Page 19 of Bite The Terror That Feeds

My eyes narrowed. “Because he’s the only one who would know the whereabouts of any remaining Golden Serpents. I warned you about this endeavor, but you insisted on moving forward.”

“Why are you asking for his alliance against the Ethereal if he’s a madman?”

“Because the Ethereal are coming for us, and I can’t defeat them alone. I don’t have a choice.”

“And if you do defeat them, then what? Your father subjugates us all?” Her voice had risen to a pitch, her fear audible.

“No.”

“But you just said that’s his ambition.”

“I would speak to him—”

“What if he can’t be reasoned—”

“I will figure it out when the time comes, Larisa.” I raised my voice, bringing the argument to a halt. “Trust me, I don’t want to live in a world where vampires become the monsters we’re believed to be. I don’t want to live in a society crueler than the one we liberated. How will I accomplish that? I don’t know. But I assure you, I will figure it out. In the meantime, I need to move forward, because letting the Ethereal wipe us off the face of the earth is not the solution.”

* * *

We left the campsite before daybreak and rode farther east, reaching the rocky climate of the mountains. The pathways became steeper and the horses grew tired quicker, but I pushed on to our next checkpoint, reaching the same clearing where we’d stayed before—and my men had turned on me.

It was just a short ride to Cobra’s domain, but it had been a long ride so far and we were both tired.

Larisa fed the horses and gave them water, turning into their caretaker without having to be asked.

All we had was our bedrolls, but I only unrolled one, assuming we would share. Farther up the mountain was snow, so it was about to get even colder. I made a fire before I went on a hunt, bringing back two rabbits half an hour later.

She was by the fire, the horses grazing around her. “You can hunt.”

“I can do more than hunt.” I began to dress our dinner, and she didn’t blink an eye over it.

“I just figured, as king, you didn’t do that sort of thing.”

“Being fat and lazy is for humans, not my kind.” My father had taught me to hunt when I was a boy, taught me all the skills of survival, and I continued to use those skills to this day. I doubted he’d gotten his hands dirty once since he’d become an Original. I placed the meat over the fire, and then minutes later, we had our dinner.

She ate her food without complaint, even though it was inferior to the gourmet food we had at the castle. A life of luxury hadn’t softened her at all. My other prey quickly believed they were royalty, believed they were better than others, but Larisa never suffered those kinds of power trips.

We ate our dinner in silence, the crackling of the fire the only sound between us. An owl hooted into the night, and the breeze picked up and rustled the trees before it died out again. Her armor gleamed in the firelight, formfitting and alluring.

We finished our dinner and washed our hands with our canteens. Now there was nothing to do but go to sleep and start a new day.

“I have a question.” She sat with her knees to her chest, her arms hooked around her calves.

I waited.

“You sleep at night, but I thought you only slept during the day.”

“I used to—before you.”

Her eyes held mine, starry in the firelight. “It doesn’t bother you?”

“As long as I can continue to serve my people, it makes no difference to me. Viper is awake during the night, so having us available during opposite times is beneficial.”

“How did you become king?”

“I’m the first of our kind. Well, technically, Viper is, but he was never interested in the role.”

“Why?”

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