2. Cassandra

CHAPTER 2

Cassandra

M y fingers trembled as I reached for yet another silk dress that hung on a satin hanger in my wardrobe in my temporary room—gifted to me when the vampire nobles flocked to the Domum seeking refuge.

Normally I would allow my talem, Conroy, to pack for me, but I wanted to be alone. If my father were alive, he would've had an absolute conniption over me packing for myself, not to mention his head would probably explode knowing the secret mission I'd accepted from the vampire king.

The same vampire king I'd tried to seduce some years ago, all at the urging—or rather demanding —of my father that we align ourselves with the royal family. It'd been instilled in me since I was a youngling. I needed to sit on a throne and rule, putting our family on the highest rung of the social ladder. Neither of my parents ever stopped to ask me what I wanted. And after so many years, I'd stopped asking myself that too.

I'd been living in a numb sort of bubble in the months since my father died. Since I realized just how deep his deceptions lied. Since the rest of my family had abandoned me at court, leaving me to face punishment from the king.

I may have sought refuge here, may have put on a brave and elegant face for every single evening repast spent schmoozing with some of the vampire world's finest nobles, but on the inside? I was crumbling. Wasting away into a vast sea of uselessness.

And guilt. There was so much guilt.

But that all changed when Alek called me into his study last night and asked me if I would do this for him. I'd thought he'd called me in there to finally kill me for one grievance or another, the least of which being the spawn of a traitorous family. One that I now had to reintegrate myself into as if I'd never left.

The trembling increased so much that my hands shook, and I had to ring them together to make it stop. I may be an immortal vampire who looked like a perfectly carved statue on the outside, but I was capable of fear. And the fear of facing my mother was unmatched.

Everyone here always spoke about my brothers, or my father, but if anyone cared to look past my mother's elegance and charm, they would know where the true evil lay.

A lifetime of memories swirled like a churning storm in my mind, and I had to sit down on the bed, the motion causing my suitcase to tip over just slightly.

Shadow shifted from her resting spot on the bed, moving to place her heavy head in my lap. I stroked her silken fur, silently thanking her for the comfort.

My entire body shook as memories combated with the very real present. I was no longer a youngling being held at the mercy of my parents. I was a grown female, with strength and status of my own. She could not starve me into submission if I misbehaved. She could not throw me in that godsforsaken closet of hers if I showed anything other than the excellence the Zorin name demanded.

My stomach churned at the memory of that closet—the one coated in Night Thistle-laced paint. The cramped room sucked the life and power from any vampire locked inside. I remembered more details about that closet than my bedroom in my familial home.

And now I was going back.

I swore I'd never sleep under that roof again. Swore I'd never allow myself to be locked inside the mansion that held so many terrors for me. So many demands, so many agendas. Ideologies that were forced down my throat until I numbly echoed the same sentiment, lest I be punished in unspeakable ways.

But for my brother, for Warrick, the one I knew without a doubt was good at heart, I would do anything.

And yes, part of me was doing this to win favor back with the king—not from any ridiculous notions of affection, but to pay for the sins I'd committed.

I stopped petting Shadow, my shaky fingers absently tracing the marred skin where I'd burned off Alek's mating mark. The mark my father had inked on my skin while my mother held me down. I'd screamed and fought every second.

"He already has affections for you ," my father had said. " He'll see this mark, and everything will fall into place. It will give him the last shove he needs to know that you're the one. And after you are married, the real mating mark will show up or it won't. Either way, you'll be a queen, and our family will finally be where we deserve. "

I clenched my eyes shut at the sound of my father's voice ringing in my head. He was in there so often it made me sick. But it wasn't half as frequent as my mother's. Even years of separation hadn't erased the decades of torture I received from their hands.

Warrick and I had somehow managed to snap out of the rigid upbringing that they'd put us through. But Edward? I feared there'd be no saving him. He'd always clung to my father's harsh ways, never once showing an ounce of compassion like Warrick had whenever things got particularly rough for me. And they were often particularly rough, being the lone Zorin female who gave my parents a chance at the throne they so thirsted for.

I'd often thought about doing something drastic to ensure they never got what they wanted, just to spite them—if I didn't exist, then neither did their shot at an alliance with the king or royal court. But even in my darkest moments, I'd never had the courage to actually step into the sunlight.

