Vampire's Kiss

I nodded. As a dancer, he was a strong lead—I didn’t even need to keep count—and for once in my life I was happy to follow. “You’ve done this before,” I said, finding myself a little breathless.

He gave a noncommittal grunt, intent on cutting a diagonal path across the crowd, and we reached the far wall in a matter of minutes. Putting an arm around me, he shot a quick glance around, then ducked us behind the curtain. I was certain we simply looked like a couple sneaking out for a romantic tryst.

The night air was brisk, and it felt delicious on my damp brow. He made a beeline for the stone parapet and vaulted over and down. I hiked up my dress, quick on his heels. I didn’t want him to do anything that’d embarrass me, like try to catch me or anything.

It was a low drop. I landed in a crouch and heard the crackle of a tearing seam as I bounded into a run. We made quick progress across the grounds, through a network of squat, stone buildings, and Carden pointed out dormitories, a bakehouse, even an abandoned infirmary. A weird humming cut through the air, and it was getting louder the closer we got to what looked like a chapel.

I slowed my pace. “What’s that noise?”

“They still keep the Lauds of the Dead.” Seeing my confusion, he clarified. “Some of the vampires keep vigil through the night, chanting for the souls of the dead.”

“The dead,” I repeated. “Which is…them?”

He nodded. “They’re a morbid bunch.”

“Creepy.”

I strained to listen. It was a deep, vibrant hum that would’ve sounded beautiful were it not so disturbing. “So those are monks chanting?”

“Make no mistake,” he said. “Those are vampires chanting. Old habits die hard.”

We cut around the chapel to the bank of a shallow stream and, not even pausing, plowed forward, picking our way over rocks and fallen logs to the other side. Once safely into the woods, we slowed our pace a little, and ten thousand questions popped to my mind. “Some of these guys were priests?”

“Some were. Some weren’t.”

The notion blew me away. “Jeez…Some of these vamps were actual holy men?”

“Not holy men,” he said. “Political men. But aye, good men did live here once—they simply martyred themselves, preferring a one-way trip to their Lord over a life of what they considered immortal depravity.”

I wanted to ask Carden if he’d had a choice, but I was afraid to know the answer.

“The ones who survived,” he continued, “I suppose you could say they’re religious. It just happens to be themselves they believe in.”

I hiked up my skirt as we high-stepped over brush and shrubs, making our way to a clearing in the distance. The woods were shadowy, but there was lighter gray on the horizon—the coast. “How’d vampires even end up here in

the first place?”

“There was an attack once, claiming multiple monasteries. All those men, all that wealth, together in a cold and sunless climate—it was irresistible to vampires. A series of quick attacks, and entire settlements were destroyed. Men didn’t have a chance.…Norse, Vikings, Pagans, Christians, Scots—many on these isles in the far north were turned.”

“But humans still live here, too. I’ve seen their houses, on the Isle of Night.”

“Think about it, girl. What do vampires feed on?” He stared, waiting for it to hit me.

“Oh. Ick. They kept people alive so they’d have something…to eat?”

“Mm-hm.” He gave a rueful shrug. “We must survive. And to survive we must feed.”

We. I couldn’t let myself get too comfortable with Carden McCloud. He was unusual, informal, irreverent, plus we were tied together by this bond I didn’t entirely understand. But he was still a vampire. And although something had happened during our kiss that’d blunted my urgency, I told myself I would escape.

We’d been walking for a while, and I’d lost sight of anything remotely resembling a trail. “Do you know where you’re going? Alcántara is waiting.”

“I know how to find Hugo,” he said, his voice flat.

But then he stopped suddenly, bristling. He grabbed my arm and put a finger to my lips to shush me.

At the feel of his touch once more on my mouth, I had the most preposterous thoughts…that his skin wasn’t as cold as Alcántara’s…and that maybe he’d kiss me again. I glared at him, my eyes demanding an explanation.

“They follow,” he whispered. “Make haste now. They may lose our scent closer to shore.”

We broke into a run, and glimpsing beyond him, I saw the charnel house come into view. We reached the head of the cliff and scrambled downhill toward the beach.

Alcántara stood in the distance, waiting before the mouth of the cave. His arms were crossed stiffly at his chest, and I told myself it was my imagination that he radiated fury.

