A single figure stood in front of me, arms spread. My knees wobbled as I clutched the ring at my chest. Tears warmed my eyes.
Zane!
Chapter 15
Zane
My sudden appearance out of the shadows ripped surprised shouts from the guards and the exhausted pack of vampires about to be set free from their ordeal. Even the tytoursus released an ursine huff. I hid a flinch behind the flat stare I’d been practicing since I was thrown face-first into Sanguine politics.
Mathias paused his authority-filled speech, raising a brow in an unspoken command to explain myself. His attention drifted past me.
“I will be taking this one. Do as you wish with the rest,” I stated, gesturing toward Ilyana. Her expression caused me to do a double take. No wonder Mathias was staring. Her eyes glimmered with unshed tears. Unexpected spikes of emotion were magnets for the regent’s senses.
Well, she’d be crying a lot harder when I was done with her, if she survived the experience. I’d waited three days for an opportunity to question her. Ever since her magic had rippled through a crowded ballroom, she’d drawn my attention.
I didn’t state what I suspected of her, though the regent undoubtedly felt the hostile surge of my intent.
Ilyana’s attention shifted toward the red-haired vampire who was being herded away from the tytoursus by sword point. Most of the guards clustered in a defensive formation, stomping at and prodding the massive creature back toward the labyrinth.
“Don’t hurt him!” the vampire was shouting in a thick voice, reaching toward the growling monster.
Nearby, Razira, the white-haired vampiress, surveyed the scene impassively. Now that we’d thinned the herd, I was expected to know the names of the greedy women who jockeyed for the throne. Next to her stood Felicity, whose face was shadowed with exhaustion. A concerned line formed between her brows.
On her knees beside the fallen form of a vampire, presumably her devotee, Emmeline covered her face. No tears streaked her skin. A sly glint of an eye peeked through her fingers at Mathias and me.Performative. Like all the other “Beloved.” She’ll have another man by her side tomorrow.
But not me. My heart was already spoken for. Even if I’d become the very creature my love hated most. If Aetherius was merciful, Sidney thought I was dead, not…worse than that. I yearned for my betrothed far more than any gentle ray of my god’s light.
“Lord Zane,” the regent said, calling my attention back from its wanderings. “Lady Ilyana is to face the Flask’s mercy. Step aside.”
The guards advanced a step. “Lord Mathias.” I echoed his imperious tone. “If we must resort to titles, that’s King Zane to you.”
A throaty gasp escaped Ilyana’s lips. The regentwent rigid at the challenge, face darkening as he bared a hint of his fangs. “King-in-waiting,” he corrected.
I chuckled. It was so easy to rankle him from my admittedly unearned position of power. We could’ve been friends, had Nemea not decided to insert me into a spot he’d politicked for. She’d pushed him aside at the last minute in favor of a toy she preferred to play with more. That I was completely unwilling only made it more fun for her.
“Lord Regent,” I responded with a smirk, then took hold of Ilyana’s arm. I pulled her away while I had the upper hand in this contest of wills. She went without a fuss, following me toward the portal Mathias and the rest of us had emerged from.
The regent called my name in frustration. He didn’t have the power to stop me.
Better luck sucking up to your next bloody queen. Bastard.
Our surroundings dissolved into darkness as Ilyana and I stepped through the ancient portal. The world lurched into a gut-twisting plunge before it spat us out in one of the tunnels carved under the estate. Such a shortcut was usually reserved for the queen alone, but Mathias had activated it and set it to open where he willed in the labyrinth with a glowing stone he’d since pocketed. An expensive use of mage tech, keyed to a mechanism we barely understood how to use anymore. All for a petty show of power.
“This way.” I smiled down at Ilyana before catching myself.
The expression died as I tugged her away from the portal.Don’t be a fool.Some habits died hard, though. Unlike the friends I used to have, good human folk, no vampire deserved even a scrap of kindness. Especially not the candidates.
A hint of a returning smile faded from her face too. “Zane, wait. It’s me,” she said in an urgent whisper.
I ignored her, even though the lack of title was odd. Maybe we’d met before and I was forgetting. The so-called Beloveds had fawned overKingZane since the moment Nemea got what she deserved.
After I figured out how to condense my form into shadows with my newfound magic, I’d spent most of my life as invisible as possible. All the better to avoid the vampiresses that pawed at me like they could stroke the unusually strong magic I’d manifested. I was a rarity, a male with two abilities. My control of shadows was more obvious, but I’d picked up the ability to sense the power of others, both in their veins and when they used it.
I wasn’t naïve to what the vampiresses desired. They wanted me as adevoteeto givethemaccess to my power.
I led Ilyana to a storage room, complete with a reinforced door to hide the wealthiest of bloodsuckers through any threat. The center of the room was full to its dome-shaped ceiling with boxes and satchels full of various goods. I pushed her inside and latched the door behind us, sealing the outside world away with a twist of a metal wheel. The heavy lock slid into place with a satisfying clunk.
Ilyana was already in motion when I turned back to her. She had her hand outstretched, reaching for me. My slayer training kicked in. In an instant, I had her by the throat and slammed her into the wall. She choked on the first half of my name, eyes bulging. Her dirty fingernails turned to claws digging into my wrist as I squeezed.
