Page 36 of Midwinter Night's Prince

“Seth?” That voice was one of the only things that could get his attention no matter the situation, but he didn’t so much as glance away from Blair. His sister repeated his name softly. “Seth, Alexius wouldn’t put Blair at risk. She’s our friend. You can trust him.”

He couldn’t bring himself to move, though. What if they were wrong? What if her guts spilled out when he stopped holding them together?

Cat’s manicured hands joined his and softly clasped his wrists, before pulling them off Blair.

Through her destroyed clothing, he could see the wound, still smothered with her blood. It was clean but far too deep.

She should have died.

She should be dead.

Against all expectation, she wasn’t. Blair had fallen asleep.

Focusing, his eyes caught movement within her flesh. Her tissue was coming together, fusing to heal much faster than it should. Faster than a vampire. As fast as his.

“How is she doing that?” Alexius’s sister, Diana, asked her brother.

The ancient shrugged. “Not one clue. But she…she isn’t the Blair who left a few months ago. Can’t you smell it? She feels different. There’s something else to her.”

Seth took a deep breath in, letting her familiar sweetness hit his nostrils. No difference struck him at first. She still had the most delicate, irresistible scent he’d ever encountered.

But then there was one notable difference—one he should have noted hours ago. She no longer smelled like food to him.

Seth never suffered from bloodlust intense enough to be a danger to mortal, but Blair’s scent had been a constant temptation whenever they’d run into each other. It wasn’t that he couldn’t imagine himself feeding on her—he’d leap at the chance. For pleasure. For fun. Not out of hunger. Never that.

With care, he gathered her in his arms. "Is the house ready yet?” he asked Catarina, who nodded.

“The painters finished a couple of weeks ago.”

That was all he needed to know. In instants, he was flying down the hill until he reached his family’s territory.

Where the antique mess his matriarch had built once stood, there were now two homes of equal size, though the first was considerably better appointed. He kicked the door open and walked into the home he’d never entered before—though it felt familiar.

After hiring an architect and approving the plans, he’d left Cat in charge as she lived in Oldcrest. She seemed to have done a great job, as he knew she would. The entryway was painted a brushed silver, except for the marble columns and the white vaulted ceiling. He didn’t pause to look at the paintings or sculptures his sister had chosen. Dashing to the back of the house, beyond his sitting room and formal ballroom, his office and guest bedrooms, Seth made his way to the owner’s suite.

This entire house felt like a window into another life, a life where things were simple for him—a life where he had roots and plans, his family close by.

He’d wanted that here, planned this house so it felt like the home he’d never had.

His bed was large enough to fit half a dozen people comfortably, with a simple wooden frame and canopy cut out from a single oak. Diana had surpassed herself. He was relieved to find that his mattress had been delivered, and either the hill’s cleaning crew or his sister had made it with silk sheets. Vampires weren’t susceptible to cold.

He laid her down in the center of the bed, and rushed out to the closest guest bedroom. His house was one story, but he’d taken a care to ensure that any guest could rest as far away from him as possible—the owner’s suite took up the greatest part of the north facade, and the guests were set up in the south east.

He took one thick duvet off the king-size bed and brought it right back to the owner’s suite to tuck Blair in.

She seemed so small in his bed.

Once he was done, Seth stood, restless and helpless. He was off-kilter, still on high alert, the sheer panic of the last few hours still running through him.

Sense caught up with him eventually. Seth realized he had something to do. Warn the others. Aveka knew where he and Blair were right now, and she’d be on their trail. Oldcrest needed all the notice it could get.

Yet Seth sat in his armchair, keeping his eyes on Blair’s chest, attuned to each deep breath.

She was alive, somehow, and nothing else mattered.

Until it did.

Come to me. Come to me now. I summon you.

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