Page 9 of Dark Fire Kiss

“Please, Aleks.”

His mouth tightened. “I must do as the Blood demands.”

My heart sank.

He gestured to the warrior at his side. “This is Viktor. He’ll take you to Scotland.”

“You’re not taking me?”

His dark brows pulled together. “Of course not. I’m Ludovic’s heir. It would be folly to put myself in harm’s way, even for a moment. Besides, I’ve never been to the Highlands. The closest I could get you is London.”

I bit my tongue so I wouldn’t point out he had no problem putting me in harm’s way. That was a given. But his other excuse was sound. Vampires could only channel to places they’d been before.

And I couldn’t channel anywhere at all, which meant I had to depend on Viktor, who looked like he’d rather be interrogating thralls than shuttling Prince Ludovic’s bastard daughter around the globe. He stared at me with reddish eyes and the thinly veiled contempt I’d grown used to over the years.

Aleksander swept an assessing look down my gown. “Well,” he said almost to himself, “it’ll have to do.” He looked at Viktor and jerked his chin toward me. “Take her.”

Viktor reached for me.

“Wait!” I grabbed Aleksander’s sleeve, my words spilling forth in a low rush. “If I’m successful—if I get these tears—I make my own choices. No more concubine talk.”

He looked at my fingers on his arm, then lifted his gaze to mine. There was anger in his eyes…but also a glimmer of something that might have been respect. “You dare to bargain with me, Sister?” he asked softly.

“It’s a request.” My heart pounded, but I held his gaze.

“It sounds like a demand. One you’re in no position to make.”

“You need me,” I said, surprised my voice wasn’t shaking. He could beat me for challenging him in front of a warrior. He’d done it before. But my bravado seemed to intrigue him, so I sucked in a breath and kept going. “You want to protect your inheritance. I want to control my own destiny. I’ll do whatever I can to get the tears for you. All I ask is your promise to help me when I return.”

He lifted his free hand.

I flinched, but he merely took my arm and nudged me backwards until my back bumped something hard and solid.

Viktor. The warrior looped a meaty forearm around my shoulders and pulled me against his chest.

Aleksander stepped back. “I’ll help you, Halina.” The tips of his fangs showed as he smiled. “If you return.”

Viktor tightened his grip.

The world fell away.

Chapter Three

HALINA

One second I stood in my father’s courtyard, the next I was in a moonlit clearing.

And a storybook castle lay just ahead, its windows blazing with light.

Viktor’s deep chuckle rumbled against my back. “Looks like the dragons are home.”

I wrenched away and turned in a slow circle. My heart raced, but I didn’t bother trying to slow it. He wasn’t going to risk damaging me—not when I was supposed to be a diversion for the dragons.

The clearing appeared to be a low point in a valley surrounded by rugged hills. Stars blazed overhead, filling the night sky with more light than I’d ever seen in Krovnosta. It was colder here, too, which surprised me.

The castle was obviously old—with a drawbridge and battlements—but it had been modernized. The electric lights cut through the mist that huddled on the ground and clung to my hair and gown.

I pitched my voice as low as possible. “Why this place?”

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