"How long was I asleep?" she rasped, hand still gripping the amulet.
"A few hours," Az answered her. "The others are away, preparing—" He cut off, tone shifting. "Do you need water, Lu? We have food, too. Vale caught some fish." Mirth laced the demon’s tone, and Luella found her own weary lips tug into a faint smile. The thought of the King catching fish was amusing.
"Water… please?"
Az shifted her carefully, as he reached for something on the floor by the furs. A small cup made of stone, filled with water. He raised it to her lips, palm hot against her cheek as he brought the cup to her mouth. He didn’t urge her to drink; he merely held it there, waiting for her to take the first sip. Her heart clenched as she moved her head forward and sipped at the water—it was warm from the fire and tasted pure and light.
When she was done, he placed the cup back down and reached for a fillet of charred fish, blackened scales still stuck to the ends as the meat fell from it. Her nose wrinkled, and her already queasy stomach churned.
"I don’t think I can eat right now," she said.
"Tharen told me to get you to eat a little if you woke up. I know you don’t eat meat, but fish is all we have. You will not even be able to stomach a bite?" he prodded.
She shook her head, bile burning the back of her throat at the salty, burned smell of the fish.
Ven certainly didn’t have the same reservations as Luella. The tiny kitten stretched, paws padding across the furs as her nose twitched, scenting the fish.
Az met Luella’s eyes. "Don’t tell Vale," he whispered, then pulled off a small piece of the fish, holding it out to Ven, who licked it from the demon’s fingers.
He was sogood. So tender-hearted.
He deserved more than her—he deserved more than a broken, stuttering, scared heirus.
Luella sniffled. The haunting, blood-soaked images of her dream wouldn’t leave her because of Tharen’s amulet. She swore she could taste the metallic tang of blood on her tongue.
"What did you dream?" Az’s voice rumbled through her.
She closed her eyes, letting her head fall against his chest as he held her. "It wasn’t another vision, but a nightmare. I dreamt of the night I was… taken. When Tharen came for me." Emotion made her throat tighten. How could Vale proclaim himself as a just King when his soldiers hadtakenlike that? How could he condone such vile, wicked things?
Her earlier breakdown haunted her thoughts—her revelation that maybe she was as evil as Vale, as Caliban…
Az notched his chin on her head, wrapping around her as tightly as he dared because of her wings. "You’re breaking my heart."
"My heart is already broken, Az. Don’t let yours break, too."
He held her like that, in the quiet, until the thoughts ebbed away from her mind—not gone. They would come back, she knew. In her Vincire’s arms, just the two of them, she could pretend that everything was okay.
She must have dozed off because her eyelids fluttered open to the murmur of voices.
"You’re awake."
Luella blinked to clear her sleepy eyes, finding Bastian sitting by her side. Az’s arms were still wrapped around her tightly, chest rising and falling steadily against her cheek—he had fallen asleep. Carefully, she craned her head, finding the demon’s neck twisted against the stone wall. That couldn’t be comfortable.
As she lifted her arm to rub at her eyes, she felt something against her wrist. She looked down, finding the dainty chain ofthe charm bracelet she had stolen clasped around it. "Who put this there?"
The red in Bastian’s eyes had dulled only slightly. "It’s a secret, but if you’re good and eat, I may be persuaded to tell you, pet."
She grimaced, and the vampire let out a soft laugh as he whispered, "I guess you won’t ever know."
Vale and Tharen were sitting by the hearth, speaking lowly. The firelight flickered over their profiles, and she couldn’t stop how interest kindled within her at the sight of them. Her two most volatile Vincire. Her skin tingled with the memory of Tharen’s fingers digging into the flesh of her arm as he had pulled her through the dark halls in her dream.
She grazed her finger over the amulet, feeling the charms on the bracelet tickle her wrist as she moved. She wore a piece of Tharen and Vale both, now. Gilded and glittering. The bracelet was different than the Binding mark—that had been something forced upon her in ink and blood. But the bracelet… she found she did not want to remove it. Liked it, even.
After resting, her back felt better. No longer a fierce, consuming type of pain—she was healing.
"Would you like some water, at least, pet?" Bastian asked lowly.
"Only a little…" she replied, taking the small cup Bastian offered her. His fingers wrapped around hers as she took it, holding it for her and urging her to bring it up to her lips. He was more demanding than Az had been as he pressed it to her mouth and tilted it, forcing her to swallow or choke. He lowered their hands, fingers cool against hers. She licked her lips, tasting the pureness of the water lingering there; Bastian tracked the flick of her tongue. "Where did it come from?"
