A bond like the one they share . . . I’ve never had anything like it with anyone in my life. Not really.
The next logical thought took hold.
I want it.
Skartovius searched his face. He swept a finger over Garro’s smooth cheek, which caused Garro to shy away and bow his head in shame, pressing his forehead against Skar’s chest.
“I’m sorry, Master,” he said in a mournful, regretful voice. “I was foolish. Nearly got us both killed.”
“Vallan was the fool for sending you two out into the wilderness alone.”
“Garro saved us,” I blurted. “Don’t be hard on him.”
Skar’s face whipped over. “Oh, it’s ‘Garro’ now, is it?” A cruel smile played at the corners of his mouth. “I’ve no doubt he saved you. My thrall is a king, and kings protect their people.”
His compliment to Garroway surprised me. Their closeness only made me more jealous.It’s pitiful to be feeling this way over bloodsuckers,I told myself.
Garroway gave Skartovius a half-smile. “You are the king, my lord. I merely aim to serve and please.” He broke into a deepbow, sliding back and away from Skar’s touch. “Besides, I am not the hero in this story. She is.” His eyes flipped to me, bearing down. “Only reason I’m still as pretty as when you left me is because of Sephania Lock. There is something extraordinary about her blood after all.”
Skartovius hummed to himself, joining Garroway to look at me. “I daresay it’s more than her blood that’s extraordinary.”
Their scrutiny and his words made my cheeks flame.
“Yes, I am achingly curious to learn more about her,” the nobleblood continued.
I sat up straighter, no longer slouching since they were both burning my blood with how they studied me. I needed to bring the temperature down, both in this room and inside me. “Who do we go to to ask these questions about my blood?”
“We have friends,” Skar answered unhelpfully.
I was about to quip about vampires having friends and the ridiculousness of that sentiment, but I felt it wouldn’t fly with Skartovius as it might with Garroway. The tall nobleblood was simply too refined and frightening to act sarcastic with. I wouldn’t be able to get the words out without fumbling them.
“You can handle it, Master?” Garroway asked. When Skar looked at him expectantly, he added, “I have an errand to run.”
The vampire lord pursed his lips, staring down his sharp nose at his bloodthrall. His eyes narrowed slightly, crow’s feet forming at the corners, and I got the sense he was probing Garroway’s mind and speaking to him telepathically.
His chin gave an odd flinch, like he was confused about something. “Best not keep you from it, then, cub.”
With that, Garroway bowed to us and exited without another word. His gait was purposeful as he left, as if this errand could not wait.
“Now then,” Skartovius said, turning, aiming a wicked smirk my way. “We are alone.”
Goosebumps. Lots of them.
He held his lean hand out, gesturing for me. “Shall we disembark, little temptress?”
I had seen the casual violence Vallan displayed with the interfolk servant Ethera. The cutthroat way he operated in the silver mines. His ability to construct firebombs—knowing they’d likely kill innocent people—without any remorse or guilt or shame.
I had come to appreciate Garroway’s intensity and charm, his talkativeness and easiness, and his fighting prowess. I had even been close to fucking the grayskin in a moment of shared bloodlust—bloodlust he rescued me from, showing his honor and saving my dignity.
Butthisnobleblood vampire? There was a magnetism to Lord Skartovius Ashfen that scared me. He was unlike the others. Too confident by half, too attractive by far. It scared me because his dark aura drew me to him like a moth to flame. Worst part was, there was no way for me to defend against it.
I found myself on my feet, off the edge of the bed.
“Where to?” I chirped.
He meandered to the chest nearby, opening it and rustling around. A few moments later he had something in his hand, holding it out for me to see.
It was a collar of linked chains with a tail of rope running down to the floor.
