Page 8 of Cruel Vampire King

Chapter 4

True to Luken’s word, none of my team showed any indication they knew I’d been gone the previous night. If it weren’t for the lingering fullness of my stomach, I would have thought it was just a particularly vivid dream. I’d had plenty of them where Luken was concerned over the past four years. Sometimes, they were even more vivid than reality… those ones tended to be nightmares, though.

Marissa arrived at our camp shortly after dawn.

“You again?” Ysara lifted her lip in a snarl. “For fuck’s sake! How long do these trials take to get started? I thought I’d have killed someone by now.”

Marissa’s expression was utterly blank, unlike that flippant way she’d talked to me the previous night. “Your task is to reach the heart of the forest. There is an artifact there, and the team that brings it out of the forest will be moved to the next step of the Trials.”

“You mean we’ll kill each other at the Colosseum,” Greyson said smoothly. His tone was flirtatious.

At this, Thessa whimpered. I moved slightly closer, though I knew getting attached was a bad idea. But her dark curls and big brown eyes reminded me of another face. One that I sometimes worried I wouldn’t recognize if I saw again. A pang hit me, and a sudden wash of dread moved over me like a wave.

What if I’d wasted a chance last night? If Luken remembered me, still wanted me enough to spirit me away to his palace… could I have traded myself for Darcie’s safety?

Or would that only give him more leverage over me?

I closed my eyes and did a quick breathing exercise to calm myself. Going into the forest with my thoughts all in a snarl would only get me killed.

“Here is a map for you,” Marissa said, handing Kael a flimsy piece of paper. “Remember, you are meant to work as a team. If you turn against each other in the forest, we will see and you will be disqualified.”

Kael grunted. “Are there any other surprise rules? Do we have to carry an egg with us and keep it from breaking, or we’ll be disqualified?”

Marissa cocked her head as she studied him. “That’s a good idea. I will bring it up to the board for the next Trials.”

“That’s not what I—” Kael cut himself off, his massive shoulders rippling.

“Easy,” Ysara said. She moved lithely and planted herself in front of him. He towered over her as she put her hands on his shoulders. “Don’t get the team disqualified before we even have a chance to see what’s in the forest. I always wanted to hunt a dragon. With any luck, we’ll run into one.”

Kael’s gaze cut to her. “They’re really not that hard to kill. It’s the dragon shifters that are the real threat.”

The vampire cleared her throat. “That’s all there is to it. I will see you when you leave the forest.” Her gaze sharpened, and she let out a low, deadly chuckle. “That is,ifyou leave the forest.”

She was so different from the woman who had casually chatted about hoping to spend the night with her lover. Which was the bigger faked persona? The friendly one from last night or this cold-blooded ice queen? It had to be the one from last night, right? Otherwise, why would she be chosen to facilitatethe Blood Trials, knowing that all but one person she interacted with would meet a violent end?

“What happens if another team gets this artifact and returns before the others?” Kael asked in a rumbling voice.

“Oh, it’s quite simple. If one team emerges from the forest before the others have perished, then the winners will be taken to the next stage of the Trials, while the losers will be hunted down for sport,” Marissa replied cheerily. “And recall that you have the magic trackers on you. So you had best try your hardest to be the survivors, shouldn’t you?”

Thessa and Kael looked shocked at this turn of events, but Ysara and Greyson seemed to expect it. Given that they had volunteered for the Trials, no doubt they’d put enough research into them to know what was going to happen. I was surprised that Kael, at least, after being selected to be part of it, wouldn’t have educated himself.

“I believe that’s all.” Marissa tapped her chin, as though she was deep in thought, then shrugged and turned away.

Kael rolled to the balls of his feet, as though he was considering attacking her. Good. His thoughts were easy to read in his face and he was clearly driven by emotions. That meant that, if we faced each other in the Colosseum, he would be easy to defeat despite his physical strength.

“Please,” Thessa started in a thin voice.

I glanced at her. Her hands clenched into fists, her eyes so wide I could see the whites all around them. I winced, wishing that we were allowed to kill off our own team members. It would be kinder to end her fear and suffering now. But some part of me, some part that I didn’t want to acknowledge, I knew that even if we were, I wouldn’t be able to do it. I’d prepared myself for killing people in these Trials.

But a young girl who clearly didn’t want to be here? No. I wasn’t prepared for that. For the cold-blooded murder, no matter how much I could justify myself. It unsettled me. Any wavering would end up putting all my work to naught. And wasn’t I counting on people underestimating me? How could I be sure that Thessa wasn’t the same?

We headed into the forest, moving quickly. The air was calm and still, with no sight or sound of any other living thing. As we walked, Kael and Ysara took point, with Greyson and I following up. Thessa had naturally taken the middle, the most protected space. The words of Emilly, my trainer in the Assassin’s Coven I had taken up with after my burns were healed, floated through my mind.

You’re too soft for this work. You will never be ready to kill, she’d said, disgust written on her face as she gazed down at me. I’d been flat on my back, her sword at my throat.

I had thought she was going to kill me, but she spat on me instead and left me. Maybe it was true. Maybe I wasn’t ready for this yet.

But I didn’t have a choice in the matter. Darcie was turning eighteen, and she’d be sacrificed to the gods if I didn’t get her back. She was the only thing I had left in this world worth fighting for, so I would fight. I would die, if necessary.

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