The Vampire King's Contract Bride
etly. "And you are my key to moving between them. Yo
rs on my cheeks already
m and pulled
tect what's gr
lower abdomen-flat
at him in
ulfill your role, I'll make you a promise. When everything is done
on
I thought he was going to kill me, not
e even saying something re
s-it cannot be broken. Not unless you die and your soul gets recycl
re colder th
urpose is fulfilled, I'll leave. If lonelin
ly a whisper. "What... wha
blood magic, of bindings... or even what it means to lie with so
ce fl
me-it numbed me. All I could fe
aph began to take shape in your Crimson Sigil Ring... it meant the blood-bound child was
fr
t had been pulsing for days-like coals buried beneath my skin. I
asn't s
darkened. "Un
n't this wait? I'm only eight
r week trying to coax life into a stiff, unw
the first ritual. The first
flatly. "Call it torture, call it rap
t my face, trying to hold on to
op out of school, lock m
ing, still cold
pletely and stuffed them into my shoulder bag. The motion pulled at the
rms folded, watching me wit
ured, looking up at him. "Could
hes. Don't treat
hadn't been, Clara, you wo
gh
as I t
e. A vessel. A b
didn't apply
more n
he mirror in
ke the one I remembered. Pale. Hollow-e
! Hurr
oice echoed do
ed beneath my eyes, and st
d already gone
tering the office, then bolting out j
ll, sprinting down until I finally reached th
d running that the class advisor's b
s in the clear. No
e all the mo
lled vampire husband-calc
the office while I was still there, I
to the edge and left squatting at the windowsill, se
. Too
investigation. Late twenties, ex-special forces, with the kind of s
I felt smaller than ever
to me. "Used to be military. Reads peopl
of chaos and worried faces. Sch
or-slammed a hand against the table the
nts have come to? Low-cut tops, bare legs i
iou
ass advisor, Jack, always got along well with his students. Top-notch r
thing!" I snapped befo
t implying I seduced that
the room heard him. Then he cornered me alone and d
am, no matter how badly I wanted to. But that man-J
man's dead and can't defend himself. Look at yo
other barked, shoving back his chair. "Keep talkin
voice fraying. "This isn't helpin
ng this as a suicide for now. But the media will come knockin
knew what he wanted-s
helping in the office. I ran to get he
eply, Officer Bruno l
lly. "You really going to coach a witness? Rewri
nervously, probably cu
using on me. "Tell me ever
ushed the class advisor's windpipe and dragged him backward like
dn't sto
. And again. F
stions, slightly differ
e recorder and put away his notebook. The
, then said with a faint smile, "Y
ly he
I would've died that night-two yea
**
in the courtyard, clad in a white tank top and shifti
come scratch my back, would
lifted the edge of his shirt. Jus
fr
a Crimson Mask-vivid, grotesque
.. Clara D
ar male voice sli
my father's breathing. Its hollow, blood-rimmed eyes locked on
skgrave..." The vo