She had many tricks up her sleeve. Holding the king’s gaze, she exhaled, allowing her darkness to spin around her naked form and caress her. These weren’t just shadowy wisps that she controlled.
The darkness was her, and she was the darkness.
“What’s your name?” the man growled.
If he was trying to scare her, he was failing miserably. She’d enjoyed bed partners who were far more frightening than him.
She studied her nails. They were all broken and coated in blood. Once she rid herself of her imposter problem, she’d treat herself to a manicure and a hot bath.
“My name is Therese,” she murmured, turning her hands around and studying her blood-soaked palms. Yes, a manicure was definitely in order. A heartbeat later, she raised her gaze to meet his. “But you shouldn’t call me that.”
“Oh?” He seemed amused, which was odd since she was clearly the more powerful one here. “What should I call you?”
“Death,” she snarled, dropping her hands at her sides.
A dark rumble went through the male, but he didn’t seem worried. That was a mistake on his part.
“You hurt my people, Therese,” he said, ignoring her instructions.
“Hurt them?” She glanced at the bodies littering the ground at her feet and shrugged. “I suppose I did.”
The so-called king growled.
Was she supposed to care that they were dead? She felt empty. But that was nothing new. She’d been empty for as long as she could remember.
“They’re humans,” she said. “Their job is to provide us sustenance.Nothing more, nothing less. That’s the way the gods always intended things to be.”
“You’re wrong.” This came from the mysterious queen that all the humans seemed to adore. “The gods desire balance.”
Therese scoffed. This young vampire was throwing out words as if she understood what they meant.
Therese had kneeled before Ithiar himself and received the blessing of immortality from his veins. Balance? The Twelve were meant to rule. That’s the way it has always been.
This so-called queen and her husband were proof that vampire kind had grown soft over the past few thousand years.
Therese would rectify that when she reclaimed her place at the head of this country. She would remind people of their positions—the Twelve, followed by the rest of vampire kind, and then everyone else.
It was a good thing she had escaped her tomb when she did. This country was in dire need of a reminder of who was in charge.
Therese cracked her neck. She was done with this conversation. Done with chit-chatting, done with pretending to care, done with all of it. These vampires had stolen what was hers, and now, they would pay with their lives.
She stepped forward. “Thank you for enlightening me about what you think is important. I’ll be sure to keep that in mind when I rule this country once again.”
“See, that’s the thing,” the one they called the queen said. You won’t be ruling this country—not now, not ever.”
Therese smirked. This female seemed so young. So naive. At least the male looked like he’d seen some death in his time. But her? She was far too soft to be a daughter of the moon.
“Oh?” Therese smiled mockingly. “And areyougoing to stop me?”
The king flicked his hand, and shadows fell, revealing a hundred vampires.
Therese’s eyes widened as she drank in the sight of the small army. They had her surrounded.
Was she supposed to be afraid? A laugh bubbled up inside her. So many vampires who clearly wished for death. Fine. She’d oblige them. After all, it was time she showed her power to the world.
Then, a voice came from behind her.
“They aren’t going to stop you,” a masculine voice said. “But I am.”