Page 58 of Hunt the Dusk
I pushed my chair back and stood slowly. “What are you going to do to Regina?” I knew the answer, but I needed them to say it out loud. To admit that they were about to murder this poor woman. But it was Ezekiel who answered.
“Drain her.” His voice sounded oddly garbled, as if…as if he was speaking with his mouth full and…Oh…
His eyes were red, pure bloodred and fixed on Regina. He had a grip on the table, whether to haul himself up or keep himself anchored, I wasn’t too sure, but his white knuckles conveyed his dissonance.
“Ezekiel. Don’t.”
Christian sliced Regina’s other wrist, and Zafrina groaned, the sound almost sexual. The tension in the room spiked, and the ice pooling in my belly warred with the heat of adrenaline flooding my veins.
“Ezekiel…”
The vampire king’s gaze flicked my way for a moment, bloodred and inhuman before settling on the offering once more.
“House of Spirit offers this bond meal,” Christian announced, his voice echoing off the walls. “May we forever be united.”
“United,” everyone agreed, their voices lower. Bestial and hungry.
“The king will begin the feeding frenzy,” Christian said. He licked his lips. “Your Majesty?”
I looked to Ezekiel, hoping that he’d put a stop to this, but he was fixated on Regina, focused and locked on her like a cat tracking prey. His chair scraped and crashed to the floor, and he landed in a crouch on the table.
Everyone gasped then laughed, but I fell back, hand on my pounding chest, eyes heating. “No…”
He leaned in to sniff Regina then ran his hands over her body, hands that were now longer, taloned, misshapen, and monstrous.
“Yes…” Zafrina hissed. “Yes, my liege.”
Ezekiel licked the blood off Regina’s wrists, his chest vibrating in a low, sexual growl that shot straight to my core.
The duchess moaned and kneaded her breasts, and the duke grabbed her chin and forcefully turned her to him, claiming her lips in a crushing kiss.
What the fuck was happening? I had to do something. I had to stop this. I made a grab for my dinner knife, but a hand closed around my wrist.
“Don’t,” Banbury said in my ear. “We need to leave. Now.”
The air pressed down on me, saturated with danger, and my gut knotted in dread, because without Ezekiel on my side, I was powerless against these monsters. He couldn’t hurt me because my amulet protected me, but the others here would have no such qualms, and right now, with their king in the grip of bloodlust, they’d be able to drain me dry without intervention.
“Come!” Banbury began dragging me away from the table.
I’d seen something in Ezekiel over the last few days, glimmers of remorse that hinted at hope, but if I walked away now, then I’d be allowing him to drift from the shores of humanity.
I dug in my heels. “Ezekiel, please don’t do this.”
He raised his head, ravenous hunger etched into the lines of his face. His jaw was thicker, fangs visible in his parted mouth. He snarled, the sound an abrasion that turned my bowels to water.
He was gone.
Lost to me.
“Miss, please.” Banbury’s voice trembled because all eyes were on us now, intruders to this most intimate scene. A dinner party where Regina was the meal. The blessed mark on my arm burned, reminding me of my sworn duty to protect the innocent.
I locked gazes with Ezekiel. “Her name is Regina, and she doesn’t deserve to die. Let her go. Please.”
Maybe it was a trick of the light, or maybe it was my own stupid, desperate optimism, but for a moment, I thought he saw me. Saw past the haze of bloodlust and hunger. For a moment, I tricked myself into believing that he understood, but then he sank his fangs into Regina’s throat.
Her body bucked then went limp as he fed.
“NO!” I lunged at him, but Banbury grabbed me and wrestled me toward the door.
