Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 85552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Xander stopped in the middle of the path and stared at me in shock. “Your town received all of that? Are you sure?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I’ve never heard of any town receiving that much money and supplies for one domina.” He scanned the area, making my nerves flare on edge.
“Well. . .how much is it usually?”
“A wagon of food and maybe a lump sum of money, but that is it. Why didn’t you tell me that before?”
“I thought that was the normal procedure. This was the first time we participated in domina testing. We were just starving and happy to eat when the food was delivered.”
“Fuck.” Xander turned away from me and stared off in the distance toward Capitol City.
We stood there in silence for a minute.
“What are you thinking about?” I asked, afraid of what he might tell me.
“I’m scared to take you back into the city, even if it’s in the sewers and the Quiet King is gone.”
“Leeta still needs a healer.”
Xander remained quiet for another minute.
“Xander.” I placed my hand on his shoulder. “If I need to stay behind somewhere or something so you can take her to—”
“You think I am going to leave you alone?”
I blinked.
“Never. You stay with me.”
I sighed. “Then. . .I’ll be safe with you. Tell me whatever I need to do, and I will do it.”
He started walking again. “As soon as Leeta’s healed, we leave. I don’t want you so close to the city.”
I shivered. “Okay.”
“And then we try to figure out what’s different about you and why the Quiet King sent so many to capture you.”
“Maybe it’s something else that has nothing to do with me.” I hoped and prayed that was true.
“Then we’ll find that out too.” Xander frowned. “But, I bet my mother, Queen Regina knows what’s going on.”
Chapter 16
Prince or King?
Camille
I never thought I would be back in the sewer tunnels under Capitol City.
Never!
But here I walked, trudging through the city’s toileted down muck.
Oh, Ambi. I hope we won’t be hiding here too long.
Vampire residue, a viscous crimson fluid with the foul odor of decomposing bodies and putrefying remains, saturated the earth, causing me to lose traction slightly with every stride.
Ick.
Xander explained the tunnels were the best place to hide, figuring the putrid aroma would drown out my scent.
He’s right. What else could one smell, but disgust?
Leeta remained asleep in his huge arms. She never even stirred as we climbed down into the sewers, right outside the Capitol City’s gates.
I gazed up.
The moons’ light seeped through the cracks in the ceiling, but that wasn’t what caught my attention.
Don’t think about them.
More starving vampires crawled above us, watching me with dark, hungry eyes. Their writhing and misshapen bodies moved silently along, following our every movement.
My pulse quickened.
Holy Ambi.
I tried in vain to keep my eyes fixated on the ground, but every few steps I glanced up at them.
A few slithered along.
Shivering, I stayed close to Xander, my whole body trembling in terror.
“Remember. They won’t hurt you.” Xander gestured to the hungry vampires. “They smell the scent of me all over you.”
Swallowing some of my nervousness down, I asked, “Then why are they following us?”
“Leeta is new blood to them and unclaimed.” He guided me around the corner. His footsteps made no sound while my steps resulted in a sloshing noise that echoed through the tunnels. “Also, our pact was that they couldn’t touch any human with my scent that I led out of Capitol City and through the sewers. Being that I’m bringing her back into the city, they may assume they have a right to bite her. But they’re wrong.”
“Can’t you just say she’s mine like you did with me last time we were in here?”
The edges of his lips curled up. “It would be a lie and they can sense that. With you, they knew from reading the rage in my blood that I’d tear every one of them limb-from-limb if they touched you.”
Something tiny crawled up my arm. I smacked it away.
Don’t think about what that was. We’re almost out of here.
I edged closer to Xander. “You barely knew me last time we were in here.”
Wrinkles formed around his forehead. “I still don’t know you, but that hasn’t prevented me from burying my face between your luscious thighs.”
“Now is not the time for that type of conversation.” I wiped the grime and nastiness off my face. “I can’t wait to get out of here.”
Although it was a cool night outside and above us, heat radiated from the sewer’s metal walls. The air thickened in some areas of the tunnel, making it hard to breath.
We rounded another corner.
“Prince?” A scratchy voice sounded above us. “Just one tiny bite of the woman, if you don’t mind.”
We stopped.
Slowly, I gazed up in horror as the vampire without eyes hung toward us. It was the vampire who had attacked me when I journeyed through the sewer by myself weeks ago.