He was envious of the vampires, he wanted to be one of them. He’d lash out in anger if a canvas wasn’t speaking to him. But he was an impassioned artist. That was just his thing.
He never turned that energy on me. So he would never turn it on anyone else.
Another sprig sprouts on my seed of doubt. Acidic bile shoots up my throat until I’m on the verge of throwing up.
Part of me wants to jump in my glass slippers and disappear back into the Common World, leaving all this ugliness and confusion behind. But I know that’s not an option anymore.
More than ever, I have to find out who killed my father and why.
Chapter 42
Biting Back the Truth
CHARMING
“What happened? You almost pushed your stepmother off that cliff.” I don't wait to follow her into her chambers.
I threw open the door to find Cinder already half-undressed.
I drink in her pale moon skin and those perfect nipples that taste as sweet as the rest of her. My body responds instantly with a primal need, throbbing with desire and desperate for her touch. But I push aside my physical cravings, knowing that there are more important matters at hand. “If you did that. . .” I couldn’t finish the sentence. Humans didn’t kill fairies in Midnight. If she had done it, it would mean certain death.
There wouldn’t even be a trial. With my father looking for any opening to rip this engagement apart, he wouldn’t even have paused before thralling Cinder and putting her to death in some creatively fucked up manner.
Fear has me amped up to the max. She doesn’t know how close she came to fucking dying tonight.
Cinder shakes her head.
“Tell me,” I urge. Power expands in me. My vision turns clear and precise.
Tell me, Cinder.All my thoughts pinpoint on her, willing her to bend to me.
I whirl away, shutting my eyes tight, realizing I almost thralled her to find out what was wrong.
Fuck, she’s got me turned inside out. Killing humans, kneeling before her, trying on women’s shoes. . .
“I need you to bite me.”
Her calm statement has me turning around. Cinder stands there, piercings back in, sans makeup. Her glossy black hair is wind-blown from being outside and her violet eyes are so clear, it makes it all the easier to see the storm raging underneath.
“Cinder.” My words come out strangled. “No.”
“You have to,” she says taking a couple of steps forward. “You heard them. If you don’t mark me then this whole thing is over.”
She draws near and I catch sight of a strange fury in her eyes, as if she’s possessed.
“We don’t have to do this, Cinder. We can call off the engagement.” I scrub a hand over my face, trying to ignore the physical effect she’s having on me. This has all gone too far. The way her stepfamily affects her. . . it’s painful to watch. Which is nothing compared to how she must feel being in forced proximity to them. I can’t imagine having to be forced to fraternize after they turned her into a slave in her own home.
“No.” She shakes her head. “Ihaveto be here. My father was drained by a vampire. I have to find out who did it. If we break it off, I’ll never find out.”
Sidling up to me, she pushes the strap of her dressing gown over her shoulder before tilting her head to the side. The longsinew of her neck is perfectly offered up to me and my mouth turns to cotton. Something primal pulsates inside me.
Feed.
Bite.
Fuck.
Claim.
