Crown So Cruel (Golden City #3)

Chapter 1

Rummy

TWO YEARS AFTER THE RISE OF SCARLATA

The headboard slammed and slammed and slammed against the crumbling wall of my shitty bedroom.

It wasn’t like it mattered, anyway. The vampyre between my legs certainly didn’t seem to notice.

He was too focused on vigorously thrusting against me, a consequence of the many bottles of wine and hours of dancing beneath the dark sky.

He had been decently enjoyable at the beginning of the night. And it wasn’t like he was ugly or anything.

But as the wooden bed smacked the concrete repeatedly, I grew bored.

I spent the next few minutes counting the cracks in the stone ceiling of my bedroom, and was only interrupted when the male atop me flopped on the mattress to my right, breathing heavily.

“You are quite the woman, Rummy. We should have done this a lot sooner.”

Cringe. Gods, he was pathetic. All the wine in the world wouldn’t take away the dark, crawling monster now ripping through any last ounce of confidence I had left. I bit my lip. “Don’t get used to it.”

Letting out a breath, I rolled from the bed and snatched my black top from the dark corner, shoving it hastily over my head.

Next, pants. Pants. They had to be there somewhere.

The vampyre was still in the bed, making essentially no effort to get up. I guess he didn’t feel the immediate doom of our situation as soon as he got his fix. He wasn’t broken like I was.

I found my pants on the opposite side of the room next to my worn-out leather boots, and I shoved them on as quickly as possible.

“Where are you going?” he asked, voice groggy. “You got somewhere else to be?”

“Yes.” I didn’t try to hide the chill from my words. “Literally anywhere but here.”

He was staring at me with the same ignorant, non-believing look that most males shot me when they realized I wasn’t suddenly grateful for their company.

I picked up his pants and threw them at his chest.

“Rummy—wait.”

“Look…” Fuck. What was his name? “This was fun. You’re a great guy. But please don’t read into this. I’m not someone you’d be interested in.”

He sat up in bed. “Trust me, I’m interested.”

“Well, don’t be. This isn’t going anywhere.”

I took two steps toward the door before he interrupted me. “Why not? You don’t have to be such a bitch to everyone, you know.”

The insult hit more than it should have, even as I bit the inside of my cheek to feel something other than the ache in my chest.

The moonlight glistened off a half-drunk bottle of wine sitting on the floor. Perfect. I picked it up and took a long, desperate swig before looking at the unnamed male again.

“You clearly know nothing about me. Please leave before I get back. We don’t have to make this more awkward than it’s already been.”

I stormed out before he could argue and left the door to my apartment open as I marched into the empty streets of Scarlata. Based on the crescent moon hanging beyond the clouds, dawn would be here in a couple hours.

Too fucking soon.

I clutched the bottle in my hand and turned left. Nobody was ever awake at this hour. Scarlata always had a vaguely eerie energy, but at this time of night, I felt truly alone.

Not a single bird chirped. Not a single child laughed. It was just me and the sound of my boots clicking against the stone street.

Behind me, the rebuilt dwellings of Scarlata Empire stood strong. It had been years since the last war, years since these lands were retaken. Years since I left my crumbling town of poverty to life with the vampyres.

I thought it would be better. It was supposed to be better.

Goddess above, the wine would never take away the lingering feeling of loneliness.

But I drank from my bottle anyway.

The blood kingdom was what they called this place. The kingdom of vampyres. They were nothing like the vampyres I spent my life fearing, though. They were not uncontrollable freaks just waiting to rip their teeth into my throat, though many offered during the late nights between my sheets.

They were just… normal. They were like me—a fae. Except to them, I was a nobody. These lands had been gifted for the vampyres. They learned and developed their magic freely. They fed from the animals in the surrounding forests, and they grew stronger by the day.

But me? I was still the same, useless girl I had always been. Nothing special. Nobody important.

The thick forest came into view ahead, and I slowed my pace, propping myself on one of the waist-high stone walls that would soon be another home for a perfect new family of vampyres. I let one leg dangle while I propped my other knee under my chin.

Why the fuck did I do that? Why did I ask that guy to come back to my place? Every single time, I regretted it.

Yet I did it again and again and again.

The cool night air caressed the bare skin of my arms, sending a chill through my body. Soon, the sun would come up, and I would have to pretend like I had the strength to live another day. To face the world. To face anyone at all.

Soon, another day would come.

But for now, I could drink this wine, I could wallow in the dark cloud that followed everywhere I went, and I could pretend that the vampyre still in my bed was anything other than a tool to fuel my self-hatred.

For now, I could pretend I wasn’t falling apart.