Page 31 of Midnight Crown (Marked by Blood 2)

He looked into my eyes, and something changed. “I’m not good for you. For us. This—we both needed this, and it was amazing. But I can’t give you what you want. I can’t be who you need me to be.”

My eyebrows knitted together. “If you were that bad, I wouldn’t feel this way.”

He blinked twice, lips agape, then cleared his throat, averting his gaze. “I have to go.” His eyes brightened. “We need to attend our reception, but I can always tell them you are feeling unwell if you’d like some time to yourself?”

“Wait.” I stood, not really sure what to say. I couldn’t admit the truth, that I wanted him to stay with me and that whenever I was around him, I wasn’t as afraid.

He stared at me, eyes burning with knowing. It was as if he could read the unspoken words hanging between us, but ignored them anyway. “You’re better off without pinning your hopes on me. We can fuck, be friends, and be husband and wife in name, but that’s it. I can’t be the one who holds your heart.”

“Sebastian.”

“Don’t say my name like that,” he pleaded, his voice pained. “Stay in bed. Rest. I will hold off the court.”

“No. I’m coming.”

“The Shadow Kissed Ceremony is tonight. You should enjoy your last hours as a mortal.”

Regret seeped through his expression. He dressed and left the room without another word, and I looked at the clock. Time was ticking.

Only six hours were left until I was to become a vampire. He was right; I didn’t want to spend my last moments dancing, surrounded by people I didn’t know, or didn’t like. So I stood, walking to the window, taking in the blackness. I gripped into the windowsill, still feeling the ache Sebastian had left between my legs.

Slowly, I pressed my hands over my chest, and closed my eyes. I clung to my mortality, to my magic, afraid of a life without it.

TWELVE

TWELVE

Olivia

Droplets of water ran down my curves as I stood in the tub, staring at the open bathroom door leading to the darkening bedroom. I wrapped a towel around my body and stepped onto the cold floor, leaving a small pool with each step.

The windows filled with purple and pink as the final of the sun’s rays peeked inside. I looked out at the mountain spiked horizon, then down to the evergreen forest spilling out beyond the castle’s walls. The sweet smell of honey clung to hair as I wrapped the strands into a towel, knotting it on top of my head. I wondered if the scent would overpower me once I was immortal, seeing as my sense of smell would be heightened.

The sound of the door handle pulling down sent goosebumps over my arms. I quickly turned, holding the front of my towel in case it was anyone but Sebastian.

My father entered the room and flicked on the light. “Good, you’re here,” he announced and closed the door.

“There’s this thing we mortals do,” I exclaimed, my fingers tightening around the top of my towel. “It’s called knocking.”

“Kings don’t knock,” he replied with a shrug of his broad shoulders. “You are not ready.”

“I have an hour.”

“You must look your best. Where are your maids?”

I didn’t want to tell him I’d sent them away hours ago. “I can dress myself.”

His green eyes shone when they met mine. “You are a royal, Seraphina. Therefore, you must relinquish these stubborn ways.”

My eyebrows pinched down, wrinkling my nose. “Like dressing myself?”

“Precisely.” His fingers interlocked behind his back, his posture straightening as he glanced around my room. “My brother is still bitter about my giving you this room.”

“Yes. Kalon seems to have nothing but hatred for me.”

He cleared his throat, admiring a painting of some landscape I didn’t know. “You must try harder to get to know him.” His shoulders tensed under the tassels on his jacket embroidered in gold. “Kalon is your uncle, and a prince of this kingdom.”

“If only you knew,” I muttered under my breath, and he sped to me, startling my hands so I almost dropped my towel.

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