Page 3 of Blood Moon Heat

“And your curiosity is more important than the pain that coming here causes me?”

I hadn’t expected my mate to be some white knight from one of the fairy-tale books I’d read as a child. But I hadn’t expected him to be cruel.

“You don’t like it, the pain?”

Dread coiled inside me. “Of course not,” I whispered, not only scared of the way he made me feel, but now my fear of him grew even more intense.

“Explain it to me,” he said, his voice growing deeper. “Tell me how it feels.”

My body ached and throbbed, craving something, something from him that I didn’t truly understand, while he stood there, seemingly enjoying my agony. The horror of that made me want to shrivel in on myself. I straightened and forced myself to look into his cold, dead eyes. I wanted him to see the fear that I knew was in mine, and I wanted him to watch as it drained away and changed to anger. I let the pain coursing through my body, the pain he was causing, fuel the fire. Then I smiled, and it wasn’t a nice one. “I don’t need to explain it. You’ll find out for yourself. I promise you that.”

Then I turned away from him again, giving him my back as I stared out the window.

Silence filled the room, so acute it was deafening. I thought he’d silently left, like he always did, but then something cool brushed my shoulder. His cold fingers slid across my skin, lifting goose bumps all over me. His chest brushed my back, and I gasped. But I refused to run. I stood my ground as he brushed my hair aside and leaned closer.

A rumble vibrated from his chest and moved right through me. “I look forward to it, Mina.”

Then he was gone.

One

Mina

I placed my trembling hands against my stomach as my mother did up the choker that had been waiting here for me on our arrival. It was white gold and studded with pink diamonds.

“This must have been very expensive,” my mother said a little breathlessly. “Your mate is generous, Mina, that’s a very good sign.”

The jewelry was nice enough, but the male who gifted it to me was most definitely not, and as my mother fastened the heavy chain, it felt like hands being wrapped around my throat—like a claiming of some kind.

“There. It looks beautiful,” she said, beaming at my reflection in the mirror.

I forced a smile in return, but only because I could see how nervous she was. Unlike me, she didn’t know who was coming to take me away tonight. The identity of our mates had been kept a secret even from our parents. It was safer that way.

All she knew was he was one of The Five, warriors all and the most ruthless, terrifying, and brutal vampires of our race, males who had spent their lives patrolling the borders of our territory, and protecting our kind. Our people spoke about them in reverent, hushed tones, as if they were a myth or a legend.

The Five needed to be able to travel in and out of our enemies’ territories undetected, so their identities were a closely guarded secret. They were powerful males who moved in and out of society, never revealing who they were, and therefore never getting the recognition they deserved for all they’d done for us.

Tonight, the veil would be lifted.

A new fae king had been crowned, the war had ended, and The Five were rejoining society for good and would be lauded as heroes.

No, I didn’t know the name of the male who came to me every year, taking pleasure in tormenting me, in watching me suffer, ignoring the rules that had been created to protect me from pain and humiliation, but I did know a male like that was most definitely not a hero.

He was a twisted psychopath.

“Everything has been arranged, and your bags have been taken to the parking garage and will be collected by your mate’s driver,” Mother said.

I nodded.

Worry filled her eyes. “Are you nervous? I have an elixir I purchased. It’s very good for steadying nerves.”

“I’m a little nervous, but I’ll be okay,” I said, downplaying what I was feeling for her benefit. Besides, those elixirs Mother bought from a store in Seventh Circle were potent, and I needed my wits about me tonight.

“You can take comfort knowing that you’re not alone in the way you’re feeling.”

Four other females were somewhere here in the Grande Rozala. The ancient castle on the outskirts of Roxburgh was reserved for special occasions and ceremonies, and it was far enough from the city that it felt like another time and place. But what was happening here tonight was also happening elsewhere. Blood moon ceremonies were about to take place all over the city.

Others would be preparing for their mates to claim them, but unlike me and the other four females here tonight, their males would have sensed them at an appropriate age. They would have introduced themselves to their female and her family. The couple would have dated for a while, allowing their bond to grow at a natural rate.

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