Page 27 of The Blood Crown

Seated at a raised table in the front of the cavern was the king. A cold look in his red eyes, as if the centuries he’d seen had whittled away whatever soul he might have once had. And at his right—Ven. His dark hair and his golden skin a scream of color amidst the white and silver of the Court of Flame. Utter contempt was plain on his face, but he was alive.

The Captain stalked forward, kneeling before her master, and as she rose to take her place at his other side, the king threw a glance at Ven, his mouth sharpening into a smile.

He tipped his head toward the white-haired female. “This is Valea.”

Ven didn’t offer a response, only lifting his eyes to mark the female who had brought them to this prison with what, Aurelia suspected, was a death promise.

The king’s smirk grew, contorting the twisted scar that snaked up the column of his throat as his eyes landed back on the female. “You don’t recognize your own sister?”

Surprise flashed across Ven’s face, so fleeting that she wasn’t sure anyone else noticed it. She must have been sired after the war if Ven was unaware of her existence until now.

“Apologies. I don’t try to make a habit of visiting,” Ven replied dryly.

“You once had many siblings,” the king continued. “Alas, most of them met their end during the war and the others were too focused on killing each other and vying for the throne that they didn’t think to outlive me.” He took a healthy swallow of the red liquid in his cup, but Aurelia noted that Ven didn’t move to touch his own. “But she was smarter than her brothers. It’s why she’s here before you today and they’re . . . well.” The king gave a small shrug of his shoulders, as if watching his children fight each other to the death had been some trivial entertainment for him.

Aurelia was pushed toward the front of the room, ignoring the leering smiles of the Nostari as she raised her chin and straightened her spine. She wouldn’t give any of them the satisfaction of witnessing her fear, though she was certain they could smell it on her.

The cloying stench of decay permeated the room, and in the periphery of her vision she noted a dark heap—a discarded pile of bodies. Some fresh . . . some not much more than bones.

Humans—all humans.

And even as she tried not to linger on the details of their faces, it was impossible to ignore the small skeletons littered amongst them . . .

Children.

Her stomach turned as she fought to keep her eyes trained forward, bile rising in her throat. The king’s gaze laid her bare, but she did not flinch as she met the monster’s vermillion eyes.

“I hope you found your accommodations comfortable,” he said benevolently, the tips of his fangs exposed. “You are a guest here and you will be treated as such.” His mouth sharpened into a cruel slash. “Tradition demands that I offer food in a show of my good intentions.”

She glanced toward the food and wine that remained untouched in front of Ven, his jaw tense as if he scented the snare, too.

The crowd of viciously beautiful beings parted, howling laughter erupting around her at some jest she did not understand—until a small figure was pushed in front of her.

The sight of brown hair and light green eyes made Aurelia’s stomach lurch into her throat. The servant girl who had been sent to her rooms was led before the court, her thin arms gripped tightly between the two guards.

Her body was still slender from youth, a girl on the cusp of womanhood.

A fucking child.

Aurelia had been that young once, her only concern in the world whether she would be able to sneak off to see Bastien after dark. What dresses she would wear to the upcoming dances . . .

The flash of metal was so sudden that Aurelia flinched, the scent of blood hitting her with dizzying force.

Red rivulets dripped onto the floor from the vulgar slashes across the girl’s wrists.

She was dead even as she stood on her feet.

Aurelia’s gums ached as she forced down her hunger—painful now with the need to feed. Her fangs seemed to sharpen in her mouth in answer. And for a moment she wondered whatit might feel like to sink her teeth into the girl’s smooth flesh. To taste her blood. Her mortality.

She stumbled back, trying to fill her lungs with anything other than the scent of the girl’s blood. It was one thing to deny her hunger when she’d been in her chambers, but now . . .

The glazed-over look on the girl’s face remained the same, the steadydrip, drip, dripof her blood puddling beneath her, seemingly oblivious to the pain. Not an ounce of fear in her eyes at her impending death.

Thirst scorched Aurelia's throat, sending her doubling over. Her stomach cramped violently as the hunger she’d ignored for days,weeks, came roaring back to the surface.

The crowded room erupted into snarling laughter as she tried to flee, but the hard chests of the guards were behind her, pushing her forward as her feet scrambled for purchase.

A flash of onyx appeared between her and the girl, still quietly bleeding out onto the black stone floor.

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