Chapter Six
“Thank you for your kindness and generosity, Lady Galena.” Mina clasped hands with her.
“You honor us, Your Highness.” Lady Galena stepped back.
Mina then embraced Irena warmly. “Thank you for everything. I hope we’ll meet again.”
“Oh, I hope so, too.” She leaned in and whispered, “Perhaps a royal ball where my brother isn’t invited.”
Mina laughed. “He only wants to protect you.”
“Smother me, you mean.”
A sad pang swept over Mina. Other than her friend Kathleen, she’d never had anyone to love as Irena did. She held her at arm’s length, clasping both her hands. “Count yourself lucky.” Then she winked, “But I’ll definitely invite you to the first royal ball I host.”
“What’s that?” asked Aleksei, stepping up behind them.
“Nothing,” they said in unison, then laughed.
“We’d best move on,” urged Mikhail.
Mina pressed her cheek to Irena’s one more time. “We shall see each other again soon. I am sure of it.”
When Mina stepped aside, Dmitri took her place and swept a kiss over Irena’s hand. “Until we meet again, my lady.”
Irena flushed.
“Not if I can help it,” grumbled Aleksei, shoving Dmitri onward. “Let’s go, lover boy.”
Gregoravich and Gavril were already halfway down the paved road to the gate.
“Snows will be here soon, Mother,” Aleksei called. “Take care with the cold coming.” He blew her a kiss.
“You take care of yourself,” she shouted back.
Mikhail walked silently beside Mina, as alert and professional as ever. As if the intimate conversation and encounter they shared yesterday hadn’t occurred. As if the heated tension wasn’t strung taut like a bowstring between them.
“You look well enough to run and keep up,” said Mikhail, observing her with a side glance. “Are you?”
“Yes. I am feeling quite strong now. Thanks to the refreshment you gave me in my bedchamber.”
He winced. Mina smiled. She’d never been aggressive by nature, but something about this man made her beast want to come out to play. She wanted to bait him. To see what he would do. Hoping he would play with her right back.
“I am glad to hear it.” His voice remained tight and controlled.
“And I see that you and your men have fed well. There’s a ruddy flush to your cheeks, Captain.”
He narrowed his gaze but kept his aim forward as they marched on down the tree-lined road. Mina was constantly aware of this new primal need swirling inside her bosom, a desire that seemed solely focused on the captain. However, beyond that, she longed to know more of the man himself. Power emanated from his tall, broad figure as he moved with agile grace. Every step, every glance of his wary gaze appeared purposeful, deliberate. A misstep was not in this man’s nature. And yet, she knew she’d made him misstep. Hence, the grave lines drawing his face tight.
“Tell me, when you feed, is it a manner of replenishing your body, or do you gain pleasure from the experience?”
His brow pinched together. “Why do you ask?”
“I’m curious. You seem a man of, how shall I put it, efficiency.”
“That I am.”
“Then you do not experience that extraordinary sensation of pleasure when you feed?”
He pulled her to a stop with a firm but gentle grip. “What exactly are you getting on about?”
“Well, seeing as my experience with you in the cave and yesterday afternoon were my first times feeding in the traditional or, um, natural way a vampire feeds, I was wondering if you felt that with other women. When you feed.”
Envy twisted in her gut at the thought of his mouth on another woman, and yet she couldn’t help but follow this line of questioning to see what he would say. And after the way he leaned imperceptibly closer, his vibrating intensity bristling along her skin, she was glad she’d followed her instincts.
“And what exactly did you feel when you fed from me?”
She adored the way his melodious voice dropped to a rough timbre, like shallow waters scraping the river rocks across a sandy bed.
“I felt a euphoric sense of belonging in that moment,” she answered honestly and stepped closer, tipping her head back. “As if my whole life catapulted me to that sliver of time when my lips touched your skin, when my fangs sank into your flesh, when your blood rushed fast and hot into my body. It was ecstasy.”
