Chapter 22 Chapter 22
LENORE
To say I had terrible luck would be an understatement at this point.
Right after the lifeless body of the pack representative hit the ground, it seemed like the surroundings had sucked in a deep breath and held. It wasn’t until the boy’s blood began to weep down the stairs he was next to that the girl standing next to him—the one who had screamed—slowly lowered herself to the ground, her eyes wide like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing as she gently shook him.
“Hey… Julien…” Her voice broke as she spoke and my gaze bounced to the vampire that had killed him.
The man had a dull look on his face. It was like he didn’t know what he had done or he simply didn’t care.
What…What just—
Blood rushed to my ears as I realized he was no longer the only vampire around. More of them were walking up to the training ground and most of them had a weapon of some sort in their hand.
Oh, no. Oh no no no no—
The vampire raised his sword, his eyes fixed on the girl next to her dead friend, and my eyes widened. Before he could complete the arc of his swing, a spear thrown by another representative found its home in his chest and sent him flying backward.
Grace, the girl that had punched me, suddenly let out a scream, making me jolt. It wasn’t a terrified one; it was an angry one, and other representatives began to grab the weapons they could, readying themselves before the vampires broke into a run towards the training ground.
That broke me out of my trance like a hammer coming down on glass and I began to run too. Not towards the vampires like some representatives were doing—absolutely not—but away from the training ground. I didn’t even know where I was going, but I was booking it the hell out of here.
No matter how fast my legs moved though, I could never outrun a vampire. Not with their fucking super speed.
A hand closed around my wrist with a grip that made me believe my wrist was going to end up broken before the person yanked me back so hard, I lost my balance and fell backward onto the ground. I didn’t know who grabbed me and I didn’t care. I just rolled, my shoulder scraping against the stone, and I’d barely moved away when a boot slammed into the ground exactly where my head had been a second ago. My stomach lurched.
One thing I’d learned from growing up among werewolves was that you didn’t want to be on the ground when a supernatural person was attacking you. So I tried to get to my feet as fast as I could. It wasn’t fast enough.
My attacker’s foot drove into my stomach and pain exploded through it. My vision blurred, the oxygen fleeing my lungs as I crashed to the ground. Oh God. Shoving down the pain and immediately trying to get up again got me the same result, but before I could hit the ground, the person—a woman—grabbed my hair and yanked my head back.
Fear thrummed through my veins and I held my breath, closing my eyes. For what? I didn’t know.
But moments passed and whatever should have come next didn’t. The thought that whatever she wanted to do was just delayed made me keep my eyes closed while my heart threatened to beat out of my chest, but then her grip on my hair slowly relaxed and that voice gently—would I dare say achingly—called my name.
“Lenore.”
My eyes snapped open and the sight of the first prince made me take my first full breath. Putting aside the organ—which looked very much like a heart—in his hand, blood trailing down his wrist, I had never been this happy to see him before.
He tossed the heart away at the same time I realized my attacker was now facedown on the ground, a gaping hole in her back, before he rushed over to my side. He didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around me, doing it like it was the most natural thing he knew.
“Gods, I thought…” He trailed off as he tightened his hold on me, and all I could do was blink, my mind still reeling.
This was the third time I’d almost died in Eyrosa. I was not well-suited to this place.
Without saying anything else, Killian picked me up and being this close to him, I couldn’t help but notice something was wrong. Most of the vampires I’d seen so far were pale and though the first prince was one, he’d never looked pale. But right now, he was way paler than was standard, his eyes were glowing, and he seemed a bit feverish.
“Are you okay?” The words were out of my mouth before I realized it. Considering our history, they shouldn’t have come from me, but I felt… concerned.
Great, Lenore. You almost died right now and there’s a nasty fight going on a couple of steps away from you, but you’re worried about the prince who has tried to kill you twice.
“I—” Suddenly, he swerved to the right and hunched, like he was shielding my body with his, and less than a moment later, a blade cut through his shoulder, slicing my arm in the process. A cry escaped me as I jerked my hand away, feeling blood trickling out of the wound before I saw it.
Anger instantly contorted the prince’s expression. Then he took off, the air shrieking past me in a frantic rush, and a few moments later, it stopped.
He’d brought me back to his room.
A groan escaped him as he gently placed me on the bed and my gaze drifted back to the blade buried in his shoulder. He was a vampire, but he wasn’t immune to pain, and a wound like that had to be agonizing. The way he’d turned before the blade went through his shoulder came to mind, and it took me a moment to realize the blade had been meant for me. He’d protected me.
Then I remembered his words from last night: I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.
“Your Highness…” I muttered, reaching for his injured shoulder while I returned my attention to his face.
His pupils were dilated and when he glanced at my injured arm, his nostrils flared. “I’ll be right back.”