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For a moment, I imagined myself straddling Araki, my hands pressed to his firm bare chest, his hands holding my hips steady as I rocked into his rhythm.
Blushing, I scowled at him and shoved him away. I averted my gaze as he laughed quietly. It was a low- gravelly sensual sound that I wanted to hear again. He played me just as hard as I played him. His hand slipped from my thigh, and I suddenly missed it.
?I cursed him in my head for being so unruffled by my attempt.
“Go mingle,” I snapped. “Make yourself useful. Barkeepers leave late at night or in the early hours of the morning. If you’re looking to get off—” I made a last-bid attempt to embarrass him as much as I felt by looking pointedly at his crotch, which, annoyingly, had too much material to know if he was affected. “Then go flirt with a barmaid. I’m sure they’d love to have you, whether they know you’re the king or not.”
Standing, I stalked off. I needed to put much distance between Araki and me. I walked to the other end of the room and inserted myself into a game of cards, composing myself and adopting a sweet, innocent gaze as I pretended to be clumsy andunknowing of the game to make the people around me more comfortable to talk freely.
It was easy prey.
Bruxsa
Araki
I quietly observed Reilyn from across the room as she shuffled a deck of cards, her eyes flickering over the top of the men seated with her to meet my gaze. Winking at her, I grinned when she averted her eyes first. I was playing a dangerous game with her, blurring the lines between hate and lust. I recalled the jolt that had gone through me when she had pressed her supple body close to me moments earlier. The way she had gasped when I grabbed her thigh and the heat I felt between them when she unconsciously parted her thighs under my touch. I had felt her desire in the chaos of our twisted emotions through the bond and saw it in her hooded eyes.
As I watched Reilyn wrap the table of card players around her finger, only to win against them all while they talked amongst themselves and then flit from table to table, I didn’t know if I wanted to kill her more or cage her against a wall and kiss her senseless. My cock hardened as unwanted thoughts trickled into my head. I envisioned her tantalizing skin dewy with perspiration, every line and curve of her body bared before me as I bent her over on my bed and plunge into her wet…. I stopped the stray thought, clearing my mind of the assassin.
“Say, I’ve been hearing stories about these disappearances,” I said to the barkeeper who just came to my table to refill my mug. “Do you know anything going on? I’ve heard the king is tightening patrols.”
The barkeeper turned rigid, fear entering her eyes. She leaned in, her voice shaky, “There have been rumours about the nightwalker-”
The door of the tavern flew open with a hard crash. I jumped to my feet, knocking the mug in the process. The keeper yelled out a warning while everyone screamed at the sight of the bleeding man in the doorway.
“Save me!” The man cried as he held onto his bleeding neck. The blood leaked through his fingers, dripping onto the floor. His eyes suddenly bulged as a hand pierced through his chest. He wheezed, gurgling on a breath, and slumped dead on the floor. A lithe dark-haired woman with unnaturally pale skin and glowing milky white eyes stepped forward, grinning ear to ear with blooded fangs and hand.
Bruxsa.
More chaos erupted in the tavern, the walls ringing with cries, stomps, and crashes of patrons pushing each other to flee for safety. I remained standing, my eyes fixed on the Bruxsa. Unlike the Strigoi, the Bruxsa was attractive, and I could see intelligence in her eyes. An intelligent monster. And yet I didn’t fear her.Halafarin is my kingdom. Rage surged and coursed through me. The Bruxsa cocked her head at me, a sinister smile playing on her lips as she took me in, likely seeing through the poor illusion I weaved to blend into the tavern with Reilyn. Then her hungry eyes fell on the barkeeper behind me.
“Run!” I shouted at the barkeeper, summoning magic to my hands to throw it at the Bruxsa. The Bruxsa changed into bats, evading my attack, and dashed behind the bar in a flash, forgetting the lifeless man and not glancing at the other humans still hiding and wrestling out of the tavern through the windows. I spun as the bats merged and the Bruxsa materialized in her human form before the barkeeper, gripping the keeper’s face. The keeper broke into hysterical cries. The Bruxsa bit her throat just as I shot a blast of magic at it. It let out a piercing cry whenmy magic hit her back, flaying it. I pushed more power into it, and the Bruxsa grabbed the bleeding barkeeper and hauled her in front as a shield, forcing me to pull my magic back immediately just as I was about to land a finishing blow.
The girl bled and spasmed in the monster’s grasp, mouth hanging open, eyes fading from their natural colour to a deep red. She was not being killed. She was being turned.
Growling at the back of my throat, I clasped my hands together, forming two orbs of lightning and hurled the orbs of magic at the Bruxsa. The Bruxsa swiftly dodged the attack and morphed into bats again, vanishing out of the door. The orbs hit the walls, shattering the shelves on the wall. Bits of splinter and dust pelted my face. I glowered in dissatisfaction at allowing the Bruxsa to escape me. I could fly out of the tavern and hunt her down but there was a strigoi I needed to take care of. Pushing the setback behind me, I turned toward the newly turned. I let my magic sail for her, flickering with a force she wouldn’t withstand, counting on the fact that she was a fledgling. The force and power struck her, causing her to stumble and fall back. The fledgling lifted its head, looked away from me, and stared at the dead man hungrily. It staggered and crawled to the dead man at the doorway and licked a line of the dead man’s blood from chest to neck. My face twisted in disgust and sorrow for the barkeeper. She laughed aloud, throwing her head back. The sound was pure manic, unhinged, and her eyes shone a vicious red. I readied for another attack when the fledgling snapped its head in my direction.
“King of Halafarin,” It stared at me with unblinking eyes as though in a trance, her voice strange and devoid of emotion. I drew my sword as she said, “The undead will rise once more.”
She then collapsed onto the floor, her nails dragging down the man’s arm, leaving deep gouges as she writhed with her change into a Strigoi. I didn’t give a chance for her to complete the transformation. I raced forward, swung my sword, and severed its head. I also severed the head of the dead man for good measure lest the worst happened.
I scanned the room, and relief washed over me when I found it vacant. Reilyn? I frowned in concern. Had she left with the fray? I was apprehensive, knowing the Bruxsa was still on the loose.
The acrid smell of burning bodies assailed my nostrils and drew my gaze back to them.
I tensed when I felt a presence behind me. Swiftly, I spun on my feet, lifting the blade, and holding it against the person. On high alert, I didn’t give them a chance. I pressed the steel into a slender neck.
“You left,” I growled.
“I tried to fight my way, but the crowd pushed me out with the current.” Reilyn held my gaze, undaunted at the blade pressed to her throat.
I narrowed my eyes at her suspiciously.
“It’s the truth,” Reilyn said.
With my eyes still hot on her, I withdrew the sword.
Reilyn lifted her hand to her neck and rubbed the spot where the tip of the blade had pressed. I watched her quietly, not offering an apology for my action.
