He's all smiles and sparkling crowns in the lantern light. If I didn't hate him so much, and if I wasn't so shy, I'd tell him he's beautiful.
His laughter fades when I scrape off a piece of singed skin from my neck.
Frowning, he begins unbuttoning the sleeve of his shirt. "We need to feed you before you go in there."
"That's what Kingsley said." I thrum my fingers against the sides of my legs, a question burning at the tip of my fangs. "If I'm only supposed to drink your blood, then how do you feed?"
He shrugs. "Like I always have-by the bottle."
"And yet you have your powers?" I pout. "That doesn't seem very fair. That I have to drink your blood to get my powers, but you can drink any vampire's blood you want and still be powerful."
He rubs his lips together, hesitating. "If you told me not to drink any other vampire's blood ever again-only yours-I'd obey."
"I don't want to force you to do anything … That's not the kind of queen I want to be."
"You wouldn't be forcing me." He looks me dead in the eye, as if waiting for … Well, I'm not sure. For me to tell him not to drink any other vampire's blood again. For me to divulge that I want him to drink only my blood. If that's what he's waiting for, he'll be waiting until his veins run dry and he withers into ashes, because I will never ask Rhyland to drink from me.
Why does he act like he wants me to declare that I want him to?
It must be a king and queen thing. Perhaps his new title draws him to me.
I clear my throat. "Still, all drinking aside, it seems extremely unfair that you just get your powers without working for it."
"You call drinking my blood work?" Amusement glitters in his eyes.
"The hardest form of work I've ever known." I bite back a grin.
He shakes his head, tugging on a strand of my hair. "Such a tease."
"Oh, I'm not teasing."
"No. You're just flirting."
My lips part in shock. "I am not." Am I? God, I hope I'm not, but I'm not much of a flirt, so I wouldn't know.
"You are, too." The smug grin on his face makes me want to smack him.
My damn cheeks glow with warmth again. "Whatever. My point is: you get your powers so easily. It's kind of not fair."
"I have my powers first so I can protect you while yours grow." He sticks his hand into his pocket. "If I didn't, there'd be no one who could completely protect you with their heart and soul."
Heart and soul seems a bit dramatic, if you ask me … and sort of poetic.
"That's not true. There's a whole mafia army standing outside." I gesture at the fields outside the window, at the figures of bodyguards wandering around. "Plus, I have Kingsley."
His jaw muscle spasms. "That may be true, but when it all comes down to it, I'm the one who can protect you the most." He withdraws his hand from his pocket and laces his fingers through mine, startling me. "They may protect you with their lives"-he nods his head at the window-"and so will Kingsley, but I'm the only one who has enough power right now to protect you from the evilest dangers lurking in our world. And those evils will come looking for you." His sucks in a breath and whispers, "They always do."
I can feel his pulse thrashing against my fingertips, his nervousness violently coursing through me. "They'll always come after me?"
His fingers constrict around mine as he dazes off, pain radiating from his features. Then he blinks, and the pain evaporates. "After the queen. Evil always comes after the queen. And that's why you have so many bodyguards. And Kingsley … and me. We're here … to save you."
He's hiding something, but am I that surprised? This is Rhyland, my tormentor. Not the love of my life.
I want to unlace my fingers from his and walk away-stay away from him-but an unfamiliar, possessive instinct consumes me, and I latch on tighter to his hand. "Why did you choose Kingsley to be my Blood Protector?"
He caresses the back of my hand with his thumb. "Because I trust him more than I trust anyone."
"But, I don't." I resist a frown as he gives my hand a squeeze and then untangles his fingers from mine. "And since he's supposed to be protecting me, shouldn't I trust him?"
"You can trust him, I promise." He brings his forearm to his lips. "In fact, you should only trust him and me from now on."
"That's what my mom said. Or, well, she said just to trust you. She never mentioned Kingsley."