Page 3 of Bite The Terror That Feeds

If you were him, what would you do?

“Let me go.”

His eyes narrowed.To be killed by the Ethereal?

“If that’s my wish…”

But it’s not.

“He could help me find the Golden Serpents.”

But that’s ssso unlikely—

“He could at least try, but he won’t even bother.”

Because he has a war to deal with. You think that’s the last of the Ethereal?

I knew it wasn’t.

I’m sorry, Larisssa.

“He lied to me.”

He didn’t want to.

“I’m tired of the lies. I’m tired of the broken promises.”

Fang studied me.I’m sorry someone broke your heart.

“Thanks…”

Who was it?

“Nobody,” I said. “Fucking nobody.”

2

KINGSNAKE

I sat in my study, my empty glass on the table, the full decanter beside it. There was always a headache behind my eyes, no matter how much I drank. It’d only been a week, but that was all it took for the withdrawals to begin. If I’d feasted on another, I wouldn’t have to suffer this kickback. The strength I’d become accustomed to slowly leached from my veins, leaving a hollow shell behind.

The door to the study opened, and Viper entered.

I stared but didn’t have the energy to issue a greeting.

He sat in the chair across from me. “You need to feed, Kingsnake.”

“She made her desires perfectly clear.”

“Not on her.”

We still had a few prisoners and surviving enthusiasts. My people would share them with me because a starving king couldn’t serve his people. But that meant I’d have to bite someone else, feast on inferior blood, share intimacy with someone who wasn’t…wasn’t Larisa. “What happened with the orcs and goblins?”

Viper gave me that annoyed stare, like he wanted to press the previous topic. “They’ve migrated elsewhere in the mountains. I couldn’t find them.”

“Even the goblins?”

“They’ve all fled. They obviously had an escape contingency.”

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