Page 97 of Crown of Death

Numbness spreads from the bite, and I nearly sigh in relief. My brain fogs and I stop caring aboutanything.

Pull afterpull.

The world growsquieter.

The pain becomesless.

Deeper into the darkness I slip, eagerly embracing itswelcome.

But somewhere in the back of my mind, I feel the sensation of fangsretreating.

Deeper Islide.

Words whisper in my ear, but I’m too far down here to understandthem.

The dark mist is comforting. It beckons me to join and neverleave.

I swear, there’s a hint of warmth, just briefly. Soft lips tasting of guilt andlove.

But I’m so far down here, and the dark cloak of death wraps around me, claimingme.

Chapter 22

Burning.

Burning, burning,burning.

I lie in a vat of bubbling, boiling acid. It seeps into my skin. It eats through it, through every nerve, every muscle. Right down to mybones.

Everything that makes me a person boils and sizzles away as I burn and burn andburn.

Silently, I scream. Motionless, I writhe in pain andagony.

Dead, my heart lies dead in my chest. My lungs rest, entirely still. But my brain rages with infinite minutes ofpain.

The seconds leading up to my death were terrifying and painful. But they were nothing compared tothis.

This.

Resurrection. Cyrus’ voice cuts through my brain, over and over again. First death. Turn.Transformation.

Vampire.

Born.

Royal.

Immortal.

Onebeat.

After a few lifetimes in hell, I feelit.

Anotherbeat.

For the first time, something grabs at the edge of my brain, something beside theagony.

A vision. Of rolling greenhills.