Eve smiled at Katya’s reflection as Hesta helped her daughter slip into a gown. It was the colour of chocolate and had delicate cream lacings trimming the low neckline. ‘You look lovely, Katya,’ Eve said.
Her daughter returned the smile through the mirror. ‘The king has sent me so many lovely gowns, I don’t know which to pick from.’
Hesta tightened the laces on Katya’s back. ‘The master is a very generous man, my girl. Do not be fooled by his harsh exterior. Beneath him lies a man who has a big heart.’
The healer gave Eve a long look, her weather-beaten face softening and Eve looked away nervously. The old woman was obviously–Eve gasped! She couldn’t complete her thought because something fierce slammed into her stomach. Her breath caught and she stiffened violently. Drago! She grasped the armrest of her chair and rose unsteadily to her feet. Hesta and Katya stopped what they were doing and stared at her, worry lining their faces.
‘Mama, what is it? You…you look ill!’
Eve felt ill–with panic and fear. Small tremors ran through her limbs as she tried to speak. She sensed him! She sensed Drago and he was in mortal danger!
She caught her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were blood red and she bared her fangs. She hissed as she shot a glance at her daughter and Hesta. ‘This cannot be,’ she spat.
‘Mama, you’re scaring me. What’s happened?’
There was no time to explain. She sensed the presence of one of her kind and Drago’s emptying thoughts. ‘Drago’s in danger!’ she yelled. ‘Hesta, he’s in the Great Hall. Alert the guards!’
Without sparing another second, she sped from the room and flew down the hallway. She sailed down the stairs and flew towards the Great Hall. The guards growled when they saw her appear suddenly.
‘Balkathan’s vampire is in there!’ she screamed before she crashed through the doors and ran a frantic gaze around the room. She unsheathed her wooden stake from her back and splayed it out before her.
She saw Drago on his knees by his throne with a child-demon’s hands on his face. Oh my God, was she too late? Flying through the air, she grabbed the girl by the hair and yanked her off him. She glanced fearfully at Drago and saw him collapse on the floor.
The child-demon hissed at Eve as she pulled a small wooden contraption from a pocket on the side of her gown. She flicked a lever with her finger and the contraption snapped open, taking shape of a wooden stake.
‘You’re too late!’ the child hissed, lunging at Eve. ‘I already know where she is and after I kill you, I will kill her.’
Eve sprang to the side, barely avoiding the girl’s stake. She heard Drago groan and shot him a panicked glance. He rose unsteadily, his hands clenched at his sides. Slowly, he turned his gaze to hers and her heart wrenched at the look on his face. It was a mixture of rage and fear and something else she couldn’t define.
‘Protect Eve,’ he roared hoarsely to the two guards rushing into the hall.
The guards shifted into their wolf forms and lunged towards the child-demon. Eve knew it was suicide because their strength was no match for the young girl’s speed and she sprung in the air between them.
‘No!’ Drago roared and he shifted into his Lycan form.
Eve faced the child-demon, the wolves growling behind her, and pointed her stake to the girl. ‘I have never killed a child before. Please, don’t…don’t make me do this.’
Dahlia bared her fangs and hissed. ‘I am not a child.’ With lightning reflex, she flung her stake at Eve.
Eve heard Drago roar with rage and before she could react, his Lycan form vaulted between her and the stake. In one swift movement, it entered his abdomen and he groaned as he fell to the ground. Rage blinded Eve and she hissed, flying over his body to land in front of the girl. She plunged her stake into the child-demon’s heart. The Lycan guards shifted back to their human forms and ran to Drago while Eve watched the child-demon’s body disintegrate into dust.
She turned and saw one of the guards pull the wooden stake from Drago and she ran to his side, collapsing on the ground beside him.
Fear shook her as she watched him revert back to his human self. Relieved, she watched his cut heal and disappear. He rose from the ground and glanced at the ashes of the girl. Grimacing, he gave his hand to Eve and helped her rise.
Without taking his eyes off her, he roared, ‘Everyone out!’ The guards immediately took their leave. ‘How did you know I was in danger?’ he asked harshly once they were alone.
Eve snapped out of her daze. ‘What matters is, I knew,’ she said, trying to sound calm. The tremor in her voice didn’t help concealing her nerves. What if the girl had thrown a silver dagger at Eve? Drago could have been killed. The thought left her numb.
His nostrils flared. ‘So you are starting to feel it, too.’
‘Feel what?’
‘Our bond,’ he rasped and lowered his head to cover her mouth with his.
He crushed her body to his and kissed her with a ruthless passion that thrilled her. In the midst of all the danger they had just passed, she wanted him. Eve’s heart dropped as the scene in the corridor with Drago and Gretchen swam before her eyes. She pushed at his chest.
‘Let me…go,’ she gasped beneath his mouth.
He plunged his tongue into her mouth and began his sensual exploration as his hands ran up and down her back and lower to her bottom. She was beginning to melt. Moaning against the passionate onslaught of his kiss, her hands wound themselves around his neck and, without meaning to, she pressed her lower body against his. He groaned and she ran her fingers through his hair, pulling his head closer to hers. Letting caution run with the wind, her tongue mixed and meshed with his and she succumbed to the desire building in her limbs.
He withdrew briefly and murmured deeply, ‘My beautiful Eve,’ before he kissed her again.
She was soaring. And she didn’t want this to end. She forgot about everything except this moment and how, for the first time in centuries, she felt like a woman. She felt passion and love and wanted to stay in his arms forever.
‘Drago! I heard what happened!’
Eve stiffened. It was Gretchen’s voice behind her. Slowly, Drago raised his head and held Eve against his chest.
‘Take your leave, Gretchen,’ he said quietly over her head.
She caught the thick tension in his voice, as though the slightest tug would make him snap.
‘So this vampire bitch has already put your life in danger. I knew it! She and her daughter are nothing but trouble and you need to banish them at once!’
Eve felt Drago’s body go still and for a split second, she feared for Gretchen’s life. Gently, she pushed herself out of his grasp and looked up into his handsome face. ‘I will go.’
‘No,’ he ground out. He snapped his gaze to Gretchen. ‘Guards!’ Within a split second, Nolan and Falk entered the Great Hall. ‘Escort Gretchen off the grounds and never let her past the castle doors again. Is that clear?’ he asked in a dangerously soft tone.
‘Aye, Your Highness.’
‘Don’t touch me,’ Gretchen spat at the guards. ‘I will go, just remember I warned you, Drago,’ she added, tossing him a hateful glare.
‘I’m sorry,’ he told her once they were alone again.
Eve stepped away from him, hardening herself against the flash of regret she saw in his eyes. ‘She’s right. Your whole kingdom is in jeopardy because of Katya.’
‘I will protect you both,’ he said thickly.
‘No. I lo–I care about you too much to see you get hurt. Katya and I must leave.’ Grim-faced he reached for her and she sprung back with her vampire speed.
She heard trumpets blaring all around the castle and Eve frowned. ‘What is that?’
Drago clenched his jaw. ‘My son, Vasilis, has returned with Alexandra. I must go and see him, but I will come to you later. We must talk. Tonight.’
‘There’s nothing left for us to say.’
‘I will be in my chambers in a couple of hours. If you’re not there, I will come looking for you,’ he said firmly as he turned and walked to the door. ‘And I will find you.’ Their gazes locked briefly before he left.
