Chapter 38 Raven
Raven
The cold, smooth surface beneath my feet told me my dream self had arrived back in the room with the stone floor and no window. This time, candles burned on every available surface, and I could smell the sweet scent of beeswax and vanilla.
The male lay in bed waiting for me. His eyes seemed duller, less clear, and his cheeks more sunken. When he stretched out a pale hand, I saw he’d grown thinner since the last time I visited.
“I don’t have long, little witch. A few months at most.”
His faint, raspy words hit me hard. “You’re dying?” Stars above, I didn’t know the male, but the thought of him dying all alone in this strange room brought tears to my eyes and caused my chest to ache.
Without thinking, I rushed over to the bed and grabbed his hand. The tarnished gold ring encrusted with tiny rubies on his index finger caught my eye. Something snagged in my brain. I’d seen a picture of that ring. But where?
Before I could focus on the ring’s detailing, the male spoke.
“Come closer, little witch.”
My eyes slid up, and I fell into his hypnotic red irises. If anyone had asked me a few months ago whether I liked red eyes, I’d have grimaced and said, “Stars, no. Get that person some pink-eye treatment. Eww!”.
Back then, I’d known nothing about vampires. Only that they were gone. Relegated to side notes in our realm’s long and bloody story. Lost forever, I reminded myself, seeing as how this room and the enticing male lying on the bed were products of my overactive imagination.
The vampire tried to sit up, but he’d grown too weak. Unable to look away, I shuffled closer, inhaling his rich, coppery scent. Did all vampires smell this good?
“Come and find me. Soon, before I can no longer be revived.”
“But you’re not real,” I scoffed.
He half smiled, gifting me a small glimpse of white fang.
“I’m real, and you are here, in this room. In spirit, at least. Sadly, feeding from you in this form can’t sustain me.”
“So…when you fed from me last time, it was…real?” I squeezed my thighs together to ease the sudden ache in my core. The vampire inhaled sharply, and his eyes darkened.
“Yes, little witch. But your physical body isn’t here, only your spirit form. So while we can touch and do…things…I can’t get any true nourishment from you. And without a source of blood, I’ll die.”
“How did you survive the bloodborne virus?” Nothing he said made sense. From what I’d read when researching my vampire paper, rumors persisted that some of the vampire royals might have survived, but there had been no sightings for years, and the mages had long since given up searching for them.
“My loyal servant, Alexander, hid me in a safe house. He had immunity and continued to be my blood source, but Alexander was already old when the virus hit us. Sadly, he passed on a few months ago. I’ve been surviving on rats since then, but they don’t offer the nourishment I need.”
At the mention of rats, I recoiled in disgust. “Rats? That’s…gross.”
He shrugged. “Gross, yes, but needs must, my darling.”
Long fingers caressed the sensitive skin on the underside of my wrist, and I shivered. Not even talk of sucking blood from rats was enough to dampen my libido. Stars above, I needed therapy.
“But how do I find you?” As much as I wanted to help the vampire, I didn’t see how it was even possible.
For starters, the school wards were strong enough to keep students in, and any attempt to breach them would trigger all kinds of horrible penalties.
And second, I had no money or means of traveling anywhere.
“I don’t have the answer to that. Alexander transported me here in a sealed box, and I haven’t left this room in decades.” I stared at him in shock, my eyes prickling with tears.
“That’s awful!”
“I have lived a very long, immortal life, and over the centuries, suffered far worse, believe me. Despite slowly starving to death, I am at least physically safe here. Alexander would have made sure of that.”
I sank back and thought hard. Magic was the best way to find someone or something, but I’d need an item belonging to the male to do the spell.
“I can’t leave school until winter solstice,” I admitted. “The wards won’t lift until then.” The fact that Adam planned to kidnap me was yet another problem I needed to resolve, but I couldn’t focus on that right now.
“I will last until then,” he replied before closing his eyes for a moment.
This gave me an opportunity to admire the slant of his sharp cheekbones and strong jaw.
