Page 26 of Darkest Heart

“But it would be so fun to watch,” I teased.

After a few seconds, she sighed. “You’re an asshole.”

“The worst I’ve been told.” I closed the distance between us after she moved back. “So, will you behave if I bring her out of there and up here?”

Her spiteful glare bore into me, reaching the depths of my soul as the grinding of her teeth growled in my ears. “Yes.”

“Good girl.” I pressed my thumb to her thick lips, dragging the bottom one down, feeling the inside her mouth. “I’m going to enjoy you.” I laced her thigh, and she tensed.

Fear poured into her features, and for the first time, I heard true panic in her tone. “I thought you were going to just feed on me?”

I moved my hand away. “Don’t want your sister to live? Because with the dagger I saw and her lack of awareness, she’ll be the first to be killed in the tournament.”

Tears glossed her eyes, but she didn’t let a single one out. Blinking them away, she moved her hand onto my leg, disgust roiling her features.

“Stop,” I ordered. I’d never had a mortal look at me like that.

She pursed her lips, her hair a mess of waves around the tops of her arms. “Did I ruin the moment for you?” Challenge threaded her gaze.

“I have to go.” My muscles tensed as I flexed my fingers. “Do not leave this room again, or I won’t call Adrian off the next time, and I’ll ensure your sister is the first to go.”

I didn’t look back to see her reaction, but I only hoped it instilled fear in her. I sped back to my room on the other side of the castle, narrowly missing a noble, as my mind reeled from Elizabeth’s reaction.

NINE

Sebastian

Erianna sat across from the infamous Salvor, the head of the ‘family’, Malum Dominor. Smoke pillared under the low lighting of the lamps as three men, suited, all wearing the large, square diamond-encrusted rings.

I remembered finding one on a blood den binge when I’d first turned. Someone had lost it. I wondered if they were killed for the mishap. Underneath, the white gold was engraved with a skull and leaves. They didn’t know I had it at my home; while I wouldn’t pass here, in the center of the organization, if I found myself far away enough among another branch, it could be handy to use as a way to get in.

Zach got on me a lot for that, collecting things that could be used later, as if I was planning on becoming a spy or something.

I turned my gaze to Erianna, whose brows pinched inward as she ran her glare over Salvor’s tattooed arms and neck. Each one represented a branch of their family, including the secret clubs which blended into the mortal world. I glanced at the long, velvet green sofas where sorceresses sprawled, two of them pregnant. Even Sargon couldn’t find many of the rare beauties, as they were the only beings we could mate with as they were also descended from gods.

Erianna leaned over the round table between them, her hand firmly on her dagger. “I would say it’s good to see you again, Salvor, but?”

“We both know you’d be lying.” He picked up a glass, emptying the brown liquor until only ice remained. He handed it to one of the suited men, who quickly returned with another, cold ice steaming into illusory swirls. “What do you need?”

“Right down to business then,” she said, “some things never change.”

He sat back in the armchair, slouching his knees outward. She cleared her throat, and Zach stood next to the chair where she sat. Both of them knew him well. I guessed being centuries old would mean run-ins would happen with almost every old vampire.

Zach’s stoic expression served him well for once. He didn’t appear fazed that we were standing in a room with twenty of the most ruthless men in Sanmorte. “We’re looking for the princess.”

His smoky, gray stare fixated on Erianna, not bothering to acknowledge me or Zach. “I’ve heard.”

I inserted myself, although she’d warned me not to. “You know something then.”

He didn’t so much as glance at me. “I know everything.” He shrugged, continuing as if we were merely discussing the weather. “I heard the queen is here.”

Ravena stood in the shadows, listening but never making herself known. Everyone knew he didn’t hold much esteem for the royals, although she didn’t act like one. Ravena didn’t care for Sanmorte or Sargon. Just her daughter. In that, we were the same. She walked out, her tanned leg sliding out between the slit in her dress. She ran her hand over her crownless head, an item she’d quickly discarded before flying out here. “That is me.” Her heels clicked against the marble floor, and without an ounce of hesitation, walked to Salvor’s side. “The princess is my daughter. If you know anything, I beseech you to tell us.”

“Where is the king?” The corner of his lips twitched, his chiseled jawline tensing. “Let me guess, he could not be bothered to attend?”

She placed a hand on her hip, tapping her painted nail against it. “He’s at the Black Mountain Retreat, but I am sure you are aware of that already.”

“Good.”

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