Page 57 of Ravenous

“Torben and his mate are my only family.”

She parted her lips, no doubt to ask what happened to his parents, but she too refrained.

Emilia didn’t deserve his history. And if he detected sincere sympathy from a vampire like her, he might show her the rage she’d mentioned.

After a beat, she said, “I know you didn’t have a wife before, well, me. But do you have someone you care about?”

“I have a standing arrangement,” he said, tone flat. “A water nymph named Undara. She comes here with her covey when they migrate.” Shapely Undara would deliver delight to him, and then a week later, the covey would continue on. “She is less than a paramour but more than a mere bedmate.”

“Oh.” Emilia blinked up at him. “So she’ll be visiting soon?”

“After the full moon. I’ll meet her in a place outside my home.Ourhome.” He scrubbed his hand over his mouth.

Everything about this situation filled him with doubts. Though he would have been scrupulously faithful to a mate or even to a wife of his own choosing, Emilia wasn’t his.

She quickly glanced away. Squinting at the morning light, she trained her gaze on a fast-moving cloud. “I see,” she murmured, voice strained. Her fingers absently toyed with the hem of her tunic.

As he took in her reaction, his heart kicked up, pulse too loud. “Do you not want me to see her?”

***

Lia

She tried to sort through her feelings about Arctos—and about this water nymph of his.

Those creatures were said to be beyond beautiful, all supple limbs and voices like river song. She pictured Undara as radiant and free, everything that Arctos needed.

Radiant and free.Two things I’m not.

Why did the thought of them together leave a bitter taste? The same kind of taste that lingered after her humiliating behavior—vomiting in the training yard, face-planting in food. She was developing an unfortunate pattern.

He’d made it clear that he had no sexual interest in her—my staff wouldn’t rise for you—yet had she begun to connect with him?

Even when cruel to her, he’d been frank and up-front. After her years of drowning in the artifice of Bloodreach, his blunt directness seemed almost magical, like a cryptid you’d glimpse once and never see again.

She’d come to like the rhythm of her new life with him, the shared meals, the aching muscles, the satisfaction of meeting challenges. The quiet fulfillment of surviving each day without embarrassing herself too spectacularly.

But desire him? No. The thought of bedding someone so intense terrified her more than it tempted her. She wanted something else from him, something she couldn’t quite name.

A bond,maybe.A friendship.

Finally, she answered him. “Of course you should continue your, uh, meetings with your…Undara.” Her voice was too bright and brittle. “I can train on my own while you’re away. And I’m used to eating alone.”

Arctos tilted his head, like a beast saying,What I hear doesn’t match what I see.

Lia forced a smile, refusing to become the pitiful female crying back at the cave. She wouldn’t be here for long anyway, still planned to find other outcast vampires. What if her fangache developed as she grew older, putting everyone here at risk?

No wonder Arctos remained wary. He’d feel such relief when she left.

First, she needed to survive the journey from here. For that, she needed skill. For that, she needed him.

“Good,” Arctos said evenly. “Now that that’s settled—why aren’t you running?”

“If I had a berkoin for every time you asked that…” she said, forcing a lightness she didn’t feel, “I could afford my own cave.”

His frown deepened.

She turned away before he could see her expression, lifted her sword, and sprinted up the trail.