The male might be at death’s door, but he was still beautiful in a terrifying way.
Something told me that this vampire would be truly devastating when fully healthy.
When he opened his strange eyes and caught me shamelessly ogling him, he smirked.
“Be careful, little witch. I might be weak as a kitten, but I’m not yet dead.”
My cheeks flushed red. “Just… making sure you’re still breathing.”
“I’m undead. I don’t breathe, little witch.”
“Then how can you die?” I resolved to do more research on vampires the minute I woke. The paper I’d written on the royal family only covered the politics surrounding their complicated relationship with the mages and other high-ranking species, nothing more.
I frowned as I remembered where I’d seen the ring he wore.
“Are you related to the royal family?” I asked with wide eyes, eager to change the subject away from my traitorous libido before he pounced. Even at such a low ebb, I harbored no illusions about the lethal nature of this male.
He nodded. “I am the crown prince.”
This was Rasmus Dvorak? Stars. I didn’t know what to say. The Dvoraks had been around for a millennium or more. Rasmus was at least five hundred years old, possibly longer. Compared to him, I was nothing more than a naive child.
Yet even knowing this, he expected me to save him?
Why?
Pushing my chaotic thoughts aside, I focused on what I knew about him and his family.
Maybe their history would offer some kind of clue as to his current whereabouts.
His servant must have taken him to a property the family already owned.
A random room in a house somewhere would not be safe for a vampire royal.
I cleared my throat. “What happened to the rest of your family?”
“I do not know,” he admitted. “When the virus hit, we all fled to different locations. My father believed the mages had unleashed the virus, so he said it was safer if we didn’t know where everyone went.” His lips flattened, and a flare of anger turned his red eyes black for a moment.
His rage should have scared me but being a dumb and deeply slutty witch who kept being sidetracked by his delicious scent, sexy voice, and subtle caresses, all it did was turn me on. Stars above, I had no sense of self-preservation. Glynda would despair if she knew.
Then my brain finally caught up and processed what he’d told me.
“The mages triggered the extinction virus?”
He nodded. “We believe so, but it all happened too fast for us to prove it.”
“But… why?”
“Power.” Rasmus glanced at the unfinished chess game to our left.
“Removing us from the board helped them to consolidate power. Tiberius Vane is a snake. My father hated him, but despite my telling him the mage had plotted against us, he refused to act.” His eyes fluttered shut again, a sign that this conversation was taking its toll.
Tears pricked my eyelids. I quickly brushed them away before he noticed. Acting all emotional would not do. Rasmus needed practical help, not useless tears. Still, the words in my head fell from my lips.
“I’m so sorry.”
The vampire reached up and stroked my cheek, brushing a traitorous tear away with his thumb. “It’s not your fault, little witch. Your heart is true.”
Forcing my emotions down, I focused on what I needed to find the vampire.
“I can use magic to locate you, but I’ll need something that belongs to you.”
Rasmus slid the gold and ruby ring from his finger. “Take this. It’s our family ring. It was a gift from my father when I reached maturity.”
My brow pinched in a frown. “If I’m not physically here, can I take it with me?”
“Yes. I have little power left, but I can ensure it travels back with you.” He took the ring and slid it onto my finger before speaking a few words in a language I didn’t understand.
Magic flared between us, and the ring went from loose to snug.
The amulet around my neck warmed against my skin, glowing for a brief second beneath my top as the tether in my chest pulled tight.
I instinctively reached for the black stone before the stinging sensation faded.
“Then why can’t you teleport yourself to me?” It would be easier than striving to find him with my stupid magic that rarely did as I wanted.
“I’m too weak, little witch. And I suspect the wards surrounding this location would prevent me from leaving.”
“Won’t they stop me from finding you?”
“It’s possible,” he admitted. “But you are special to me. You’re my—”
Before he could finish that sentence, something yanked me hard, and I opened my eyes to find the incubus sitting astride me, a panicked look on his face as he peered intently at me.
“Where the fuck did you go, Raven?”