LolaI’m not used to living in such a big place. The castle is too big. I don’t know why people want to live here when it takes forever to get from one room to another. I know vampires move fast, so it might not be a problem for them, but I have short legs and climbing all the stairs is not fun.Emo
“You’re too young for that story,” she reasons. “Emory will be upset with me.”“I’m not that young!” I counter. “I’ll be a teenager before you know it. I’m not a baby.”Miss Willow contemplates telling me the story, looking into my eyes before giving in. “All right, but I’m not giving you all the de
“What happened to you after you became a feeder?”Miss Willow pulls away from me, physically and emotionally. “I’ve upset you enough. We shouldn’t talk more about this.”“I want to know,” I plead. “What happened to you when you came to this castle?”She goes quiet, her eyes closing. I wait as she br
EmoryI hear about Lex being sent off as a hostage at Scarlett Thunder from my maids after he’s already left. I don’t get the chance to say goodbye. Lex and I may not have started out on the right foot, but I still feel bad he’s essentially become King Peter’s prisoner. I want to talk to Kane about
When I reach the infirmary, I find Bernard unconscious on a bed. Dr. Martin is giving him a blood transfusion. I have never seen my father look so pale. He’s almost as pale as the vampire physician.All my life, my father always looked big and tough. He was the strong, domineering Alpha that bowed t
“I know; I know you’re angry,” he says. “But you can’t attack that son of a bitch even if he deserves it.”When I think of Jacob, I remember his smarmy face laughing at me as his sister insulted me. I remember a fake note and a cruel plot. I remember his teeth biting into my throat. He had tried to
EmoryBernard looks a mix of horrified and furious. His gray eyes are wide, and he stares at me dumbstruck for a full minute before he lunges. Dr. Martin and Helga grab him before he can get off the bed. They push him down, and Bernard is no match for their superior vampire strength. It doesn’t help
Kane cups my face in his hands. “Look at me, Emory. Those are just stories written by scared people from a long time ago. No one’s seen an actual hybrid before. Not recently, anyway. No one knows what they’re talking about.”“That means we don’t know what we’re dealing with. I don’t know what’s insi
MichaelThe emissary to Red River–the real one–isn’t anyone I recognize. He’s tall and pale blond, his red eyes gleaming in the brightly lit ballroom where he and his posse of royal Red River guards have gathered. He scans the group before him–myself, my father, and my uncle, and smiles faintly, hi
I listen intently, watching a myriad of emotion play over her face as she knits her fingers together. “We spent an entire summer sneaking around,” she says softly, closing her eyes. “He’d find me in the garden, in the library, sometimes going as far as to sneak into my room at night. We couldn’t st
FayeStill in the library, I listen intently as Emelda discloses far more than I expected her to.There was a point in Emelda’s life as a vampire that she’d accepted she’d always be alone. Her bed would always be cold, her skin unblemished by a loving touch. She’d never know love again, and for deca
Faye“It really is gorgeous,” Emelda says the next morning while walking with me to the library. She runs her thumb over the massive sapphire ring and smiles faintly, raising her brows. “I think it’s a family heirloom, too. You should expect a load of fine jewelry to follow.”“You know I don’t care
FayeKing Kane is a slightly terrifying man. His presence is all consuming–like he sucks the light out of the room. He doesn’t look his age, like all vampires. The only indication that he’s a senior vampire compared to his son is the faint gray glow around his temples where his dark hair is starting
MichaelI watch Faye run a comb through her hair, over and over. The golden strands shine like golden silk in the pockets of sunlight shimmering through the curtains. Beyond the glass, knee-deep snow covers the castle grounds in a blanket of pure, untouched white. Deep inside, I feel a flicker of m
I shake my head, sniffling, trying to pull my tears back into my eyes but fail miserably. They trickle down my cheeks, freezing to my face. “We would have been caught.”“I wouldn’t have cared. I still don’t!”“You were getting married–”“I’ve been betrothed since I was a child,” he says hotly, gritt
Emelda“Why are you out here?” Cole asks, his hand moving up my back as he presses me closer. “You’re freezing.”“I wanted to check on Ravenfell–”“I was on my way–”“It’s not your responsibility–”“I was on my way to find you,” he cuts in, taking a breath. I open my eyes, breaking out of the haze
Finn leans against the fireplace while Cassidy stokes the fire, but everyone is waiting for me to start talking. That’s why I came here, after all. To share news from the castle about our duke and our friends. “Lowe is likely going to survive,” I say to the group, ignoring the shuffle of feet as pe