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My heart aches at his words. This is what I wanted, for Rhenn to see my value, to see me as something he desired.

“It was him you wanted, endlessly,” Ashen continues, an almost sadness in his voice. “I would have treated you like a queen.”

I’d assumed Ashen was only ever interested in me as a friend, but when I sit back and really think about it, his glances were always a little too long, his parting hugs a little too tight. Even now, his touch is too soft. Ashen cares about me, and he has cared this entire time. I was so stuck on Rhenn that I never thought to pay attention, and he’s too good of a friend to Rhenn to have said something sooner. Even as kids, Ashen is the one who was there. How have I been so blind to it?

Any step at exploring this would ruin their friendship, and I can’t be responsible for that, no matter how much hurt Rhenn has caused me.

Shouldn’t I get to be happy though? Rhenn has moved on, why can’t I?

None of it matters when she finds her way back to my mind. Ashen might like me, but he also likes her. I know they left the dance together.

She’s taking everything.

“Do you want Sumner?” I ask, needing clarification there is nothing between them, because I can’t come second again. It hurts too much.

His eye contact is direct, focused, and entirely on me. There’s a firmness that almost sends a shiver down my spine. “Only ever you.”

There’s only one solution to ensure it stays that way.

Sumner has to go.

It’s too late to stop it now anyway. I’ve already whispered to the wind. It won’t be long before it reaches him.

The King. The darkness. The Reaper.

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

SUMNER

The Hunt has ended, and the last few remaining participants make their way back to the open arena where the game started. Rhenn’s already here, leaning against the fence, arms crossed and face set in a way that makes him look like he’d rather be anywhere else. His anger confuses me because it isn’t always there. I’ve seen another side. The moment the wall starts to come down, he lifts it even higher. It’s like he can’t ever allow himself to be happy.

I know I have problems, his grows deeper, which is probably where the curt asshole side of him comes from. Still, words hurt, and he knows exactly where to place them to sting the most. They also feel very personal. He’s always had a hatred toward me I’ve never been able to understand. The man’s a puzzle I can’t put together. It’s like someone dropped the box, shook it up, and threw out some of the pieces. Mystery doesn’t even begin to explain him.

I’d met up with Liya and Vera when the game ended, noticing right away the smear of red they share over their neck, and am only glad I don’t have a matching bite to go along with theirs.

A man in dark jeans and a button up makes his way to the center of the field, calling for everyone’s attention. He starts his introduction with a thanks to all those who chose to participate, giving his gratitude and appreciation to all orders. He speaks of the yearly tradition, how it went from necessity to sport.

There’s a history in this world, darker than it is now. He mentions a great war, a time of massacre and destruction. Survival came to those who fought for it, who scavenged and hunted. Orders kept to their own, not only capturing, but killing the ones not like them.

Every bloodline has its requisite. For most, they gain their power from their surroundings—the trees, the moon, the water. For the vampires, they needed something that nature couldn’t provide. When it wasn’t given willingly, they had to take it. Drink by force or wither into nothing.

Mothers lost their children, siblings were separated, families torn apart. Those who needed blood became feared. They not only had strength and an over heightened sense of hearing, they also had the one who controlled, not the living, but the time and place they died. A king which spoke to the night.

It wasn’t until a new leader took reign, shifting the balance of shadow and light, that the world began to rebuild. The orders found forgiveness in one another, seeing their differences for what it was. All life has purpose. But death is still very much a part of that life, and the darkness ruling now is quite the wicked man.

His story actually makes me feel something for the ones I’ve chosen to dislike. Blood isn’t just a want for the vampires, it’s a necessity. They drink so they can live, the same way I need water and the wolves need the moon. They hunt now because they are predators, and each day they don’t, they suppress their deepest instincts, losing themselves so others can live without fear. The Hunt is for them, but it’s also for us, so we can help them to uphold their natural order.

Next comes what everyone seems most excited for. The man goes down a list of names, calling on the vampires individually, who then take turns naming the person, or persons, they captured within the short time of The Hunt.

Liya was bit by some guy called Ten, Vera by a small girl with fiery red hair named Lux, Ashen had Siena, and so on.

When the man finally gets to Rhenn, I glance back at him. His eyes shift to me, holding the contact for only a moment before looking back at the guy in charge. “Moxin and Della.” He sounds so bored, like this isn’t an event created solely for his order’s benefit. Still, we were together during a lot of the game. How did he have time to find and catch not one, but two other people?

By the end of it, I realize my name is the only one not called. Everyone else playing has been bitten. That’s when it hits me, and I search the crowd for Rhenn again, finding the place he had been standing empty.

He had every opportunity to sink his teeth into me, but he didn’t. Why?

Liya and Vera are on some kind of high, having enjoyed themselves far more than I would have expected for two people who had just been tracked and found. They beam with giddy smiles and a fountain of words explaining their own experiences in the game.