But they’d be chasing the vampire. They’d probably assume he had killed me by now, right? While there was magic that could find guilty parties in the kingdom, it wouldn’t specifically seek me out if the vampire was the prize.

“If they’re hunting you, then I’m not any better off than on my own.” They had caught him before, but I didn’t point that out, too eager for any justification to split up. “We could split up. You’ll be faster without me.”

“So quick to be rid of me, human?” His voice was low, teasing. “And how do you suppose you’ll fare against the trolls?”

“We haven’t seen any trolls,” I reminded him.

He chuckled, the large muscles on his back rippling with the movement. “Because you’re with me, and even creatures as stupid as trolls know better than to mess with vampires. Besides, you forget we have a deal. You’re going to help me in Apante. Then you’ll be free to do as you wish. By blood, you could join that cult of a monastery. Even the king wouldn’t come for you then.”

Shock rippled through me and all I could do was stare. Was my plan so obvious? The Monastery was one of the few sanctuaries for voids like myself. Those with magic had all the power in the Witch Kingdom, but the Monastery would take in voids as disciples to serve in their ranks. It was my only chance to live a life after deserting my post.

I frowned. How did the vampire know all this though?

The silence stretched between us as I smoothed the salve over his rough skin. Seventh hell, they’d done a number on his back. Yet he just sat there, letting me apply the healing ointment without so much as fidgeting. I slid two fingers into the container again and targeted a particularly bad spot on his back. By mistake, I misjudged the depth of a wound and hit what was an especially sensitive part. Other prisoners had hit me, sometimes, for that kind of thing. Those in pain liked to inflict it on others, even if they were helping them.

The vampire didn’t move at all. The only hint of pain was a barely audible hiss that could very well have been the leaves rustling.

Were vampires naturally so still? Or did he force himself to stay in one place because I was so “twitchy,” and he worried I’d run off if he moved too quickly?

I can’t protect you if I’m weak.

Laughable. As if anyone had ever been able to protect me. And yet, if I imagined anyone other than a vampire saying the words, I might have tucked them in my chest and held on to them, precious as gold coins.

“Thank you,” I eventually said. “For the rabbit.”

He waved it off. “Think of it no more.”

The rabbit was more than I’d eaten most weeks. I would think of it. As I slept, when the gnawing pain I’d almost grown numb to was gone. When I woke, and my first thought wasn’t of food.

Finally, his back was covered. The jar was two-thirds empty. Flecks of blood were interspersed in the ointment. Unlikely anyone but the most desperate would trade for it now. Then again, if I joined with the Monastery, I might not need to trade.

I moved back and stood from the log, adjusting the jar in my skirts as I scanned for which part of the ground I might like to sleep on tonight. I braced to take a step, then paused. “My name is Sam.” I wasn’t sure why I offered him my name. He’d likely never use it, continuing to call me human or mortal. “Samara.”

“Samara,” he repeated. “I’m known as Raphael.”

Raphael. A monster with a name.

“You’re quiet, for a human, Samara,” the vampire murmured after a long moment.

Talking seldom got me anything but trouble.

“And you’re sane, for a vampire, Raphael.”

He chuckled, the sound like storm clouds over the moon. “Only sometimes.”

We settled into our respective spaces, giving each other a wide berth. There wasn’t much to our sleeping ritual beyond claiming our spaces and shutting our eyes.

Maybe because we’d stopped earlier than usual, though, I lay there awake. The three moons would soon be chased away by the sun.

And instead of waking with the hunger on my mind, I woke with a name on my lips.

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter Seven

Learning the vampire’s name shouldn’t have changed anything.

In many ways, it didn’t. No more than the rabbit I woke up to the next morning, neatly drained of blood. Or the way Raphael watched me eat, any semblance of my once fine manners long gone.

It was late in the night when we veered close to a lake. Excitement thrummed through me at the sight, at the thought of possibilities. Clean drinking water. Buckets and buckets of it. I hadn’t submerged my body in water since I’d been a small child, oblivious to the luxury. Dirt caked my skin in layers upon layers. When I’d first arrived at Greymere, I’d done my best to maintain the fastidious habits my mother instilled in me. Of course, most of them involved someone doing everything for me, which had no longer been an option. Cleanliness was a losing battle, and my useless efforts cost me precious time I could’ve spent sleeping. My nose had gone blind to the stench in a matter of weeks; the men of Greymere certainly didn’t waste any effort cleaning. Anyone who had leverage used it for extra food or alcohol rather than something as mundane as soap. And I never had anything to bargain with anyway. But there, glittering in the moonlight, was a lake.

“Your heart is racing. Why?”

“It’s nothing,” I mumbled.

We couldn’t afford to waste time stopping at the lake. At best, when we got closer, I’d veer off long enough to take several long sips of water. That would be enough for me. It had to be.

He narrowed his gaze at me, brows furrowing. That was one thing that had changed since I’d learned his name. Now, instead of lingering two paces back, I walked shoulder to shoulder with the vampire.

“You want something.”

“I don’t.” I did. Desperately.

His gaze flicked past me to the lake. His expression didn’t change, but I sensed him putting the pieces together.

“We may as well stop here,” he declared. “Besides, you reek. You can do something about it over there.” He lifted a hand to the lake in a careless gesture.

I wrinkled my nose. “You’re no fresh lilac yourself.”

Raphael grinned. “Then perhaps I should bathe with you.”

I stumbled at his words, and he chuckled. “Don’t like the idea of bathing with a vampire? Then don’t complain.”

I huffed and broke his gaze. The trouble was, my shock wasn’t from the thought of seeing the vampire naked. It was from the thought of bathing with any man at all. Or any man who looked the way Raphael did—broad-shouldered, towering over me, with a face that would have been arresting even without the red eyes and the elegant, savage panes nearly carved from marble.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Raphael declared when we reached the lake.

My neck snapped back. “You’re leaving?”

“Did you want me to watch?”

My cheeks flushed. “I don’t want to be eaten by a… a kobold!”

“Relax, dove. I don’t scent any kobolds nearby. I’m going to get some dinner of my own and see what’s ahead. I’ll be back in an hour, two at most.”

With that, he disappeared back into the woods.

I was alone for the first time in days. My shoulders relaxed immediately. There were knots in my back just from how I constantly tensed around the vampire, even though I was forced to admit he hadn’t actually done anything to me—yet. But there wasn’t long enough for me to lie about and massage them.

The first thing I did was fix a small fire. I wasn’t sure when I’d get the chance to wash my clothes again, so I stripped and dunked them in the lake, then set them to dry by the fire. I unwrapped the band of fabric that pressed over my chest, slipping out the necklace I’d taken from Greymere. The fabric was thin, not really a proper undergarment, but it was the best I’d managed since clothing was hard to come by in the prison. Most of what I had worn through the years were hand-me-downs from dead prisoners.