His eyes had dilated, covering his multihued irises mostly black. His nostrils flared, but he didn’t move. Not a splinter-thin fraction.
“It’s time to run, Your Highness.”
“I think you’re running already, Captain.”
He narrowed his gaze, ignoring her gibe. She was certain he wasn’t the sort of man who retreated. Ever. And yet he seemed eager to get away from this conversation. Away from her. The pulsating ripple of desire waving against her empathic senses told her she was right in this pursuit. Whether he knew it or not. The knowledge gave her comfort, even as he bristled at her nearness.
Most her life, she’d felt out of step with the world, with other people. Sure, she could sense their emotions and therefore knew how to react toward them, how to offer them sage advice, as she once did to Prince Marius, knowing he was in love with the peasant revolutionary, Arabelle. But knowing people’s emotions and connecting to people were two entirely different things. She’d often felt isolated, because her steward kept her safe from too many visitors and because her empathic senses could be overwhelming and often made her long for solitude. But the bond between her and Captain Mikhail was as tangible as a silken thread wound about her body and encircling his, squeezing tighter every moment they were together.
It was like the cosmos had divined her to be a lone planet among fields of stars, until a dark moon finally found her, where he was meant to circle without end.
With a tilt of his square chin, he said, “Best keep up.”
“Oh, I’ll keep up.” She smiled. “Lead on.”
He flashed away, swirling the wind around her with the scent of mulled spice and wood smoke. That scent would be easy for her to follow. She ran in vampire speed, blurring past Dmitri and Aleksei, who were still bickering about Irena. Then they were all flying together, following Mikhail. Mina laughed at the rush of moving with such strength, such speed, such power. She’d never had occasion to run as the dainty princess. Not like this.
The dormant beast in her body, in her blood, yawned and stretched, sniffing the air as if for the first time. And on the wind was the scent of her prey, calling her to follow faster, to catch him if she could.
Her heartbeat throbbing in her ears, she didn’t simply follow the pack but chased the leader. The one whose beast called to her own, demanding that she take note, and that she finally awaken from her long slumber to take what was meant to be hers.
She was so focused on Mikhail, she didn’t notice the danger flanking her on her left till it was too late.
…
Mikhail smelled them the split second before they attacked. He dropped back and launched himself into the vampire flying toward Mina. Gripping him around the waist, Mikhail and the attacker went tumbling into her, knocking her to the ground. She screamed. Mikhail’s claws ripped through the attacker’s skin, his fangs long and sharp when he sprang for the hissing vampire.
Pinning him on his back, Mikhail gripped his throat for control. The creature’s eyes were full black with the blood madness. He bucked and clawed, slashing through Mikhail’s shirt and gouging his chest. Crimson sprayed the air. Mikhail felt nothing, his sole intent on watching the man die. With a swift move, he gripped both sides of his head and snapped his neck. Unsheathing the serrated, twelve-inch blade he kept at his hip, he severed the man’s head with three hacks. Vampires could self-heal from broken necks but not from decapitation.
A shriek pierced the woodlands behind him. He shot to his feet right as Gavril slashed another vampire’s carotid artery. A third lay beheaded between Dmitri and Aleksei. Gregoravich kept a defensive stance in front of Mina. Within a second, Mikhail was behind Gregory and held Mina by the shoulders, scanning her for injuries.
“Are you all right?” He needed to touch her, to see that she was unharmed. He examined her face, her throat, opened her cloak to find nothing but a torn sleeve on her arm.
“I’m fine. It’s nothing,” she protested when he lifted the arm to observe if she’d been injured. “I’m fine. Truly. Not even a scratch.”
Satisfied the beast hadn’t marred her skin, he turned to his men grouped around the one at Aleksei’s feet.
“Same dress as the huntsmen up north,” said Gregoravich, his barrel-deep voice rumbling low, his beast primed and ready for more violence.
Their eyes flared bright ice blue with their vampire senses at the forefront.
“And in a pack of three,” noted Aleksei, “like the ones who took Helena.”
