Lothaire laughed, a full-throated sound that carried through the court, wrapping around each of them like chains. “Whatever I please, boy. One of the perks of being a king.”
And all the world went red. . . .
THIRTY-TWO
Take a job or go crazy. Take a job or go crazy.
For a male who despised being hemmed in, Cas’s entire life had come down to two options. So he’d taken a job.
After ten days of work and a successful bounty, he returned to the Red Flag to select his next mission. Inside, the usual crowd drank. Leyak hummed while he wiped down the bar.
Cas crossed to the completed board to pin up his cashed-in bounty, unable to stop himself from glancing around the tavern with a tiny spark of hope.
No Mirceo. The vampire was doubtless back to form, enjoying the shadow life, nailing everything that moved.
He’d expected this separation to send his demonic instincts raging out of control, but far more than instinct was at work here. It seemed Cas’s tenderness toward Mirceo influenced everything. Rage and aggression had morphed into raw grief.
Cas could try to move on. Find a demoness and start siring pups. But he only wanted the vampire. When Mirceo had fled that morning, he’d taken Cas’s heart with him.
Cas had traced from the palace directly to the beach bungalow, then remained there for almost two days, praying to all the gods that the vampire would realize his mistake.
Over that time, he’d imagined Mirceo begging for forgiveness and vowing that he could handle an eternal commitment—oh, and that he wouldn’t vomit at the thought of fucking only Cas for the rest of his life.
Then he’d realized Mirceo wasn’t coming for him. And luckily he couldn’t find the vampire; else Cas would’ve stalked after him like a lovelorn fool.
He exhaled a defeated breath. Take a job or go crazy.
Leyak called, “Caspion, a word.”
“Yeah.” He traced to the bar, hoping the old hunter wouldn’t grill him again about Mirceo. The last time, Cas had said only, “The vampire played with my head.” But his anger over Mirceo’s machinations and scheming had swiftly faded. If the two of them hadn’t been mates, maybe his resentment would’ve lasted. Yet they were mates. Everything had led them together. . . .
Leyak poured him a mug of brew. “How’re you hanging in there?”
“Been better.” Cas would own his part in his and Mirceo’s rift. If he had derived any wisdom—or discipline—from all the years he’d lived, he would’ve disappeared from the vampire’s life for ten decades.
But Cas had been too weak to leave. Instead, he’d laid all of the choice, all of the burden, on such a young male. Then Cas had been shocked when Mirceo bolted in a panic?
That morning, the vampire’s claw marks had studded his own chest. To judge by its beat, Mirceo’s heart must’ve been on the verge of exploding. Cas understood that panic—he’d experienced the same when he’d rashly fled Dacia all those years ago, risking his own execution. But at that age, rash had felt right.
So it would with Mirceo.
Trying not to sound desperate, Cas asked, “I don’t suppose he stopped by?”
“As a matter of fact, he came in a few times asking after you, wanting your location. Searched for you too.”
Damn this surge of hope! “And?”
“He was here a couple of days ago, looking haunted-eyed and miserable.”
Cas had pictured Mirceo, smirk in place, fucking and biting partners with abandon. Instead, the prince had been miserable? That shouldn’t make Cas happy. But it did. A smile crossed his face. “Did he say if he was coming back?”
“Dunno. He saw something on the bounty wall and he . . . reacted.”
“What do you mean?”
Leyak scratched one of his scuffed horns. “I mean, he dropped to his knees, roared in pain, and vomited blood. Which I will never get out of the floor.”
Cas’s claws dug into the bar. “What did he see?”
“I didn’t catch the specific poster, but he didn’t take it down or anything. Just teleported from here like a bat out of hell.”
Cas traced to the board, scanning the bounties. His breath left him when a familiar portrait snared his attention. He’d once viewed that same likeness while sitting atop the tower of a mortal bridge.
Mina. My sister-by-fate . . .
REWARD:
Missing!
Name: Princess Kosmina
Species: Vampire
Last seen: New Orleans riverfront, setting of the hunter’s moon
Hair: Long, light blond
Eyes: Blue
Height: 5'5"
Reward: Fathomless
Offered by King Lothaire, the Enemy of Old
My sister! Cas yanked the poster down, rereading the details. The hunter’s moonset? That’d been right when—