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LARISA
I sat in Elias’s study, him in the armchair across from me, a fire in the hearth even though it was midday. Most of his curtains were drawn closed and forgotten, like there was no reason to keep them open in daylight when there was no point in even being alive.
“The journey from Grayson is relatively brief,” I said. “If they leave a few hours before sunset, they should be here by midnight. In the meantime, we’ll be able to stall when the werewolves see us.”
“They were unable to return with news because your husband killed them. I suspect they’ll assume what transpired and march on our gates with everything they have—while we have nothing.”
“But they have no chance against the Kingsnake Vampires.”
“But if they don’t see an army, they won’t believe you,” he said. “A couple of vampires may not be enough to convince them.”
“They may send scouts before an army,” I said. “We may have time.”
“I hope you’re right.” He sank into the other armchair, no longer the handsome man I remembered. The stress had dried his skin, made his hair thin, made his eyes dull. His arms weren’t muscular in his emaciated state. “You aren’t obligated to stay.” He looked at me across the rug. “There’s no reason you should die for us. We didn’t stand by you when you needed us. You shouldn’t stand by us.”
“I’m not going to abandon Raventower.”
“There’s so few of us left. It’s not worth it.”
“It’s always worth it, Elias.”
We fell into silence, comfortable silence, something I didn’t think would be possible after everything we’d been through. My eyes drifted to the fire, thinking about the man I refused to speak to.
“I’m sorry…about you and your husband.”
“Yeah…thanks.”
“May I ask what happened?”
I took a deep breath before I shared the story. “He was never going to tell me. Never going to give me a choice. And that’s just unacceptable.”
Instead of jumping in and ripping Kingsnake apart, he just absorbed the information. “What will you do?”
“I don’t know.”
“He loves you deeply.”
“You don’t know him.”
“He lied to you because he didn’t want to lose you. That’s love—even if it’s not expressed well.”
My eyes stayed on the fire.
“I see that you love him too.”
“How so?”
“You’ve referred to him as your husband when you didn’t have to. He’s still the man in your heart, even in your anger.”
I ignored his assessment.
A knock sounded on the door before the guard poked his head inside. “Kingsnake, King of Vampires and Lord of Darkness, wishes to speak with Larisa. I’ve informed him she’s in your company.”
I could feel Kingsnake’s rage from across the castle. It started as a simple spark then turned into an inferno. “Send him away.” I didn’t want to speak to him. It’d been a few hours since our last conversation, and that wasn’t enough time for me to calm down.
He shut the door and disappeared.
King Elias remained quiet.
