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He slid backward, taking a goblet of blood from a servant, swirling it before taking a sip. “Why don’t you tell me when you meet them in your death, as temporary as it is?”
I thumbed the side of my neck. “I’ll meet them?”
He only nodded, shrugging the statement off as if he’d just made a passing comment on the weather. “I have matters to attend to. Stay out of trouble.” He strode away before I could respond. I listened as he ordered a servant to find and bring Hamza to him.
Scanning the room, I searched for Sebastian, who hadn’t bothered to show up to feed. I’d hoped to find him here, but he’d avoided me since our engagement was forced upon him. Moreover, he hadn’t come to see me since he was brought up from the dungeons, escaping execution.
Instead, he’d learned how our fake betrothal had become all too real, and his wish to be mortal and escape this life was lost forever. I was sure he hated me for it, even though I’d saved him. He was the one who’d betrayed me. I asked him to turn me in the dungeons so we could escape, but he handed me over to Sargon instead, attempting to bargain for his freedom. A pang of hurt shot through my heart as the memory drifted back. I had stupidly believed he cared about me.
I reached the doors to the foyer, stopping upon seeing Astor. My undead ex-boyfriend draped his arm around Gwen, the woman he’d betrayed me for when he chose immortality over me. She flicked back at her blonde curls, her painted-red lips curling into a grin when she saw me looking.
I walked away, my cheeks heating against the cool breeze in the foyer. Heaviness sunk through my torso as I stared up at the spiraling staircases. I felt like an idiot. Sebastian had fooled me into thinking he cared, just like Astor had countless times.
As I climbed the ancient steps to my bedroom, I found distraction in the burning in my calves. The sounds of the monsters indulging their desires followed me to my room. Every part of me wanted to run and never return to his place. But there was no escaping.
TWO
Olivia
I closed my eyes as I ran my fingers down the long, black veil hanging on the back of my closet. It would serve as my wedding veil and the one I would wear during the Shadow Kissed ceremony. My heart hammered at the thought of the dagger being plunged into my body.
Music reverberated throughout the castle, vibrating up to my bedroom. Adormai was approaching, and parties were in full swing.
The clock next to my bed ticked past eight, letting out a loud chime. I turned my back to the veil and dropped onto my bed, lying back against the several pillows.
Sleep evaded me as the night wore on. I couldn’t bring my thoughts to a peaceful baseline where I could rest. I’d never put a lot of thought into my death until I was at its doorstep with the promise to return to the land of the living. When I would go through the ceremony and wake, I would become a creature hungry for the blood of those I wanted to protect.
Sebastian had been confident, some months ago, that vampirism wouldn’t destroy me like it did so many. I worried he overestimated my good nature because something sinister was hidden under the surface. Whenever I thought about Astor, Hamza, or Kalon, a wave of unrelenting anger desperate to make the world crumble rose to the surface.
The last of the sun’s rays faded from the mountainous horizon, creating a reflection of my room in the windows as darkness consumed the sky. Everything soaked in a soft orange hue when I switched on the lamp.
I had been moved into the second grandest room in the entire castle, forcing Kalon out of it. I wouldn’t have cared to accept such a lavish bedroom, but knowing it would anger my enemy made it too tempting to turn down. He’d been downgraded to the third nicest room. The room, papered with gold between beams of wood that ran up to vaulted ceilings, housed a large, four-poster bed big enough for several people if I wished.
The king had all new furniture brought in for me; a plush, gold footstool and matching futon. In front of the fireplace were two cream sofas with gold finishings and an area rug sprawling out over the polished wood floor.
I supposed it was my father’s way of showing me he cared, although he never said as much. But, especially after our last conversation, I doubted I’d ever hear it now.
I walked over to the dresser, tilting my head at my reflection in the oval mirror. Azia had removed the brown hair dye we’d used to hide my red hair, to conceal my identity. While I appeared the same, there was something off. Perhaps it was my expression, now permanently anxious, with rage behind my green eyes, replacing the girl I was once.
A knock sounded at my door, jolting me. Had Sebastian finally come to speak with me? Unless it was my father, but he wouldn’t knock. Instead, he’d just walk right in.
Anxiety prickled in my arms as I walked to the door, slowly pushing down the handle. As I opened it, my mind raced with what to say to him. I both hated and wanted Sebastian and resented him for making me feel both.
Astor’s face came into view, and I took a long breath. “It’s you,” I said with the enthusiasm of a teaspoon. “What do you want?”
“I’m glad you finally agreed to speak with me.” He ran his hand through his ash-brown curls.
My brows knitted together. “I didn’t.”
He strolled past me, gazing around my room wide-eyed. “Kalon must have made your guards let me come through. After I saw you leave the feeding room, I asked your guard for an audience. Again. I just got a message to come back now.”
I made a mental note to fire whoever was guarding the entrance to my room. “You need to leave,” I recalled his anger at seeing me in the banquet room.
“Why? Expecting your new man?” he asked, spite twitching the corner of his mouth.
“That’s none of your business.”
He arched an eyebrow, his gaze intrusive as he looked me up and down. “I thought you were smarter than this, Liv.”
