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He caught the briefest glimpse of what he could have sworn were fangs before something bright and hot flared in his chest, searing him from the inside out. Gasping, he clutched at his heart, fear lancing him, and he wondered if he was suffering a heart attack, even though that was a human malady.
“Your Highness!” Catherine’s eyes were huge with concern, and she reached for him, her anger forgotten. There was no trace of fangs or anything else amiss on her face aside from a streak of blood at the corner of her mouth. “Are you all right?”
Casimir flinched away from her outstretched hand, but before he could say anything, footsteps sounded along with the rustling of bushes. “Catherine?” Maximillian called, appearing from around a tall trellis crawling with vines. His eyes widened at the sight of his thrall alone with Casimir in the bushes, and then narrowed on the prince. “Have you been feeding on her?”
Casimir barked out a laugh. “You should get those eyes of yours checked, Starclaw,” he said, backing away from the thrall. “She’s the one with blood on her mouth, not me.”
He stalked away, leaving the Pyschoros vampire to deal with his thrall. He didn’t know what the fuck had just happened, but he needed to get away, now, before whatever thisthingbetween them was cleaved him in two. He could already feel it happening, the core of his being split wide open from a singletouch.
Whoever this woman was, she was bad fucking news. And he needed to stay away from her.
26
Kitana
“And you’re certain you didn’t use your magic on him?” Maximillian asked for what felt like the hundredth time after he’d brought me back to my bedchamber.
“Yes,” I groaned, clutching at my head. My tongue felt thick and fuzzy, and I had a splitting headache, as if I’d just woken up with a hangover. “I swear on all the gods, Maximillian, I didn’t use my magic on him. I didn’t do anything at all!He’sthe one who touchedme.”
“Then why did he look as if you’d struck him?” Maximillian demanded, his eyes burning. I’d never seen him so agitated before, pacing in front of the window like a caged animal. “I saw his face—he was trying to hide it, but he was in physical agony, Kitana. How is that possible, if you didn’t do anything?”
“I don’t know!” I cried, throwing up my hands. And that much was true—I had no idea why Casimir had reacted so violently after putting his hands on me. The tug in my chesthad intensified when he’d grabbed me… was it possible that he felt the same pull? But how could that be? After all, while the sensation had been intense, it wasn’t painful for me. And Maximillian was right—Casimir had looked as though someone had buried an axe in the center of his chest, his eyes glassy, his features contorted with pain.
And even though he was the son of my hated enemy, I’d taken no pleasure in seeing him that way.
“I swear to you, Maximillian,” I said, my voice brimming with pain and frustration. “I didn’t use my magic on him, or attack him physically.” Although I would have used the knife if I’d sensed he was going to hurt me. “I was just in the bushes, throwing up the bloodwine Viviana forced me to drink, when he came up and grabbed me. I have no idea why he reacted that way, or even what he wanted. And I feel terrible about it, and now I don’t know what to do, because—”
I broke off on a sob, and Maximillian cursed. “Come here,” he said roughly, striding forward and pulling me into his arms. I tried to fight him at first, terrified of what he might see or sense, but my treacherous, touch-starved body rebelled, throwing my arms around his waist and pressing my cheek into his abdomen.
“I’m going to eviscerate Viviana when I see her,” he swore, the violence in his tone a stark contrast to the gentle way he stroked his hand over my hair and down my back. “I should have never left you alone with them, Kitana.”
Against my better judgment, I clung to him, allowing Maximillian to soothe me with gentle touches and murmured reassurances. It seemed that all my time trapped in that coffin had eroded my impulse control—I had been unable to resist the bloodwine, unable to control my temper around Casimir, andwas now unable to pull away from Maximillian even though I was exposed and vulnerable, and he was far, far,fartoo close.
“I’m sorry I’m such a mess,” I croaked out.
“There’s nothing for you to apologize about, Kitten,” Maximillian said, sliding his fingers through my hair at the roots. I swallowed a moan as his nails scraped against my scalp, releasing the tension built up there. “And if you’re a mess, you’re the most magnificent one I’ve ever seen.”
His words sent a thrill through me, but the wounded animal in me recoiled from them. He didn’t know the truth about me, the secret that lurked so close to the surface, that Casimir had nearly stumbled upon tonight. That Sebastian had condemned me for, then attempted to bury me with, all those decades ago. Shame coiled within me as those dark memories threatened to surface, and my skin suddenly felt as if a layer of grime had settled on it, one I would never be able to scrub off.
“Kitana?” Maximillian grasped my shoulders as I started to pull away. “What is it?”
I shook my head, turning away from the concern shining in his eyes. Something about this vampire made me want to open my heart and spill all my secrets, and I knew that if I looked into his face now, I might very well give into that impulse.
“I just… I need to be alone for a little while, okay?” I whispered. “Tonight was rough. There were a lot of vampires in that room, and I didn’t handle it as well as I could have. I need to pull myself back together.”
Maximillian’s mouth tightened, and for a second, I thought he would refuse. But then he pulled away, disappointment glimmering in his eyes even as he nodded. “All right,” he saidgently, getting to his feet. “But let me know if you need anything, Kitana. You’re not alone.”
He closed the door behind him with a soft click, and I fisted my skirts in my hands as I stared into the fire, watching the flames dance in the grate. As soon as his footsteps faded, I stripped my gown off, using tendrils of shadow magic to undo the buttons in the back. As I moved to the closet, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, then did a double take at the sight of the flower tattoo on my abdomen.
“They will never see you as you truly are,”my mother said, her faraway voice echoing in my ears.“You will be safe and protected, no matter how high or low he searches for you. So long as this remains.”
My heart hammered in my chest as I leaned closer, tracing my fingers over the edge of one flower. The color had dwindled to almost nothing, leaving only the faintest of outlines on my flesh where a full flower had once bloomed.
This had never happened before. And I had no idea what it meant that it was starting to happen now.
27
Kitana
