Page 62 of Midwinter Night's Prince

There could be worse fates, if the sex was as explosive as it had been last night.

Seth slept next to her, his arm draped over her shoulders. He didn’t move when she stirred, completely out for the count after their exploits. Blair grinned, proud to have exhausted him.

She attempted to stay as quiet as possible as she left the bed and headed to the kitchen. He might have fed her, but Seth hadn’t drunk any of her blood the previous night, and with what they had coming today, she wanted to make sure he had plenty of blood when he woke up.

Sobering thought, that. They would face Aveka today, and Blair might have to go on the run again, if they couldn’t corner the cowardly bitch.

“Hey, you!” Velvet was waiting in front of the bedroom door, running around in circle. He didn’t seem like a happy kitty. He hadn’t appreciated his first night away from Blair, she supposed.

“Yeah, well, maybe we can get you a kitty friend so you can spend the night with them,” she told him.

The cat kept fussing, more troubled than she’d ever seen him.

“I’ll get you some food, all right?” She started toward the kitchen.

All of a sudden, she was pushed against the wall, hitting her head hard. “Funny. Exactly what I was thinking.”

Fangs tore into her throat and moments later, the world went black.

* * *

When Blair came to, she was in locked in darkness, contorted to fit in a small space. The back of a car, if she were to guess.

She winced, pressing her hand against her painfully throbbing throat, but while there was some dried blood left, she could tell that the wound was already almost closed.

She remembered the vampire who’d attacked her—she’d only seen him once before, in Greece. One of Aveka’s followers. He looked like a young boy, but if what had occurred was any indication, he didn’t fight like one.

“Fuck!” The boy must have run away.

Fighting down her fear, Blair forced herself to think things through. She’d been taken by one of Aveka’s followers. It was morning. That meant that her friends were going to wake up soon and check on her—if Seth wasn’t already aware of her disappearance. And they had a functioning summoning spell sorted out.

Come to think of it, this might even be better than their original plan. If Seth had brought her to Aveka, the queen bitch would have naturally been suspicious and on her guard. She wouldn’t suspect the boy, who presumably followed her orders to the letter.

She just had to bide her time, and summon her friends the moment she was with Aveka.

The car came to a stop, and Blair braced herself. Her instinct was to run and fight, but she had to play the role of a good captive for the sake of their plan.

The trunk opened in front of the boy, his mouth still filthy with her blood. He grabbed her by the throat before she had a chance to move.

Sheer panic seized her. He meant to kill her. This wasn’t the plan. She wasn’t supposed to die, not now, not right after finding Seth, her—her…

Hers.

Her Seth.

She thrashed, trying to scream, before she could even remember that she had magic. Then she attempted to call it to her.

The boy brought her close, still squeezing her throat. He liked this, she realized. He liked her fighting, and he liked seeing her slowly lose strength. He could have just snapped her neck, but he was enjoying himself too much.

“Why?” she croaked.

“The queen’s obsessed with that asshole you’re protecting. She doesn’t need him. She has us! She hasme.” He snarled. “When you’re gone, she’ll see how useless he is and let me destroy him.”

Oh, fuck.

With only seconds left, she tried her best, reaching out until finally her hands were around his arms.

The vampire laughed, entirely delighted by her struggle. Sadistic fuck.

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