Page 47 of Clash of Kingdoms
I shook my head. “I can’t.”
“Aurelias—”
“Because she’ll beg me to feed from her instead, and the only way I’ll be able to deny her is by telling her the truth, and I’m not going to do that.” I looked elsewhere. “I can’t…I won’t.”
Kingsnake was quiet for a long time. “Then let’s hope she never finds out.”
“I know none of you would betray me.”
“But she’s a smart girl, Aurelias. She’ll figure it out eventually.”
“And hopefully that happens when the war is over…and it’ll make it easier for her to watch me leave.”
Too angry to look at her, I stayed out of the castle and avoided her. I’d been gone for days, almost died on that journey, and all I’d wanted was to come back to her in our warm bed… And now I didn’t want her at all.
It was the kind of anger that had no respite. It burned inside me long and hard, a fire that had unlimited kindling, the kind with so much smoke, it polluted the air and burned the lungs. General Macabre came up to me at my post near the mountains, where the men were working with the dragons to organize the boulders. “King Rolfe requests your presence in the great hall.”
I wanted to deny his request, because Harlow would probably be there, but our personal problems weren’t his problems. In fact, he’d rather not know a damn thing about it. Without a word, I climbed onto the horse and rode back to HeartHolme and through the open gate. The city was being prepared for the exodus of the Kingdoms, living quarters rearranged to accommodate as many people as possible and protect them from the cold.
I rode up to the castle then dismounted before I entered the double doors and strode up the stairs. When I entered the great hall, it was just Huntley and his brother waiting for me. The gauze that padded his shoulder was visible under his clothing. Without his remarkable ability to heal, he probably would have bled out and died.
There was a bottle and three glasses on the table. He pushed one of the glasses toward me, an invitation.
I sat down.
Huntley uncapped the bottle and filled all our glasses.
I drank the whole thing in one go.
He eyed me but didn’t comment.
Ian rested his fingertips on his glass, like he’d already had enough for the day.
Sunlight was slowly leaving the horizon, changing the sky from an ugly gray to hues of pink and purple.
I grabbed the bottle and refilled the glass.
Huntley gave a quiet sigh like he was exhausted, his fingers rubbing over the scruff of his jawline. “Rancor and the Teeth are making their return through the tunnel back to our lands. But in the meantime, I think our provocation with Vine will undoubtedly incite his rage. I think we can expect a siege.”
Ian stared at the table. “I hope it doesn’t happen before Atticus and the Kingdoms arrive…”
“So do I.” Huntley sat back and took a drink. “We need to take out that crystal.”
Despite our being at war with the Ethereal for over a century, this felt infinitely more complicated.
Huntley turned to me. “He got angry when he realized you were a vampire.”
My eyes met his.
“That means he doesn’t like you…or he fears you.”
“Probably both,” I said coldly.
Huntley continued his stare. “He said he’s met your kind before. Who’s he referring to?”
“I’m certain he’s never been to my lands, so he must be referring to other vampires in some other part of this big world.”
“Are all vampires like you?” he asked. “Sired by snake venom?”