He pushed the wayward strands of his hair away from his face, the smile still clinging to his lips and moonlight outlining the angles of his profile. The sudden, overwhelming realization hit me that he was actually very handsome. I was always surrounded by beautiful people—and learned long ago, the hard way, how important it was to numb myself to that—but in this moment, just for a split second, Raihn’s beauty struck me like a blow, so unexpected and staggering my breath caught in my throat. His wasn’t the refined elegance of vampires, perfect cheekbones and perfect lips and perfect, glittering eyes. No, it was rougher, more lived-in. More alive.
Suddenly all those features that had seemed like so much—that carried the marks of a life, unlike vampire perfection that sanded them away—were magnificently captivating.
He laughed. Not a chuckle or a scoff—a laugh, full and deep and shockingly loud. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had heard someone laugh like that. Myself included. Not since… not since Ilana.
“That fucking face,” he said, shaking his head. “No, I was not waiting for you to apologize. I’d be disappointed if you did.”
“I have no regrets. I’d throw you out that window again.”
“Oh, I know, princess. I know.”
He wore a linen shirt that clung to his body, sweaty with the exertion of the last six hours of exercise, highlighting each swell and dip of his muscular form. His hair was bound, but over the hours, strands of it had escaped and now plastered themselves to his face and neck. I couldn’t decide if he looked more or less intimidating this way—more, because he looked a bit unhinged, and less, because I appreciated all of these unpolished things more than I appreciated any other aspect of him.
But Kazu still goes on believing that, no matter what difficulties people face, they will always have the strength to overcome them. It just takes heart. And if the chair can change someone’s heart, it clearly has its purpose.
His hand cemented against me, and his face softened as he searched mine. “I have never known fear like what you just evoked in me. I have searched these woods to find you, and I would have done so endlessly.”
“I was the first to find you just outside the cleave, was I not?”
“And that is an advantage?”
“That was an honor.”
“I may not be the Achlys that gets to claim you, but I was the first to look upon you. The first to dream of your star-marked face and imagine what it would look like beneath me.”
“You cannot say things like that to me.” I looked away from him as my stomach hardened, but he lifted his hand and quickly brought my face back to meet his.
“Why not? Because you are betrothed to my brother or because your thighs just tightened around mine as you imagined it yourself.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but he wasn’t finished.
“It doesn’t matter that you are destined to be his. Every part of you is begging to be mine.”
“So, you’re…” I trailed off as I searched his face, but he refused to finish my sentence. He didn’t move a single inch as he stared at me. “You’re of the Blood Court.”
“I am born of blood and magic,” he corrected me with a voice that was resolute. “I am neither of the Blood Court nor the Fae Court fully. But I choose to serve my father.”
“But you’re still—” My voice trembled.
“Yes, Adara,” he cut me off. “I am half vampyre.”
“You are the future queen of Citlali. Those who reside behind those castle walls will fall to their knees when they see you, as will all of Citlali.”
“You didn’t.” I lifted my chin as I stared up at him.
A small smile played on his lips as he searched my face, and I could see his gaze roaming over every inch of the starlight that marked my face. “Trust me, princess. It took everything inside of me not to fall to my knees before you.”
