Page 40 of Bitten By Bloodmoon
Nyx drapes his arm over my shoulders, turning me to leave, but he freezes at that word as if just now realizing the truth of that and what that means for him.
“The curse will be broken long before I have to convince the king. Once it is, there will be no need for persuading anyone.”
“For both your sakes, I hope so.”
Chapter 11
Nyx
You’re going to have to do a lot more to convince the vampire king.Orson’s words send a chill through my already frigid body—already a sensation to which I’ll never get accustomed. When I was only a wolf shifter, I was full of warmth—my body blazing with heat. Now I am nothing but cold, frigid shadows, and unyielding darkness.
I have an inkling of what we would have to do to convince the vampire king we are mates and therefore earn his protection. It’s not something I’m interested in, and I know Lumi definitely won’t be interested. But we might not have a choice if we don’t get answers by the next full moon.
As we exit the cave, I give Talonis a look that tells him exactly what I plan on doing and that he has his own job to be doing: cleaning up the human village mess. We can’t stay here. My vampires may have given us their blessing, but that’s because it’s what they want to believe. They are desperate to have the curse broken, and as I’m their lord, they are easily persuaded by me.
But the other vampires—ones who have seen Lumi with Ambrose won’t see it that way. They’ll just see her as another meal.
Talonis nods. Without a warning, I scoop Lumi into my arms and run. In the moment, I figure it’s better to save her life and ask for forgiveness later rather than risking a vampire taking a bite out of her. I’m all for free will and control over your own destiny, but right now, I just want us all to get home in one piece.
Lumi scrambles in my arms, trying to get her blade somewhere against my skin that will do damage. I commend the fight in her; she’s going to need it. It seems the damage Ambrose has done to her has only intensified her will to battle, but she lacks the skill to use the knife effectively.
“Put me down, you bastard!” she wrestles in my arms.
I tune her out, easily carrying her despite the surface-level scratches she produces on my arms until we are back in the living room of my house. Only then do I put her down.
“You’re welcome, love,” I say, knowing it’s going to get a reaction out of her.
“You’re welcome? I didn’t ask you to carry me.”
“No, but I did save your life.”
She narrows her eyes at me, defiance blazing in her gaze as she lifts her blade and thrusts it in my direction.
“I didn’t ask you to save my life! Now your entire vampire court thinks we are mates, and we are going to have to prove it to the fucking vampire king, whoever that is. I don’t need your help! You aren’t my mate!”
I cock my head as I watch her crumple in front of me. I want to kill Ambrose for the harm he caused her. She loved him—no, she still loves him. Her heart can’t switch off as fast as she wants it to. The pain consumes her so completely that it seems she would rather die than live with another moment of her agony. She truly doesn’t want to be saved. She wants to either fight her own battles and win, or lose and not have to live with the pain anymore. I can feel it, and I’m not even in her head.
“I’m going to make sure the house is cleared so you two can have some privacy. That is, if you each promise not to kill each other,” Talonis says.
We both snap our heads in his direction.
He chuckles. “I’d let you kill me if it meant you two would work together for a few minutes. But I’m not sure it would change anything.” And then he looks at me. “I’ll make sure the humans are dealt with discreetly—make it seem like a fire got out of control.”
Before either of us can say anything else, he vanishes, and the silence in the house tells me he’s taken Sylara, Riven, and Brax, instructing them to leave. It’s just the two of us in this castle.
We stare at each other, the tension high. Until finally, I unbutton the top couple of buttons on my dress shirt before sinking into the leather chair.
“Kill me if you must, I won’t fight you. I’ve killed enough for today,” I groan.
Her eyes flicker at me in confusion. “You killed a vampire who had gone mad. It seemed like a mercy to end his life quickly and honorably.”
“Was it? It still ended his life. But he’s just a vampire. So I’m sure you don’t weigh his life as much as a wolf shifter or human. He deserved to die. All vampires do. We’re killers, predators that need to be eliminated.”
I close my eyes as my head falls back against the cushion, the weight of what I had to do hitting me in full force. I hate killing. I hate ending a life. I hated watching the humans’ lives end. I hated playing the game just to maintain my power. I hated watching Lumi put her life at risk like that.
She doesn’t respond to my comment about vampires being predators. “It’s the curse, isn’t it? That’s why the vampire was losing his mind.”
I nod.
