Page 16 of A Kingdom of Death & Darkness
One of them?I repeat in the back of my mind, but Thorn answers for me with a growl of rage.
“Fucking vampires.”
TEN
Crymson
I haveto be quick to follow behind his storming steps.
“Is it Christian?” I ask a bit breathlessly as we wind around the corner to the second-floor stairs.
“No. My men would have known before he even stepped a fucking foot across the Dark Lands.”
I nod, taking that fun fact in.
“So, it’s an enemy?” I ask, and I’m taking the stairs two at a time and still losing him as he enters the entry foyer and storms toward the grand front door.
“All vampires are enemies,” he says through grinding teeth and grips the golden handle hard before ripping the door open with all his rage on full display.
Only to be met with the most charming smile looking up at us.
“Crymson!” she cheers from beneath a thick black umbrella that she holds tightly in her hands despite the clear cloudless day.
The small vampire has to angle her head to see around Thorn’s massive body, but she spots me and gives a little wave from around his right wing. My mouth falls open at the sight of the blonde Princess that stands exactly on the threshold of the door.
“May I come in?” she asks with bright eyes and a wide smile.
“No.” Thorn answers flatly.
Her smile wavers, caught off guard for possibly the first time in her royal life.
“Please?” she adds sweetly like that might change his mind.
His arm swings forward, and he has nearly closed the door on the Blood Princess before I lunge forward to stop him. We both hold the large door handle in our palms, neither of us giving in.
“Thorn,” I hiss at him.
The hard line between his heavy brows never leaves.
“What?” he hisses back.
“Let. Her. In,” I demand of him.
There’s a war passing behind his hard glaring eyes. He did once say he’d give me anything, didn’t he? Seconds slip by between our stares, his firm and unyielding, mine big and pleading.
“Fuck,” he hisses before swinging open the door once more. “Please, do come in, Princess,” he says like the perfect gentleman.
I practically bounce forward on happy steps to greet her. Her long arms wrap around me, and the rustle of the sleek umbrella falls to the floor somewhere behind me.
Two large and imposing men stare at the two of us where they stand on the doorstep, wielding their own dark umbrella. They appear to be some sort of escorts or guards for the Princess. Whoever they are, I barely get a glimpse of them before the large door is closed firmly in their faces.
My teeth close, and my lips do an awkward hesitant pause as I wait for Princess Delilah’s outrage for her men.
But she only beams up at me when she finally takes a step back and takes me in.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” I say, secretly terrified that something’s happened back at her court that she hasn’t yet told us about.
“I know! I thought I’d never see you again!” Her eyes shift over the entryway room and the few maids and warriors who are now slowly filling the space.
