Page 4 of Thorn of Sorrow

“So, now that I’m staying, what do you do around here for fun?” He dug into the mashed potatoes, his eyes rolling back once more.

Like he’d had a choice whether to stay or leave. Once he’d piqued Malachi’s interest, it was game over.

That was one thing I despised about vampires. They were high-handed, their word law. Even though I’d been a “resident” of this place for an eternity and had the illusion of freedom, free will was a joke.

“Kyson, fetch my documents” or “Kyson, clean my room” or “Kyson, come save my rotten ass from the demon who just tried to gut me.”

Technically, it had been Dane who’d called me, but only after Malachi had asked him to.

Living here wouldn’t have been so bad if I wasn’t treated like a burden. The night Malachi had rescued me, he’d wrapped his cloak around me, lifting me from the table with gentle care. But once I’d physically recovered, I might as well have been a mangy stray.

“How far up Malachi’s ass are you planted?” I took a bite of the chicken and nearly drooled. I would have kissed Dick for the way he cooked, but in all the time I’d been here, I still hadn’t figured out what he was. He was really good-looking, but wasn’t human because of the whole “eyes glowing” thing. He could tolerate the sun, so that canceled out vampire. Dick was a nice, laidback guy, so he wasn’t a demon.

One day I would crack his code.

Hopefully I wouldn’t regret finding out.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dane argued. “Are you implying I’m stuck up his ass?”

“How am I implying it if I outright asked you?” I glanced at the table. “Where’s our drinks?”

Dane glared at me. “Up Malachi’s ass.”

I frowned at the image now stuck in my head. “That’s… disturbing.” I grabbed two sodas from my minifridge.

“You have a refrigerator in your bedroom?” He stared wide-eyed at me. “Why don’t I have one, and why am I just now noticing yours?”

Because you’re sleeping in Malachi’s room. He would rather have his dick cut off than ruin his vampiric motif.” I shrugged. “Don’t know and don’t know.”

My mind drifted to Giovanni, and I could almost feel the warmth of his body against mine. I closed my eyes, telling myself to shake off the sensation, but instead, I sank into it. My breaths grew shallow as I imagined him kissing me, like I’d wanted him to do the night we’d met.

But my thoughts latched onto another memory, one that reminded me of the shocked expression on his face after Malachi had brought me here, my body carved up and deeply burned. My mind had been even worse. Although I’d been just as surprised to see him, I’d screamed for him to stay the hell away from me.

At the time, I’d hated, and feared, everyone. Anytime someone knocked on my door, I melted into a full-blown panic, hiding under my bed for hours.

“Are you okay?” Dane’s soft voice broke through my thoughts, pulling me back to the present. “Do you need…”

The question would remain unfinished. He never wanted to talk about his trauma, and neither did I.

“Yep.” I opened my soda and swallowed some. “I need to get out. You wanna come along?”

A spark of excitement flared in his eyes before it quickly died out.

“He’s dead,” I stated, forcing back the rising bile that always rose when I spoke about the demon. “He’s no longer out there searching for you, Dane.”

“I know.” He pushed his vegetables around his plate. “But just because he’s dead doesn’t mean—” He curled his lips in as he glanced away.

“That your brain doesn’t still scramble when you think about him?” My voice was somber while I stared at a small pile of clothes I needed to wash. “Mine, too.”

I cursed, not meaning to say the last part out loud, praying it hadn’t sounded like an invitation to talk about anything demon related.

“I need to get out of this room, this castle. Need to feel normal for a little while.” I just wouldn’t tell Dane that the thought of the outside world made my insides cold. I used to love getting out, but that was before I’d been possessed. Before Osiris had given me another nightmare to live with. Even so, I desperately wanted to feel the warmth of the sun.

To not feel like a freak for one afternoon.

His gaze darted toward the door. “Malachi is out there, waiting to escort me back to the kitchen. You just want me to leave him standing there?”

In truth, I didn’t fully hate the prince. He had his moments of kindness, though they were few and far between. But I wasn’t a brooding vampire who welcomed solitude. I’d just wanted someone to talk to over the years, to maybe not feel so alone.

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