“I love you.”
“I loveyou, Luka Rossi, and I am so stars damned lucky to have you alongside me.”
“Who knew turning you into a wife would make you so sentimental?”
“Fucking prick.” I pushed a hand to his chest, attempting to push him away, only for him to pull me right back in.
“And that’s why you love me.” He caught my lips in a kiss, dipping me as he held me. I was so fucking lucky. I couldn’t ever forget that—take it for granted. I could have been doing this all alone, but I had him at my side. As my partner. My husband, my mate.
I could do this on my own, but I didn’t have to. I didn’t want to.
And that was okay.
He made me stronger. I needed him in these moments to remind me who I was. Why I was doing this.
For him.
For all vampires.
For all of Lethenia. For my people.
The sounds of screams forced me to tear my lips from his. The heat flooding my body disappearing in a flash.
Luka’s hands remained on my waist as we looked out into the valley, scanning for where the screams were coming from.
“What was that?”
“I don’t know.” I tore my sword from its sheath. “But let’s go find out.”
Luka and I took off down the hill, where our army waited.
Something was wrong. I could feel it. My magic pulsed, the hairs on the back of my neck rising as I urged myself to run faster.
A growl tore through the air.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!”
Anger swelled inside me as another scream tore through the air, followed by the growl of a Dhampir.
“I’m so fucking tired of these Goddess-damned abominations,” Luka swore.
I halted, Luka almost running into me at my abruptness.
“Fuck.” My stomach twisted.
It was a Dhampir alright, but its fangs were only slightly longer than a normal vampire’s, extending an inch outside its mouth.
Its eyes were still that unsettling red color and its eye sockets hollowed in. Black veins spread along its skin, but the rest of the Dhampir—it looked normal.
As normal as a mutated creature could look.
They were getting closer.
I took off toward the monster.
Dozens of them had made their way into our camp, oursoldiers battling against the beasts. I couldn’t say I had envisioned what our first battle would look like, but it wasn’t this. It wasn’t fighting these abominations for the umpteenth time.
I thrust my sword through the Dhampir’s chest. Its eyes went wide, and it snarled, blood from it would seeped into his white uniform as he fell to his knees. I brought my sword down on his neck as his body hit the ground.
