Page 35 of Cruel Vampire King

If I was going to save Thessa, I would have to do it. I couldn’t pin my hopes on any sort of soft heart from the heartless vampire king.

The four of us carried Thessa on a makeshift sling of branches and clothes as she shivered and twitched in her sleep. I walked at the front with Kael, whose expression was both grim and sad.

Around noon, Ysara called for us to stop. We set Thessa down, and Ysara took Kael’s hand in hers. She didn’t look back, not once, as she led him into the forest. Kael glanced at us, and the sorrow in his eyes made me wince. He’d written Thessa off, too. They all had. At least she was still cool to the touch while not being cold. No fever, despite the risks of infection.

Greyson crouched next to me. “This isn’t going to work, you know. We can’t save her.”

“We can try,” I answered softly.

He sighed. “How did you end up in the Trials anyway? You’re not cut out for it. I thought the vampires liked to see actual fighters.”

“They like to see entertainment. And I guess it’s entertaining enough, isn’t it? To watch us fight our fates?” I asked, not moving.

He didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.

Ysara and Kael returned sometime later with the herbs and smelling of sex. Despite the circumstances, I couldn’t find the energy to be angry with them for taking pleasure in each other. Greyson sniffed the air conspicuously and rolled his eyes.

“We found some roots that will be edible if we process them,” Kael said. He lifted a handful of tubers into the air.

“Right, and that’s all you did,” Greyson muttered.

Ysara gave him a scathing look. “You could have joined us if you wanted.”

“I guess it’ll be more fun for the viewers to watch that than us sitting around with a dying girl,” he said. He’d been alternating between pacing and whittling this entire time while I built a fire and tried to keep Thessa comfortable. Now, he leaned against a tree and frowned, watching as Ysara used two rocks to pound the tubers into a paste. “This is cruel. We’re only going to kill her once we reach the colosseum anyway. We should be managing her pain, not fruitlessly trying to save her life.”

Ysara’s hands stilled. Kael sucked in a deep breath.

Greyson glared at his knives. “It’s what we’ve all been thinking this entire time. She’s going to die, one way or another.”

“Not if I can help it,” I murmured before I could stop myself.

“And what are you going to do?” Greyson gave me a scornful look. “Stand over her, defend her as we fight to the death, and then plunge a sword through your own heart?”

A bitter laugh fell from my twisted lips. Would I? Could I sacrifice myself and my sister for a girl I didn’t know? But she was wearing Darcie’s necklace! She couldn’t be Darcie, not as a panther shifter… but she looked so much like how I remembered Darcie. Part of me wanted to hope Thessa was my sister, even if it was impossible.

But the fact was, she knew Darcie somehow. I had to know.

The others were looking at me strangely. Greyson’s eyes were hard, Ysara’s curious, Kael’s compassionate. It was funny how the ugliest expression was on the most handsome face, while the kindest was on the ugliest.

I wrapped my arms around my knees, considering. I hadn’t even told the assassin coven what my backstory was.They’d found out, as was their job, but even when Emily had applied torture techniques to make me confess, I remained tight-lipped. Only after I passed that trial did she admit she’d known everything all the while.

“Luken Holakas slaughtered my family,” I finally said, lifting my head. “Because he wanted me, and I told him no.”

The words were bitter on my tongue.

I told them what happened that night, about the elf mercenaries, ones that wore the same armor that attacked us near the spring. I described how I’d been burned badly and left for dead.

“I should have died,” I said, running a hand through my hair. My hands had grown restless during my explanation, so I loosened the braid. I combed through the tangles that had formed and started to braid my hair again. “I wouldn’t have survived, if I didn’t have something to live for. My youngest sister survived, too. I lived for her.”

Here, I hesitated. Had I just given up too much for Luken? Maybe, the way he thought I was dead, he didn’t know Darcie had survived.

Had I just put her in greater danger? I cursed myself for the slip of my tongue.

“For a while, at least,” I added. I let my rage and sorrow leak into my voice.

Kael’s eyes grew moist as understanding dawned in them. Ysara looked away.

“That’s the truth of why I joined. Because I wanted to… get revenge, maybe. I’m not sure what I was thinking, only that I have nothing left.” I hesitated a moment. Should I tell them about how Luken had been snatching me away from the forest?I had no idea if the cameras were still on us or if there were ‘technical difficulties’ to preserve his reputation.

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