Vampire Queen’s POV

Silence. Not the mortal kind you mortals crave after too much noise. Not the silence of empty rooms or forgotten prayers. I mean the kind that creeps in when the world bends at your will, and all that’s left is you.

For the first time in weeks, the girl wasn’t screaming inside me. No flinching, no pleading. Alicia had gone quiet—exhausted or sulking, I didn’t care. The body was mine now, fully and deliciously still.

So, I let my ...