Page 79 of Ravenous

“Defense. He’s convinced she’s an infiltrator on a mission to destroy us. I share that conviction.”

It did outweigh the other: that she was the sole, decent vampire of herentire kingdom, and she just happened to scheme to reach their queendom.

“In any case, his desiring a bloodthief isn’t possible,” Torben added. “Not after what he saw done to his family. Those vampires drained his loved ones dry.”

And the same gang had beheaded Torben’s. At least he hadn’t seen his parents’ bodies. But she knew he’d imagined their deaths in a thousand gruesome lights.

Maybe a vampire living among them is too much to ask.

Unless she truly was different. “Emilia eats food though. You told me they share meals.” Vampires usually turned to blood before twenty, which meant Emilia had gone years without.

“For now. When her thirst rises, she’ll turn. A fed cub and a spring bear are two different beasts.” He exhaled. “She’s likely here for sabotage, and once her task is done, she’ll flee back to Bloodreach.” Arctos had posted extra guards over the food stores and wells.

Dagny tapped her lip. “Hmm.”

“‘Hmm’ what, wife?”

“Say Bloodreach dispatched her as a saboteur. Plans can change. When a female meets a good male, things…shift. And Arctos is very compelling.”

“Compelling is my cousin then?” Jealousy flashed in his eyes.

“There, there, my love. I’m taken.”

“Can we speak of something other than this farce of a marriage?” he muttered—then froze as Arctos’s big hand touched the vampire’s lower back to guide her along the trail. Emilia jolted as if shocked; even Arctos frowned at his own impulse.

In a knowing tone, Dagny said, “I hope that the princess is changing, because your cousin certainly is.”

Arctos’s hand lingered a heartbeat too long before he snatched it away. He tipped his face toward the bright sky above, as though it might absolve him.

Torben said quietly, “If there’s any…softening between them, it’ll vanish when the nymphs arrive later.”

Dagny’s brows drew together. “If Emilia feels anything for him, that will gut her.”

Torben shrugged. “Males have needs.”

Dagny gave a derisive snort. “Only males? Pity. I was going to invite you to bed to assuage my own, but apparently I don’t have them.”

He fought a grin. “Perhaps I misspoke.”

***

Torben

“My relaxation is not shared with you.”

“Huh?” He blinked, dragging himself from thought. After making love, he and Dagny lay entwined in bed, staring at the fire in their room. He rested his hand over her belly, waiting for the distinct flutter that always humbled him. “I’m relaxed,” he lied. He hated deceiving her, but he wouldn’t burden her with his worries.

Not when she was carrying their child. He wanted to cocoon them within his arms forever, protecting them from any harm.

She turned her face toward him, cheeks pinkened, sky-blue eyes luminous.My whole heart, he thought. He’d once believed himself incapable of love after the slaughter of his family. Then Dagny had come, prying open his emotions with her laugh, her confidence, her strength.

Love had grown defiantly like a sapling between rocks.

“Do you worry about my due date?” she asked.

“No,” he said softly. “You’ll meet it like every battle, fierce and victorious.” In her village, his warrioress had slain so many strigoi that she’d begun teaching others her tricks and traps.

And her Berserkerage was a thing of beauty—slow to catch flame but then burning like a Ravinelun forge to smite all her enemies.