Page 8 of Queen of Vampire Hearts

Erik smirked, his sky-blue eyes sparkling. “Now you see why I showed up here.”

In my entire immortal life, allten thousand yearsof it, I could count my interactions with the Council on one hand. They predated even the creation of vampires and wolves, and by the time I was born, their Council had already turned their attention inward.

“Any details about the witch?” I inquired. Once I got this woman out of my system, I was going to want to pursue this lead. Though, it might take a couple of months to pull my head out from between her pale thighs.

Erik snapped his fingers impatiently, prompting one of his wolves to hand a scroll of parchment to me with a disgusted snarl. I read the bounty out loud. “Last lineal descendent of the Atreus & Margaux House of Witches. Wanted for treason, murder, and other capital crimes. Last sighting: Her would-be execution, where she murdered the witches present and escaped.” My eyes returned to Erik, and I raised a brow. “A little light on physical description, isn’t it?”

Immortal bounties were mystical contracts,utterlybinding on the parties involved. If I agreed to the bounty, it wouldrequireme to fulfill it. We often took on bounties for other species, collecting the rewards. Though we often entered them separately, there were incidents when we went after targets together. There was nothing more horrific than hearing the two kings were on your tail.

The wolf smirked again. “They believe she’s likely glamoured her appearance so many times that no one could recognize her.”

How intriguing.Any description they could offer would be useless. She could change her appearance in the next breath if she chose.

“Is there anything they gave us that might actually help?” I snapped, handing the parchment off to the wolf. I’d take on the mystifying bounty. Other than the female waiting for me, it was the first thing to pique my interest in years.

Erik didn’t drop his smile. “Yes, their only lead on her is that she’s searching for her family grimoires.”

That had both of my eyebrows rising. “She lost her grimoires?”

Witches were young when they received them, and it often took them years to master the litanies of spells within. Each lineage specialized in a certain magic, and they guarded their ancestral tomes viciously, not even sharing with their own kind. They werevery valuableon the black market simply because of their rarity. A collector would be set for life with just one.

“That is another interesting point. She is apparently powerful enough to avoid the Council without them. They gave me the distinct impression that she iscreatingher own spells.”

That rocked me back on my heels. Witches hadn’t branched outside their specified lineage magic to create or experiment with new magic since before even I was born. To do so, she must be monstrously powerful. No wonder the Council was so desperate to locate her. She was a walking example that the oligarchical group of immortal spell casters didn’t know shit.

“Tell the Witches Council we’ll take the bounty. Is there anything else, Erik? Not that I’m not honored by the visit, but I wasbusybefore this,” I said, impatient and unable to stop myself from shifting my weight from foot to foot. I needed to get back. She was there alone. What if another male approached her? Their blood would coat the walls of the Unseelie Court if they dared.

Erik’s smile dropped, though a single tawny brow shot up. “Oh? And I drew you away?” He paused, looked me up and down. “You seem a bitfranticto get back. I never knew you to be so clingy.”

Erik hurled the word as an insult, and normally I would have a cutting remark about thefrequencyof my partners. But the words died on my tongue. I had never been this desperate to get back to anyone. It felt like my skin was too tight, my muscles locking down on my bones, making me tense and agitated.

Instead of dignifying Erik’s comment with a response, I spun on my heel. I knew the wolf would follow. His animal curiosity about my behavior forced him to. It didn’t mean I didn’t want to punch my fist through his ribcage for doing so.

Get back to her,my mind ordered,make her yours.What the fuck was happening to me? I’d definitely never had that thought before. Maybe something was wrong with me.

I bypassed Titania, practically sprinting toward the balcony, only to find it empty.Fuck!I whirled around, checking that I hadn’t overlooked her, making sure she wasn’t hiding behind some balustrade. I glanced inside, catching no trace of her, knowing I’d lost her.My skin tightened even more, and I couldn’t relax my muscles. Rage burned in my belly before flooding my entire body. I’d never struggled to control my emotions. Often it was as easy for me as flipping a switch. At that moment, I couldn’t even find the fucking room the switch was in.

I turned on Erik in a killing rage, my voice guttural, shredding through my vocal cords. “This is your fault, wolf! If you hadn’t arrived with yoururgentmessage, she wouldn’t have left!” My nails were black claws, my fangs filling my mouth, emotion surging through me as my eyes turned red. I snatched my friend up by his throat, slamming him against the wall of the Unseelie Court.

Titania intervened before I could go too far, shooting a handful of faerie dust into my eyes. The sticky crap forced me to drop Erik, allowing the wolf to breathe. The dust was a powerful toxin. Erik hit the ground. His knees buckled, making him land hard on his ass. His choking breaths slowly eased before turning into...laughter?

“Damn, I never thought I’d see the day,” Erik choked out, tears welling in his eyes as he struggled to his feet.

Titania held up another handful of dust when I almost charged him again. “Never see what day?” I snapped.

Erik wiped the tears from his eyes and smirked evilly at me. “The day you met your mate.”

V

The Realm of Mortals.

New Orleans, Louisiana.

My head is pounding, and I vaguely recall something about the Witches Council. Is that where I am? When I try to focus, a deafening hum echoes through my head. I cover my ears in reflex to mute it. I force a steadying breath into my lungs, struggling to my feet. The blurs and shapes persist, making me dizzy. I reach out to support myself against what I hope is a wall, but I stumble when my hand meets nothing but air.

The movement makes me register the tearing pain in my side. I blink away the tears that spring to my eyes, and my hands drop to push the heavy velvet robes to the side. A cry breaks free from my lips, though it’s soundless to me. A piece of wood impales my side, stopping regeneration from starting. I wrap my hand around the wood and yank it out.

I hear my scream this time.

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