Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 57184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
How stupid my plan was. These creatures don’t want peace. They like their way of life. Hunting, killing, fighting for power. It’s who they are. I know because now I’m one of them. Which is why I turned Alwar down and left his tent. I know what really needs to be done. I just haven’t figured out how yet.
I climb into my large bed with red satin curtains around the edges, creating a cocoon of crimson. I like it even if Benicio once slept here.
I lie back, fighting the hunger singing in my veins. I can’t believe this is how vampires live. Always hungry. Emotions constantly teetering on the edge of a knife.
The curtains rustle, and I sit up. The palace is well guarded. This room has no windows and has an iron door one foot thick that locks from the inside. It would take a lot to break in.
“Who’s there?” As I speak, the aroma of dog hits my nose. “Master?”
He was my grandma’s Great Dane.
His white and black polka-dotted head pops between the curtains.
I let out a sigh. “How did you get in?”
He stares with his big brown eyes.
“Ah. You were waiting under the bed.” I don’t know how, but sometimes I sense what he’s thinking. Then again, he’s not really a dog. Master is originally from here, which means he crossed over the bridge at one point and, well, became what he is now.
Honestly, I still haven’t had the nerve to find out what species he was born as. Master has been my only comfort since my life became one disaster after another. He’s a reminder of home.
“Yes,” I say, “you can sleep here. And, no, you don’t have to worry. I won’t bite you. Your smell is unappetizing.”
Master climbs in and curls his large furry body next to mine.
I stroke his soft ears. “Thank you.” He knows I need this—some semblance of normalcy.
He lifts his head a few inches, looks at me, and then sets it down again.
“Yeah, I know this is no fun. But I didn’t choose to be here—”
“Lake?” says a faint, baritone voice that sends a bitter surge through my heart.
I sit up again. “Bard?”
Of all the people in my life, the last “person” I expected to betray me was the man I loved. Completely unreciprocated on Bard’s part due to our age difference, which I used to think was twenty-two years. Really, he’s four hundred years old and Alwar’s older brother. But before I learned the truth, I knew Bard as this mysterious, sexy-as-hell man who gave me goosebumps—the good kind—every time he entered a room. Officially, he was Grandma’s handyman. Unofficially, he was there at River Wall Manor to keep an eye on us. Like Gabrio, he was once a giant, too. A Wall Man, sworn to protect the Norfolk.
“Am I no longer welcome in your life, my queen?” The curtains slide open, and a white hazy form materializes. My heart drops like a lead weight.
Did I mention that Bard’s a No One now? He died because of me, but instead of accepting his fate, he challenged the No One king for the throne. Now he’s their king. King of the carnivorous ghosts.
I flop back down on the bed and stare up at the ceiling. I don’t want to get into it with him. He knows I’ll never trust him again even if he’s one of the kings who swore allegiance to me after I was turned. He’s probably the real reason I’m the ruler now. Everyone here is scared shitless of the No Ones. They can go anywhere at any time, even my world. No bridge required, since they aren’t technically alive.
“What do you want, Bard?”
“Alwar tells me you refuse to accept the duties of the throne.”
I continue staring up at the ceiling. “And?”
“And I do not advise it, Lake.”
“Why would I care what you think?”
Suddenly, he’s over me, his ghostly face hovering just above my head. Where his long salt-and-pepper hair once flowed are now wisps of steam. His beautiful blue eyes have been replaced by hollow sockets, and his mouth is just a strange swirl of smoke. I barely recognize the face of the man I once loved.
“I did not give you my support to have you throw your power away, Lake.”
I close my eyes. I don’t want to look at him. I don’t want to hear his lies. “I never asked for your support, so feel free to take it back.”
“This is not a game.”
My eyes fly open. “I am aware of that, Bard. Just like I’m aware you and your brothers think you can use me.”
“Use?”
“Don’t fucking gaslight me, asshole. I’m not some naïve human anymore.”
He suddenly lunges and hurtles toward my mouth. Not for a kiss. For an invasion. I feel Bard’s ice-cold form slide down my throat and push inside me.