Page 50 of Ashvale: The Vampire's Thrall

I turned away and continued making my way through the corridors and down the stairs until I bumped into Emerson.

I used a burst of speed to reach her side and grinned when she jumped. She'd settled in well and was becoming fast friends with Novalie, which I appreciated. I couldn't be with her all the time and it was good to know someone else was watching out for her.

"Training?" she asked and I nodded.

"Where are you off to?"

She grimaced, somehow managing to make the expression look attractive. "Extra feeding lessons for those of us Elowen feels may be more prone to slipping." Emerson rolled her eyes and fluffed her hair. "I mean, no offence but I have better self-control than you and I don't see you attending remedial feeding."

I snorted. "Thanks. Your hair looks nice, by the way."

"Novalie helped me take out some of the braids," she said, smiling slightly and I couldn't help but watch her in admiration. She'd adjusted surprisingly well to being a vampire—better than I had, that was for sure. I wondered if it was because she'd had closure about her murder, where I still had yet to find mine.

"I'm okay," she said knowingly and pressed a quick kiss to my cheek before hurrying off to her class. "Be good!"

I smiled. It was like I'd told Cal, sometimes you didn't know what you needed until it walked into your life. I felt that way about Emerson too. She was strong in ways I wasn't sure I would ever be and, surprisingly, she felt more alive than some of the living vampires did.

"Feeling melancholy?" a familiar voice murmured in my ear as arms slipped around my waist.

"Maybe a little." I smiled as I faced Hayes. "Checking up on me?"

"Just making sure you hadn't killed anyone yet today," he teased.

"It's still early." I smirked and loved that his eyes darkened with desire instead of fear or disgust. I didn't make a habit of killing people, but I also didn't have as many qualms about violence now—maybe that was Hayes’ influence bleeding into me from the bond, or maybe I was just changing. It didn't scare me as much anymore, not with all the death in the castle recently. Sometimes you had to bite or be bitten.

"Hungry?" His voice had a deeper note to it that made my fangs ache in anticipation.

"When it comes to you? Always."

ChapterTwenty-Four

Emerson knockedon my door later that evening and Hayes raised an eyebrow at me, tugging the sheets up slightly to hide his lack of clothes.

I opened the door and concern immediately hit me. She looked rattled, her eyes darting to the left and right of the corridor before she hurried into my room and shut the door.

"Can you put something in place so we won't be overheard? Like with your magick?" she said before I could say anything.

Hayes nodded, his dark brows furrowing as he watched us. A breeze blew past me and I knew Hayes had locked a shield of air around us as I watched, impressed. I hadn’t even known that was something he could do.

"What's wrong?" I asked immediately and Emerson sat down heavily on the end of my bed, her dark eyes wide and her breaths uneven. She was panicking. "Hold your breath," I advised, and she blew out slowly before doing as I suggested.

"I didn't know what it was, Leonora. I promise. They just said it would make us feel good—like, high. But now I feel..."

"Hungry," I whispered, chills running through me. "Who gave it to you?" I said urgently, as Hayes stood and tugged on some joggers, wariness settling into his face as he watched Emerson. I shot him a look, she wasn't going to hurt us.

"One of the living vampires," she muttered, twisting her fingers in her lap. "I was sitting with Novalie in the food hall—"

Shit. She had saidus. "Did she take it too?”

Emerson nodded and I swore again. Emerson was right, she did have great self control, hopefully it wouldn't hurt her too badly or maybe it would affect her differently as a turned vampire, but Novalie... Well, she was impulsive at the best of times.

"Leonora," Emerson said quietly and I paused, having moved to my door without thinking too much about it. Someone needed to stop Novalie before she did something she'd regret. "Leah, I think they were deliberately targeting people from the remedial feeding class and Novalie just got caught in the crossfire."

It was somewhere to start, other than hunting down the dealer the girls had seen. I nodded to her and raised a hand when Hayes moved to follow me.

“No, you stay here with Emerson. If this does suddenly hit her hard we’ll need someone here. Plus, you’ve been enough of a temptation to Novalie in the past that I don’t want to push her.”

Hayes nodded reluctantly and I pulled open my door as he dissolved the air shield, a small breeze stroking across my cheek as he watched me go.Be safe.

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