I didn’t answer him, and when he stepped closer as if he was going to touch me again, I flinched back into the chair.
“I think she’s had enough for tonight,” Evren growled at his brother, but I didn’t dare look back to him.
Gavril did, though. His gaze slammed into his brother, and I tensed as I saw the venom in his eyes. “I am not going to feed from her again tonight.” Gavril lifted my wrist in his hand, and I winced at the pain.
He reached out behind me, and one of the guards handed him a roll of cloth. I wanted to pull my hand away from Gavril, but I didn’t have the strength left in my body. Even though my mind felt like it was clearing, my body felt as if I had spent hours working in the sun.
Gavril slowly wrapped the gauze around my wrist, over and under, meticulously wrapping it over my cut, before he tied it off.
“But Adara is my betrothed, Evren.” He squeezed my wrist gently in his hand before looking back toward me. “I will feed from her as I see fit.”
I stared up at him, and I hoped that he could see the fear and hatred in my eyes. I had softened to the prince in the last few days, but that feeling was long gone now. When I looked up at him with the knowledge that he was the man I was to marry, to spend the rest of my life with, I felt sick.
Gavril lifted my wrist to his mouth, and I once again struggled in his hold. But he pressed his lips gently against the gauze and his eyes softened. “I’m sorry, Adara,” he whispered before dropping my wrist, and I pulled it against my chest.
“I’m taking her back to her room.” Evren made his way toward me but stopped suddenly as if he had been hit in the chest. But no one was within reach of him.
“Mind your place, brother.” Gavril seethed as he said the words, and his hand lifted forward as pain crossed Evren’s handsome face. “I am perfectly capable of taking my promised back to her room for the night.”
He dropped his hand, and Evren jolted forward. “More than capable.” Gavril looked down at his hand and turned it back and forth as he marveled at what he had just done.
“I am Captain of the Guard, brother, and as such, it is my duty to protect the Starblessed.”
“From me?” Gavril laughed, but Evren was already making his way toward me once again.
“From anyone.” He looked back and forth between Gavril and the queen. “I serve our father, and he demands that she be protected.”
His words felt like a slap in the face, and I couldn’t stop the way my heart was racing in my chest. The words he spoke to his brother and the words he whispered to me earlier were so vastly different.
“Come, Starblessed.” He reached his hand out for me, but I refused to take it. Instead, I gripped the arms of the chair where I had just been held down and stood on shaky legs.
I could see how displeased Evren was, but he didn’t open his mouth for a second to argue with me. What was there for him to say?
“I wish to go back to my room.” My voice was as weak as I felt. “I would like to be alone.”
No one answered me, though. There was a loud knock against Gavril’s double doors before a guard I didn’t recognize pushed through. His gaze bounced around the people in the room, frantically looking back and forth between them.
Everyone seemed on edge as we waited for the guard to speak.
“Captain.” He nodded toward Evren, and I stiffened where I stood. “I need to have a word with you.”
“What’s happening?” Gavril questioned before Evren could take a step in his direction.
The guard looked back to Evren, seeking permission, and Gavril huffed in frustration.
“I am your future king. Tell me what’s going on.”
The queen stepped toward the guard, but Evren simply nodded his head. One simple move and the guard opened his mouth.
“There are whisperings, Your Highness.”
“Whisperings of what?” the queen demanded.
“Vampyres in the capital.”
My stomach flipped as his words rolled through the room, and I could feel magic stirring around us. I didn’t know where it came from, but from the feel of it against my mark, my gaze slammed into Evren.
“That’s impossible.” The queen shook her head and grabbed the bottom of her dress in her hand as she moved even closer to the guard. “We haven’t been under attack in centuries.”