She exhaled a sigh of relief.
His face was watchful, careful. “It’s possible my brethren might follow us, but they’ll be stopped at the gate to the villa. They can’t cross onto the property.”
“Why not?” she croaked, her mouth dry.
William retrieved a bottle of water from Luka, who was driving.
Raven accepted it gratefully.
“Let’s just say there are certain things in my possession that prevent the others from troubling me.”
“You didn’t tell me you were a prince.”
“The title refers to my position.” William watched as she drank half the bottle. “The ruling vampyre of a principality is known as the Prince. Thus, I am the Prince of Florence.”
“How long have you been prince?”
“Since the fourteenth century.”
Raven began to choke, water spilling into her lungs. She coughed and spluttered while William looked on helplessly.
“Are you all right? What should I do?”
She waved aside his hand and continued to cough, clearing the water from her throat.
“Luka, stop the car,” William instructed.
“No,” she managed to say, though she continued coughing. “I’m okay.”
“You don’t sound okay.” He placed his arm around her shoulder.
She coughed a few more times.
“I’m fine.”
Carefully, she sipped her water. Then she took a deep breath and exhaled.
“Are you all right now?” His pale eyebrows had drawn together.
“Much better, thanks.”
“You have to be more careful.”
“I didn’t realize that drinking water while you were talking was hazardous.” She glared at him. “If you became prince in the fourteenth century, you must have been born earlier than that.”
He nodded once.
“How much earlier?”
“I’ve kept my age a secret, for various reasons.”
She frowned. “What kind of reasons?”
He gave her a look calculated to end her line of inquiry.
“How does one become a prince?”
“Usually, by destroying the previous one.” His tone was casual, too casual.
Raven’s blood grew cold.
“I never destroyed anyone who didn’t deserve it. Remember that before you condemn me.”
He withdrew his arm from her shoulder and turned his attention to the darkened cityscape.
Raven took another drink of water, not knowing how to respond.
William was unaccustomed to justifying his actions. Since he’d become prince, he hadn’t had the need.
But even as he explained himself to the young woman who sat beside him, he felt a new emotion. He pushed it aside, not wanting to deal with it.
“You were very brave this evening. I would have liked to reward you by showing you the wonders of my city, but there are hunters about. Our tour will have to wait.”
Raven put her empty water bottle aside. “Who would be crazy enough to hunt you?”
“Two groups. This is the weaker one. Some of the weaker ones hunt for sport, but most do so in order to harvest blood.”
“Vampyre blood?”
“Wealthy humans use it for healing purposes but also to combat aging. We’re difficult to kill, which makes our blood rare and very valuable. So valuable the hunters sometimes target ferals.”
“Is their blood similar?”
“Feral blood induces madness.”
Raven swallowed hard. “If someone thought she was taking vampyre blood but got feral blood instead, she’d go mad?”
“Whatever animates a feral is transmitted by the blood. The darkness migrates to whoever ingests it.” He looked over her shoulder briefly, as if he were considering something. “It’s similar to possession.”
Raven rubbed her temple as the ghost of a headache emerged. Clearly her body was having trouble processing these successive revelations.
If that feral had bitten me the other night, would I go mad?”
“If there’d been a transfer of blood in a suitable amount, yes.”
Raven closed her eyes, trying with all her might to keep a close rein on her emotions. Her heart thumped in her chest and she felt a cold clamminess pass over her skin.
William took her hand in his.
“Are you going to be sick?”
“I don’t know.”
“Luka, stop the car.”
Obediently, Luka slowed the car and pulled into an alley.
William turned, giving Raven his full attention.
“If you took a catechism class in your parish, then you know all about angels and demons and supernatural events.”
“I stopped believing that shit when I was twelve.”
“Why?”
Raven answered by leaning back against the headrest and breathing deeply, eyes still closed.