Page 6 of The Night Prince

“He doesn’t scare me. I’m courting the future Wolf King, don’t you know?”

He chuckles, a soft husky sound that fills the small bedchamber with warmth and dark promise. “Oh aye? You’re courting him, are you?”

“Do you not think so?”

“What is he like? Handsome, I presume?”

“He’s very handsome. And strong. And he likes to think he’s a gentleman. He’s not. He’s a wolf.”

“Is that so?”

He moves, lowering himself and forcing my thighs to part further to accommodate his broad shoulders.

“Yes,” I whimper.

“I think we’re way beyond courting, Princess.” He plants a soft kiss on the damp fabric of my underwear. “Don’t you?”

My back arches. “Yes.”

Sweat beads on my brow and I want to beg for more, something I’ve never done in my life. Yet as he hooks my underwear to one side with his finger, I stiffen. My body cools, as if I’ve been plunged into ice. Darkness creeps in at the edges of my vision and a panicked sound escapes my lips. Callum stills between my thighs.

A growl builds, crescendos, vibrates inside me. It’s like there’s something caught in my chest, thrashing against a cage, trying to break free. It wants to run toward something, but I don’t know what. My skin is clammy. My hair sticks to my face.

“Callum,”I whimper.

“Princess?”He’s up, instantly, caging me within his arms. “Ghealach, you’re burning up.”

Dots flash before my eyes, and cold sweat beads on my skin. I try to cling onto consciousness, but a wave of darkness crashes toward me. The small bed, the fireplace laden with books, the embers in the hearth, Callum’s face—they all turn grey.

“BLAKE!”Callum sounds faraway as he leaps from the bed.

I’m sinking.

Then blackness.

Chapter Two

I’m racing down a dark endless prison corridor. I’m a crumbling statue, and vines of shadow coil around my arms and legs. Damp cells, metal scalpels, and hearts dripping black blood flash before my eyes.

I’m sprinting through a forest at night. My dress snags on branches, and thorns dig into the soles of my feet. I don’t know if I’m running toward something, or running away, but if I stop, I’ll die.

Callum’s blurry face appears before mine. “What’s wrong with her? Is it the bite?”

“It’s her wolf.”Blake sounds like dark silk and it cools my burning bones. “Aurora, darling.” A palm presses against my clammy forehead, and the beast that rages in my chest settles. “Look at me.”

I peel open my eyelids and jerk back.

Blake’s pupils dilate until they are empty black holes, and his mouth curves into a cruel smile that is too big for his face. He laughs. Harsh and cold and endless.

I know what you are,I scream inside my head.

What?

Monster.

The darkness takes me once more.

I’m trapped in a cold dark space, and there’s water as black as pitch up to my waist. A great beast carries a rabbit in his maw as he runs through a dilapidated chapel. A whip tears through my flesh as male laughter shatters my eardrums. A woman cries amid a snowstorm.

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