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The door opened, and Toman entered. “Kingsnake, King of Grayson, his general Viper, and King Cobra, King of the Mountain, have ventured to our forest to speak with you. Shall I let them enter? Or shall I kill them instead?” He stood with his hands locked together behind his back, his eyes constantly dead now that he served me rather than ruled with me.
“Let them proceed.”
He hesitated, the disagreement all over his face.
“Is that a problem, Toman?”
“They slew our king.”
“And they let us flee. If we don’t forge peace with our enemies, we’ll be slain too.”
His disagreement was still potent. “You would betray your people for a vampire good in bed?”
My stare remained stoic, but the blood in my heart boiled. “I’m privy to information you are not, Toman. My father imparted information to me that is so blood-curdling, you would scream. I will pardon your behavior this time, but provoke me again, and I won’t be so merciful.” I gave a wave of my hand, dismissing him.
He hesitated, his hostile stare still fiery.
I held his look as I sat upon my throne, daring him to oppose me with a single word.
He finally backed down and walked out.
Now my heart started to race again, picturing those dark eyes and shadowed jawline. Cobra stared at me with the kind of ownership no other man could ever emulate. His skill with the blade was stronger than mine, despite my greater experience, and that earned my respect. He earned other things too, like the command of my body…and the beat of my heart. I dreaded this moment and yearned for it simultaneously.
The door opened again, and this time, a group of handsome vampires entered. I recognized Viper from my stay in Grayson. The man beside him was unfamiliar, so I assumed this was Kingsnake, King of Grayson. A woman was beside him, dressed in armor similar to his. I assumed she was his prey, the woman who could grant immortality to the kingdoms, but she was definitely not human.
And then I saw him.
He entered last, wearing the black-and-gold armor of his people, his strong body even stronger in the plates of strength, the cloak that hung behind him. I knew that body so well that I could picture everything that lay underneath. He was tall like his brothers, possessed the same unrivaled confidence embedded in their DNA, and had eyes with so much depth they had no ending.
All I could do was stare.
He stared back. “It’s nice to see you again…Your Highness.”
Butterflies the size of dragons roared in my belly. Lightning that struck the peaks of mountains burned my veins. “Yes…and not on a battlefield.”
The corner of his mouth rose in a smile, but only slightly, so subtly that no one else noticed it.
I could stare at him forever, but I had to shift my attention to Kingsnake. “I’ve granted entry to you and your brothers only. The woman will have to wait outside with the guards until our conversation has concluded.”
“She stays,” Cobra said immediately. “You speak to all of us, or you speak to none of us.”
I stared at Cobra, surprised by the way he’d snapped so quickly.
“Her name is Larisa,” Kingsnake said.
I looked at Kingsnake again.
“My future wife and Queen of Grayson,” Kingsnake finished. “She goes where I go. Nonnegotiable.”
Larisa looked at Kingsnake beside her, who had his gaze fixed hard on me.
This woman must be one and the same. “You’ve made her into a nightwalker.”
Kingsnake took a moment to answer. “Yes.”
“Why?” I asked. “I thought she was the salvation of humankind.”
The air had a heft I could feel. A boulder the size of a mountain.
