Blood & Honey #1

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The sound of a book being slammed shut pulls my attention away from a sleeping, dream shade drugged Kinley. The Dark Prince tosses yet another religious text onto the empty chair next to him. He's burned through three in the past six hours.

"No wonder the humans of today are so stupid. They were actually closer to the truth thousands of years ago. How pompous of them to think our Creator was a fallen angel of their god. The belief this world was once all wrapped in light is repulsive." The Prince sneers in disgust.

We are twenty minutes out from landing in Romania. It will be a long car ride to Valderanna, which sits deep in the mountains and is surrounded by a dark magic barrier humans cannot trespass through. My kind has several places like Valderanna scattered about the globe the humans know nothing about. Valderanna is the oldest one. It has been our home since the beginning.

"The poor creatures don't even know how they came into existence, from sun gods to evolving from apes. What do you think they would do if they found out their god made them because she wanted something to worship her? When the Mother of the Heavens did that, she broke the rules." He rests his chin on his hand, opting to watch a sleeping Kinley who's sprawled out on the couch of the airplane using my father's lap as a pillow.

If she only knew that last part.

"This planet was never meant to house life other than the animals that roamed it," he continues. "Yet there Zeura goes, making beings in her own image. The God of the Heavens is truly a jealous god trying to convince her confused flock she alone is the one and only god. There has always been and always will be two gods. The God of the Heavens and the God of the Underworld. They both have existed since the beginning—the two Mothers of the Afterlife, two sisters whom despise each other for what the the other stands for. Who knew humans would step so far away from the truth."

The Dark Prince stands, stretching his legs as he cracks his neck to loosen it from the thirteen hours of flying time we have had.

"It is time to wake Kinley. Her ribs are long past healed and she will enjoy the view as we approach Romania. It is such a beautiful country."

He doesn't give me the chance to object. He is beside Kinley, kneeling down in front of her before I can think of a way to stop him. Every move he makes is part of his game and, in order to win, I have to be smart about how I play it.

"It is time to wake up sweet Kinley." Her eyes flutter open when she feels his cold hand sweeping her hair out of her face.

Everyone in the plane grits their teeth, covering their ears as she screams at the sight of the Dark Prince's face right in front of hers. She plasters herself to the corner of the couch furthest from my father and the Prince.

Adrenaline courses through her system at such a rate it sends a yearning tingle shooting into my bloodstream that awakens my predatory side. I will always love the smell of fear. The difference with Kinley is she's a different type of "prey" to me.

She is the kind of prey I want to chase, catch, and, instead of eating, I want to crush her beneath me and have my way with her. The urge to mate with her runs parallel with my lust for blood. That may not seem like a big deal, but for a vampire like me who only lives to hunt and kill, it is a very big deal.

Her gaze bounces from Serena to Sabrina then to Dorian and Kalista before she finds me. I want to go to her so badly, yet I know better.

The Dark Prince chuckles. "My how you have changed. Look at you, so scared. I guess that is what happens when you are raised by your own kind." He sits down beside Kinley at the same time Thron gets up.