Page 124 of Dhampira

Lorcan stood, pulling me to my feet in one graceful movement. My skirts rustled as they swept down my legs. Lorcan moved around me, his eyes on Vander.

They faced off, and a different kind of awareness stole over me. Tension arced between them, something bristling in the air. It was like a language I didn’t speak, the words more mysterious and elusive than the vor scapa.

In one of his blurry movements, Lorcan grasped Vander’s jaw. I sucked in a breath as the tension stretched more tautly. But the men didn’t appear to notice me. Vander’s eyes were hooded as he stared down at Lorcan. Any other time, I would have picked Vander to emerge victorious in a contest between them. But now, Vander seemed almost small, his superior height and bulk shrinking against the cold authority that radiated off Lorcan.

“You tasted her,” Lorcan said, the words almost too low to catch. But they reached me, stealing another breath as my face caught fire.

Vander’s reply was just as quiet. “You told me to.”

A charge built in the air. I didn’t move. Didn’t dare breathe as I waited for something to happen.

“I did,” Lorcan said, then yanked Vander into a kiss. It was rough and primitive, their powerful jaws working against each other in a sort of battle. Vander gripped Lorcan’s shoulder. Lorcan moved his hand to the side of Vander’s neck. He palmed it, his long fingers kneading Vander’s throat. Their chests brushed. The wet sound of their tongues clashing joined the rasp of their stubble.

I drank them in, the knowledge that Lorcan tasted me on Vander’s tongue rousing a new ache between my legs.

As quickly as it began, the kiss ended. Lorcan stepped back, and the tension bled from the air.

“We need to deal with the body,” Lorcan said, as if he hadn’t just stuck his tongue down Vander’s throat.

Vander nodded. “I’ll take care of it.”

“How?” I asked, my voice emerging as a croak.

Vander’s expression shuttered. “A lot of people die in this castle, Princess. The kitchen furnace is hot enough to turn bones to ash.”

My gut churned, every dinner I’d eaten since I entered the Drakhold running through my mind.

Vander stepped over the feygeld, scooped the body from the floor, and flung the knight over his shoulder like the man was a sack of potatoes instead of a towering vampire in full armor.

“It’s an hour past midnight,” Lorcan said, pulling my attention back to him. “The castle sleeps. You should, too.”

I wrapped my arms around my midsection. “What will you do?”

“The same.” He bent and gathered the feygeld from the floor, quickly stuffing the crystals in his pocket. When he finished, he strode to the balcony, the glomarid wings fluttering behind him. He slipped through the doors and then he was gone, nothing but a slight breeze indicating he’d been in the chamber at all.

For a second, I could only stare after him, confusion swirling in my head. He’d just…left. He’d held me as I came, kissed my arousal from Vander’s lips, and then jumped off the balcony like the first two things never happened.

A scuffling sound made me turn. Vander watched me, his arm wrapped around the dead knight’s legs. My bewilderment must have shown on my face because he nodded toward the balcony before offering an apologetic smile.

“He’s Drachvi.”

I drew an uneven breath.

Vander came to me, the dead knight’s cloak sweeping the floor. Vander’s silver eyes roamed my face before he tucked a knuckle under my chin. “Get some rest, Corinthe. The three of us will speak tomorrow. Things always tend to make more sense in the sunlight.”

“Nocta’s sun is always hidden,” I said.

Vander’s eyes softened, and the ghost of a smile touched his lips. “Wise and beautiful. I should have known you’d devastate me.”

He turned and left, moving almost as swiftly as Lorcan had, despite the dead knight’s weight. For a long time after the door closed behind him, I didn’t move. I stayed put, moonlight puddled at my feet.

You tasted her.

You told me to.

And Vander always followed orders. He kept his promises. It was one of the first things he’d told me…I’m almost as stubborn as you, and I’m willing to wait until you realize I never make promises I can’t keep.

I touched my lips, which were swollen from Lorcan’s kisses. Vander’s kisses still lingered between my legs. Everything had changed—or maybe the night had simply nudged me closer to the edge of the cliff. I’d killed again. I’d come apart between two men as different as day and night. And somewhere in the forest, Daryn carried my message to an alpha werewolf who might be the key to raising an army of my own.