Page 111 of Pretty Little Prey
“Am I supposed to act like I will enjoy feeding one such as you?”
“One such as me?” she echoed, her tone turning fiery to his cold voice.So freaking tired of being judged for what I am.Her hunger and bloodlust easily transformed into uncontrollable anger—a common symptom of new vampirehood. But knowing it was expected did not make it harder to fight.
Gods, she wanted to bite his head off and rage. “You snotty, royal light shifters are all the same.” Her voice rose in volume more and more as her emotions spiraled. “I’m the king’s mate. It shouldn’t matterwhatI am. Just because I got turned into a vampire against my will does not make me a monster.”
“You need to feed,” he said again, ignoring everything else she told him.
“Screw you,” she yelled at him, slapping his chest. “I’mfine!” She wasn’t. Her throat burned with scorching pain.
He grunted and stumbled back. Apparently, she had slapped his chest a littletoohard.Little Lunahad hurt a predator lion shifter? Vampiric strength was no joke.I…like it.
He growled, “Do you plan to drink from the king? Even knowing you could drain him dry without meaning to? You have been a vampire for mere days. You have no control yet—”
“I won’t drink from anyone,” she swore, even as her stomach wrang itself and ached. “I’ll be fine.”
“Understand me, little girl,” Conrad muttered threateningly in her face. “If you endanger my king, I will have no trouble finding a stake.”
To drive through her heart? “You have no idea how wrong you are about me. I would never hurt anyone, especially Daxton.”
“You’ve never been a vampire before,” he said stiffly. “You have no idea what you would do.”
Chapter 43
Crashing. Growling. Ripping. Roaring.
“He’s, uh, not doing so well,” Nikolai stated to Sly and Kobe as they listened to Bastille rage in the hotel bedroom. A set of thin doors muted the noises but not by much. It had been over a day since Luna had gone missing. The king of the Dark Ones was still…reacting
Kobe leaned forward from his seat on the hotel sofa. “Why do we wait? We should go to her.”
“He is our king. We take direction from him,” Nikolai replied even as he thought to himself that this temper tantrum delay was ridiculous.
Nikolai had turned Luna into a vampire. She was out there, in Light Ones territory, not knowing how to control her bloodlust. Not knowing what positive traits to focus on when she remembered her new aversion to food and sunlight. He wanted to be there for her, teaching her. Helping her.
Nikolai thought to himself,I am no longer all alone.
Kobe growled.
“We know the dragon has her. News of the, uh, the wedding—” More crashing noises came from Bastille’s bedroom. “—has been announced to the Council,” Nikolai said. “We are invited. We can go and see her right now, but we have to be smart about this. We can’t just grab her and make a run for it.”
Sly cracked one of his knuckles. The jolly comedic relief had not smiled since realizing Luna was gone. “Light Ones hate vampires. His people could kill her before the wedding. Or after. She is a sitting duck in enemy territory!”
“Want to go to her,” Kobe grated.
“Ourkingis the one with the invite. We cannot go without him.” No matter how badly Nikolai wanted to get to Luna, he knew Bastille had to accompany them to the Dragon’s palace.
“Let’s fucking go,” Kobe roared to Bastille through the grand bedroom door.
Bastille burst through, entering the living room absolutely seething with rage. “Hedaresto invite me to their fuckingwedding?”
“We need to fly there immediately, Bas,” Nikolai said. “If we want to get there before—”
“Before they say their vows?” Bastille sneered. “Before they become unified in the eyes of the Council?”
“Remember what the dragon said in the casino just yesterday. Remember the prophecy,” Nikolai stated. “He might be willing to share—”
“She is MINE,” the basilisk roared.
“Andmine,” Kobe joined in, his fingernails turning to claws.
