Tendra

When I came to, my shoulders were sore and my skin felt raw. I tried to move my arms, but was met with resistance and the sound of chains rattling. My heart pounded in my chest as I gazed around the room I was in. It was nearly empty, just me in the center on a big-ass bed. I wore a long white dress, and I was clean.

Someone had cleaned me, changed my clothes, and chained me to a bed. I closed my eyes against the wave of panic threatening to drown me. I couldn’t let it paralyze me. Not now. Not while so much was at stake, and certainly not while I maybe had a chance to see Athan again.

I took a deep breath and opened my eyes to take stock of my situation. I tugged harder on the chains holding me, but the metal cuffs dug into my wrists painfully and the headboard where they were attached was bolted to the wall. I wasn’t going anywhere.

My skin was crawling knowing that I’d been touched, that someone other than me or Athan had their hands on my body. My stomach rolled, and I was glad it was empty, because I would have thrown up right there on the sheets.

A figure moved from the corner of the room, and I scrambled into a sitting position on the bed, huddling against the headboard.

The human—he was definitely human—held his hands up, palms out. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Great,” I spat at him. “Then unchain me and let me leave.”

He shook his head. “I can’t, I don’t have the key and even if I did…” He shrugged. “You wouldn’t make it far.”

“Then kill me,” I pleaded.

His eyes widened and he shook his head. “I can’t.”

I took a deep breath and tried to be smart, not hysterical. “What’s your name?”

“Kellan.”

“Okay, Kellan. What’s going on? And why are you in here?”

“I, uh,”—he gestured to my body—“Was told to prepare you.”

I glared. “Great, did you cop a feel, too?”

He shook his head furiously. “What? No! I would never— No.” His face flushed bright red, and for the first time, I noticed how young he was. “I’m sorry.”

“Kellan,” I said, working to stay calm. Yelling at him would solve nothing. His head went up, and he bit his lip. I smiled at him, my strategy switching to befriending him. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“I don’t know,” he said, and his eyes filled. “We’ve been on lockdown for days and told to stay in our rooms. I was only allowed out just now and told to take care of you.”

“What’s your job here?”

“I supply blood to the soldiers. I clean their weapons and their armor and uniforms.”

“How long have you been here?”

He tilted his head, confusion entering his features. “I was born here.”

“Are your parents here?”

He shook his head. “They died years ago.”

“Do you like it here?”

“I guess so. Athan and Idris are my favorites.”

He didn’t look upset, so I assumed he didn’t know about Athan. I remembered the king had ordered him to be thrown out into the sun. I wasn’t about to tell anyone here that wouldn’t do a single thing to Athan’s body.

His body. I couldn’t talk like that. He couldn’t be dead. I wished he’d fed from me again right before we entered the compound.

There was a knock at the door, and Kellan scurried over to it. When he opened it, he clapped his hand over his mouth, and his body trembled. A deep voice said, “Back to your room.”

Kellan shot me a look, his eyes brimming with tears, and then fled. His footsteps echoed as he ran away from whatever the fuck was about to enter my room.

I tried to get off the bed, so at least I could stand on my feet, but the chain didn’t allow it. So I rose onto my knees as the king entered first, followed by two vampires, holding a slumped form between them.

I surged forward. “Athan!”

But when the form raised his head, he wasn’t Athan. He was a version of him, but his face was shaped a little differently. He was bearded and while those dark eyes didn’t terrify me, they weren’t Athan’s. But what did strike the fear of God into me was the state of him. He was beaten and bloody, his one eye nearly swollen shut. He wore only jeans, and his bare feet dragged on the floor behind him “You’re Idris,” I said softly.

The vampire coughed, and the king stepped toward me. “Ah, so she’s not an idiot. It would be easier if she was.” He sighed and cocked his head.

I reared back and spit at him. He easily dodged the wad and shot me an unimpressed look. “That’s not very queenly.”

I opened my mouth to tell him to go to hell, but another voice spoke up first. “Fuck you, Father,” Idris said, his words slurred. He pulled his lips back into a sneer, showing off his fangs.

The king walked over to his son and wrenched his head back with a hand in his hair. Idris sucked in a breath, his chest heaving, but didn’t make a sound. The king spoke inches from his face. “You will obey me and feed from the Sanguivita. If you don’t do it, I’ll hand her over to my soldiers, and you can only imagine how that’ll go.”

I glanced at the one vampire who held Idris, and the hunger in his eyes sent ice water down my spine.

