Therese licked her lips as the air thickened. Each heartbeat seemed to echo through the hallway.
A vampire growled.
“Now,” Amalthea snarled.
As one, they pounced.
As one, they fed.
At the first taste of blood, Therese grinned. This would be a fitting end to their celebration.
And so, the Twelve hunted, killing every single human who crossed their path. They were death, and no mortal could stand in their way.
There’s a Slight Catch
Marius stared at Luna with wide eyes. “What happened to the humans?”
Obviously, the Firsts hadn’t succeeded in their dark mission to rid the kingdom of mortals.
Luna sighed, exchanging a look with Sebastian. The king had finished with the guards a while ago, and now he stood on her right, his hand on her shoulder.
“Hundreds died,” the king said. “Maybe thousands.”
“History isn’t entirely clear about it.” Luna frowned. “The book I read said, ‘Rivers ran red, snow was crimson, and the wails of mourning mothers and wives could be heard all over the land.’ All we know for certain is that it was a devastating massacre.”
An ache filled Marius’s chest, and he rubbed a fist over his heart. He pictured the feral vampires tearing through endless humans, devouring the very beings that provided them sustenance. Echoes of screams that had long since fallen silent rang in his ears.
“Awful.” He shook his head and gripped the throne’s armrests. “But they were stopped, right?”
“Yes,” Sebastian said. “I’d always been told that a group of witches stopped and entombed the First, but the story Luna found differs slightly from that.” He squeezed her shoulder. “Right, love?”
“That’s right. According to my research, there was just one witch. Selene Du Pont used forbidden, black magic to curse the Firsts and entomb them in the Hoarfrost Hollow.”
The hairs on Marius’s arms prickled. “A curse?”
“Apparently, she bound the Firsts’ powers, which allowed them to be captured and contained. The problem is that all magic requires a balance.” Luna frowned. “When Selene cast her spell, she made the vampires easier to catch, but it also made them far more difficult to kill.”
As if killing vampires wasn’t already hard enough. At least now, Marius knew why the First’s blood had been black. He rubbed his temples as the new information sank in.
A gods-damned curse. For all the things for history to lose, why this? It would’ve been helpful to know before he decided to try to kill the feral vampire on his own.
His mission had been doomed from the start.
Somehow, that made him feel both better and worse. Better, because he never could’ve done it on his own. Worse, because he’d doubly failed Vivienne, and he needed to get her out of prison now more than ever.
None of this was her fault.
A new question formed in his mind, and he glanced at the royals. “So, howdoesone stop a cursed vampire?”
“It’s… complicated.” Sebastian raked a hand through his hair, exchanging a worried look with the queen.
A knot formed in Marius’s heart. What could inspire nerves in such a powerful vampire?
Luna reached up, laced her fingers through her husband’s, and rested their joined hands on her shoulder. “We know what needs to be done, but it won’t be easy.”
Marius snorted before he could stop himself. “Nothing ever is, Lulu.”
He’d learned that lesson at far too young an age. Easy lives only existed in fairytales. Everyone had problems. How one dealt with them was the true marker of one’s character.