Taken by the Vampire King(8)

Realizing she'd been staring, she mumbled her thanks and drank three   long gulps before she convinced herself to slow down. She was just so   thirsty. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she found him   watching her, gaze focused on her mouth with such longing.

Kaira's heartbeat tripped and heat flooded her belly.

He turned on his heel and paced across the small room. He finally   settled against the wall at the far end by the door, arms crossed over   his chest. "People know. My kind has long been in alliance with a select   number of yours, for the good of everyone."

"People know?" She sipped at her water, attempting to settle the   strange, visceral reactions he elicited within her. "Wow." Out of   nowhere, a wave of nausea washed over her. She eased back against the   pillows and cupped her hand to her forehead.

"What's the matter?" he said from immediately next to her. How the hell   had he moved so fast, so silently, that she hadn't noticed? Maybe a   vampire thing? The thought did nothing for her stomach.

She blew out a breath. "Am I a prisoner?" When he didn't answer right away, she opened her eyes and peered up at him.

He returned her stare for a long moment, and then his shoulders sagged. "Ja."

Goose bumps erupted over her flesh, even though she'd already known the answer. "Are you going to kill me?"

"I told you no harm would come to you."

"Forgive me if my current status is making me a little shy of trusting   you." She stretched to put down the cup. Kaira debated for a long   moment, then released her next words on an exhale. "You asked me what's   the matter. Everything that happened last night aside, I'm sick.  Without  the meds I need, I'll get sicker. So if your word really means   something, you have to let me go."

He grabbed the rails along the side of her bed, his knuckles going   white. A large gold signet ring with some sort of engraved crest sat   prominently on his right hand. "What kind of illness?"

She shook her head. No matter how much her instincts said she could   trust him, part of her brain refused to forget that last night he'd   bitten her, drank her blood and kidnapped her. Now his brother believed   she'd seen too much to be let free. How could this situation end up in   any way good for her? At the very least, she probably shouldn't   advertise that she had a disease likely to put her in an early grave. If   they thought she was going to die anyway, whatever compunction they  had  against killing her now might just evaporate.

"You will tell me." He towered over the bed.

His nearness brought his tantalizing scent to her nose. It rippled along   her nervous system and warmed her everywhere. What the hell was wrong   with her? "I won't."

The angles of his face sharpened, just as they had in the gallery before   everything got weird. "How can you hold me to a promise and then keep   from me the means to uphold it?" His fangs flashed, and anger seethed   just beneath the surface of the words.                       
       
           



       

She scoffed. "How can you hold me at all?"

"Because I need you!" The words ripped from his throat and echoed   against the painted cinder block. He pressed his fingers to his lips, as   if he hadn't meant to make the admission.

She flinched at the volume of his voice, at the sudden eruption of his temper, at the appearance of his fangs. "Why? For what?"

Two men burst in the door. She recognized one as the vampire who had   held Henrik down against the car's hood-or tried to, but not the other.

"My lord?" the one she knew said.

Henrik paid them no attention. "Leave us."

They hesitated only a moment, then nodded and left. No questions asked. Why did they obey him so automatically?

"Why do they call you that?" Kaira asked.

He heaved a deep breath. "If you want the truth from me, Miss Sorensen, you need to give me yours in return."

"I don't want to die. That's the most important truth here."

An emotion she didn't understand flashed through his pale eyes. "I don't   want you to die, either," he said, gentling his tone. It was almost   tender. Longing.

His words set off a pang in her chest she didn't understand. Was the   sympathy she felt some sort of Stockholm syndrome? And did that even   matter? No matter the reason behind it, she couldn't deny that he   stirred something within her. She massaged her right thumb into her   suddenly aching left palm. "Because you need me," she said, repeating   his earlier declaration.

He gave a stiff nod and wouldn't meet her gaze, clearly still uncomfortable with having shared that particular sentiment.

"And what about the others?" She waved her hand toward the door.

"They will cause you no harm." He radiated such confidence, it clearly wasn't a question in his mind.

But it was in hers. "How do I know that? How do you?"

He pressed his lips into a thin line, then lifted his chin and nailed her with an intense gaze. "Because I am their king."

The space of the room sucked to a narrow pinpoint. "King? As in..."

"As in one of the seven remaining vampire kings in the world we both share."

Her brain scrambled to keep up with the idea that he wasn't just a   vampire, but vampire royalty. Because being an immortal with   supernatural powers wasn't incredible enough. "There were more?"

"There have been seven for a long time. But, yes, once, there were more." Solemnity flowed through the words.

Competing questions pulled her in multiple directions. "What happened to them?" she finally said.

"The creatures who attacked you last night are the ancient enemy that   vampires and humans have in common. We call them Soul Eaters, because   they drain the victims of their blood and steal their soul by drinking   through the last beat of the heart. Many have been lost in the war with   them. Now, your turn to share."

Kaira's heart thudded a hard, escalating rhythm against her breastbone.   She could've lost her freaking soul? If Henrik hadn't shown up when he   did...

Out of nowhere, she recalled the look on his face the previous night   when she'd accused him of attacking her, accused him of being no   different than those others. Even then, she'd known the words weren't   true. Everything about his bite, his drinking, had felt different,   pleasurable even, as strange as that made her feel to admit.

She hugged herself and rubbed her arms.

Did it really matter if she told him what was wrong with her? If they   wanted her dead, they could've done it any moment before now. "Okay. I,   uh, I have chronic myelogenous leukemia. CML. It's why I have the  fever,  and at least some of the aches. It's in the chronic stage right  now,  but if I don't have the meds, the cancer will eventually  accelerate."  She crossed her arms and met his gaze.

The pale blue of his eyes was absolutely blazing. He slowly sank into   the chair at her bedside. For a moment, she would've sworn he was   devastated by the news, but that made absolutely no sense. And then his   expression went neutral, a careful, practiced blank. He nodded. "I see.   And...your prognosis?"

She arched an eyebrow. "I won't die today. You know, unless..." She pointed to him, and then to her own normal canine tooth.

Henrik barked out a laugh he covered with a big fist. He glanced up at   her with the first amusement she'd seen light his eyes. The sound and   the sight stirred a bit of affection in her chest. "You're something   else. And you don't know how right you are." He pushed out of the seat   and crossed the room again. Hands on his hips, he stared at the door for   a long moment.                       
       
           



       

Finally, he turned back to her.

"Did you know some believe the aurora to be a bridge to heaven? A portal between this world and the next?"

Kaira nodded. The mythology surrounding the northern lights had long   fascinated her. It was ancient man's way of explaining something that,   for them, had no tangible explanation. "The Norse believed the lights to   be the reflections of the Valkyries' shields as they escorted dead   warriors to their final resting place at Valhalla."

His expression was serious. Somber, even. And sad. "Strange that I keep finding things in common with you, Kaira."

She smoothed her hands over her lap and debated whether to give voice to   her suspicions, the ones she'd developed when they'd first met in the   gallery. And that were even stronger now. She took a deep breath and   figured she didn't have much to lose. If he wanted truthfulness, she'd   give it to him. "You mean, like, the fact that you're sick, too?"