“We waited for ten generations for her, and now you’re just going to discard her?” Idris said through clenched teeth.

“There is no prophecy. It’s all a made-up lie. Once you feed from her and you’re the same vampire you were before, we’ll prove it to the entire clan.”

“I don’t believe you,” Idris said.

The king shook his head. “Son, soon you’ll understand that it’s more important to be on the winning side of history than the losing side.” He motioned to the head of the bed, and the soldiers dragged Idris beside me, chaining him to the headboard like I was. The king glanced at his watch. “You have until sunrise to feed. If you don’t do as you’re told, I let you burn, and I drain her.”

He walked out the door with his soldiers, slamming the door behind him. The lock engaging made me flinch.

I sat on the edge of the bed, as far away as the chains would allow me, and eyed my fellow captor. He was tugging on his bonds, checking for weak points, completely ignoring me. I wondered how this would go, when he would decide to grab me and feed from me. I lifted my hands to my neck, where Athan had bitten me, but the wound had healed and I felt nothing beneath my fingers. The tears threatened, but I stuffed them down.

Idris tugged on his chains one last time with a frustrated growl before slumping down with his back against the headboard. He closed his eyes, and a small trickle of blood leaked out of a cut on his lip.

Up close, he didn’t look as much like Athan as I had thought. They were built the same, but Idris’s face was more square. He was…less beautiful than Athan, although still very handsome, just in a more rugged way. His long legs were thick, and his feet long. His fists clenched and unclenched, so the veins in his forearms bulged.

He rolled his head toward me and opened his eyes.

Neither of us spoke for a long time, and I stayed where I was, hands out in front of me in case I needed to defend myself. Not that I thought I’d do much against this hulking vampire, injured or not.

“So you’re Tendra,” he said. His voice was deeper than Athan’s, a little rougher.

I nodded.

“I’m Idris,” he said. “Athan’s brother.”

I didn’t answer, only waited to see what he’d do next. With a heavy sigh, he faced the ceiling. “I’m not going to feed from you. You can relax.”

“Why?” I asked quickly.

He lifted his eyebrows at my question. He sat up straighter with a wince and rested his wrists on his knees. “Because as soon as I feed, my father either has reason to kill us both, or use us as an example of a false prophecy. I’m not really into either, to be honest.”

My heart hadn’t stopped pounding and I was a little worried about having a damn heart attack. “Can you tell me what’s going on?”

Idris blew out a breath. “A couple of days ago we got word there was a breach in our walls. We were on lockdown until we determined where the breach was. Once we learned it was Valarians, we sent most of our force—me included—to deal with the enemy. What we found instead was a trap. My father has our entire loyal crew imprisoned, and I was told that the prophecy was a lie, and to bow with him to the Valarians. I refused and was beaten, and am now here.” He snorted drily. “As far as I can tell, our esteemed king”—he spat the word like poison—“has decided to join with the Valarians, and without the abilities we were supposed to gain from the Sanguivita” —he shot me a look—“there isn’t much hope.”

After everything I’d been through, betrayed not once, but twice by the Gregorie clan I was supposed to trust, I was still wary. “Why should I trust you’re telling me the truth?”

He shrugged. “You don’t really have reason to. All I know is that my brother believed in the prophecy, and so do I. He died protecting you, and I plan to do the same.” He yanked his chains. “Somehow. Once I have a plan.”

I crept closer, and he eyed me. All I really wanted to know was if Athan was still alive—because he was the only reason for me to keep my heart beating at this point. Fuck that king if he thought I’d let my blood prove shit. “What happened to Athan?”

Idris studied me for a long moment, and his gaze drifted to my neck before returning to my face. “My father told me he was dead, and that they’d thrown his body outside for the sun to turn into ash.” His voice was flat.

The prophecy wasn’t a lie, but what difference would it make if Athan was dead? I couldn’t prove it without him. I crawled even closer, until my knees touched Idris’s hip. This was Athan’s brother, the vampire I’d heard Athan talk to numerous times on the phone. Athan hadn’t ever called his father; he’d called his brother. So I took a chance, my last-ditch effort, and told the truth. “Athan told you he fed from me, right?”

Idris nodded. “To save him, yes.”

“Yes, and…” I placed a hand on Idris’s shoulder, hoping like hell those kind eyes wouldn’t turn on me. “The prophecy isn’t a lie, it’s true.”

Idris’s eyes widened, and he rolled onto his hip to face me. “What are you saying?”

“Athan…my blood affected him.”

