Page 40 of Treasured

I needed someone to ground me.

Gods, I couldn’t get to my suite fast enough. I would have shadowed, but I didn’t want to show weakness.

Instead, I would prove to them their queen was always present.

Jathos, one of my advisors, hurried down the hall. “Queen Marguerite, I’m afraid I have an urgent matter that requires—”

I extended a hand, and a wall of shadows slipped from my palm. It slammed into Jathos, throwing him backward. He cried out as his body hit the wall, a bone snapping, but I kept going.

I didn’t have time for Jathos today. I didn’t have time for any of them.

Red tinged my vision, my gums ached, and my stomach twisted with the need to eat. Blood was all I could think about.

“Ithiar, have mercy on me,” I groaned, turning the last corner. Even though I had been a vampire for over four centuries, this thirst still took hold of me in moments of weakness.

Flinging my shadows out in front of me, the doors to my apartment flew open.

A tall, well-built human stood inside my private chambers. His dark blond hair curled at the nape of his neck, and he paced, his finger trailing over the page of a leather-bound book.

My fangs ached at the sight.

Nicolas always knew when I needed him.

Drawing shadows around me, I moved through the Void and landed behind him. Dragging my tongue over the tip of a fang, I whispered, “Boo.”

He stiffened, and the book slammed shut.

I grabbed him, his back pressing against my front. My teeth sank into his neck. The first sip of his blood was like drinking fine wine. It soothed the burning ache within me. My shoulders relaxed, and I hugged him as he leaned against me. I drank, letting his blood fill me in a way that nothing else did.

My free hand roamed his body, dipping lower, lower, lower until I slipped beneath the waistband of his trousers. He groaned, pressing himself into my touch invitingly. That was all the encouragement I needed. I touched Nicolas as I drank, the red seeping out of my vision. The pounding in my head became a dull throb, and then it disappeared entirely.

Only then did I pull my fangs from his neck, licking the blood trailing down his golden skin.

Nicolas turned, his brown eyes dark with desire and lust as they swept over me. “Marguerite,” he breathed, tossing his book on the nearby couch. “My love. I’ve missed you.”

He’d only been gone for a few days, but it had felt like a lifetime. At least he was here now. My lips tilted up, and I kissed him. “How did you know I needed you?”

“I always know.” Nicolas smiled and placed his hand over my heart. “We are one.”

That memory faded away. Prinos remained on the bed, his eyes silver and lungs gasping for breath as he searched the future.

“Come on,” I groaned. “Hurry.”

But the Fortune Elf did not hear me. He remained on the silver planes, and soon, another memory took hold of me. This one was worse. It had taken place a few years after the first one and was the beginning of the worst period of my life.

Until now.

“Where is he?” My fists curled in the fabric of my gown, and my heels clicked as I paced across the throne room. The wind howled, and snow fell in an angry flurry, making sight impossible even for me.

My heart raced in my chest.

Nicolas was missing.

Lord Clement ran a hand through his hair. “Scouts are searching for him, Your Majesty.”

None of this made sense. How did this happen? My Nicolas was an expert tracker. The best there was. The snow should have posed no trouble for him. “He should have been back by now!”

I needed him. He was mine.

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