He didn’t want to.
Marius shifted closer, drawn to his bodyguard by some inexplicable force. His heart was a thundering drum, and the pain in his chest was long forgotten.
The space between them was rapidly diminishing.
She breathed his name, her lips parting to reveal her sharp, deadly fangs. If she’d been any other vampire, he would have been afraid of what those sharp teeth could do, but he couldn’t find it in himself to be frightened by her.
No.
The emotions coursing through him were about as far from fear as possible.
He’d seen her rip out throats with her fangs, but it didn’t frighten him. If anything, knowing that she was so powerful made him all the more attracted to her.
He curled his fingers tighter around hers, unable and unwilling to lether go.
She licked her lips, her eyes still locked on his, and whispered, “Prince, we shouldn’t?—”
A low moan came from behind them.
The sound was barely more than a whisper, but it might as well have been a clap of thunder.
Vivienne’s eyes widened, and she yanked her hand from his as though he’d scalded her.
“Oh gods, the woman.” She stood and dashed across the snow in a vampiric blur. A moment later, she called out, “Hurry, Your Highness. She’s still alive.”
The words chilled him as if ice water had been dumped over his head. He clambered to his feet, wincing at the residual pain still running through him.
“Marius!” Vivienne shouted. “Come!”
Gods above, she was bossy. The problem, if one could call it that, was that Vivienne’s bossiness didn’t bother him. If anything, he found it even more appealing than her swordsmanship and general aptitude for killing.
He ran over to the body, his cloak flapping behind him, and he spared a glance at his chest. His tunic was torn, but when he pulled apart the strips of fabric, all that remained from the First’s claws were four rapidly fading pink lines across his skin.
A curse fell from his lips as he dropped to his knees beside Vivienne. “Is she going to make it?”
The vampire met his gaze, her expression grim. “I don’t know.” She bit her lip. “I’ve never seen wounds like this.”
A lump formed in Marius’s throat, but he swallowed past it, returning his attention to the dying woman.
The First hadn’t just bitten her neck. That would’ve been too civil.
No, the being of death haddevouredthis poor woman.
Bright red bite marks littered the human’s body. Flesh was torn awayin places, and her right arm was barely hanging on. The parts of her body that were not torn to shreds were coated in blood.
“We need to help her,” Marius said, reaching out and running his knuckle down the woman’s cheek. It was one of the only places where she hadn’t been bitten.
Vivienne sucked in a breath. “I… I don’t know if we should.”
He blinked, his brows knitting together. “What?”
Why wouldn’t they help her? She was dying.
Vivienne reached out and gently cupped the woman’s left hand. “Maybe this is better for her,” the vampire murmured. “Maybe we should let her die. Maybe it would be easier.”
Marius stared at Vivienne, his heart racing as he heard the pain in her voice. He wasn’t sure what she’d endured over the course of her life, but as he listened to the unspoken meaning behind her words, his heart ached.
This vampire knew pain intimately. She understood it. And while he hated that she’d obviously been through something awful, that knowledge made him feel even closer to her than their almost-kiss had moments ago.