“Be warned,” Carden said as he handed me down from the trail onto the strip of coastline. “He won’t be pleased. Remember what I’ve told you.”

What had I set in motion? I now had a secret from Alcántara. I’d disobeyed him, thrusting myself between two very different vampires. Events had taken on a life of their own, and I was being barreled along, no longer in control.

I looked around, frantic. What about my escape? But the mere thought of it had me tripping over my feet, my movements slowed and my head muddled.

Dread filled me, cold and heavy, because I knew—I could try to run, but as long as we shared a bond, I’d never be able to leave McCloud’s side.

We walked down the beach toward the cave, and as we closed the distance, it became clear: Alcántara was furious. I could see it in the way he held himself, unmoving, as though he were seething, barely containing his rage.

I’d disobeyed his orders, changed his plans. Had he really even wanted to save Carden in the first place? Had he truly planned on returning with me alive? Would Alcántara slaughter me for freeing him? Would he sense our bond?

I wanted to reach out and take McCloud’s hand, but I dared not. Maybe we could escape, together. These two vampires didn’t exactly strike me as old friends. “Should we turn around?” I tried to catch Carden’s eye, but his focus was only for Alcántara. “We could run.”

He paused for the barest second, and in that instant, my hope soared. But then he murmured a reply, his face a stoic mask. “The others pursue us from behind. We have no choice—we must go with Hugo.”

“But some of those other guys were monks once,” I whispered quickly, desperate now to convince him. The closer we got to Alcántara, the more distant my chances became. “How bad could they be?”

“We’re vampires,” Carden said under his breath. He met my eyes then, and his were bleak. “We’re all bad.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Alcántara’s features were carved from ice. His eyes narrowed on me, pausing, weighing my fate.

But then he turned his attention to Carden, greeting him with chilly courtesy. “What a delight to see you, McCloud. For a man held prisoner, you seem the picture of health. Have you fed?” His eyes flicked to me and back again, and it took every ounce of my concentration to remain composed.

Carden’s easy manner was one of the more impressive things I’d ever witnessed. “I killed a serving girl. They keep their feeders well nourished, and she more than sufficed.”

“I see our resourceful Acari Drew decided to free you herself.” Alcántara meandered toward me until he was right up in my face. He recoiled, his eyes snapping into a hard glare on me. “I smell him on you.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but Carden beat me to it. “The girl was attacked.” He tugged my sleeve up to show where he’d fed, lying calmly. “One of the brothers began to bite, but I stopped him. The girl was too weak—I had to carry her out.”

Alcántara pinned his gaze back on me. “Is that so?”

I nodded slowly.

“What else happened? Things must’ve been eventful indeed for you to stray so far from our plan.”

I was so freaked I might accidentally spill the beans about the bonding, I babbled my report. The Synod of Seven. A meeting in a private room. Brother Jacob. The dance. All the serving girls, and black aprons, and white aprons, and feeders in satin dresses.

I rambled, but he only stared blankly, and I heard myself rambling some more, desperate to ease the tension. “And I was pretty nervous after the Synod, and would you believe I even thought I saw Lilac?”

I waited for him to laugh, or crack a smile, or something. But if I’d thought his features were frosty before, they just about crackled now, cold and hard as a glacier.

“What did you say?” he demanded, slowly enunciating each word.

I flailed nervously. “I saw a girl, and for a second I thought it was Lilac. Remember, my old roommate who I beat in the Directorate Challenge? Funny, right?”

Alcántara turned from me, shutting me out. To him, I no longer existed. “Ready the boat,” he snapped to Carden. “I’ll return shortly.”

And then he disappeared. No Good job, no Thank you, no nothing. He didn’t even look my way, as if by pretending I wasn’t there, maybe he could just make me go away.

It knocked the wind from me. “What just happened?”

I felt Carden appear at my back. “Relax, lass.”

“Easy for you to say. You have fangs.” I paced the beach. “He knows.”

“About the bond? If he knew, you’d no longer be standing.”

What had I gotten myself into? “You said you’d explain it all. Does this whole bonding thing mean we’re, like, married now?”

“It means we’re…bonded. It’s a thing to be experienced, not explained.”

I glared.

“And,” he continued, “we are not married. Though we can always enjoy—”