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With a ridiculous grin on his face, he took a seat. “You need to get laid, man.”
“And you need to get laid less,” Viper said. “Get that stupid smile off your face—”
“I’m far too hungry and tired to tolerate this.” Kingsnake spoke in a quiet voice, like he, indeed, was exhausted. “How far is the journey to the obelisk?”
“A couple days, maybe,” Cobra said. “I know you guys are hungry, so once you’ve eaten, we’ll begin the trek.”
“We’re hungry?” Viper asked. “Why are you excluded from that statement?”
Cobra shrugged as the grin remained on his face.
“You fed on Clara?” Kingsnake asked.
His grin only grew. “Turns out, she’s the jealous type. Which is fine by me because I think that’s pretty hot.” He waggled his eyebrows. “She’s asked for volunteers for the rest of you, and a few men and women have stepped forward.”
“Why?” Viper asked. “Why would they agree to that?”
“For a lot of reasons,” Cobra said. “But mainly gratitude. We agreed to a truce, when we could have slaughtered them instead. And after centuries of war, it’s the least they can do. Plus, we have admirers everywhere.” He winked.
I felt sick to my stomach, not just because of what I had to do, but because Kingsnake would feed on someone besides me. I’d been his only prey since the moment we’d met, and knowing he would sink his teeth into another beautiful woman immediately made me insecure. My blood was what made him desire me in the first place. And now…I didn’t have that to offer anymore.
Kingsnake felt the same dread. It slowly spread through his body like a poison.
“After you’ve eaten, we’ll go,” Cobra said. “Viper, we’ll probably need your explosives to destroy this thing. Apparently, it’s made out of solid stone.”
“I just want to eat,” Viper said as he stood up. “Let’s go.”
Cobra got to his feet too but halted when we remained in our seats. His eyes flicked back and forth between us before he headed to the door. “We’ll wait for you at the bottom.” He walked out with Viper and shut the door behind them both.
Kingsnake didn’t look at me. His eyes were out the window again.
The only reason I stared at him was because he didn’t stare at me. If his look met mine, my eyes would dart away.
Silence passed, accompanied by the hundreds of birds that chirped in the trees.
Kingsnake drew a slow breath before he looked at me once again. “This is hard for both of us. But it’s something that needs to be done. The weaker we are, the more vulnerable we are to our enemies.”
“What enemies?” We’d made peace with the Ethereal. The humans would welcome us with open arms once we healed the sickness.
“You and I will always have enemies, even in the times of greatest peace. I’m King of Vampires, Lord of Darkness, and soon you will be my queen. A queen more powerful than her king as she possesses the blood of the Originals. People will always want to kill us, sweetheart. But I’ll watch your back—and you’ll watch mine.”
My eyes glazed over as I pictured this new life, wearing the armor of the Kingsnake Vampires, at his side during times of war and times of peace. Years would feel like days. Days like minutes. While I would be married to a powerful man, I would be a powerful woman myself. As long as no one cut us down, we would be together forever. Literally forever. But if I wanted that to happen, I had to feed.
I had to stick my fangs in another person…and drink their blood.
And Kingsnake had to do the same, with a woman, someone other than me. That part of our relationship was officially over.
His eyes shifted back to me. “It gets easier, in time.”
“It feels wrong.”
“You aren’t taking anything that’s not freely given.”
“Still.”
“I won’t pretend I’m totally comfortable with this. I’ve never been on the opposite end of this situation.”
“Ellasara was a vampire.” I was told not to mention her, but I had to.
