Page 27 of Heir of Blood and Moonlight

“Oh,” Micah said, looking a little shell-shocked. He looked at me. “So, you’re not just, like,avampire queen. You’rethevampire queen.”

I shook my head, tearing my focus away from Gavin. I didn’t want this responsibility. I didn’t want the future of an entire species resting on my shoulders. “I’m nobody.”

“You arenot,” Gavin snapped. “You areeverythingto our people. You are the only hope we have for a future. Andyou—” He turned his attention back to Micah. “There is a very small chance that if you were to father a child, and if that child were to be a girl, shemightbe a living vampire. Another queen.”

“Whoa,” Micah said, raising his hands defensively and shaking his head. “I’m not planning on having kids anytime soon.”

“The House of the Sun will not care about your plans,” Gavin told him. “So long as youlive, you will be in danger.” Gavin looked at me. “I highly recommend you consider changing him as soon as you’re strong enough. It’s the only way they’ll stop hunting him.”

“But—” I shook my head, my brow furrowing as I searched Gavin’s piercing gray eyes. He wanted me to turn Micah into an undead vampire? “He’s only seventeen,” I protested.

Gavin’s features softened. “It will take years for you to reach your full power. Only when you’ve bound your seven, uh—” He cleared his throat, thankfully stopping himself before mentioning anything about harems. “Your sevenattendants—only then will you be strong enough to initiate a successfulFirst Riteand create new undead vampires.”

“Hold up,” Micah cut in. “Don’t I get a say in whether I become a goddamnvampire?”

“Certainly,” Gavin said. “You could choose to die instead. Change or die. Those are your options.”

I rubbed my temples. My brain was starting to hurt. I avoided looking at the sigils on the walls or studying Gavin’s sigils too closely, afraid to find them dimming again, and instead blamed stress. It couldn’t possibly be anotherbloodfade. It hadn’t even been two hours since that last mind-blowingcommunionwith Gavin.

“So, I can’t go home.” Micah shook his head and shifted his thousand-yard stare to the wall of windows and the stunning view of Elliott Bay beyond. The sun was dipping lower, reflecting off the surface of the water as it closed in on the horizon. “That’s what you’re saying, right? So long as I’m stillalive, I can’t go home?”

I offered Micah an apologetic smile. “I’m so sorry. I never meant for any of this to reach you.” I stared down at my hands as I picked at my cuticles. “I should’ve just stayed out of your life.”

“No.” Micah’s sharp tone drew my attention back to him. He was shaking his head, his brows bunched together. “No, Sophie. Don’t say that.”

“It wouldn’t have made a difference,” Gavin said. “The Sun assassins would have figured it out, eventually. At least, this way, you can protect him.”

My chin trembled, tears welling anew.

“It’ll be all right.” Micah leaned forward and reached for my hands. His touch was strong and sure, steadying the tremors shaking my hands. “So, who is he to you?” Micah glanced at Gavin. “Your boyfriend?” There was a faint but noticeably sharp edge to his tone.

A quiet guffaw erupted from my chest. “No,” I said, shaking my head vehemently. “He’s my—” But my explanation cut off abruptly before I could tellmy sonthat Gavin was the first member of myharem, and heat suffused my neck and cheeks.

“I’m her guard,” Gavin offered.

I glanced his way, flashing him a quick but grateful smile.

Micah released my hands and narrowed his eyes. “And the other guys?” He nodded the back of his head toward the loft’s front door. “Are they Sophie’s guards, too?”

“They are,” Gavin drawled.

I choked on a nervous laugh, knowing the two mountains of men posted on the other side of the door were destined to befarmore than guards to me. My apparently prophetic dream from the other night pretty much guaranteed that.

Micah gripped his knees through his jeans. “And you’re allundead vampires.”

“We are.”

“I need a drink,” I said, popping up to my feet. I hustled into the kitchen and opened every cabinet around the aisle, disappointed when I found nothing but cookware. I moved on to the cabinets above the countertop.

In my peripheral vision, I saw Gavin stand and approach the sideboard tucked against the wall on the other side of the dining table. He opened a door in the middle cupboard and pulled out a bottle of what appeared to be very expensive Scotch. I was more of a wine girl, but in my current state of near panic, I wouldn’t be picky.

Glass clinked as Gavin withdrew a couple of short glasses and set them on top of the sideboard. He looked at Micah over his shoulder, his eyebrows raising as he held the bottle higher.

“No, thanks,” Micah said with a shake of his head. “I don’t drink.”

I rounded the kitchen island as Gavin uncorked the bottle, and by the time I reached him, he was holding out my drink. I tossed back half of what he poured in a single gulp. “Holy shit,” I said, exhaling a choking cough. It tasted like liquefied wood smoke and burned like fire going down. “That’s awful.”

Gavin poured some of the brown liquor into a glass for himself, the edge of his mouth tensing as he watched me down the rest of the Scotch.

---