Idris rose to his knees in front of me and grabbed my hands. “Tendra, I need more details.”

“He grew wings,” I blurted. “Huge black wings. He could control the air around him, like a mini tornado. He was strong, so strong. And he…can be in the sun. It doesn’t burn him.”

Idris wasn’t moving, wasn’t blinking, his jaw dropped in shock, his beaten face nearly drained of color. Eventually his mouth moved, but no words were rumbling out. He fell back onto the bed, his hands holding his head.

I waited to see how he’d react, on alert in case he decided to see if my blood could grow him wings, too.

“It’s all a lie,” he whispered.

Shit, he didn’t believe me. “No, I’m telling the tru—”

“My whole life,” he said louder, lifting his head to stare blankly at the wall over my shoulder. “I was told I’d be king, that the Sanguivita was for me. That I’d save the humans and our clan.” Finally, his gaze shifted to me. “But I didn’t want it. I never felt that was my role. Athan, though…he was kingly. He was just and right and strong.” Idris made a sob-like sound. “I don’t even know how it’s possible, but I think Athan must be…the older brother. But why…?” his voice dropped out. “This makes no sense.”

“So then your father knows my blood won’t affect yours, right? Does he know Athan fed from me?”

Idris shook his head in a daze. “I didn’t tell him.”

“So he killed Athan so Athan would never gain his powers. He knows nothing will happen if you feed from me and…”

“And then he has a reason to convince the Gregorie clan to join with the Valarians and end this centuries-long cold war we’ve had.”

My mind raced. “But then humans…”

“Humans will suffer,” Idris said. “Greatly.”

All my ancestors, all those strong women, everything we fought for and how we lived our lives would be for nothing. Ruby. The human race would be nothing but blood banks for vampires.

I gripped Idris’s shoulders. “Maybe Athan isn’t dead. The sun won’t kill him, so maybe…” I choked on a sob. “Maybe he’s okay.” I swiped at my eyes. “He can’t be dead, Idris, I—fuck, I love him so much.”

Idris held out his arms, and I collapsed into them. When he wrapped them around me, he said in a whisper, “I love him, too.”

I gave myself time to cry, glad I could still cry, that everything that had happened hadn’t hardened me. Not yet.

We lay locked together for a long time. I thought about Brex, and Athan, and Ruby, while Idris’s large hand stroked my hair. He was comforting, and maybe he would have been a good match for me in a different life. But I loved Athan. How weird that it felt normal comparing which vampire brother I’d rather be with.

Finally, I sat up and wiped my eyes, the handcuffs jingling. “We need a plan.”

Idris’s face was healing rapidly, his eyes less swollen. “I’m not sure what to do, Tendra. I wish I had some great escape, but I kind of just plan to take as many of them out with me when I go down as I can.”

“But what about Athan?” I pleaded.

He swallowed, and clenched his hands into fists. “If my father wants someone dead, then he makes sure they’re dead.”

I was all cried out, so now the anger flushed like a wildfire through my veins. “Then you have to kill me first.”

Idris jerked. “What? No!”

“I won’t be used as a pawn. If Athan isn’t alive…” Those words were hard to say. “Then you have to kill me.”

Idris was not on board with my plan. “I can’t…you’re the Sanguivita. The prophecy is true and I can’t…I can’t kill you.”

I couldn’t count on anyone. “Then I’ll do it myself.”

With a huff, I crossed my arms over my chest and vowed to sit in silence until the king came for us.

I passed in and out of consciousness, my brain still a little woozy from the somnus. I dreamed of Athan every time. His dark eyes, and the warmth of his arms around me. I was back in that cave as he drank from me, as he took me, and I missed him so bad, I ached with it.

I mourned a little for every human, every vampire, that wouldn’t experience the connection I had with Athan.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when Idris spoke, his voice rusty. “Fine,” he said. “I won’t kill you myself, but I’ll help you.”

I turned to him. “How?”

He flicked his fingers upward. “They’ll take us to the roof. If I don’t drink from you here, he’ll make me do it there, in front of the counsel. Before I do, I’ll find a way to get you free…”

“And I can leap,” I finished for him. I could leap off ten stories and plummet to my death. They’d never use me as a pawn to dispel a prophecy.

What a way to go. I inhaled sharply and leaned back against the headboard, mentally preparing for what lay ahead. It would take everything I had. But I wasn’t Tendra, daughter of a single mom and transient bartender at The Rose. I was Sanguivita, queen to Athan, the rightful king of the Gregorie clan.