disappeared amidst a battle in the Forest of Dragons.'
Valerian was not easily diverted. 'Are you unwell? We now have a healer in residence. Brenna will—'
Do not dare glance at the man beside Valerian. Eyes ahead. 'I'm fine,' she repeated firmly. 'We were speaking of Layel…'
His frown sharpened around the edges. He was a beautiful man, probably the most sensually lovely creature the gods had ever created. He had golden hair, a hard, muscled body and an eroticism that radiated from him no matter where he was or what he was doing.
Females young and old constantly threw themselves at him, though there was only one woman he desired. And that woman was even now sitting on his lap, frowning just as fervently as he was.
'Layel has disappeared before,' Queen Shaye said, patting her mate's arm in a bid to comfort him.
Alyssa's chest ached at the sight of their obvious love for each other. She wanted that for herself. Had thought, for a single night, that she had found it. How wrong she'd been.
Once again she had to remind herself to keep her eyes focused on something other than the soldier standing beside Valerian. Shivawn.
She'd hungered for him since the first moment she had spied him and the hunger had only grown. At that first sighting, she'd craved friendship, his fierce loyalty. As she'd grown into a woman, that craving had become sexual. To her absolute devastation, he'd never wanted anything to do with her. Except once…
After ignoring her for years, he had finally allowed her to entice him to her bed. For hours, she'd feasted on his body. She'd savored every sound he uttered, every move he made and every delicious beat of his heart. It had been the most exquisite night of her entire life.
But when the loving had finished, he'd left. No tender goodbye, no farewell kiss.
No hunting her down and sweeping her back into his arms the next day. In fact, he hadn't spoken to her since, even though they had stumbled upon each other several times. With his every glance, however, he'd conveyed his message perfectly: she was a nuisance. Beneath him. Unworthy. She wanted to hate him. Instead, she remembered. She desired. Still. Perhaps forever.
Her gaze moved of its own accord, landing on him, and her heart stuttered to a halt. He was tall; his sandy hair hung in waves to his broad shoulders. He was looking past her, just over her shoulder. His expression conveyed boredom, as though he could not wait for her to leave.
When would he learn? Leaving was the one thing she could never do, not with him. Pathetic of her, yes. But cruel as he was turning out to be, she now needed him to survive. Much longer and she would truly die. He just did not know it yet.
'My mate speaks true,' Valerian said, claiming Alyssa's attention once more. 'Layel often steals a few days for himself.'
'Yet he has never abandoned his own people without word of when he would return. He has never left without placing a second-in-command. And you know as well as I that he would never leave during a battle with dragons.'
'You speak true, as well.' Valerian's tanned skin blanched, his strong arms tightening around his mate. She was like new-fallen snow, with silver-white hair and skin so luminous it practically glowed. The only color to her belonged to her large, dark eyes. She was human, a child of the surface world, with blood that smelled pure and sweet.
Used to be, the gods had gifted the vampires with humans they didn't want tarnishing that surface world. Mmm, she remembered how delicious they'd been. No one tasted better.
Except Shivawn.
She had tasted him that night he'd allowed her to seduce him. The sensual power she had found with a single swallow, the headiness…Light-headed, she nearly lost her balance again. She had been unable to take a single drop of crimson nectar from anyone else since.
Oh, she had tried. But everything tasted like rot when compared to Shivawn and she gagged. Finally, she'd stopped trying to feed. She had lost weight, strength, and now spent more time in bed than she did out of it. She was becoming desperate for another taste of Shivawn.
'I will send a troop to scour the Inner and Outer cities,' Valerian said. 'We will find him.'
'Another vampire disappeared, as well,' she said. 'Zane, a warrior. He is wild, even unpredictable, but he is loyal to Layel and would not have hurt him.'
Pensive, Valerian stroked his chin. 'Two vampires disappeared, you said?'
'Yes.'
'No others?'
She shook her head.
'Two?' he insisted.
'Yes.'
'That disturbs me, for two of my nymphs are unaccounted for. Two of my elite. I had thought they stumbled upon bed partners and simply lost track of time. But…'
Two vampires, two nymphs. 'What could this mean?'
'I wonder if any other creatures are missing.' Valerian flicked Shivawn a glance. 'Go into the cities. Learn what you can and report back to me. I want an answer by morning.'
Shivawn gave a stiff nod and turned on his booted heel.
'My lord,' Alyssa rushed out, stepping closer to the king's dais. Had she been any other species, his guards would have attacked her. Because she was vampire, servant of Layel, the action was tolerated. 'I must insist that I accompany your soldier.'
Shivawn, who had not paused during her speech, halted abruptly. He kept his back to both Valerian and Alyssa. As he stood there, the braided hair at his temples swung back and forth, beads clicking together. 'And I must insist I go alone, my king.'
Her eyes narrowed on him, but she didn't direct her words to him. 'Your man will get nothing done if he is forced to fight off every woman he encounters. More than that, he will enrage the men of those enslaved females and they will refuse to aid him.'
Shaye sighed, a sound of feminine pique. 'She's right. You nymphs and your damn mojo. It ruins everything!'
Mojo?
'Everything?' Valerian asked the queen huskily, as if he knew exactly what she meant. Just then, they were clearly the only two people in the chamber, everyone else forgotten.
The human chuckled and kissed his cheek. 'Well, maybe not everything.'
Another ache lanced through Alyssa's chest as Valerian gazed tenderly at his mate. Oh, to be loved like that.
'Shivawn,' Valerian said, 'take the vampire with you.'
Pivoting, radiating outrage, Shivawn scowled. 'My king, I—'
'Will do it,' was the firm, sharp interruption.
A moment passed. Then another. The sudden silence was thick and oppressive. Hurtful. Shivawn wanted to argue. She knew that from the clench of his jaw, the tic below his eye and the fists he tried to keep hidden at his sides.
Alyssa pulled her gaze from him. Ultimately, he would not refuse his king. But his hesitation cut her so deeply she longed to sink to her knees and sob. He would have welcomed any other woman, she was sure. Why did he hate her so? Clear your mind. Do not show him the depth of your hurt.
Limbs trembling, she studied the palace throne room. The floors were white marble veined with silver, the walls black onyx studded with jewels of every color. From sapphires to rubies, from emeralds to diamonds, they winked at her, mocking her with their beauty and purity.
Why did he hate her so? she wondered again, unable to bury the question this time.
You know the reason, you simply do not wish to acknowledge it. True. To acknowledge the truth was to lose all hope of winning the man. There is no hope. To Shivawn, she was, and would always be, tainted, for he despised both demons and vampires—and she was equal measures of each. He didn't know it, no one did, but he must sense it on some level.
The demons he blamed for killing his father many years ago. A crime she had inadvertently been involved in,
