Page 44 of Blood Moon Heat

He cared about me. “Just…please, don’t send me away,” I rushed out.

“I couldn’t even if I wanted to. Even knowing it would be the safest thing for both of us. But I can’t do it.”

His tone, his expression was stoic, even cold as usual, but the words were anything but. His heart may be melting, but he’d been emotionless for so long, the warmth hadn’t yet touched the surface. “What do you need me to do?”

“I need you to stay in this room while I’m gone. I need to know you are here and safe.” He ran the backs of his fingers down the side of my face. “I’ve killed more beings than I can count. My enemies are vast, and some of them are closer than I would like. I’m a valuable asset because I’ve eliminated every target I’ve been given. I’ve withstood months or brutality and torture. I’m the weapon our elders wield when one is needed.”

“You were tortured?”

Another brush of his cool fingers down the side of my face. “Yes.”

“Is that how your heart stopped?”

He gently slid his thumb over my lower lip. “Yes.”

I couldn’t bear the thought of it. Who was he before all the death and pain? Nero had buried that part of himself deep under layers of ice. It would take a long time to uncover that male again—if it were even possible.

“The previous fae monarch still has supporters, members of his royal house who fled when the new king was crowned, and they’re looking for revenge.”

“You killed the old king, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” he said, watching his own hand as it slid over my shoulder. “I killed him.” His gaze lifted to mine. “No one deserved death as much as him. Vampire and fae have been enemies so long, I think most don’t even remember why.”

“I read in one of the history books in my parents’ library that the king abducted a vampire,” I said. “Is that true?”

His throat worked. “Yes, he did. He took Dorotha.”

“Your sister?”

“She’d been young and innocent, breakable…a lot like you, my little Lalka. Back then, our people and theirs had coexisted, somewhat peacefully. Until the king snatched her and made her his breeder.”

“What?” I whispered in horror.

“Back then, before advancements had been made in that area, childbirth was extremely dangerous for the fae—they often lost their children and their females. Vampires didn’t have the same problems, our numbers were growing, our females strong. So in an attempt to strengthen their bloodline, the king ordered the males in the royal house to take a vampire breeder to bear their young. Vampire and fae are both blood drinkers, both strong, immortal, so they used us, they used our females…they held them captive and forced them to bear their young.”

That part had been missing from my schoolbooks, of course. I couldn’t imagine how terrified those females must have been. “I had no idea.”

“War broke out between our people as a result, lasting many lifetimes. That whole time, my sister had been hidden away, and I’d never been able to find her. Eventually, the king killed her to punish me for the part I’d played in the war, for all the fae I killed in her name. Then he left her body for me to find.”

“That’s…so awful, Nero. It’s sick and twisted and evil. I’m so sorry.”

He searched my eyes, then dipped his chin. “Yes, it is all of those things. The war may have ended after I killed the king and the treaty was signed, but the danger is still there, it’s just different. The Five leaving the fae border and stepping away from that life has the elders nervous. We’re powerful, and they want to regain control over us, but especially over me.”

I frowned. “You’re still helping them, though. You’re going away now because of the prime’s order. You’re already doing as they ask.”

He nodded. “Refusing the prime is not done, Mina, not by anyone, but I could. I could refuse, I could challenge him, I could walk away, and that’s what he’s most afraid of. He wanted me to stay in the shadows. He wants to put me back there more than anything. If he’d known about you earlier, and my intention to claim you, he would have used you to get his way.”

“And you think he’d use me now?”

“If given the chance. Bonding with a female, mating, those things change a male, especially one like me. It could make me…unpredictable, even more dangerous. But coming for you now would be signing his own death warrant. The prime is arrogant, and I don’t trust him, but coming for you would be going directly against our sacred laws. Even he isn’t above them.” His violet eyes darkened. “Still, I want you to promise me, while I’m gone, that you will stay in here. Pretender will spread the word that I’ve sent you away. Better for everyone to believe you’re not here at all than risk your safety.”

“I promise I’ll stay in this room.”

He pulled me up his body, so I was curled on his lap. “Thank you,” he said. “Now, you need to feed, Lalka. I’ve left blood for you, but I need you to drink your fill before I leave.”

“Okay.” I snuggled in closer and nuzzled his throat, finding the thick pulsing vein there, while he rubbed my back—then I bit him.

And I fed from my male.

---