Page 59 of Eternal Ruin
Kidan leaned back, looking at how far she’d progressed.
MAHLET ADANE
What language does the house master dream in?
Amharic.
Does the house master believe creation comes from the Last Sage or from Demasus the Fanged Lion?
The Last Sage.
Does the house master believe power should rest in community, tradition, or individuals?
Does the house master believe in bravery, revenge, loyalty, responsibility, or family?
Kidan didn’t believe in either the Last Sage or Demasus. She supposed she could begin to practice her mother’s faith, inch her way to inheriting her culture, but that still left the troubling case of the language. And the two other questions she had no idea how to answer.
Then there was her parents’ murder.
Grotesque and cruel.
Her scalp pricked with the sensation of being watched. She ignored it but it persisted, a powerful demanding presence from the center of the library. Kidan lifted her head.
Her heart stopped. Startled.
Susenyos was standing there, watching her. He was shirtless and his twists were down, framing his piercing, unwavering gaze. A few students burning the midnight oil had stopped and noticed.
There was something haunting about the way his attention solely focused on her. Susenyos crossed over to her in a blink. Silently, he reached for her and guided her to her feet. Kidan went with him, her heart hammering. The black of his pupils had given way to a reddish gold. One hand cupped the side of her neck, solid and unmovable.
Kidan swallowed. “Yos?”
He barely heard her, a haze over his eyes. Susenyos’s fangs parted his lips. They seemed sharper than before, like the tip of a gleaming knife held against dark glossy skin. Kidan’s body tensed, a swirl of anticipation and desire knotting inside her. Susenyos lowered himself to her throat, the smell of eucalyptus and rose oilclinging to his hair. Kidan’s pulse skittered. He wasn’t going to bite her here, was he? With people watching—
Acute pain exploded down the length of her neck and Kidan gasped.
It wasn’t a simple prick to draw out blood. His fangs had sunk deeper, full of urgent need. A sound of pleasure sang through him, his body weight sagging onto her. Soon, they’d be lost in each other’s memories but they weren’t alone.
They weren’t alone and he hadn’t asked.
Those thoughts were enough to slam some sense into her.
“Wait, wait.” Kidan tapped him quickly, her voice strained.
Susenyos pulled back, the movement of his teeth unlatching making her wince and clutch her neck. He studied her wide eyes and the rapid rise and fall of her chest. Her cheeks were on fire, blazing hot beneath his cupping palm.
He looked surprised, a little lost as the haze cleared. She’d never seen him like this. Disheveled and with a complete disregard for Uxlay’s rules on blood drinking. But most of all, he always asked for her blood.
Something was wrong.
Kidan reached out to touch his shoulder. Quick as a viper, he ensnared her wrist, jerking her to a stop. Claws, black and wicked sharp, emerged, pinching her skin. Her heart dropped. A pair of blazing eyes met hers, the complete violence in them stuttering her heart.
Susenyos looked like he wanted to devour her… His claws never appeared if he wasn’t near the very edge. Her heart raced with irregular rhythm. For several seconds, a sharp spike of fear rose inside her, thrust back to their violent encounters, her old need to destroy all vampires for their wicked nature resurfacing, until gradually, softly, she remembered the kind things he’d done while wearing such a monstrous face. Held her in the Bath of Arowa, saved her from herself.
His hand closed around where her butterfly bracelet used to be. Death had kissed her wrist once, until Susenyos removed it from her.
That was how she knew Susenyos wouldn’t hurt her.
“Yos,” she said softly. “Let go.”
