by Leigh Walker
“D-Don’t hurt me. I belong to the prince.”
The guard threw his head back and laughed, fangs flashing. “Everyone knows His Highness doesn’t drink from humans, even the pretty ones. He doesn’t have it in him, or so they say.”
His blazing eyes raked over me again. “But I do. I will make up for His Highness’s shortcomings, I daresay.”
I scooted backward, away from him, and laughter racked his powerful chest. “You won’t get very far, my dear. Not that I mind a nice chase—it does get the blood pumping.”
“You don’t want to drink from me. I’ll hurt you.”
“Oh, that’s adorable. Like a kitten trying to scratch a mountain lion. I’ll take your bet and raise it, sweetheart.” He stepped closer, nostrils flaring. “Let’s do this, shall we? I haven’t fed in days, and you’re absolutely mouthwatering.”
“Please, no—”
But he hissed, fangs bared, and launched himself at me.
“No. No!” I tried to roll out of the way, but he landed too close, immediately pinning me down. White-hot fear shot through me as he forced my wrists to the ground and climbed on top of me, grinning.
“Feisty little thing, aren’t you? I like it even better when they fight back.”
“I don’t know if I’m feisty, but you’re definitely a pig!” I tried to knee him in the groin, but he was too fast, maneuvering out of the way while tightening his grip.
“Ah well.” He winked at me. “You won’t have to tolerate me for long.” He reared his head back, fangs flashing once more in the sunlight.
Then he plunged them into my neck.
I screamed bloody murder. He sank his teeth deeper into me, moaning in pleasure. A searing-hot pain, unlike anything I’d ever experienced before, undulated through my whole body. I couldn’t even comprehend it. A giant rusty icepick being thrust into my neck, a jagged knife, a flaming sword—none of those descriptions gave the pain justice. It obliterated everything else. I stopped screaming. I stopped fighting. I just lay there and prayed that I would die quickly as he sucked the blood from my body.
But my attacker stopped moaning. He started to cough and splutter. He pulled his fangs out as he choked then vomited hot blood all over my chest. His blazing eyes went wild with surprise as they bulged out of his head. He clutched his neck, wheezing.
I scooted out from under him just before he collapsed.
The vampire’s body convulsed violently several times before he went still. I waited for a few minutes, holding my breath, to make sure he wouldn’t suddenly spring to life.
When he didn’t, I got up and kicked him. Hard.
“Serves you right. And no means no, by the way.” I kicked him again.
Then I stole his horse and rode toward the castle.
Anthony had told me I’d ridden horses before, so I trusted myself to figure it out. I held the reins gently, hoping that the horse knew where we were headed. I encouraged her with kind words as she followed the path. She seemed to be going in the right direction.
Soon enough and much more quickly than I would have made it on foot, we crested the final hill. The magnificent gray-stone castle rose up before me, surrounded by its high wall. The deep-purple flags were still flying, sailing into the sky. The horse whinnied, and I stroked her mane. “Good girl. You got us here. Thank you.”
But since we’d made it, I didn’t know what to do. The enormous entrance through the wall was closed. What am I supposed to do—go and knock? What if another hungry vampire answers the door?
I looked down at myself. I was covered in blood, my hair matted and snarled. It wasn’t as if waltzing into the village was an option. I would frighten everyone half to death.
“Maybe we should try the back door.” I clicked the reins and guided the horse along the crest of the hill. We rode toward the tree line near the rear of the fortress, the castle side. I watched carefully for any signs of guards, but fortunately, we seemed to be alone.
From the edge of the forest, I saw the door that Anthony had brought me through hours before. I climbed off the horse and tied her to a nearby tree. Maybe the door was still open. I decided to try it, at least. It was better than just standing here, half frozen and covered in blood, until someone captured me.
I pushed on the door, and it gave—but only an inch, until it hit the large bolt that secured it. Cursing, I stalked back to the trees. The horse whinnied, and I petted her nose. “I’ll get you some water soon. I promise.” She whinnied again, sounding as though she might doubt me.
