Chapter 56 An Honor
❀ Maeve ❀
My scream echoed long after I’d stopped, and the most surprising thing happened.
The feral vampires that had turned the corner with slashed claws, ready to attack, had frozen.
I’d screamed because one had maneuvered behind the rock wall, through a small slit. The fiend had grabbed my dress.
My gaze flitted over them. Long, curved fangs brown with dried blood, sickly gray skin, and clotted eyes that made my stomach churn.
Nikolai swiftly dispatched them one by one. His sword flew, striking them down.
“What’s happening?” Tammy whimpered from the floor.
Neither Nikolai nor I had an answer.
Casting one last look at the ferals, he took my arm.
“Come on.”
We followed, walking past the slim pathways into a wider tunnel.
The walls were unnaturally smooth and shaved down, except in places where the rock was too hard to break.
“How did this come to be?” I breathed as we walked.
“Humans. In the old days, when immortals had just descended on the earth, the indigenous humans of what is now Veilmoor dug an escape out of the kingdom.”
“Oh…”
Fascinating.
Tammy walked ahead of us with a slight limp, and Nikolai’s gaze never strayed. He kept watch, sword sheathed but ready.
Why hadn’t he traced us somewhere safer? I had a suspicion, but decided to ask.
“Nikolai…”
His hand curled around mine, his palm large and cool. He looked down at me, gaze content.
“Yes?”
“Why not take us to one of your lairs? You have a bearing on how to find Graves, and Tammy’s already injured.”
His eyes glinted. “Bastian raided every single one. The wolf is intent on my trail.”
My heart thudded. “You met him?”
“He wouldn’t be alive if I did, Milaya.” He chuckled then, his tone mocking.
My jaw clenched. “Well, if you had tabs on him, why didn’t you show yourself?”
“Because if I did, I’d kill him. He has use yet. While I handle Graves, he’ll make sure to destroy the amulet, lest he loses his alpha—just like you’d intended. My clever bride.”
My face flushed. I walked with my shoulders back.
“At least you gave credit,” I murmured.
“Of course,” he rasped, amused.
Tammy had gone too far ahead, the space between us was gaping.
“Tammy, slow down,” I called out.
“There’s heat up ahead, and I’m cold,” she yelled back. “Not like you both can feel it.”
She was right. Immortals regulated temperature better than humans. Just another example of why she shouldn’t be in this situation in the first place.
Nikolai and I increased our pace, his hand covering mine, his body close. I had the feeling he was pleased with the developments so far.
But I needed him to know I was on top of his game.
“Are you insisting on keeping us with you because you fear I’ll run back to Bastian?”
He tensed but didn’t stop walking. “I’d take you to my property in Veilmoor, but Drusilla senses me. I will not bring undue attention to you.”
That pissed me off.
“Then I can’t wait to go home.” I snapped.
He turned to me, and I met his gaze. But what I saw chilled me. His crimson eyes had dimmed, jaw clenched.
All he wanted was time with me. To know me, to enjoy me. I’d admittedly been unfair.
“But I’ll look forward to seeing your home,” I amended, my tone softened.
And just like that, his eyes animated once more.
We caught up with Tammy, and Nikolai led us to an impressively large but sequestered cutout in the rock.
The rock walls emitted enough heat to warm Tammy, who immediately sat on the ground with her knees tucked.
“I’ll be back,” Nikolai said. At my nod, he vanished.
What I wouldn’t give to be able to trace. For one, I wouldn’t be trapped within a mountain with a possessive vampire and ferals on our tail.
“You know, he has no intention of letting us go,” Tammy murmured, picking at her wound.
“I know,” I responded.
Sinking down beside her, my gaze fell on her injury. The edges were dried and flaky, but she’d reopened it, and fresh blood welled.
I struggled to shift my eyes.
“Do you think your friend, Bertha, is still alive?”
Tammy drew her shoulders up, hugging her knees. “I wouldn’t count on it.”
“But she could’ve been turned,” I prompted.
“If she’s turned, then that’s a fate worse than death. To be mindless and feral… I’d rather she be dead.”
I wanted to remind her that she’d mentioned seeing sane vampires turned by Graves. Her countenance gave me pause. The girl had been through enough.
To a degree, I understood her loss—only, my mother had chosen to leave.
Nikolai returned.
In his arms were a pile of bedding and pillows. He dropped them gently, looking accomplished, winked at me, and disappeared once more.
Tammy immediately began to spread them out, covering her legs with a pillow at her back.
“I hope next time, he comes back with f—”
Nikolai appeared with food.
Tammy squealed with excitement and gratitude, immediately setting upon the large tray of delicacies.
I narrowed my gaze at him.
Face blank, eyes playful, he stalked toward me.
“Won’t you have something to eat?” He brushed a finger over my cheek.
“I’m not hungry. Are we safe here?”
“Wherever I am is safe, Milaya. Woe to anything and anyone who comes between us.”
His harsh tone made me shiver. His touch tilted my face so our lips almost grazed.
“Sooo… are you guys like, together?” Tammy quipped around a mouthful.
“Yes,” Nikolai said without hesitation, voice prideful. “She’s my bride.”
I managed to hold back a smile.
“But…the Prince? How will that work?”
I scowled.
“Never mind that,” I told her. “Face your treats, and keep it to yourself.”
She just shrugged.
Nikolai grinned, and I sighed.
He led me from the room. A few feet from the first lay another circular cave with polished walls. The intersection of the paths and hidden pathways provided air circulation.
I turned in a circle, admiring the faint patterns left behind.
“Where’d you get the bedding? And the food?”
“Lifted.”
“You mean, stolen.”
He just smiled down at me.
Smoothing a rip on his finely made coat, my mind wandered.
The dangerous but alluring way he’d fought to protect me. Sword slashing so beautifully he barely got any blood on his person. Cold precision. Brutal. Swift.
Pride bloomed within me, and I tugged him closer.
I’d been feeling on edge, insecure about where I stood with Nikolai. With a one-sided bond from him and a one-sided marking with Bastian, I was torn.
I knew then what I had to do.
Heat coiled low in my body as I realized where this would take us.
I’d missed out on consummating my claim with Bastian. I wouldn’t lose the opportunity to have it with Nikolai.
The thought of my fangs piercing his flesh while his shaft sank deep in my core sent shivers down my spine.
My fingers played into his silky mass of dark curls, eliciting a groan from him. His eyes slid shut in pleasure.
I was panting by the time I told him, “Kiss me, my dark groom.”
Without hesitation, his lips slanted over mine.
My back arched into him as our tongues touched, delved and grazed.
How could I be expected to give this up?
Something warm and divine exploded in our mouths.
I’d nicked him with my fangs.
With a deep growl, he seized my hips, grinding his solid shaft into my front.
I broke away, panting.
“I need you.”
“An honor, Moya.”
Fabric rustling. Breaths mixing.
“I need to mark you.”
He tensed. His hands froze on my body.
“What is it?” My stomach sank at his hesitation.
He swallowed, lips stained red with our blood.
Whatever he was about to say, I knew I wouldn’t like it.