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The pleasure was like a drug.
Addictive. Exhilarating. Forbidden.
In the end, however, all that was left was unsurmountable guilt.
My nights turned torturous. Wild emotions and sensations haunted my dreams, dreams of want and lust in which I got lost.
In them, I ripped into Talyssa’s throat like an animal, a beast going for the kill, straight for the jugular. The most amazing nectar flooded my mouth. My body spasmed with pleasure and Talyssa’s scent switched to another I recognized all too well: Bianca’s.
She was under me, naked. My mouth was at her throat, though not hurting her. Instead, I gave her pleasure. She moaned. I deepened my kiss, thrust harder. My hands explored her body. She was exquisite, everything I’d ever wanted in a woman and more.
Now, I woke up panting, my body and my bed soaked in sweat. Want burned in me. The sheets were balled in my fists, and I had to clench my teeth and buckle down not to growl in disappointment. She wasn’t really here. The dream had left me ragged, the edges of me raw.
Rook Datcu slept across the room. I managed to contain myself and not wake him. He already hated me, no need to give him more reasons.
I left the bed and dressed in the dark. My skin was hot. I needed to leave, get away from the fire burning in the fireplace. Datcu stoked it every night, even though we had no real need for it. He seemed to enjoy the warmth.
Flinging my cloak over my back, I exited the room, eased the door behind me, and began walking through the palace grounds, headed for the woods. The night was more beautiful than ever. I hated it. It meant Talyssa’s blood still mixed with my own, igniting the vampiric senses Maximus had forced upon me.
More than a week had passed since I’d fed from Talyssa, but her Trove blood was much stronger than whatever they’d fed me the first time. My renewed strength showed no signs of diminishing.
An image of her ravaged throat flashed before my eyes. I blinked and forced myself to stare at the crystalline icicles hanging from the trees. They reflected the moonlight, sparkling like jewels, an effect my merely human eyes had never captured before.
Such wicked and costly beauty.
Still, the bloody image didn’t leave my mind.
Talyssa stood, wobbling in front of me. She was pale, void of all color. Her head lay limp to one side. Maximus was holding her gently in his arms while Dragoslav hauled me away, a tight chokehold around my neck.
The Black King fed Talyssa his blood. Just the right amount. Her wound healed. She regained some color but continued to lay limp, feeble.
“She will recover soon,” Maximus had said. “Worry not. She’s strong.”
In that moment, I had wished she would die, hoping never to see the reproach in her clear, blue eyes.
My mouth went dry, and I pushed all the memories away. They made me crave blood, made me hate myself even more than I already did.
I tried to think of Bianca instead, but that was no better. Too many questions assaulted me. What would I tell her? Would she understand my weakness? It was the same hunger that now sang in her veins, after all. She had to know it was impossible to resist.
An owl hooted. Snow gave beneath my boots. I inhaled deeply, willing the chilled air to clear my mind, trying to guess what Maximus would ask me to steal.
A fallen log lay in my way. I went to cross it but was brought short by a shape stepping from behind a thick tree. My senses rose like the hackles of a dog. I was about to lash out when a familiar voice stopped me.
“No further. The King hunts,” he said in his whisper-low voice. It was Dragoslav, dressed all in black, red eyes peeking from under his hood.
I stood stock-still for an instant, quieting the unrest the Bishop’s sudden appearance had caused. I took a step back, pushing away the hand Dragoslav had laid on my chest.
I tried to act nonchalant as if his presence didn’t make me uncomfortable. He retreated toward the tree again, pressed his back against it and looked straight ahead without saying a word.
Maximus enjoyed the hunt. Deer were kept in the large wooded area behind the palace and were replenished after he’d killed them.
“Can’t sleep?” the Bishop asked, surprising me. He wasn’t the type for idle conversation.
I chose not to answer. I didn’t want to encourage him. Instead, I turned to leave.
“He toys with you,” he said, his voice barely audible as if he feared King Maximus might overhear. “You aren’t the first and will not be the last.”
No idle talk then. I stopped and glanced back, wishing I could see his face. Was that jealousy in his voice?
“How long have you been in the Black Court,” I asked.
“Two-hundred and ninety-eight years,” he said without feeling.
My jaw dropped open. I knew he’d been a Bishop for a long time, but...
“That’s longer that Maximus has been king,” I said, unable to hold back my awe.
The Bishop turned in my direction, reclining his shoulder on the tree trunk. “We joined at the same time,” he said.
Maximus had been king for two-hundred and seventy-five years, which meant it had taken them twenty-three years to rise through the ranks to challenge and kill the previous king.
“You knew him when he was human,” I said, finding the fact almost impossible to believe.
“Since he was a child, actually” he said. “I’m his sister.”
All the nighttime sounds seemed to die down, and all that was left was the echo of those words inside my head.
I’m his sister.
I’m his sister.
I’m his sister.
Maximus and Dragoslav were brother and sister.
Dragoslav was not a man at all but a woman.
But it was the fact that they were siblings which astonished me most. A strange pressure built in my chest, and I found myself thinking of Timotei.
“Why are you telling me this?” I asked. This wasn’t common knowledge. Members of the Board hardly ever talked about the Bishops, especially Dragoslav. Was this the reason?
“It’s no secret,” she said. “Just... obscure knowledge that gets dimmer and dimmer as time goes by.”
That might be the case, but she had to have a reason to tell me this now.
“He’ll tire of you,” she said in an off-hand tone. “Especially after you fail his task.”
The way she said it left me now doubt she wanted me to fail. The question was still... why?
“Unless you die trying,” she added, “in which case he’ll mourn your death for a few hours before moving on to his next toy. He’s always been like that, even when he was a child. Nothing unpleasant ever holds his attention for long.”
I thought I had seen a glimpse of the real Maximus in the beginning, that night I tried to escape with Timotei. He’d seemed intent on proving I was no better than him, on showing me that, with vampire blood in my veins, I would be a monster, too. Of course, he had been right. The thing was... his desire to teach me a lesson had meant that, once, he hadn’t wanted to be a monster. Once, he had been like me.
“I should get back.” I started to leave, then stopped as something occurred to me. “It’s never easy being the oldest, is it?” I asked. “Timotei is the same.”
“No, it isn’t,” she said.
I chuckled, feigning camaraderie. “Being the oldest always means being the responsible one.” I walked away, my mind in a whirl of confusion.