Page 33 of The Star's Sword

“He’s a slayer and immortal,” I said. “You should be.”

“You should be stronger though, right?” Mark said, folding his arms stubbornly. “Again, I’m not afraid of him. Or his brother. Or even Simon.” He thought for a moment. “Then again, I forget what fear feels like.”

I swallowed. “Look, if life is so good for you with the celestials giving you vampires whatever you want, why will you support anyone’s rise?”

“Chaos,” Mark said. “We need something to shake things up. And we vampires need access to more blood.” He pointed up, as if to the sky realms. “There isn’t enough right now, and vampires die every day due to lack of humans to feed on. Those angels, it’s said their blood can pour forever. If we captured a few hundred of those assholes, who stay up there letting vampires starve by keeping all of the humans away from us, then we could feed forever, potentially, without letting humans go extinct.” He shrugged. “That’s the thought anyway.”

“And are you starving?” I asked. “Or are the elder vampires fine?”

Mark’s eyes sparkled. “I have endless offers to feed. More than I’d want, usually. Because it feels so good, given the age of my blood.”

“I’ll take your word on that,” I said. “But you said other vampires are dying of starvation.”

Mark lifted a shoulder. “I can’t compensate for poor hunters who are too out of control to feed properly. Nor could I feed every vampire by turning down those who want only me to feed on them. But it’s only a matter of time before things get really desperate, and then the vampire world will fall into chaos. Even with Simon’s conservation plan, humans will never come back in big enough quantities, and new thralls become vampires every day.”

“I see the problem,” I said.

“Come on,” he said, eyes suddenly hungrier as he looked at me, as if the mere talk of feeding had made him hungry. “Show me what your blood tastes like. I promise to leave you intact for your incubus.”

I glanced at the bed. “But you only feed the old-fashioned way.”

“I might make an exception for you,” he said. “Or perhaps I could still seduce you. I saw you walking with other males in a familiar way when I was watching you from the sky. You’re not exclusive with him.”

My jaw tightened. “I’m not available.”

He pouted, then reached forward suddenly, grabbing me by the wrist. “Want to see vampire strength?”

Before I could answer, he literally jerked me in against him, lifted me into his arms, and then threw me twenty feet away, managing to land me directly on the bed, which was thankfully huge enough to land on without hitting any of the posts.

My head hurt just from the sudden jolt of being thrown across a room like I was a bag of garbage.

I shook my head, but Mark leapt all the way from where he’d thrown me onto the bed above me, crawling over me as I looked up at the ornately carved wooden ceiling.

I shoved at his shoulders, but he just came forward, nuzzling in against my neck.

“Come on, there’s something about you I want so much. You’re here already, talking to me. You smell so good.” His fangs extended. “I don’t have to ask, you know. I can do anything I want in this world.”

“I will kill you if you go farther,” I said, reaching for my sheath as subtly as possible. Mark was a gorgeous vampire, but no one, and I meant no one, could force me against my will, and he would learn that.

Mark paused, seeming to believe my threat. “Most humans would die to be in this position. And anyone trying to impress me would surely want me to feed on them. Why don’t you? I’m a duke. I would be a powerful ally.”

“I don’t do that kind of diplomacy,” I said, trying not to be intimidated by his immense body. Despite the way he’d thrown me and the ominous way he threatened me, I still felt more teased and tested than anything else.

Finally, Mark sat back, glaring down at me like he didn’t know what to do with me. “I don’t know whether to respect you or be frustrated. But if you want to beat Vasara—”

Before he could finish, the large, stained glass window depicting roses next to the bed shattered loudly, sending glass all over us, as Mark used his body to shield me from it.

Boots thudded on the ground and Mark was suddenly jerked away from me, pulled from the bed and tossed out the window by a very angry, celestial Samael who had just flown in to find us.

For a moment, I thought Mark was going to fall, but then his wings flew out, lifting him upward, and he launched back in through the window, hitting Samael with both feet and knocking him back completely over the bed.

Samael stood quickly and put a hand up, and a cage formed around Mark, trapping him in metal bars almost instantly.

Mark wrapped a hand around one and hissed. “Shit. Lead. How did you know?”

“One of my best friends is a vampire, you waste of air and space.” He pulled out his long, black katana and pointed it at Mark as he looked at me, still laying on the bed, somehow managing to stay beneath Sam when he’d been launched over me by Mark.

It was lucky the ceilings were so tall.

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