After another minute of quiet, I heard voices. “He was a bloody idiot for disobeying Her Highness,” someone said.
“It was an accident,” someone else replied. “He didn’t mean to drain her. It happens, you know. You would think the queen would understand. It was just a blood slave, after all. Nothing to get your knickers in a twist about.”
Their voices drew closer, and I hid behind a tree. “I guess she was partial to that particular slave. But I didn’t think she would stake him for it. Still, who knows what the queen’s thinking? She hasn’t been herself lately.”
“Wait,” the first person said. “D’you smell that?”
“Yeah, I do.” The second person went quiet for a moment. “Is someone hiding out here?”
Before I could think of running, they crashed into the forest. Stupid, crazy-fast vampires! I watched from behind the tree as the horse whinnied then reared up.
The guards came closer, their hands up. “Easy, girl,” the stockier one said. “We won’t hurt you.”
The horse whinnied again.
The taller one untied her and took the reins. “Who left you all alone out here?”
The stockier one inhaled deeply then pointed right at me. “There. A girl, behind that tree.”
I started to run but tripped over a root almost immediately. I tumbled to the ground, scraping my knees. “Please don’t drink from me!” I hollered. “The last vampire who did died from it!”
The vampires stood over me in an instant.
“By the gods”—the taller one looked at the shorter one—“that’s the Lady Victoria.”
The stocky guard peered down at me. “What on earth are you doing out here? What happened to you?”
“N-Nothing.” I smoothed my sweater, which was covered in my congealed blood. “Nothing much.”
They looked at each other again then back at me. “Let’s get you inside, and quickly. Otherwise, the prince will have us both staked and put on a spit over an open flame. C’mon.” The stocky one held out his hand for me. “And that’s an order, my lady.”
The morning sun streamed through the windows of my chambers. I stood in the light as Mistress Olivia inspected me, her face pinched and pale as she took in my appearance.
“By the gods!” She put a hand over her heart. “What on earth happened to you?”
My hand went to my neck, tentatively touching the bite marks. “I had an altercation.”
“That, I can see.” Her eyeballs almost popped out of her head. “Who did this? I’ll have his fangs!”
“He’s dead.” I shuddered. “So you don’t need his fangs.”
“I just… I can’t…” Mistress Olivia shook her head vehemently. “His Highness can’t see you like this. He couldn’t bear it.”
I nodded. “I should get in the bath.”
But before I could run for the safety of the tub, the door flew open. Dominic stormed in, followed closely by Anthony.
He didn’t say a word. He just rushed to me and took me in his arms, cradling me.
So of course, big, bad time traveling vampire killer that I was, I burst into tears. “I-I’m sorry,” I blubbered. “I came back as soon as I could. But then a guard found me in the field, and he tried to drink from me and vomited my blood all over me, then he died—”
“Shh, shh, I’ve got you.” Dominic kissed the top of my head, still holding me gently but very firmly. “Tell me who it was.”
“I don’t k-know. He w
as a guard. Tall, blond, with a chestnut horse. I took the horse and rode here. I left his body in the field.”
“Okay. It’s okay.” He kissed my hair again then turned to Anthony. “Make sure the horse is returned to the stable. Then go and find the body and burn it. We must leave no trace.”
“Of course, Your Highness.” Anthony hesitated at the door. “It’s nice to see you, Tor.”
I peered up from Dominic’s chest. “Ah, so you’re not mad at me anymore?”
Anthony’s eyes sparkled. “You remember.”
I nodded, still clinging to Dominic. “Yes, I remember.”
The prince gazed down at me. “What?”
Anthony raked a hand through his hair. “She went through, Dom. I told you, I saw it myself.”
“I did. I made it to the other side,” I said. “But then I came back.”
Dom shook his head. “I don’t understand.”
