“They’re all coming for the Blood Battle. They’ll try.” I can’t have anyone come between us.
He runs a sharp fingernail along the edge of my jaw. “It has all been arranged. There will be no Blood Battle. The other proxy will be dead before dawn. And I will execute your husband. I will execute the entire party and all his people standing at the wall.” He kisses my lips. “You will be mine, Lake Norfolk, and I will drink from you every day until the very last beat of your heart. Then I will turn you.”
“Yes. Yes.” I offer him my neck again. I need him. I need us. I can’t live without him.
“You tempt me too much, Lake. I am addicted to you.” He lowers his head and sinks his teeth into my skin, giving me another dose of pure ecstasy.
CHAPTER TWENTY
As I lie limp, a heavenly heap of pleasure where nothing and no one can touch me but my beautiful Blood King, something in the back of my mind is itching. This doesn’t feel right. I’m just not able to put my finger on why.
Benicio’s not here. That’s what’s wrong. Of course, I need him. I need him to bite me again.
“Lake,” someone whispers in my ear. “Lake, oh God. How much has he taken?”
I slowly open my eyes to find Uhrn shaking me by the shoulders.
“Wake up,” she says. “Do not go to sleep. Your heart will stop.”
“He’s going to make me like you. We’ll be sisters.”
“Is that what my stupid brother told you?” she scoffs.
“Benicio’s your brother?” I mumble.
“Yes. And he cannot turn you if you are dead. He is lying to you. He only wants you to lose the Blood Battle, and you will. You have no blood to spare.”
“No. No. He said the battle’s off. He’s going to kill them all. I’m his queen.” I sigh happily. “He…loves…me.”
She pulls me upright, shaking me vigorously. “You are so stupid! He loves no one and nothing. He’s mad, ruled by his bloodlust. He and his followers will eat and kill until there’s nothing left in either world.” Uhrn pushes me down again and holds her wrist to her mouth. She bites, letting the blood drip into her other hand.
“What are you doing?” I mutter.
“You must drink this. It is the only way you will survive long enough to win the Blood Battle. Alwar will be restored as king and execute Benicio for touching you, his wife. Now drink.” She pushes the crimson puddle in her palm to my mouth.
“No. Stop it.” I try to push her hand away, but she’s way stronger than me.
“Lake, you must take this. Otherwise you will die in the first round. Is that what you want? The end of the Proxy Vow again? Benicio as king forever? Everyone in your world enslaved?”
“You said you want to drink humans. Why do you care?”
“I said I want to drink them. Not kill them off.” She shoves the blood to my mouth again, and I clamp my mouth shut.
“Oh yeah?” With her free hand, she pinches my nose and smooshes her other palm against my lips. She holds it there until I gasp for air. The blood trickles in, and she forces my jaw closed. I try to fight, but the ice-cold liquid scorches down my throat. It burns all the way to my stomach.
The flavor is like nothing I’ve ever tasted. Death. Life. Skittles. I’m not sure. I hack and cough.
“Now rest,” she says. “And if you have any honor at all, you will not tell a soul what I have done. Do you hear me, Lake? He mustn’t know I’ve given you my royal blood. I will be executed.”
I turn over, unable to speak. The pain. The burning. It feels like acid scorching my veins. “What’s happening? What’d you do to me?” I choke out my words.
“It will help you be strong for the Blood Battle, and Benicio will be unable to use his commands on you any longer. I must go now. Good luck.”
I can’t take this. The burning’s unbearable.
“Oh, and Lake, if you die, you will rise again. As one of us. So do not die.”
“What?” I turn, blinking through the pain, but she’s gone.
“Fuck.” I roll onto my back, gripping my stomach.
That evening, a different Blood Woman returns to help me dress in what can only be described as a nine-foot-long strip of shiny black leather with a neck hole. “How am I supposed to wear that?”
The woman grunts, strips me down, scrunching her nose at me. “You stink.”
“Shut up, or I’ll bite you.”
Her dark eyes go wide with terror.
“Kidding. Sorry.” I should have sunken my teeth into Benicio the moment he stepped into the room, but I was immediately under his spell. Now, according to Uhrn, his sister, I’ll be immune to his commands.