*Lena*

I was ushered by two vampire guards shortly after I’d attempted to heal King Nikolas’s feeder. I was thankful for it. I didn’t want to spend another second in the room with him, and the place was so thick with the stench of blood.

I memorized the corridors we walked down, taking stock of every turn and every detail down to chips in the uneven chunks of obsidian and black granite of which the castle was made. I also prepared myself for another ...