Page 2 of Cruel Vampire King

I did wonder, though, if she thought she was fooling anyone with that Gods nonsense. The Blood Trials had been implemented a century ago as an annual bloodbath to entertain the vampire lords. Supposedly, it was something that had been organized by the gods themselves. A likely story. The gods didn’t care about entertaining anyone except themselves.

The woman opened her mouth, then stopped. A hush fell over the colosseum; everyone beneath the other banners and even the vampires in the stands craned their necks, silent. From where I stood, I could only see the backs of the other volunteers.I sidestepped around a hulking troll to find a tall, hooded man had entered the area.

There was a fluidness with which he moved that belied his size. I watched him, all of a sudden fighting the urge to stride over to him. Who was this, who could command silence just from his mere presence? He walked alone, no sign of attendants or guards. I leaned forward, as though there was a magnet inside of him that was drawing me close.

The man paused in the center of the colosseum and threw back his hood. Recognition swept through me, and my blood started to race. It was him.

Luken Holakas.

The vampire king himself.

All I could do for a moment was stare, that strange urge to run forward overwhelmed by the sheer shock at seeing him. I hadn’t expected that he’d show his face here, today. I thought he would sit in his private box with a glass of bloody wine, laughing in the days to come.

After my initial shock wore off came another blast of surprise as a slither of heat swept through my body. I’d seen plenty of pictures of him, but it didn’t compare to the real thing. His thick dark hair contrasted against his warm, golden complexion. He wore it long, put into an elaborate series of braids, which looked more elven than anything else. I had to remind himself that while his father was a vampire, his mother had been an elf. He must style himself this way as a way to build more connection with the elves.

Nobody would mistake him for an elf, however. Though there was a slant to his ears, they weren’t truly pointed. His muscular figure, combined with his height, gave him a wild sortof appearance that wasn’t at all like the fluid grace that elves held themselves with.

“This is the year’s tributes?” he asked, his voice low and melodic.

A chill swept through me. I was supposed to hate him, not ogle him! He’d ruined my life. Took everything from me. I wasn’t here to dwell on how attractive he was. I filled my mind with images of his decapitated corpse—let’s see how handsome he’d be then!

“Yes, your Majesty,” the woman in my group said. “They have not yet gone through the placement tests yet.”

The king’s eyes flickered to me. They glowed a warmer light than the woman’s, a sort of amber gold rather than silver. I stiffened as our gazes locked. He probably expected me to look away. Ishouldlook away. As a human, I was especially meant to show deference. We were among the shortest-lived of the species, we were little more than a tasty beverage for vampires.

My heart pounded in my throat. Though his eyes didn’t move from mine, I could feel his gaze like a physical touch on my body. It reached right through the layers of clothes I wore, laying me bare before this man. I felt as though he was devouring me with a mere look.

Focus up, I told myself, unsettled by this reaction.

I wasn’t eighteen years old anymore.

I wasn’t a naive child seeing a vampire for the first time.

My parents were dead. My only living sister taken away, claimed as a sacrifice to the gods. I was alone in this world, with no happy thoughts to chase off the demons in my nightmares. All because of him. He took it all. My family, my innocent way of viewing the world, my sister. He was the reason I was here, thereason I could look at the faces of the people I was going to kill without a shred of remorse.

“Start the placement, then,” the king said, still not moving his eyes from me. He lifted a hand and pointed at me. “Her first.”

A prickling raced over my scalp. I broke my gaze from him, turning to the surprised-looking vampire woman. She gestured me forward, and I moved quickly and silently. An uncomfortable question made my stomach clench. What if Luken recognized me? Surely, after four years, he wouldn’t…

“Elara Tideborne,” the woman said, reading from her tablet. “Age twenty-two, human. A volunteer. Please give us a demonstration of the skills you think earns you a place in the Trials.”

She gestured toward a dummy set up halfway between herself and the king. I confidentially strode forward, pushing this strange reaction I had to the vampire king to the back of my mind. It was just what he did. I’d bet my right arm that every person—man and woman—in the arena felt that same pull toward him. They didn’t call vampires sex fiends for nothing.

A weapons rack was lined up next to the dummies. I took my time selecting one as the other tributes started to shuffle from foot to foot, restless to prove themselves. All the while, the king didn’t move his eyes from me. I could feel his gaze like a caress on my form. Dimly, I was aware that beneath the other banners, others were already demonstrating their skills.

I selected a sword. Something sturdy and light, but not my preferred weapon. I couldn’t show off all my skills if I was going to bank on being underestimated. I held the sword with an almost-not-right grip, and stalked up to the dummy. In a flash, I’d noted its weak points. If I was going to get through theinitial placement, I needed to strike off its head. The neck was reinforced, but the torso area, not so much.

I braced myself, leveled the sword, and swung. It was dull, but I’d expected that. The blade bit only halfway through the pine rod that made up its spine. As the blade stopped, I carried my momentum, swinging it from my arms into my body. I leveraged my weight over the sword and swung up and around, slamming both heels into the rod. It cracked open, and the dummy split in half, the top skittering away in the dust.

I came down, landing lightly, and straightened.

Luken was still looking at me. A smile spread over his face, and he clapped his hands once. Something in the depths of his eyes burned but this time, I remembered myself. I lowered my eyes. A low chuckle sounded from somewhere, but I wasn’t quite sure if it was the king or someone else.

“You can go to the red banner,” the vampire woman said, sounding oddly… upset.

I bowed once and headed for the red banner. There were already a dozen or so people lingering beneath it. Most were big, muscular, and had the scars to prove they’d been in many fights ahead of this. One of them, a hulking troll with blue skin and eyes the color of moonstones, leered at me.

“Are the vampires giving us some… entertainment?” he sneered.

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