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“Sleep, Lake.”
“I don’t want to sleep.” My nightmares are so vivid now.
“You need to rest. Tomorrow, I will come again if you promise to address the citizens. Soon. Before it is too late.”
I’m about to say it’ll never happen, but I realize what he’s doing. He’s just shown me the carrot. He can make my hunger pains stop if I play ball. And, fucking hell, but I want to do it. “I’ll think about it.”
He smiles with that empty mouth. “I will never stop protecting you, Lake. Do not forget that.” His form fades, and I close my eyes, unable to stay awake.
Bard. I dream of Bard this time. He’s in his red flannel shirt, making pancakes on my twenty-fifth birthday. He fills my mug with his special coffee, and I can’t help staring at his strong hands. Everything about him mesmerized me as a young woman—the lips, the sparkle in his eyes, the reams of muscles on his back when he chopped wood. But what I remember most were his hands and how his nimble fingers took so much care preparing meals. He was once a chef in Paris until duty came calling. My grandmother asked him to come to River Wall and look after me and my mother because something strange washappening to all the human families connected to Monsterland. They were dying off. Bard couldn’t say no since his people vowed to protect the Norfolk. After my parents disappeared, he stayed to watch over me.
My grandmother should have sent him away and saved me the heartache.
When I wake, I feel almost human again. The hunger is still there, but it’s tolerable.
How Bard managed it, I don’t know.
Master nudges my arm, and I know he’s looking for breakfast.
“I’ll ask the kitchen to make you up some of that nasty dragon meat.” Flier meat is a staple in these lands, and nothing goes to waste. Not even their semen. Don’t ask how I know that. But why anyone would eat a creature that looks like burnt dragon and tastes like rotting eggs, I don’t know.
Master barks with a confirmation.
I get up, slide on what seems to be the standard vampire uniform: a pair of black leather pants, a black cotton shirt that ties in the front, and leather boots. Apparently, the Blood People really like black. And leather. I wonder what animal it comes from, because they don’t have cows around here.
I tie back my long hair with a strip of, you guessed it, leather and go to my door, sliding the heavy steel bolt to one side. I tug it open to find Gabrio standing there, looking like his usual serious self. He’s still wearing Bard’s old clothes—green flannel shirt, jeans, and work boots—from when he was back at River Wall with me.
His golden hair is tied back, and he’s shaved off his long beard.
“What happened to the beard?” I ask. “Preparing for war?”
He ignores my question. “Why didn’t you answer the door last night?” he growls.
“Just because I let you fuck me once doesn’t mean you get to nosy in my business.” I push past him. Yes, I slept with the man. I had to in order to make my marriage to Alwar legit. Consummation was a requirement. And, also, impossible with a man Alwar’s size. The solution was to have Gabrio act as his stand-in. Apparently, that’s legal in this world.
Gabrio follows me. “I don’t know what fucking has to do with my inquiry.”
“How about fucking off? Does that work?” I wave him away, not bothering to look at him.
“Lake.” He grabs my arm and jerks me back. “Why are you acting like this?”
I stare up into his green eyes. “You’re serious right now?”
His angular jaw pulses with tension. “Yes.”
I shake my head. “You’re just like your brother.” I turn and continue down the torchlit corridor toward the kitchen.
“Which one?”
“All of them.”
He’s on my heels again. The man must be a sucker for punishment.
“In case you haven’t noticed,” I say, “I almost killed you yesterday, so I suggest keeping your distance.”
“I asked Bard to help you. Did he come last night?”
I stop and turn to face Gabrio, an inquisitive look on my face.