Going home somehow seemed more dangerous than that.

And yet here I was, packing my bags and trying to reinforce my mental shields in order to get through what would surely be the death of me. If not by my mother's hands, then that of the hunter who'd been assigned to accompany me. Posing as my darling Shadow, no less.

I pet her again, relishing the soft vibrations of her deep sleep at the foot of the bed. Shadow had been my only companion beyond Warrick for the last three years. I'd saved her as a cub on the black market from some heinous noble who was going to raise her just to feed from her, buying into some ridiculous myth that doing so would increase his stamina and power.

I'd considered releasing her back into the wild, but by the time she was healthy enough to do so, the panther and I had connected on such a deep level that there would be no tearing her from me or me from her.

And now I'd have to leave her here and take the hunter instead.

Talon's face flashed behind my eyes, and anger boiled in my blood. The ancient vampire had no right assuming the form of my beloved panther, but he had already done so on several occasions. I don't know why he did, except perhaps to remind me that there was always someone watching me, someone waiting for me to mess up or to reveal my traitorous intentions.

I rolled my eyes and continued petting Shadow.

I had no intentions, good or bad. Yes, I wanted to ease the guilt I had from causing so much grief for our king, but mainly, I was doing this to protect my brother. That bonded instinct inside me would never allow him to come to harm, even if he deserved a smack against the head for coming here in the first place. The one place where everybody hated anyone with the Zorin name. And he'd just packed his bags and waltzed in like he'd be welcomed with open arms.

I understood he wanted to serve the king, especially after our father's betrayal, but I feared for him. Especially now that I was leaving, and there would be no one besides Shadow to watch over him. Thank gods she loved Warrick. If I'd left her to watch over Edward? He wouldn't last a night. She hated him that much.

I blew out a breath, taking some solace because I knew Shadow would protect Warrick if the need arose, but he could also handle himself. Though, I'm not sure if he would if it was the king who was attempting to strike him down.

Talon was likely ecstatic that he had orders to kill me if I relayed any of the information I'd learned during my time here to my other brother Edward or my mother.

Talon, I'm sure, would relish the kill.

Those arctic blue eyes of his constantly surveyed me like I was a snake ready to strike. A snake he wanted to trap and torture and cut off its head.

He looked at me like I was less than nothing.

The daughter of a traitor, a noble female vampire raised and groomed for one thing and one thing only: securing an advantageous alignment for the family and strengthening our bloodline.

I'd been granted no other luxuries in life, despite what outsiders may think. I had no truly useful skills to offer the king besides my ability to sense out supernatural blood in humans and other creatures alike.

But on this mission, I could be useful. I could be brave. I could be worth something. And it wasn't until I felt the faintest brush of the hope to be worthy that I realized how badly I needed to make a stand. To once and for all figure out who the fuck I was outside of my family and where exactly that would lead me.

I couldn't help but think it was likely the grave.

My spine smacked against the floor of the training room, the cushioned lining doing little to soften the pain that cracked through my body.

"That's twelve," Talon snapped from where he stood at my side, looking down at me with a prideful smirk that made me both want to claw his eyes out and quite possibly climb him like the tree he was.

I glared up at him from where I remained on the floor, giving myself a few precious seconds before rising to my feet and attempting another blow at his perfect face.

Talon moved faster than I could follow, his hand blocking my fist an inch from his face, not an ounce of strain showing anywhere on his body.

His irritatingly perfect body.

I'd never seen a vampire more gorgeous than him. He was tall and muscular, but most of our kind showed that form of strength. It was his rich blue eyes, ancient and shifting in color and tone as much as he shifted his skin. His blond hair looked soft as silk, and he simply radiated this raw power that felt both dangerous and enticing at the same time. I envied him his ability, and couldn't help but wonder how freeing it would feel to turn into something else entirely on a whim. To hide from the world in any form I chose. It must be exhilarating to possess that kind of freedom.

I'd cut out my own tongue before I admitted any of that to him.

From the arrogant way he was looking at me right now, I kind of wanted him to shift into a bug so I could step on him.

I jerked my fist out of his hand, huffing as I took a few steps back. There were other assassins training in the room around us, but they gave us a wide berth and gods adore them, they didn't laugh at my utter lack of abilities.

