Page 9 of Death Comes for Her
“I never disagreed,” a deeper voice returned. “Feeding from her would have killed her.”
“Obviously,” the colder one drawled.
Something heavy and impossibly soft settled over my chest and arms. A blanket, I assumed, when two more were added to the pile and gentle heat enveloped me. My chest caved from a drawn-out sigh.
“If you intend to feed from her, my lords, then may I suggest a period of recovery before you indulge?” the older voice wavered. He cleared his throat and audibly swallowed.
A deep groan broke up the silence. His voice was gruff, almost a growl. Dark like a forest at night, and promising danger. “How long? I’m practically salivating over her scent alone.”
Noise to the right made my head roll in that direction. Shuffling and a bag clasping closed before being lifted off a table. “Fairies are almost as immortal as vampires are, my lord. Her blood is liquid gold, practically tangible sunshine. Her body is so inherently infused with magic that it’s hard to say how long she’ll need to recover. A human would need four to eight weeks. She might need a few days.”
“I’m capable of commanding my hunger. Waiting won’t be an issue,” an airy voice affirmed. His voice was like the gentle vibrations of a distant thunderstorm in winter. He carried the latent power of cold wrath and frigid superiority.
“One week then.”
The judgment of the gods had reached me and deemed me unworthy. My sentence was finalized, and darkness returned.
∞∞∞
I was a young woman again, tossed into my dreams, writhing on a drawing room floor and covered in gore. Pain lancedthrough my back and a blood-curdling scream pitched from my lips. Agony twisted through me, and my throat burned. I twisted, sobbing in matronly arms while sounding like a dying animal caught in a trap.
“There, there, darling. Just a little bit more.” Her voice once soothed me like the warmth of sunshine kissing your face on the first day of summer. Now it rasped, raw from choking back tears. Fingers brushed through my hair, pushing tendrils behind my arched ears as another sharp ache tore down my spine.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Sierra.” A deeper voice boomed behind me, but he sounded so far away. A voice that once commanded armies now wavered under the weight of his actions—fear spurring him on despite his shame.
“Please forgive us.” A lingering kiss pressed to my temple. Pain radiated over my back, and warm blood trickled down my spine and into the grooves of my ribs. Molten gold soaked into the torn diaphanous gown around my waist.
Spasms seized my body. My jaw clenched so hard it was a wonder my teeth didn’t crack from the force.
Then I was hidden in darkness, some fortified alcove, and abandoned to the clutches of pain and misery. Curled up and bleeding, alone, I wore a blank stare and not much more.
∞∞∞
Feminine hands cradled my face. Heated porcelain met my lips. A heady, savory aroma drifted into my nose.
“Drink.” Drops of flavorful broth rolled over my tongue, most of it dribbled past my lips. “Please, drink.”
Peeling my eyes open, glimpses of a young woman bled through my blurry vision. Smooth umber skin, electric green eyes, brown coils escaping a bandana. She urged the mug to my lips again.
I gulped greedily, humming as warmth spread through my belly.
“Good.” She sighed with relief. A cloth dabbed at the spillover coating my chin and neck. “The lords will be pleased. I’ll return later with more. Go back to sleep.”
My body obeyed.
∞∞∞
Another dream washed over my reality. One nightmare that visited me frequently for years had come to torment me again.
Glass windows of a grand palace shattered from a reverberating explosion. The beams of early morning light that had streamed through turned dark. My feet carried me over sharp, shattered panes of glass. Red, dark and thick as mortal blood, wept over the canvas outside.
A crimson moon beamed terrifying light over the kingdom. Below the palace, citizens screamed as a horde of dark figures charged through the crumbling out city walls. Thousands of armor-clad figures appeared to sweep into the kingdom like ants from my vantage point.
Fair folk leapt into the sky, iridescent wings fluttering, droning like a frightened swarm. Arrows whizzed after them. Bodies thudded back down, bones breaking with sickening crunches as they splat on the cobblestone.
That was the first time I heard flesh tearing as vampires sank their teeth into exposed throats.
Someone grabbed my arm… a voice I’d know all my life called to me, begging me to move, to run and follow.
