Page 123 of A Serenade To The Elf Queen
I can’t resist smiling back this time.
Svenn seems to be in a better mood this morning. I notice he said ‘we’. Like we’re in this together. This feels like an unofficial truce for our fight yesterday. But I can’t forget the threat he made to my people.
“Svenn, we’re crossing the Veil today.” I swallow the lump in my throat. “If the Ash Tree deems you unworthy, you won’t be able to pass.”
“Do you think I’m worthy?” he suddenly asks. He waits for my reply as if it’s the only thing that matters to him. If it were up to me alone, I would have said yes in a heartbeat.
“Only you have the answer to that, Svenn,” I respond softly.
He gives me one of his heart-breaking gazes.
“If you ride by my side today, I can explain to you about my world.” I realize how dumb my offer is. I can almost taste the rejection in my mouth.
“I’d like that,” he replies.
Svenn’s lust-filled gaze remains on me, and my heart does an excited somersault in my chest. It starts chanting ‘mine’ over and over. I tell it not to get too attached to its stupid ideas.
I look away and pad across the tent to the adjoining bath space, inhaling deep as I walk. I don’t think I’ve been breathing properly since he entered my life. The water in the basin is cold and my hairbrushes are scattered on the floor. My handmaidens and the Tluryan elves must have been too scared to linger near my tent. It’s no trouble at all. In fact, I prefer dressing myself and doing things on my own.
When I return, Svenn is clad in the derelict Grimsbane armor he picked up from yesterday. Gone is all the rust and dirt, replaced by a blinding shine. It must have taken him all night to polish the gear. I drink in the way his arm muscles flex as he adorns the last piece of the tactical suit.
It’s beautiful… He’s beautiful.
“Eighty-seven heads,” Svenn mutters. His voice lowers to a frightening range.
Something has changed in the air. I can feel his mood darkening as he settles in the chair.
“One hundred seventy-three eyeballs,” he rasps in his delirium. My heart starts hammering wildly as I register his deadly intent.
No, this isn’t him. It’s the armor…
His eyes snap to the tent’s entrance, a predator on top of the food chain and the entire world is his meal.
Every life in this camp is in danger. Svenn should have never worn that stupid piece of metal. Its hatred has consumed him entirely turning him into a bloodthirsty monster. I have to do something to stop this madness. First, I need to get close to him. I run and jump onto his lap.
“You can take my blood,” I say quickly.
His callused hand wraps around my wrist instantly as he stares down at me. Hot breaths tickle my ear, sending shivers to my spine. The feral intensity of his eyes drowns me.
He tilts his head. “Are you the first offering?”
My stomach churns at the question. I give him a curt nod of assent.
A sharp gasp leaves me the moment his fangs sink deep into my flesh. My instinct has me pulling away at the first wave of pain, but I am trapped in his powerful grip. Flames lick my skin like a vicious attack from an army of fire ants. This bite is nothing like the gentle one he gave me on our wedding night.
His tongue rolls against my skin as he swallows.
Once. Twice.
My body caves in, sinking farther into his hold. I try not to writhe from the pain.
“Keep going,” I urge him with a shaky breath.
The pain suddenly ceases, and he disengages from me slowly. All the anger seems to drain from his face.
Svenn is staring at me with an emotion I can’t parse. It’s almost like he has just been shaken from a dream.
He kisses the open wound quickly. His mouth moves to lick and suck every single drop from my skin. I feel the pain slowly dissipating, turning into something numbing and almost pleasurable.
