Chapter 23 Chapter 23
LENORE
He’d said the same words to me hours ago, and I’d had no reason to worry then, but I did now.
“Your High—”
The air surged around me as he vanished before the words were completely out of my mouth, shutting the door on his way out, and I shot to my feet. He was badly injured, and I suspected he was heading back to the training ground. What if he got killed?
I had no idea what possessed me, but the thought of him dying suddenly sent terror flooding through my veins, and I ran to the door. But then common sense returned, loud and demanding, and my hand paused on the knob.
What was wrong with me? He’d tried to kill me. Twice! Even if he hadn’t, what the hell could I do? He was heading to a fight between two supernatural species, neither of which I had the average strength of. I would just be a liability.
He saved my life.
Swallowing, I blinked at the door, letting the cool metal in my hand ground me. Then I opened it.
“What are you doing, Lenore?” I muttered as I slowly walked down the hallway, bracing myself against the wall like it could protect me from my… not well thought out choice. I technically hadn’t done anything yet—I could still turn around and go back to his room—but my mind was pushing me towards the first prince. I didn’t… I didn’t want anything to happen to him.
The next step I was about to take was suddenly interrupted by someone bursting through the door at the end of the hallway, and I rapidly took several steps back before realizing it was the first prince. He was panting, dragging air into his lungs like his life depended on it, and there was so much blood on his hands and clothes that I couldn’t tell how much of it was his. When his gaze found mine, he keeled over.
“Your Highness!” I wasn’t too far to not reach him before he hit the ground, but I also wasn’t close enough to stop his descent. All I could do was cushion it, and I yelped as we hit the ground. Thankfully, the prince protected the back of my head with his hand, so I didn’t have to add a cracked skull to my list of injuries.
He’s heavy.
“Lenore…” The prince breathed directly into my ear, and I sucked in a breath, blood rushing to my face.
“I— …I’ll get help.”
“No, no. I’ll be fine.” His lips were still against my ear, his voice hoarse, and I blinked rapidly, clearing my throat. “I’ll be fine,” he added, moving his head lower and trailing his nose against my neck. Once again, I sucked in a breath.
Then, without warning, he flattened his tongue against my neck and dragged it up, making me jolt while a shiver went through him.
“Oh!”
He repeated the action again as his other hand moved to my shoulder, and the moment I felt two sharp points against my neck, it hit me. He was hungry. And I’d hand delivered myself to him.
I should be scared—terrified even. Depending on their level of hunger or restraint, vampires could accidentally kill the person they were drinking from, and here I was, pinned down beneath a prince that was about to take a huge bite out of me.
But I trusted him.
It might be terribly misplaced, but I couldn’t help it. I just knew he wouldn’t try to kill me again—he’d said so himself last night—the same way I knew water was wet.
…And I was right.
The prince jerked his head away and scrambled off me like he couldn’t get away fast enough until his back hit a wall while I pushed myself into a sitting position. “Fuck, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
“Your Highness—”
“Forgive me, Lenore.”
“Your Highness—”
“I said I wo—”
“Killian.” I slapped my hand over my mouth as soon as I said it, absolutely not knowing where the audacity had come from.
But he simply paused and tilted his head to the side, eyes flashing with curiosity as he unconsciously began to move closer to me. The next moment though, he caught himself and stopped, his nostrils flaring again.
I cleared my throat and ran my eyes over him, slowly assessing him. The blade he’d taken for me was no longer in his shoulder, and beneath the blood covering him, I could make out cuts on him here and there. Some looked minor while some were actively bleeding, and they weren’t healing. They definitely had something to do with his intense hunger.
But how had he gotten to this state? He’d looked perfectly fine this morning, but now he looked like he’d been locked up for weeks without feeding. What exactly happened to him before he saved me?
“Your Highness is thirsty.”
“Yeah.” He sounded weak and tired.
“Do you want to drink from me?”
I’d be lying if I said I knew why I was offering. I’d be lying if I said I understood anything that had happened between me and this man—including my seemingly evolving feelings toward him—since I’d met him.
He snapped his brows together, staring at me like I’d grown another head. “That’s… not a good idea,” he forced out even though he looked like he was salivating at the thought. Then he shook his head sideways as though he was trying to get rid of the thought, and pushed himself to his feet.
He staggered when he was upright, and I unconsciously moved to help him. But then his eyes darted to me, tracking my movement like he was attuned to me, and I slowly sat back down.
His restraint was already fascinating. I didn’t need to test it.
He blinked at me once. Twice. With his gaze still fixed on me, he slowly walked forward, keeping to the other end of the hallway until he got to the door opposite the bedroom.
“I’ll call on the doctor in a bit,” he said as he opened the door, “to take a look at your injuries.”
“Your Highness?” I called when he moved to enter the room and he paused. If he hadn’t intervened, I’d have died on the training ground. “Thank you.”
He glanced at me and a moment later, he opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. He just gave me a nod and walked into the room.