“I didn’t forget you this time. When I got back home, I realized that I wanted to be here. With you. So I came back.”
Dom didn’t turn from me. “Leave us,” he commanded.
Mistress Olivia and Anthony were gone at once.
The prince stroked my face. “Now tell me everything, please.” His voice was tender.
“I will.” I looked down at myself, covered in sticky dried blood and stiff, filthy clothes. “But I might need to have a bath first.”
He never took his eyes from mine. “Your wish is my command, my lady.”
27
Faithfully
Dominic drew the bath for me, adding just enough bubbles so I’d be covered. He checked back once I’d settled in. “I’ll wait for you in your room.”
Grateful for the bubbles, I hesitated. “If it’s all right with you, I’d like you to stay. I don’t want you out of my sight.”
He grinned lopsidedly. “I feel the same.”
When he settled onto the floor nearby, I thought I saw him blushing a little. I supposed the whole thing was a little awkward, me in the tub, him on the floor. I decided not to think about it.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am that you’re back,” Dom said. “I’m so glad that you’re safe.”
Smiling, I sank down in the hot water. It was pure heaven. “I’m sorry I left like that.”
“That’s not what’s important.” He blinked at me. “I can’t believe that you remember everything. That’s never happened before.”
“I guess it’s because I went through of my own volition? I wasn’t called. Could that be the reason?”
“Yes, but we can’t know until we test it again.” Dom nodded. “We certainly have a lot to talk about.”
“Yes, we do. But while I’m apologizing, I should say—I’m sorry about that guard. Not that he’s dead but that Anthony has another mess to clean up.”
“He’ll be happy to burn the bastard.”
I nodded. “I didn’t plan on being attacked—it didn’t even occur to me that I wasn’t safe here. Which in retrospect is silly and naive, but still… I hadn’t met a vampire like that before. He was so determined. He wouldn’t listen to me, and he wouldn’t stop.”
The muscle in the prince’s jaw went tight. “I hope he choked for a long time and that it was painful. If he weren’t already dead, I would go and kill him now. What he did to you was a crime. If keeping your secret wasn’t the most important thing, I would bring his body back here and make an example of him.”
“T-Thank you.” I let out a shuddery breath. “But speaking of painful… When he bit me, it hurt so much worse than I could’ve imagined. It was terrible.”
Dom’s lips went white with fury. “That’s because he wanted it to hurt.”
“What do you mean?”
He cursed and sat back against the wall. After a moment, he said, “It’s not always like that. You saw my parents at dinner the other night—both of those blood slaves were okay after being bitten. Mia endured more pain because my mother was trying to make a point. But Constance, the girl my father fed from, was quite all right. It’s because he was gentle with her.” Dom stared straight ahead, fury plain on his face. “Feeding can be very gentle. Some of the humans even express feeling enjoyment from it. What that guard did to you is unspeakable. He’s a monster. An abomination.” He sprang to his feet, hands clenched.
“Dominic, it’s all right. I’m all right now.”
“I should never have let you leave here. This never would’ve happened.” He paced the small room.
“I didn’t exactly give you much say in it.”
He took a deep, steadying breath. “I’d like to take the marks away, if that’s all right with you.”
“The bite marks? You can do that?” He’d mentioned something about this before, but there was so much other new information to take in, I hadn’t pursued the topic.
He nodded. “My kind has become proficient, over thousands of years, in remaining undetected. When you first came here, I fed from you, and so did the guard I told you about. You prepared to escape, and I didn’t know where you were going or who would see you. Though I was weakened, I removed the marks before you left the castle. ”
“I don’t remember that.”
He half smiled at me. “You don’t remember any of it, though, do you?”
“Ha. I guess not.” I watched him, his tall, handsome form outlined in the sunlight from the window. “How does it work?”
Dominic came closer. “Removing the marks doesn’t hurt. I promise you.”
Our eyes locked. “I don’t remember everything that’s happened between us, but I know that you’ve never hurt me. I…trust you.” Saying the words aloud, I knew they were true.
