Kingsley and I barely speak as we make our way down the hall. When we arrive at the tall, double doors of the dining room, he offers me a smile then draws a door open and gestures for me to go in first.

Fidgeting with the choker, I slowly enter the dimly lit room staying close to the walls that are lined with vampire guards, decked out in black pants, matching T-shirts, and lace-up military boots. Sitting at the table, reading a book, is my mom. Rhyland sits across from her, chatting with a pretty, dark-haired woman a couple of years older than me. With her pale skin and deep red lips, I’d assumed she is a vampire, if she didn’t have a wand in her hand.

A witch.

Why in the weirdly bloodsuckers is a witch here?

Could she be the creature creeping around in my bedroom? They do have the power to become invisible. Why would she want to sneak around in my room, though? I don’t know her … At least, I don’t think so.

“It’s so nice to see you again, Rhyland.” She tosses her hair off her shoulders and shoots him a flirty smile. “It’s been way too long this time around.”

Rhyland’s smile is fake, his expression a bit distant. “Sorry, but with everything going on, I’ve been too busy. You should already know that.”

“You’re always too busy.” She nibbles on her bottom lip and bats her eyelashes. “We should hang out sometime this time around. Maybe go up to the lake or something.”

I bite back a laugh. The lake is where creatures in Mystic Willow Bay go to hook up. This witch is coming on to him, even though he’s the king and is technically supposed to be with me. Good thing I don’t have any jealousy issues. Well, kind of.

Okay, I’ll admit, as I watch her reach over and stroke her fingers along the back of his hand, a tiny drop of irritation prods my chest. I blame my reaction on that damn memory. It stirred up too many strange emotions toward Rhyland.

Thankfully, as the witch creeps her fingers up Rhyland’s arm, he shifts uneasily and moves out of her reach.

“Sorry, Ava, but I’m the king, which means I’m tied to the queen.”

“Always an excuse.” She pouts out her bottom lip. “I don’t know why you even try anymore, or how you can like her.”

“You don’t know how I can like her?” Rhyland questions while rolling up the sleeves of his dark grey shirt. “Have you met this Raven yet?”

“Yeah, we went to high school together this time around,” she says with an eye roll. “She seemed like, I don’t know, sort of like a loser if you ask me. A little know-it-all, always wanting to fit in, which isn’t surprising, all things considering.”

My mom’s gaze snaps up from her opened book. “I think you need to—”

Rhyland holds up a hand. “Let me handle this.” His eyes darken as he leans toward Ava. “Raven is—”

I clear my throat loudly, not wanting to hear if foul or kind words leave his lips. At this point, I’m not sure I could handle either.

Their gazes dart toward me, and my mom smiles while Ava shoots me a nasty look. And Rhyland? Well, a trace of a smile starts to rise on his lips until his gaze descends to my neck. Then his already pale skin goes fang white.

“Good evening, sweetheart,” my mom says as she closes the thick, worn book.

“Hey.” I smile then flick a glance at Rhyland.

He’s stiff as a board and fidgeting with the leather cuffs on his wrists. “Hey,” he manages to get out evenly with a stiff smile. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Yeah, but I find it really crazy I slept for so long.” I drop down into a chair at the end of the table. “I must’ve been super tired or something.”

“You’ve been through a lot the last couple days.” Rhyland glances at the clock. “It was bound to catch up with you.”

“You’ve been through a lot, too.” I stare him down, wishing upon wishes he would give me something—any hint at all—of what is going on. But if I’m right about Kingsley being cursed into silence, Rhyland could be as well. “Yet you didn’t pass out for three nights straight.”

He shrugs. “I’m used to this sort of stuff.”

“Yeah, I wonder why.” You’re used to this stuff because you know what’s going on and have lived this life who knows how many times.

He offers me a puzzled smile, his gaze descending to the choker again. “You look … nice.” His brows dip, then he pushes back from the table and rises to his feet. “We should get you fed before we leave. Get rid of those dragon burns a bit.”

My fingers drift to the flakes of ember flesh at the base of my neck. “Does it really matter if it’s showing while we’re in the Land of Moonlight? I mean, we’re going there to get the cure, right? So, creatures are going to know I’ve been burned.”

