Page 28 of Kiss of Death
Zehemoth finally landed, almost toppling forward as he slid across the snow and got knocked aside by the wind.
“Are you okay?” I shouted.
I’m fine. Get inside.
“What about you?” I climbed down from the saddle first and then landed in the snow, falling knee-deep in the powder. My braid whipped behind me slightly because the wind was so strong.
I’m a dragon. I’ll be fine.
“I’ll ask if they have shelter for you. I know you aren’t used to the cold like this.”
He bowed and turned his head toward me as I removed my pack from his saddle.Your father is the only thing that matters right now. Your concern for me is misplaced.When I pulled the sack over my shoulder, he rubbed his snout against me then gave me a playful push.Now go,Sunieth.
Viper took the lead. “Follow me.” Much taller than me, he was able to pass through the mound of snow with ease, his strength and height making him glide like a snake through the water.
The only reason I was able to keep up with him was because of my strength.
It was a fifteen-minute walk to the main gate, and the guards immediately converged on our approach because they assumed we were enemies to their kingdom. It was dark and visibility was poor, so I didn’t blame them for being cautious. Their swordswere unsheathed, and the archers on the wall put arrows to their bows and aimed right at our faces.
But when Viper stepped into the torchlight, the guards at the gate immediately backed down. “I’m General Viper of the Kingsnake Vampires, and I wish to speak to my brother, Prince Aurelias.”
It seemed like he needed no introduction because the enormous gate immediately started to open. “And who is she?” the guard asked when he looked at me standing behind Viper.
“Queen Lily Rothschild of the Southern Isles,” Viper said. “She’s with me, and I can speak on behalf of her character. She poses no threat to King Rolfe and his kingdom.”
They looked me over once more before they stepped aside.
One of the guards escorted us deeper into the kingdom grounds, and once we were next to the large military outposts behind the gate, the wind died down considerably. I could hear myself breathe again.
Our boots crunched against the snow as we were led farther into the kingdom, the castle visible in the distance with the village at the base of the hill. Most of the torches on the walls were extinguished because of the snow. I saw a guard try to relight one, but the wind just snuffed it out a second later.
“I have a dragon in the wild outside your grounds. Is there shelter for him?”
“For a dragon?” He turned around, the torch in his hand still going strong. “He can hug the eastern wall for shelter from the wind, but we have nothing to protect him from the snowfall.”
“Okay, thank you.” I relayed the message to Zehemoth, and he said he would approach the wall so he could get some sleep.
Viper walked at my side with his eyes dead set ahead of him, focused on the castle where it slowly loomed over us as we approached. It stretched high into the sky, made of lots of spires and heavy, dark stone.
We were escorted inside, and the second we crossed the threshold, I felt the warmth envelop me. There was a fire burning in a massive hearth across the room, and it was intense enough to fill the entire room with precious heat.
All my muscles instantly relaxed when I felt that reprieve. The only time I liked snow was when I was seated by the fire, looking at it through a window. I preferred tropical beaches with sand between my toes.
“Wait here a moment, General.” The guard who had escorted us moved to the other side of the room and briefed the others on recent events. Then he walked out of the castle while another guard disappeared up the stairs.
“These are good people, right?” I asked quietly. “Won’t keep me as a ransom or something?”
“No,” he said as he continued to stare at the staircase. “And you know I would cut off their heads if they tried.”
Ten minutes passed before someone emerged down the stairs. But it wasn’t the guard who left, but a man in casual trousers and a shirt with dark hair and dark eyes. His chin was covered in a light beard, and he was tall and muscular but in a slender way, not bulky like Viper. He stopped at the foot of the stairs and stared at Viper like he was the only person in the room. He had Viper’s intensity, but his eyes were different.
They were like mine.
He seemed to snap out of the surprise, and he crossed the room to us. “Is everyone alright? Kingsnake? Larisa?” His voice was calm but somehow packed with concern.
“Everyone is fine. I don’t come on behalf of our family.”
That was when the man shifted his gaze to me. When his eyes locked on mine, his stare carved into my flesh with a blunt knife. He absorbed me with a mixture of silent hostility and confusion before he looked at his brother again. “Should we speak in private?”