Talon tilted his head in that predatory way that showed just how long he'd been a hunter. "How is it you have no basic fighting skills?"

"Why does that surprise you?" I fired back instead of answering. "It's not like the females in your generation were signing up to be assassins and huntresses."

"Actually, there were a few huntresses." He cocked a perfectly blond brow my way. "And we're not in my generation," he continued. "Well, I guess actually we are. This is the time period I'm living in now . And it's a progressive one. There are numerous females who are not only trained but deadly with their fighting skills. I would think a prized noble such as yourself would have undergone rigorous training."

A mixture of anger and shame sliced through my veins, causing me to feel like I might lose the contents of my stomach at any moment. Or it could be the fact that Talon put me on my ass no less than twelve times thanks to the motherfucker stating the count every time he bested me.

Which was every single time.

"I endured rigorous training," I said, hating the way my voice sounded a couple of octaves weaker in reference to this admission. "It just wasn't the kind of training you're referring to." I held his gaze, noting the slight shift in his eyes, the smallest softening around the edges as he studied me.

A flash of pity colored his features, and my fangs punched out.

"You are not here to pity me, hunter," I snapped.

"No, I'm here to make sure you stay alive," he said, stepping closer to me, his eyes on my fangs. "Right until the moment I have to kill you."

I narrowed my gaze up at him, crossing my arms over my chest. "I'll give you no satisfaction," I said. "So you might as well put that little fantasy to rest. I have no intention of betraying my king."

"Oh, I have quite a few fantasies when it comes to you, little viper. You may have everyone else fooled, but I've known my fair share of nobles like you. When push comes to shove, you'll always choose your own skin and your own blood over anyone else."

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "And what makes you so different? You'd die for your hunter brothers. What makes you think I wouldn't do that for my own brother?"

"Which one?" he fired back, and I felt his words like a physical blow.

It wasn't like I didn't deserve a fair amount of shit for the suffering I'd caused, but I had done my damnedest to earn back the respect of my king and his mate and anyone else who had given me a fucking chance .

It seemed like Talon would never fall into that category.

Just as well. It was safer for him—and everyone, honestly—to remain a healthy distance away from me and my Zorin name. And besides, we were as likely to kill each other as we were to work together.

"I can't believe you don't know how to fight," he said, shaking his head.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say he looked concerned. Probably because he knew if shit really did hit the fan at my family's estate, he'd need somebody he could count on to back him up.

A deep, old rage flared inside me, a familiar burn that'd been there since I came of age. Since I was old enough and smart enough to realize that I was being purposely kept at a disadvantage by my family. I wasn't allowed to train like my brothers because I was only meant for one thing: breeding.

"I was trained in seduction," I said. "Charm. Courtly ways." I shook my head. "Does it really matter if I can't defend myself?" I asked, instead of lamenting my dislike of this situation. Him trying to train me didn't have anything to do with bonding over our shared annoyance with my current fighting abilities. "If anything truly awful happens, can't you just shift into a horse and gallop us out of there?"

Talon looked down at me with incredulity. "You seem preoccupied with the idea of riding me. If you're that desperate for a release, I'd be happy to let you mount me?—"

I slapped him so hard his head snapped to the left. So hard my hand stung.

A wave of triumph washed through me, power soaring through me at finally landing one hit?—

My spine cracked against the mat again, the fucking hunter moving so quickly I hadn't been able to blink before his hand was around my throat.

"That was good," he said, his voice rough and raw, as if all those hunter instincts had perked up at the hit. "Using distraction can be a useful tool, especially when you're at as big of a disadvantage as you are."

My hands flew to his muscled forearm, trying to dislodge his hand from my throat where he held me, but did not squeeze. All it would take was one thought from him, one quick grip of his fingers, and I'd be a goner.

His arm didn't budge, and I tried moving my body, but he was above me, his muscular thigh shoved between mine, pinning me and rendering me helpless.

His smile shifted from prideful and cocky to downright mischievous as he glanced down between us. "Keep wiggling like that and we're going to have a much different training session."

"Keep fucking dreaming, shifter," I snapped, although his voice and his intentions had washed over me like a warm waterfall.

I desperately tried to stop the way my body reacted to his, but it was impossible.

It'd been impossible since the moment the annoying male had walked into this residence and made my life a living hell. Not only haunting my waking hours, but my dreams as well. Dreams of him in positions not quite unlike the one we were in now, but with a lot less clothing.

