Page 7 of Cruel Vampire King

Did he really think I would be swayed by this… this poetry he was spouting? If he was so concerned about me being alive or dead, he wouldn’t have burned down the inn in the first place!I could feel the accusations creeping up my throat. If I blurted them out, would he decide to kill me, too? How would I be able to save Darcie then?

So I swallowed down what I wanted to say and reached for the same shrimp. He smiled, pleased that I was following his lead.

“I remember that day well,” I said, lilting my voice to sound softer and younger. “I was… bewitched when I saw you.”

“Bewitched,” he repeated. His voice hardened slightly on the word, as though he was unhappy I’d chosen it.

Quickly, I asked the only question that seemed safe to do so, “How did you recognize me? It’s been four years.”

Amusement twitched the corners of his lips. “I remember in perfect clarity events that took place four decades ago, a century ago. I’m over three hundred and fifty years old, Elara. Four years is nothing.”

Something burned in his eyes as he spoke. Something that made my scalp prickle. I took a deep breath and pushed away from the table. I was off-balance, and the smell of the food made it hard to think clearly. It reminded me of the days at the inn, a family laughing at dinner as we talked and ate. My parents never adhered to the adage of ‘children should be seen and not heard.’

I walked away from him, to the stained glass window that adorned the one wall without paintings. It was a scene from the elven histories, of their Queen Camilla ascending to the heavens to become the consort of the moon-god Sel. It was a beautiful image, the glass lit up from the electric lights inside the room. It must look even more beautiful when lit by sunlight in the morning.

“Even if four years is nothing, I’ve changed. These burns…” I touched the scars that marred the lower half of my face. I’d been pretty four years ago. I was pretty now, if they were covered.

Luken’s footsteps sounded lightly on the carpet behind me. He stopped so near me I could feel the heat of his body through this chiffon dress. One of his hands touched the back of my neck, following the pattern as it traced up my jaw to the other side of my face.

“These scars only show how resilient you are,” he murmured. “Third-degree burns. Your shirt rode up on the obstacle course. How much of your body does it cover? Thirty perfect?”

I shivered at his touch and his words. “Fifty,” I answered in a whisper. Even though I shouldn’t. But his touch was cool, soothing. I hadn’t realized that these old scars were heating until the coolness of his fingers against them. “Most of my torso and down my legs.”

Luken’s breath wafted on the back of my neck, causing shivers to run down my spine. I was certain he was going to move closer. That he was going to bite into me and draw out the blood he’d wanted four years ago. His words about my scars showing inner strength only served to confuse me.

I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath, reminding myself how I got these scars. “Don’t touch me.”

He paused, then withdrew. The warmth from his body dissipated, leaving me in the blessed cool. I turned, my arms wrapped around myself, as I lifted my chin to glare at him.

“If you’re hoping that I’ll give up my place in the Blood Trials and be your personal juice box, think again,” I said. “I entered for a reason, and no amount of flattery is going tochange that. If you want me for your personal donor, you’re going to have to offer me a hell of a lot more than some pretty words.”

The light of his eyes increased as his jaw tightened. “Very well. You will be returned to your team in the morning, and none of them will be any the wiser. I expect that you’ll keep it that way.”

Despite how he looked at me and touched me, there was a clear, underlying threat to his words. Good. I could work with that. It showed me that this persona he was trying to persuade me with was just that. A persona. It wasn’t real. He was just a vampire king who had killed my family because my parents didn’t want to give me to him four years ago.

If he was really that concerned about me, he would have had his men drag me to the palace, regardless of my parents’no. Ofmyno.

He seemed to read my thoughts in my eyes. “I’m not that sort of vampire, Elara. Blood isn’t sweet unless it’s freely given.”

His voice was low, and my mind flashed to Marissa’s warning to the troll who had been harassing me. Any attempt at sexual assault against another combatant was instant death. Did the vampire king havemoralsafter all? Though they weren’t strong, if he decided to wipe out my family because I refused to go with him to the palace four years ago.

“Come back to the table, before the food gets cold,” Luken said, backing away from me. He didn’t turn as he made his way back to his chair.

He stared hard at me, sending fresh chills over my body. I hated the way I felt when he looked at me like that. Hated the way my breath grew more rapid. My stomach tightened, and nomatter how hard I tried, I couldn’t quite convince myself that it was all fear.

I sat back down and started to eat, because he was right. I’d had a modest meal at supper with my team, and more food now meant I could live on less food later.

“Where have you been these last four years?” Luken asked me.

“None of your fucking business,” I said automatically.

His jaw tightened further. “You could do worse than being the king’s personal donor.”

I rolled my eyes, exaggerating the motion. “Sure, sure. Like what?”

He didn’t speak again as I ate, only watched me. The prickling goosebumps never died down. The awkwardness of being watched so closely set my teeth on edge. As soon as I declared I was done, he called Marissa to take me back to Wickham Forest. She took me back to the other room, allowing me to change into my clothes this time rather than doing it for me.

She was slower taking me back than she had been running me to the forest. By the time I arrived, my thoughts had gotten so snared trying to figure out what Luken Holakas wanted that all I could do was collapse back into my bed and sleep. It was a deep sleep filled with dreams I couldn’t remember, the taste of the sea still on my tongue.

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