I spent the better part of the day consumed by thoughts of Gosto of all he’d endured at the hands of Gualtiero. A dull ache throbbed in my chest for him, a sorrow I couldn’t shake. More than anything, I needed to know what horrors he’d been forced to commit each time he was summoned before the King.

I had never met the current Vampire King, yet I despised him with every fiber of my being. My loyalty was unwavering I’d do anything to help Gosto take that twisted monster and his ...