House of Kings(20)

And I jab a needle into her neck, releasing Elle’s toxin into her bloodstream.

Her body instantly starts seizing, a pained scream ripping from her throat. Her eyes roll back in her head.

“I won’t have her running free another day longer,” I say as I climb off of her. Cyrus looks at me with hesitation, his eyes flicking from me to Jasmine. He didn’t see this coming, and I realize this is his first experience with the toxin. “We’ll take her back to the House with us.”

“As you wish, my Queen,” Cyrus says. There’s reverence in his voice and he takes a bow.

I heft Jasmine’s still spasming body up onto my shoulder, and Cyrus, Cameron, and I make our way through the snow, back to the House of Conrath.





TWELVE HOURS OF PAIN.

That’s what Elle’s toxin grants a vampire, Bitten or Born.

I finally figure out how to open Rath’s well prison and toss Jasmine down into the darkness and water. Except it’s so cold these days, the water is slush trying to freeze over. She lets out a great howl and cry when she hits it.

I take great satisfaction when I close the door, locking her inside.

Maybe I do have a motherly bone in me. While Cyrus leaves to go manage the Bitten and their renovation of Elijah Conrath’s ruined house, I bring Cameron into my bathroom to clean him up.

“Stop, stop!” he cries as I clean the wound with hydrogen peroxide. “That hurts like a mother f-”

“Quit being a baby!” I shout over him. An amused smile is pulling at my lips. “You don’t want this to get infected!”

“I’m a damn vampire, Liv!” he cries as his chest heaves up and down in pain. His eyes squint closed in agony. “A little infection isn’t going to kill me!”

“Seriously, stop being such a pansy!” I say in annoyance as I hold him down on the marble floor of the bathroom. I dab at the deep cuts with a cloth soaked in the stinging solution. “I thought our kind was supposed to have a high pain tolerance.”

“We do, except when you pour acid into the wound!” He kicks his way out from underneath me and disappears into my bedroom. “Seriously,” he says as he holds a hand out in my direction. There’s pain and fear in his eyes. “I’m good now. You cleaned it. I’m going to be fine.”

And I realize maybe I’m enjoying his pain just a little too much. It’s kind of sick.

“Here,” I say as I stand and grab one of Henry’s shirts that still reside in my closet. “At least let me get this for you.”

“Thanks,” he says as he accepts it. His face scrunches in pain as he pulls it on. “Kinda wish there was a few humans around for a drink to make this go away faster.”

“I’m glad they’re not, though,” I say as we settle onto my bed. “I don’t want anyone else getting hurt.”

“Where the hell is everyone else, by the way?” Cameron asks as he lays back, his head resting on the pillow.

“Cyrus sent them off to look for more Born to join our House,” I say as I lay back beside him on the bed.

“Cyrus, huh?” he questions, looking over at me with equal measures of concern and amusement. “You’re already on a first name basis with your psycho husband?”

I shrug, my eyes studying the ceiling. So much dust and age resides there. My eyes catch every detail, every flaw. The tiny cracks in the plaster, the inconsistency in the texture in one corner. The small bits of dust that cling to the light fixture. “He’s not my husband.”

“Are you sure about that?”

I reflect on that for just a moment. “I don’t remember anything. Not yet. And I don’t feel like it’s going to come. When I’m with Cyrus he makes me feel…like I’m under a spell. But the moment he’s gone, the pull is gone. I don’t think it would be like that if I was his wife.”

Cameron draws in a breath to say something, but cuts off when there’s the sound of a knock on the front door.

“You invite a guest over for midnight tea?” Cameron asks with concern.

I shake my head, my brows furrowing. I dart out of the bed, Cameron right behind me, and descend the stairs. My hand rests on the front door and I pull it open.

“It’s you,” she breathes in a harsh grunt. “You’re the one who did this to me.”

Standing there on my front porch is the woman I found hiding in Elijah’s house. The one I thought I killed.

Here she stands, her eyes glowing yellow, blood cascading down her chin. Her eyes wild and vengeful.

“Oh, hell no,” Cameron says as he takes a step back from the door. “You…Liv? No. You did not go make a Bitten.”