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Now, I do not pity them. I understand them. I envy them.

They are the lucky ones because they know what it feels like to exist on another plane.

With her inside me, I will take down the Thornfields once and for all.

But I will do so much more.

Just a drop of her blood will be enough to drive my customers wild. It will position me above all others. The colonies who think they own Eastern Europe will never be able to compete.

Fuck Cambridge.

Fuck England.

Fuck Europe.

My product — FHB FIRE — will dominate the entire world.

Nova’s eyes flicker. Her head tilts just a little bit to one side, and her fingers tighten on the arm of the throne. But I do not stop drinking.

I want all of her.

I want her to fill me up.

No-one and nothing exists except her; no wonder Kole is so fixated with her. No wonder he thinks he loves her.

A hand on my shoulder makes me tilt my head, teeth still inside her pearly white flesh, like an animal that refuses to let go of its prey.

“You should stop now.” Miranda folds her arms in front of her chest. She does not look afraid, despite the fact I could end her right now with just the flick of the button on the remote. “If you kill her, this whole escapade will have been for nothing.”

I blink, panting, blood trickling down my chin. Miranda’s lips twitch, but she does not smile at me.

Why doesn’t she smile at me?

Why can’t she just be my friend instead of my prisoner?

I draw my fangs from Nova’s thigh and sit back on my heels.

She closes her legs and shifts in the chair, still gripping the arms. Then her eyes flutter, and she passes out, slumping forward and crashing into me as she falls to the ground.

The scent of her blood as it continues to slowly trickle from the wound I gave her is driving me wild. My eyes flash, my teeth itch, my skin burns.

Is it supposed to burn?

I extricate myself from beneath her and rise to my feet. I look down at my hands. They feel different. My entire body feels different.

It’s like every nerve ending is firing, tiny little sparks that fizz and pop and settle into something more powerful than I’ve ever felt.

My muscles flame with the urge to run.

My throat constricts.

I run my tongue over my teeth as I stare down at her, heart beating so hard in my chest it feels like it’s about to crash right through my ribcage and land on the floor at my feet, still beating, still alive because it contains so much power.

Miranda crouches in front of Nova and feels for a pulse. “She is breathing,” she says. “But she needs to recover before you think about draining her.”

My ears are humming. Sounds I’ve never heard before dance on the outskirts of my consciousness. The drip drip drip of water from the crack in the ceiling. Ants marching along the crevices in the floor.

Every heartbeat and breath in the entire building.