Page 14 of Blood So Brutal

“Lovely,” she sighed.

“You’re ready for it, though,” I added. “You’ve felt my hunger through the bond. It’s manageable.”

“Until it’s not.”

I shrugged. “I do what I can.”

“Can vampyres feed off other vampyres? How is it that you were able to drink my blood when I’m also a vampyre?”

“Half a vampyre,” I corrected. “You still have fae blood in you, and I still have angel. Normally, vampyres would need blood from another species. Animals, fae, angels. You and I seem to be exceptions, along with the rest of the half-breeds.”

She took a long, deep breath. “I can’t believe this is my life.”

“Yeah.” I glanced around the room. “You and I both.”

We sat at the bar for the next few minutes in silence. Drinking. Waiting. Breathing. I let my own thoughts drown me, let them pull apart my mind and fight with my memories.

I didn’t want to be the blood-drinking vampyre I was forced into being, but here I was. I never wanted to feed off Huntyr, but I had, and I damn well enjoyed it, too.

I didn’t want any of this. Not for me, and especially not for her.

There was nowhere in this entire kingdom that would be safe from him. He would never let us go freely. He would track us down, either himself or with his own army, and he wouldn't stop until he got us back.

Until he gother.

He wanted power that badly.

“Huntyr?” a familiar female voice called out from behind me. Huntyr’s eyes widened as her gaze landed on the visitor. I spun around to see who it was, only to find?—

“Voiler.”

Chapter 5

Huntyr

“Goddess above.”I was out of my seat before I could stop myself, the tall wooden stool almost tipping over as I ran to her.

Voiler.

“I thought you were dead!” I called out. I pulled her to me, crushing her small body to my chest. She hugged me back just as fiercely, laughing and half-crying in relief.

“I thought you were dead too! What are you doing here? How are you here? I mean, I thought I was the only one who survived!”

I pulled back to look at my friend. She somehow looked even better than she did in Moira, like Moira had been draining the life from her, and now, she was finally free. Her black hair was no longer in braids, hanging past her shoulders in loose waves.

“I’m here with him.” I turned and pointed at Wolf, who still sat lazily on his barstool. Voiler’s attention turned to him, but I didn’t miss the way her gaze wandered over his shoulders.

“His wings, they’re?—”

“It’s a long story,” I said. “Tell me about you. How are you here? How did you survive?”

“I thought I died,” she started, lowering her voice. “I was supposed to be dead, anyway. After the Transcendent, I shouldn’t be here, but I woke up inside The Golden City. Of course, I was confused as all hells when I first woke up. It’s nothing like they told us.”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “It’s awful.”

“I stumbled through some buildings, fighting off as many hungry ones as I could, until I found them.” She turned and looked at a small group of people who funneled toward a table by the door. Some possessed angel wings, some didn’t. Their pointed ears told me they were fae, too. “They brought me in, protected me. I’ve been living with them since.

“I saw Ashlani die. And Lanson. Though I guess everything we saw there was a test. It’s hard to believe anything that actually happened. I died too. I mean,died.” That last word was barely audible, like I still couldn’t truly believe it myself.

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