Page 136 of A Serenade To The Elf Queen
“I’m not afraid of you.” Her voice is firm, but I note the increase in her pulse rate.
I lean closer, invading her space until all she can breathe, and feel is me.
“Liar. I can sense fear.” I stroke her lower lip with my thumb.
I hear her sharp intake of air. Instead of fear, I’m inciting something else. It’s good to know I’m not the only one still affected by whatever it is we have between us. But fuck me, because the touch teases me more than it does her.
A delicate frown forms in between her eyes. “You didn’t give me an answer to our deal.”
“Is it worth risking your life for a meaningless pledge that doesn’t have any binding?” I almost sigh.
“It does have binding. You have my word and I’ll have yours. It’s a promise between us,” she insists, raising her hand.
This time I take it if only because I’m desperate for her touch. “Deal. I’ll be House Wiolant’s pet.”
A triumphant smile curves her lips. I want to kiss the living hell out of it. Heat surges in my veins. It doesn’t help that the soft turquoise nightgown highlights every tantalizing curve of her body. I release her hand reluctantly. She’s risking herself every second she stays in my vicinity.
“You said I have one more wish,” she suddenly says.
That’s right.
The grand clock back in the room read five minutes to midnight.
“It’s unfair to ask you not to hurt people. You said Nightwalkers still have cravings and thirsts.” Her words are barely a whisper against the dark. “I volunteer to be your personal blood donor.”
The girl is full of surprises.
“In turn, I want you to spare my people,” she continues.
Her second wish is yet again something so selfless. For some reason, it fuels a burning anger inside of me.
“They ridiculed you, hurt you, sacrificed you to serve their own purpose. Not a single one of them deserves your kindness,” I rasp.
“That’s not for you to decide.” She glares back at me.
I remind myself this is the same girl who put herself in front of a monster ten times her size to save a stranger. The devil knows I don’t deserve to be saved either.
The innocent doe’s eyes are still staring at me.
That night in Kheirall’s castle when she was holding her uncle’s arm, that was not a fear for her own life. It was for everyone else in the room.
She continues staring at me like she can read into my soul. I look away before she realizes the pitch black in it or worse, if she finds I don’t even have one. I’m a cursed, damned beast.
“This is your second wish?” I know it takes a lot of courage to come and ask me for this. Especially after the rough bite from this morning.
“It—it is. You can take from me.”
I hear the tremor in her voice. Pain lances at me over the sound.
She tilts her head to the side, offering herself. I brush a lock of her long hair behind her ear to reveal her neck. Her body trembles beneath my touch.
“What happens if I lose control and drain you completely?” I ask flatly.
“I’ll make sure you won’t,” she murmurs back. She keeps her face carefully controlled. Something sharp glints in her hand.
A paper-knife.
She’s going to have to do better than that.