While I hate to admit it, I’m craving the taste of his blood. But craving blood means losing my inability to think rationally while I’m feeding, which gives him plenty of an opportunity to cast another sleep spell on me.

I need to regain control of my blood hunger.

His brow crooks upward. “Do you want those burns to spread all over your body? Because, personally, I don’t.” His gaze sweeps up and down my body, then he sucks his lip between his teeth. “And it’d be a shame to ruin something so gorgeous.”

I stare at him, unimpressed. “Seriously?”

He gives me an innocent smile. “What? I’m just telling the truth.” He reaches out and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “And giving you a compliment.”

“You sound like your brother.” I try not to shiver as he drifts his touch from my hair to my jawline to my neck.

He frowns. “Kingsley told you the same thing?”

“He said I look”—I make air quotes—“ ‘fucking hot.’ ”

The muscles in his jaw spasm. “Well, you do, but he shouldn’t be telling you that.”

“Why? Don’t I deserve a compliment?” My featherlight, flirty tone makes me cringe.

What in the flirty vampires am I doing? Since when do I flirt with Rhyland? Especially after learning he lied to me.

Then again, he’s accused me of flirting with him before, and I think I was …

Seriously, what is wrong with me! How can I flirt with a vampire who’s lied to me and is probably part of this curse?

“You deserve a lot of compliments. I just want to be the one to give them to you.” He slants forward and put his lips beside my ear. “How about we go back to my chambers so I can feed you and compliment you some more without an audience?”

My gaze roams over his shoulder to where Ava is watching us with a scowl on her pretty face. My mom has her attention on us, too, along with most of the guards and Kingsley. I almost feel as if I’m part of a play and they’re all eagerly waiting to see how the scene is going to play out. Maybe they’ve watched it before? Just how many vampires know we’re reliving the same life repeatedly?

Although, I did overhear Rhyland and my mom whispering about how things are different this time—how I am different—so perhaps this scene is new.

“Why is everyone staring at us?” I whisper. “And why do they seem, I don’t know, eager?”

He brushes my hair away from my shoulder, kissing my earlobe. “They’re just waiting to see how close their king and queen are getting.” Another brush of his lips along the side of my ear. “The closer we get, the more powerful we become.”

“And that’s a good thing?”

“That’s a very good thing.”

Does power have anything to do with breaking the curse? “Why, though? What happens if we become super powerful?”

He rests his head against the side of mine and breathes in my scent. “A lot of things could happen.”

I resist the urge to close my eyes and sink into his embrace, despite how much my body wants to. “You’re being vague again. And I know you’re doing it on purpose.”

He runs his hand along the curve of my shoulder to the base of the neck. Then he smooths the pad of his thumb along the rose pendant of the choker. “I know I am.”

“So, you admit you’re keeping things from me on purpose?” Did he just confess he’s been lying to me?

He tenses. “We should go to my chambers and get you fed.” He moves back from me, his expression blank, mirroring the Rhyland I’m used to hating. “We need to leave soon.”

“Fine.” I aim for the same expression I used to give him back when he treated me like vampire scum. But seeing and feeling that memory of when we were friends has somehow erased some of my hatred for him, so all I end up doing is staring at him.

He shifts his weight under my unwavering gaze, his own gaze dropping to my choker again. “That looks really good on you, by the way.”

“Um, thanks.” Not the reaction I was hoping for. What I really wanted was for him to demand I take it off so I’d have an excuse to drill him with questions.

He starts to smile, but then fear floods his eyes as he sniffs the air. Every muscle in his body winds tight, as if a jolt of electric magic zaps through his body.

“We need to go now,” he practically chokes out, snatching my hand and dragging me to my feet so swiftly the chair topples over.

“What’s going on?” I demand, stumbling to keep up with him.

The guards are on the move, drawing their weapons as the air suddenly reeks of burnt flesh.

“Nothing.” He quickens his pace. “We just need to hurry. We’re on a strict time schedule.”

“Then why the hell are the guards drawing their weapons?” I toss a glance over my shoulder then suck in a sharp breath.

Flooding the dining room is a cloud of purplish smoke.

Just like the smoke that flooded the forest in my memory.