CHAPTER THIRTY
Astrid
I’m not going to lie.
By the second day, I’m starving.
The old me was used to not eating a lot, and August and I were happy with a chunk of bread, some cheese, and dried meat most days, but after being spoiled in the palace, not having any food is a struggle. Also, I really need to pee, but I don’t want to pee in a bucket in front of Bane. Soon, I know I won’t have a choice, but until then, my bladder is being tested to its limits. Bane keeps me warm with his body, wrapping his arms around me. It’s intimate, but I feel comfortable with him.
“So, you’re a seer,” he says into my ear. I was wondering when he was going to bring it up.
“Yes, I never told anyone. I only told August before I came to the castle, and I only just told Rave recently.”
He nods, absently stroking my hair. “I think that was smart. They’d be fighting over you even more if they knew.”
“I had a vision of you,” I admit, my voice a low whisper. “I was sitting with you… you and your fated mate. She was beautiful, and you looked so happy, Bane. And you were wearing a crown. We were all friends.”
He stills, holding his breath. “I have a fated mate out there waiting for me?”
“Yes. The future is fluid, always changing, but I saw her,” I say, smiling as he squeezes me tighter. “I don’t know when you will meet her, but you will. And it will be perfect.”
I note that the hair stroking stops, and he almost puts up a bit of an emotional wall between us. I don’t like it, but I know it’s for the best for both of us.
“Thank you for telling me,” he finally says, clearing his throat. He lifts me off him and stands in front of me as a light-haired vampire opens the cell, placing some bread and water on the floor before quickly locking it shut once more.
“You will be set free when the king trades you both for his queen,” the vampire says, and I want to knock the smug look off his face. He tilts his head to look at me around Bane’s big build, his red eyes scanning over me, and he licks his lips. “Although maybe once the king sees you for himself, he might want to keep you.”
Hard pass.
“She’s a Fae Queen.” Bane scowls, his hands clenching to fists. “You will show her respect.”
The vampire smirks and walks away, and Bane mutters something about wanting to kill him with a lightning bolt the second he can use his magic again. He grabs the bread and water, and we both sit back down. He rips the bread in half, giving me the bigger piece.
“Bane—”
“Eat it,” he orders me, taking a bite of the smaller one. And I do, but only because I’m going to offer him my blood to give him his own strength.
We sip on the water, while I decide the best way to get him to stop fighting his hunger and take what he needs. In the end, I just go with being honest.
“Bane, I want you to bite me,” I blurt out, putting up my hands. “And before you argue, you need to be at your full strength for us to get out of here. It’s nothing personal. You need to eat, and I have what you need to feed you. Don’t fucking overthink it, and just bite me. Stop being stubborn and—”
He cuts off my rant by sliding my hair off my neck and shoving his canines into my neck without any warning. It hurts a little at first, but after that, pleasure hits me, and an almost orgasmic feeling takes over me.
Fuck.
Each pull on my neck sends tingles straight to my clit, but I ignore that and think of other things.
The fact that I still really need to pee.
Oh yeah, Vera is dead. I wonder what other exes of Rave’s need to be taken out.
That steak I ate last night.
I think of anything other than how fucking good his bite feels.
But then he lifts his head, licking his bloody lips, confusion etched onto his face. “You taste… different.”
Well, that’s not something any female wants to hear.
“What do you mean?” I ask, frowning. He angles my head, lowers his face back to my neck, and licks it to close the wound before replying, “You taste incredible and so powerful. It’s like nothing I’ve ever tasted before. I don’t think you are just fae, Princess. Maybe it’s the succubus blood.” But he still sounds confused.
“Well,” I mutter, crossing my arms over my chest. “Did you get enough of my weird-tasting blood?”
“I didn’t say it was weird—”
“You’re not hungry anymore?” I ask, still slightly offended at his comments.
“No, I’m—” he stops and says, “Thank you,” before licking his lips again. “I feel strong, even if Rave is going to fucking murder me with his bare hands.”
Now that he’s got my blood in him, he tries to break the shackles, but nothing happens. “It needs magic.”
Magic that neither of us currently possesses.
“Okay, I have to pee, so I need you to turn around and sing a song or something,” I tell him, standing up and walking to the bucket, the chains clanging behind me.
“Bane,” I snap when he’s still sitting there with an amused eyebrow raised at me. I twirl my finger, telling him to turn around.
He does, and I pull down my trousers and squat over the bucket, the loud noise making my cheeks heat. “Why aren’t you singing?” I growl.
He laughs but starts to sing some tune I’ve never heard before. But what surprises me the most is that he is actually a good singer. His voice is deep, raspy, and honest, and I could listen to it all day. “You have a beautiful voice,” I tell him once it’s safe and I’m finished.
“Thank you,” he replies, dropping his head. Is he shy about it? “I used to sing with my mother as a child.”
Before she died and his dad remarried.
Before they exiled him from his own kingdom.
I open my mouth to reply when we hear a commotion, some yelling, and then some familiar black shadows.
“Rave is here,” I say, standing up and holding onto the bars. I feel his anger and fear through the bond. Fear that I’m hurt or dead. But then the dungeon door opens, and Rave steps inside. Dressed in all black, darkness steaming from him, he looks like a god from the underworld. His eyes are pitch black, and he’s in full shadow-daddy mode.
“Astrid!” he calls out when he sees us, running over and opening the cell. He rushes inside and pulls me into his arms, his eyes frantically checking over me. “You’re okay, you’re okay.”
“I am,” I promise him.
Pandora, Kai, and August step inside.
“Come on, we need to get out of here. The others won’t be able to hold them back for long,” August says.
Rave tries to break the shackles, scowling when they won’t budge. “These are spelled. We need you, Pandora.”
She rushes over, her gown dragging on the dirty stone floor as she touches them. “Shit, a strong witch did these.”
“Does that mean you can’t break them?” Bane asks from behind me.
Pandora smirks, focusing on the silver in her hands. “Rave, get your shadows to help me.”
Tendrils of darkness attack the shackles, and Pandora mutters an incantation. They break free. I jump into Rave’s arms while they break Bane free, and then we all get the hell out of there.
We run up a large set of stairs that leads outside to lush green land. Axe, Soren, Sinda, Cove, Elios, and Nico are fighting the vampires, and we rush to their side to help them. I make a shield that covers us all, protecting us while we make a plan.
“What do we do?” I ask them, hands out in front of me. “Do we fight, zip home, or kill the fucking King and let Drake and his mother have the throne?”
“I’m going to kill the king,” Rave announces, his eyes flickering to me. “He took you, and now he needs to pay. No one touches what’s mine , especially not the love of my fucking life.”
Fuck.
My mate is sweet when he wants to be.
“Is your coward king going to show his face?” Nico calls out as the horde of vampires tries to fight through my magic.
Soren turns to Rave. “I think we should go find the king. His vampires are just doing what they are told.”
And so we head inside the vampire castle.
To kill their king.