Page 79 of Bitten

Ralnur eyed the goblet of synthetic blood before him. “Yes. It’s rather disgusting.”

“Disgusting? I’ve heard the better synthetic bloods taste damned near the real thing,” Eilam said.

“Nothing like the real thing,” Ralnur whispered, thinking back to the precious stuff that had flowed from Kane’s veins.

“What was that, uncle?”

Ralnur lifted his stare to Adriel, forcing a smile. “I suppose I haven’t acquired a taste yet. Perhaps in time.” His smile faded. He didn’t want to acquire a taste. Not that he likely had much time left to do any acquiring.

“I’m sure it has been a huge learning curve for you,” Eilam said. “Learning who this new person is.”

“I feel much like the person I always was,” Ralnur said.

“You fight the bloodlust well for a new vampire,” Eilam said. “I’ve seen many fledglings, and they’re nowhere near as calm as you.”

“My magic is helping, I’m sure.”

“I thought the room was warded?” Noah asked, frowning.

“I can’t create spells,” Ralnur said. “But my magic still resides within me—giving me strength. I might not be able to unleash it, but it’s still there. And I assume that’s why I was able to fight the bloodlust. I’ve had very little blood so far, past what was forced into my veins after my transition.”

“And you remember nothing before or during that transition?” Noah asked him.

Ralnur stiffened. He’d been asked that very question a thousand times already. “I remember the nest. I remember them biting me over and over.” He paused, the memory daunting. “But I don’t remember much after that.”

Noah eyed him, and Ralnur sensed the male knew that last bit had been a lie.

Eilam and Noah looked between one another, but neither said a word.

Ralnur wanted to tell his nephew about Kane, but feared reprisal. He didn’t know where things went from there—for any of them—and he didn’t want Kane locked away. Kane thought he and Caelian could find a way out. Ralnur doubted it was possible, but he wouldn’t take their hope away.

And maybe there was a tiny part of him that hoped they would find something. If he could give them a little time to figure out a way through, he would.

Even if it meant keeping it from his nephew.

“Why do I sense there’s something you’re keeping from me?” the king said, cocking a brow.

Oh, how very much like his father he looks when he does that. “I’m not.”

The lie was sour on his tongue.

The disappointment that washed over Adriel’s face hurt like a physical wound. He’d always been the one to guide Adriel through the chaos the monarchy dealt with daily. Now he was the chaos.

Opening his mouth, he nearly spilled it all. Kane and how he was changed—Caelian and his connection to them both—all of it.

The words wouldn’t come.

“Is there something you wanted to say, uncle?”

Ralnur eyed the king, and his mind shifted to a new topic. “Varian.”

Adriel’s frown grew. “What about him?”

“What do you plan to do?”

The king’s jaw clenched, and the next words were said through his teeth. “He committed treason.”

“There were extenuating circumstances—you must consider those.”

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