“I’m a vampire, yes. But I don’t feed on those weaker than I. I don’t let bloodlust consume me.” I didn’t let my thirst for blood control my life. I drank only in moderation. Never from the vein of a living person. Although animals didn’t taste good, I drank their blood if I could. But only enough to keep my hunger at bay and keep my strength at maximum. It was barbaric, that’s what it was. It was barbaric to be forced to drink blood to sustain life.
“And you think you’re the only one? The only vampire that lives their life this way?”
I raised my chin. “I’ve instructed those in the Panateia to do the same.”
“You know I haven’t heard of a vampire killing anyone in years. The king kept a tight leash. From my understanding most vampires live similarly to you.”
“I don’t care. I want them gone.” Just seeing them, remembering what a vampire had done to my partner, that was enough to fuel my rage. It was hard enough to look in the mirror and know I was of the same species of monster who killed my partner, I didn’t want them running loose in Lethenia. “What is with this line of questioning any way? You never raised these concerns before.”
“My last remaining lives are those belonging to vampires.”
“So link to another other.” I could care less about her lives, who know how many she got to live already.
“I can’t.”
“What do you mean you can’t?”
“I can’t. I tried, I found a willing solider, but it didn’t work. My magic won’t allow it.”
“So try again.”
“I have tried again. This was my seventh attempt.”
“Then have faith I won’t die and neither will the other vampire. I’ll let you spare their life as a token of my gratitude for helping me.”
“The other life I’m tied to is Luka Rossi.”
I met her narrowed gaze. “Then you better not let me die.”
76
LUCIANA
Crazy. This was fucking crazy.
But as Luka so nicely reminded me, Lennox is my High Queen, and what she asks I must do.
No matter how stupid I think it might be.
I didn’t need the original witch to pump her magic into me so I could temporarily stop Luka’s heart and sever the spell between him and Keziq.
We could wait for my magic to return and I could do it myself—that way there would be less risk involved in an already risky spell.
Lennox didn’t ask questions, she told Hecate to do what was needed. So Hecate spent the evening prepping me to make sure I was ready for today.
The day we’d kill Keziq.
Hecate and I would stay back at the camp with Luka to complete the spell while Lennox went in search of Keziq.
If she didn’t find her by high noon, we’d start the spell—severing the tie was more important than killing her at the same time the link was severed, was what we’d decided.
“You two are set? Are you ready to do this? Is it going to work?” Lennox’s face was determined, herhair blew lightly around her, she hadn’t braided it back today. Her hands were braced on her hips; weapons covered her body.
How she slipped into these rolls so seamlessly?—
“As ready as we can be to do this reckless spell.”
Lennox’s eyes narrowed.