“You can trust me with your life.”
Time stopped for a moment as we stared at each other.
“Thank you,” I said softly. Then I cleared my throat. “Why didn’t you remove the other marks—the ones on my back?”
He sighed. “I suppose because I knew they weren’t visible to others, and I was hoping that at some point, they’d help you to remember me.”
“Well I remember you now.” I smiled at him. “And I still want you to tell me about…the thing you wouldn’t tell me about. Before.”
He nodded. “We’ll get to that. I promise. But first, your neck. I can’t bear to see it like that. May I?”
“Of course.”
He came closer, held his hand out toward me, and closed his eyes. I watched, but nothing particularly exciting happened. No lightning bolts shot out of his fingers. I didn’t see anything at all.
But then I sensed something. My neck suddenly felt soothed. A cool, comforting sensation, like the damp washcloths my mother used to put on my forehead when I had a fever, caressed my neck. “Ah.” I leaned back in the tub. “That feels better.”
“Just one more minute, my lady.” Dom stood there, as if in a trance, his hand held out and his eyes tightly closed. Finally, he relaxed. He opened his eyes and came to the edge of the tub. “May I?” he asked again.
I nodded, and he bent over me, his long fingers tracing the contour of my neck. “They’re gone. All physical trace has been washed away. Your strength should be somewhat restored. How do you feel?”
Closing my eyes, I checked in with myself. “Better.” I snapped my eyes open. “How does it work?”
Dom shook his head. “How do your lungs expand and contract? Where does that power come from? It’s a mystery, of course—it’s magic. I’m so glad you’re feeling better. I wish I could make you forget the rest of it.”
I arched an eyebrow. “That’s not usually a problem for me!”
He smiled, but his eyes were still sad. “You’re trying to make jokes. I appreciate that, but nothing will absolve my guilt.”
“That vampire was not your responsibility. You couldn’t have known that would happen—you sent Anthony to the lake to protect me. You didn’t know I would go rogue and come back.”
“The fact that you left in the first place is on my conscience.”
He went over and sank back down onto his spot on the floor. “It was because I didn’t tell you about the letters.”
“That was only part of it—and I’m desperate to talk about that, but I need to explain myself first.” I sat up a little. “I left because I needed to make the choice for myself. I needed to choose to be here. So much has happened this year. Everything’s been completely out of my control—where I live, who I answer to. It’s all changed. And now I’m on my own, you see.”
“I know.” Dom’s voice was thick with emotion.
“So I had to make the decision to be here—it had to be mine. I couldn’t just let this path happen to me, as if I had no choice in the matter.”
“You always have a choice, Victoria. Some are just harder to make than others.”
“That’s true,” I said. “I guess I had to have a bit of space to realize what I wanted. And now I know.”
I grinned at him. He grinned back.
“You have made me very happy.” Dominic’s voice was husky. “I can’t believe you remember being here—and that you were able to come back.”
“It’s unheard of, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is.” He smiled. “Do you want to get out of the tub soon? You must be exhausted. I’ll have Mistress Olivia prepare you a large meal, and you can eat it in bed if you like.”
I laughed. “You do know me, don’t you?”
He chuckled as he got up, then he came and kissed me on the head. “I know you need your food. Besides, we have so much more to talk about that you’ll need your strength.”
Our gazes locked, and time stopped. “I’m glad I came back,” I said. “Because I could remember you, I could miss you.”
“Ah, I’m familiar with that feeling.” He leaned down and gently kissed my cheek. “Take your time, Victoria. I’ll be waiting for you.”
I stayed in the tub for a while longer, making sure every ounce of blood was scrubbed from my skin, from underneath my nails, and rinsed from my hair. I felt so much better. Physically, whatever Dom had done had restored my strength. And emotionally… Even after everything I’d been through that day, I was oddly relieved to be back in the kingdom. I was relieved to be with Dominic.