“Who’s Helena?” asked Mina.
Mikhail cracked his neck, exhaling deeply and calming his monster still yearning for blood, itching to kill and maim anyone daring to touch her. He retracted his claws before facing her.
“Helena is the daughter of the Duke of Winter Hill’s wife.”
“His daughter now, as well,” added Gavril.
“They took her?” Mina’s face paled, her eyes wide.
Mikhail’s heart clenched at her concern. “She’s all right. We saved her.”
“Bloody hell.”
Mikhail spun at the sound of his brother in pain. “What is it, Dmitri?”
He gripped his left shoulder, trying to roll it back, bearing his canine teeth like a feral wolf. “My fucking shoulder.”
“You popped it out of socket again.”
“I popped it out of socket. How is this my fault?”
“You move too fast, Brother. On your knees.” Mikhail maneuvered to stand behind him and gripped Dmitri’s shoulder with his right arm and his biceps with his left. “I’ve told you before to control your speed in combat.”
“Yes, that’s easy for you to say. My speed amplifies when my blood is up, so don’t lecture me—”
Crunch.
“Fucking hell!”
Gregory chuckled.
“There’s a lady present,” Aleksei warned with a smirk, wiping the blood from the flat of his blade on his trousers.
“Don’t mind me,” said Mina, smiling, though her brow was still pinched with concern. “Are you all right, Dmitri?”
“Yes, Your Highness.” He rotated his arm and scowled at Mikhail, who lifted him to his feet.
She caught his gaze and offered him a tender smile, one of admiration that made his chest swell. He shouldn’t be admiring or wanting her smiles. He shouldn’t be wanting any of her. And yet, his body disagreed with his brain.
“Do you think these men were sent after us specifically?” asked Gavril, crouching down and inspecting one of the bodies.
“No. These have gone rogue. The blood madness will do that,” replied Mikhail, glancing back at the one he’d killed, fangs still bared even in death. “That one was trying to kill the princess. The queen will want her alive and healthy.”
“How do you know that?” she asked.
The men looked to Mikhail, who had no intention of elaborating on how he knew this to be true.
“Oh,” she said quietly. “King Dominik.”
There was more to tell her about Queen Morgrid’s plans for her marriage to her son. Thinking about it poured ice into his veins. That was a detail he’d tell her in private.
“We need to clear out of here quickly. The smell of blood will draw predators. Including any other rogues in the vicinity.”
Mina glanced warily behind her, so Mikhail edged closer. “Are you good to travel on foot from here, or do you need my help?”
He thought she’d simply shout defiance like many women would, but she took a moment to self-examine before drawing in a deep breath.
“I believe I’m fine. If I begin to weaken, I’ll let you know.”
“Promise?” he asked gently, retying the lacing of her cloak at the throat.
“Yes. I promise.”
“Give me your hand.”
Her brow pinched together like it did when she was puzzling something out, yet she offered her hand anyway. So trusting. He held it between both of his and closed his eyes, reaching out with his senses.
“Heartbeat is steady. No shakes. No tremors.”
Opening his eyes, he stared into the infinite blue, feeling something slip inside, like he was losing himself, piece by piece.
“Steady under attack, Your Highness? I’ll bet you’d make a wonderful warrior queen.”
“Are you teasing me, Captain?” She arched a delicate brow.
“Not at all. I mean it sincerely.” He sobered. “Deeply.”
Their gazes lingered, deepened, causing his heart to kick up a notch. With a squeeze of her hand, he ushered her between the other men with a hand at the small of her back. “Dmitri, you’re point. Gavril and I will take her right. Gregory and Aleksei, her left.”
She moved within the circle of Bloodguard assassins, shielded on all sides. As one, they flashed into vampire speed, moving ever closer to Silvane Forest. Soon, she’d be within the safety of the Black Lily. Perhaps then, the temptation to drag her off behind a tree and devour every last inch of her would finally subside.
Perhaps not.