Page 58 of Cloak of the Vampire
How can she know?
I sucked in a breath and could barely let it out. I needed air. Open air. I had to get out somehow.
What the hell did she know?
But my knees gave in, and I fell to the ground, my heart fluttering rapidly in my chest. Vaguely, I knew what I was going through, being unable to breathe, unable to move, feeling this awful suffocation as if I would never know how to work my lungs again, as all I could see were black dots spreading across my vision.
And through it all, a distant song played in my head; then the world went dark.
Deep in the forest, no bird is safe,
For crumbles of berries, the Gods shall grow;
Found in the heart of nature’s womb,
The Morrow Gods shall come ...
I woke up on the floor of the entrance hall, feeling groggy and exhausted. Slowly, I sat up and leaned against the wall, too weak to stand.
For a few moments, all I could hear were my shallow breaths. Someone was heading my way. The distant thudding of footsteps got closer by the second. If I didn’t move, whomever it was would see me in my most vulnerable state.
Panicking, I crawled forward against the wall until I reached a side corridor. I moved around the corner and sat against the wall, trying to catch my breath. The footsteps echoed closer until I could tell they were in the entrance hall.
Then the footsteps stopped. I craned my neck, trying to listen as my heart fluttered hysterically in my chest; then a familiar voice said, “Good evening, Lord Renaldi.”
It was Logan, and apparently he wasn’t alone. Whose footsteps did I hear?
“What’s a cutie like you doing roaming around my League?” Renaldi responded, his voice light yet mocking.
I could only imagine what face Logan was making, being called acutie. “I’m patrolling to make sure none of our vampires are out of line,” my ex responded with barely concealed apprehension.
“How diligent,” Renaldi murmured, and I heard him shifting. Despite being in some sort of a daze, I was curious; I wished I could see what was happening instead of staring at the other wall of the dark corridor.
“If that’s all, I’ll leave now,” Logan said, an edge to his voice that wasn’t there before.
Renaldi chuckled. “But what’s the fun in that?” he said. “Don’t be such a stick-in-the-mud.”
“With all due respect, Lord Renaldi, I’m busy,” Logan answered through gritted teeth. “Now, if you’ll excuse me—”
A crashing sound made the wall I leaned against vibrate. “Your eyes are really something,” Renaldi murmured. They were closer to where I was now, and I wondered what the hell that crash was about. “Rayne doesn’t see your true potential. Such a waste ...”
“Let me go,” Logan growled, “before I do something I shouldn’t.”
I was no longer groggy. I was far too invested in what was happening out there, so much so that I wanted to risk it all and take a peek, see for myself what was going on.
Another noise reverberated through the hall, followed by a third, familiar voice of someone I hadn’t heard coming. “That’s enough.”
I froze. Ragnor.
Renaldi sighed before saying, “You’re in luck, cutie. I’ll let you go. But next time”—he paused—“we’ll finish what we started.”
Footsteps—Renaldi’s, most likely—thudded away, and as they did, Ragnor said, “Go to sleep, Kazar.”
Logan made a growling sound. “Next time, please don’t interfere, my Lord,” he ground out. “I was handling it fine by myself. Also, don’t coddle me. I can keep on patrolling.”
“It wasn’t a request,” Ragnor retorted coolly. “It was an order. I need you in top form tomorrow. I’ll take over patrolling.”
This didn’t sit well with Logan, who snarled, “But—”
