My fangs descended, the imagined taste of his rich fae blood already warming on my tongue, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of feeding on him. He’d expect that. A vampire out of control, driven by rage and bloodlust.
Couldn’t be helped,he’d convince himself as his soul slipped away.The poor savage.
Fuck that. I wanted him to know I was incompletecontrol. That killing him was my choice—one made in a singular moment of clarity. That it was my fuckingpleasure.
With a firm grip on his hair, I jerked his head back and pressed the tip of my dagger to the soft underside of his chin. One quick thrust, and I could skewer his brains.
“What you did to her tonight?” I seethed, barely able to grind out the rest of the words. “I willendyou.”
“Ah.” He rolled his eyes. “So the little thief told you about our kiss, then? Yes, I know I was wrong to steal it, but it couldn’t be helped. The way she was looking at me, the scent of her…” He closed his eyes and inhaled, his lips twisting into a cruel smirk. “She was practicallybeggingfor it.”
Kiss? Begging for it?
A fresh wave of fury descended over me, sucking me down deep, threatening to drown me. My hand trembled, yet Keradoc didn’t fight back.
No matter. Whether he’d truly kissed her or this was just another manipulation, it mattered not. My mission didn’t change.
“You’lldiefor her.” My blade pierced his skin, blood welling at the tip. Keradoc didn’t even wince, yet my hand still trembled inexplicably, my resolve weakening. “Give me a reason to let you walk, filth.”
Fuck. What the hell was wrong with me? Keradocdeservedto die. Slow, fast, I didn’t care, as long as he stopped existing.
So why the hell was I hesitating?Bargainingwith the cocksucker?
“You’ve come here to assassinate Keradoc of Midnight,” he said, still refusing to fight me, his tone heavy with exhaustion. “And you’re asking me to talk you out of it? Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, slave, but that is a request I cannot grant. You see, I’ve made similar attempts against the warlord’s life—seventeen, to be exact. All failed.”
I blinked rapidly, trying to stay focused. Was I fucking high? Or had the dream not worked its way through my system yet?
He’d made seventeen attempts against the warlord’s life? What was he even talking about? Suicide?
“Stop taking me in circles,” I snapped. “You’ve got fifteen seconds to come up with your last words. I suggest you make them count.”
I dug the blade in deeper, blood sliding down the cold metal.
Keradoc closed his eyes and sighed.
“Do it,” he whispered, and fuckme, how I wanted to. More than anything. I felt it all the way in my bones, the desire as powerful as any drug craving,suckingat me, begging me. The old devil whispered on my shoulder, pushing me to shove that blade in just a little harder. Deeper. To end him. To spill his warm blood until he was nothing but an empty husk.
Do it,the devil echoed.End his life. You’ve earned this. Remember everything he took from you. It’s why you came to Midnight. It’s what you’ve always wanted…
And it was, too. The desire wound tight inside me, threatening to explode.
But something more powerful steadied my hand, even as I tried to obey the devil and Keradoc both.
Something—some wild, inexplicable force—was physically preventing me from shoving in that blade.
“Do it!” Keradoc roared, the force of it rattling my teeth, spraying my face with his blood. “What are you waiting for, slave?End this!”
Instinctively, my tongue darted out to lick his blood from my lips.
Salty, warm, coppery. A hint of sweetness lingering on the end like the rarest, finest wine.
That’s it, boy,the devil goaded.Taste it. Drink it in. Take it. Take what’s yours…
The decadence of dark-fae blood was legendary, and the taste of it sent me into a spin, finally breaking the strange hold that’d so far steadied my hand.
But now, I didn’t need the dagger. Didn’t care whether Keradoc thought I was a savage.
I only wanted one thing.
