Page 46 of Cruel Vampire King

“There was too much that didn’t add up. They talked about prophecies, but if I asked questions, I was punished. I tried to swallow my doubts, but instead they swallowed me. Especially when I overheard the sisters there was a certain prophecy about King Luken, that he was going to…” she hesitated and shook her head. “I don’t believe it anyway.”

I tried not to let my curiosity get the best of me. What did she hear about Luken? I focused on what was important. “Did they tell you how the tributes were sacrificed?”

“They said it was painlessly. But I don’t believe it. I don’t want to be a sacrifice. I want to choose my own path.” Thessa sighed again. “I want to experience life with someone I love.”

I focused on her again and reached for her hand. “Of course you do. I think that’s all any of us really want. Someone we can be safe with as we go through life.”

Thessa looked around again. Her cold fingers curled into mine as she took a deep breath. “There’s more, Elara. Darcie told me about you. About how the king came for you, and you told him no, and that the night you decided to go to him anyway, your family was attacked.”

My scars tightened painfully at her words.

“We heard rumors… that the Gods demanded the tribute system, as well as the Blood Trials, as a way to sow hostility toward the king. Some of the sisters said, they couldn’t interfere directly without losing too many of their own, so they decided to weaken him in other ways. By creating rifts and making people hate him. If the people love him, he’ll be too strong,” she said all of it in a rush, so low and fast I could hardly hear it.

My blood rushed in my ears. It was all too similar to what Luken had told me last night. Enemies to his throne, that he didn’t have the power to fight the Blood Trials the way he wanted. Could it all be true after all?

And if that was true, did Marissa tell me the truth, too? Was Luken innocent of the crime I’d spent four years hating him for?

Chapter 18

Two days later, Thessa had recovered enough to walk on her own. Her recovery surprised me, but perhaps the injury was more superficial than I’d realized before. Or maybe Luken did have a vampire sneak a few drops of blood into her system. Although it was more likely that Greyson had a store of magic left and used some of it to heal her while the rest of us weren’t around.

Why couldn’t I feel toward him the way I felt about Luken? He was a better match, someone who had proven he actually cared about people other than himself. So why did my hormones seem fixated on the king I hated?

“Is that it?” Thessa asked.

We all drew to a stop, squinting through the trees. They’d grown thinner over the last two days, allowing us the occasional glimpse of the valley floor. Now, I thought I could make out the rounded shape of a wall some distance away. My stomach knotted. Luken hadn’t sent for me since the hot springs. I was running out of time.

I had to make a choice. Thessa or Darcie. I couldn’t keep thinking that I could save both. I’d be lucky to even save one, so I had to put all my energy, all my power, into saving one of them.

If I had more information about the sacrifice, I’d have a better idea of what to do. Saving Darcie from a virgin life as a temple sister was far different from saving her from being butchered.

A noise in the forest caught my attention. I turned, and a splash of blood spurted over my face. Kael’s eyes widened, a slash across his throat from one side to the other. He opened his mouth but made no sound. He dropped, and the creature behindhim smiled at us. It was taller even than Greyson, with a wolf’s head atop a man’s body. Huge hands and long fingers ended with claws. Patchy, scraggly fur covered its body.

It was bright daylight. How was a werewolf attacking us?

Ysara screamed a high-piercing sound that I knew all too well. She shifted to her wolf form and threw herself forward, snarling and snapping at the werewolf. Greyson hollered and drew his sword. I grabbed Thessa and twisted her away, putting myself between her and the werewolf.

“Elara!” she gasped.

I turned, swinging out my staff instinctively. It smacked into the head of a second werewolf as it bolted from the trees, hands eagerly reaching for Thessa. I set it off-balance, but it grabbed the end of my staff and knocked me backward. Thessa took her panther form and jumped for its throat. It laughed and backhanded her into a tree.

The werewolf crouched and flung my staff away. It sprang at Thessa’s crumpled form, and I screamed, dodging to block its path. Something heavy hit my back, and I stumbled, the air escaping my lungs. It hit again, and I went sprawling, my staff wrenched from my grip.

“Elara!” Greyson yelled.

I was too far. Thessa twitched as the werewolf landed next to her. Something dark brushed over my vision. A heavy thud, followed by a gurgling gasp. My vision cleared as the werewolf dropped the furry body onto the ground. It swayed on the spot as blood dripped from its throat. Greyson grounded, the sounds of fighting still raging behind me.

A pair of yellow eyes stared at me as the life drained from them.

It was Ysara. Not Thessa. Ysara’s body was torn open by the werewolf as she tore out its throat. Thessa staggered to her feet and dropped again, whimpering. Was she injured?

No time.

I scrambled for my staff, grounding my teeth as pain erupted from my back. It was cold and smooth under my hand. Adrenaline shot through me as Greyson cried out. I pushed myself to my feet, stumbling again as a wave of black washed over my vision. I turned, watching as Greyson battled the werewolf. It was criss-crossed with bloody injuries, but so was Greyson. His arm hung at a strange angle as he fought off the beast with one hand.

I surged forward, bringing my staff over my head. I threw my body into the swing as I brought it down. I missed my target, striking the werewolf’s back rather than its head. It growled, starting to turn. Greyson took the opening and stabbed the beast through its chest. It snarled, lifting a hand to strike him. I smashed my staff into its arm, sending it off-balance.

Between Greyson and me, it was over in seconds.

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