been sold, unable to speak a word in my defense.

As the carriage lurched forward, the dark horses drawing it out of the stableyard, I closed my eyes and took deep breaths, translating Nord wyrd-runes in my head to calm myself.

The streets of Argent flashed by outside the dark, smoky windows when I opened my eyes. It was still real.

Lord Bane watched me in silence, the thin, cat-like pupils of his gaze widening against the brilliant gold of his irises. What should have been the whites of his eyes were as black as ink, his skin a deep, ashen gray.

I gazed back at him, slowly taking in… everything he was.

His size had to be part of his fiend nature. He was unnaturally large, but well-muscled from what I could see of the legs stretched before me. A perfect predator.

High, sharp cheekbones, curved upwards like horns, jutted above a thick lantern jaw distended to accommodate fangs. A row of tiny, rounded spicules protruded through his brows, growing in size as they moved up his forehead to the hairline, all the way to the sharp, angular horns sweeping back over black hair.

These things might have been overlooked, were it not for the wide, pointed ears that seemed to swivel at every tiny sound. The almost muzzle-like shape of his lower face, his nostrils slitted, lips deformed to expose a rack of gleaming fangs.

His entire face was deformed with sharp, cartilaginous ridges that traveled over the bridge of his nose and up to his forehead, giving him a bestial aspect.

Despite his appearance, fine clothes had been carefully tailored to fit his oversized, distorted body. Trousers, a crimson brocade waistcoat, a linen shirt… all of it pulled out of shape and hidden under a cloak. In these close quarters, I could smell him clearly, a pleasant scent like woodsmoke and cedar. It seemed strange that someone so hideous could smell so appealing. Shouldn’t he reek of gore and decay?

Bane gazed back at me, watching my eyes move downward, and without a word he pulled the cloak to cover shoeless feet that were more like paws, tipped with thick, curving talons.

The sum of his parts reminded me of a bat, of all things. A larger-than-life, wolf-skinning beast, wearing the clothes of a nobleman.

The Lifegiver, the bloodwitch had called him—though it seemed more like his title should be Lifetaker.

Had it hurt to lose the exceptional beauty of a vampire, in order to become… this thing?

I would ask him why he had chosen this. If I was to live as his bride, I would have to speak with him at some point.

It was an automatic gesture to reach for the slate I always kept tied to my bodice, and I realized with a shade of panic that it was gone.

I’d forgotten that they’d taken the slate when I was dressed for the wedding. They hadn’t even given me time to pack my few meager belongings, but the slate… that was the only way I had to communicate with most of the world.

Taking a few quick, anxious breaths, I signed with shaking hands.Do you have anything to write with?

The jingle of silver bells filled the interior of the carriage. Both vampire and bloodwitch flinched, jaws clenching.

I’d forgotten the damned bracelets. Moving as carefully as possible, I unclasped the silver bracelets, cupping the bells in my palm so they wouldn’t ring.

Then I slid the window open, extended my hand, and dropped them on the streets of Argent. Maybe an urchin would find them and pay for a few good meals—my wedding gift to our people.

The rowan crown followed, with a few strands of my hair still caught in the sap-oozing branches. If the bells made them flinch, the smell was probably intolerable in this enclosed space.

I was already married. I had to do what I could to uphold the peace between our kinds. Veladar’s protection and stability depended on me.

Something flickered in Lord Bane’s eyes as I shut the window again. Though the rest of him was beastly… something in his gaze seemed almost human.

I wished I knew what that flicker had been, but it was once more hidden. The gold-and-black gaze was unreadable to me.

He watched my hands, his head tilted slightly. Was that recognition in his eyes? I could only hope.

I pantomimed writing once more, and the bloodwitch gave me a sweet smile.

“I apologize, but the only paper I have is our original copy of the Blood Accords, so it’s quite untouchable. You are… mute. Yes?”

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