The memory of one such dream flashed through my body, and I cursed myself for how long it had been since I'd chosen a partner to help me ease the need now pulsing between my thighs. A need that for some reason only cropped up around one of the most infuriating and annoying vampires I'd ever met. One who hated me with a vengeance, no less.

Talon's nostrils flared a fraction, and I didn't even have it in me to feel shame at what he was no doubt scenting on me.

I held his gaze and stopped trying to push the massive hunter off of me.

His fangs punched out, and my eyes flared at the movement, at the way my heart raced and anticipation curled in my core.

Was he about to bite me?

"This looks educational," Lyric's voice sounded just a few feet away, and Talon lifted us both off of the floor in a matter of seconds, steadying me as I lost my balance when he returned me to my feet.

I dipped my head as I faced the vampire queen, even though she'd told me many times not to. But how could I not show even the smallest sign of respect? Especially when she'd been incredibly kind to me after I'd been so horrible to her.

"How's training going?" she asked, her eyes flickering between the two of us.

"Cumbersome, my queen," Talon said.

"I think I'm a lost cause," I admitted.

Lyric shook her head. "If I can learn how to be a vampire, you can certainly learn how to defend yourself."

I tilted my head back and forth, unable to argue with that. She'd made the transition from human to vampire look effortless and had adapted to our ways, even though she still clung to some of her human nature with an elegance that I'm sure my mother would've been so proud of.

"Give us a minute, Talon?" Lyric asked.

He bowed and moved to the other side of the training room.

"I wanted to thank you for accepting this mission," Lyric said, and my eyes flared with surprise.

"You don't have to thank me," I said. "It's the least I can do..."

My words were stolen by the awkwardness and shame that threatened to swallow me whole right here in front of the queen. The tattooed mating mark I'd burned off practically vibrated beneath my simple training clothes.

"I do have to thank you," she said, stepping a little closer. "I'm grateful for what you're doing. For what you did by identifying the half-bloods. We likely wouldn't have Grace if you hadn't revealed your special gift."

I nodded at her reference to one of the hunter's mates, a newly transitioned vampire who, in her human life, had been given a death sentence by a brain tumor. One that had been eradicated thanks to a combination of Lyric's blood and Aurora's, the freshly turned vampire with Samuel's blood still running in her veins, including his power to heal.

"And I wanted you to know that I will do everything in my power to keep Warrick alive while you're gone."

Her words hit me as hard as one of Talon's blows. "Why would you do that for me?"

"Because I believe you," she said with a shrug. "I believe your intentions are good and I believe Warrick's are, too. And as long as he doesn't do something drastic like try to kill my mate, I think we're going to be okay."

"I don't know what to say," I said. "I don't feel like I deserve your kindness."

"Everyone deserves kindness," she said. "Especially those who never let anybody in, who never let anyone else know what's really going on." She eyed me knowingly, and I sucked in a deep breath.

"Does this mean we can start over?" I finally asked the question I'd been dying to ask her for months. "Can we just pretend like the first time we met never happened?"

"I would really like that," she said with a laugh.

Relief washed through me, a sense of hope swelling inside me that I hadn't felt in a very long time.

"And Cassandra?" Lyric asked.

"Yes?"

"Males will always be genetically faster and stronger in their species, but the females are smarter. I know that you're sharper than any of the claws Talon likes to flash around when he's bored or on a mission. I know you can't stand him, but take the training he offers. You can learn. You can make yourself formidable in a way your family never allowed. That's how you'll beat them in the end." She flashed me a confident smile, one that I returned before she winked at me and headed out of the room.

Talon was at my side in a second, flipping a gemstone-gilded dagger between his fingers.

"If you're going to stab that in my back," I said, eying the dagger. "Go ahead and save me the trip to my family's estate."

He smirked. "Not today," he said, placing the blade in my hands.

I tested the weight of it, running my fingertips over the decorated hilt. "It's beautiful," I admitted.

"It was passed down through my family for centuries," he explained. "It's never failed me."

I moved to give it back to him, but he shook his head.

"We'll get you a holster before we leave," he said.

"Why…why are you giving this to me?"

He smirked, holding up his hands and wiggling his fingers, the normal vampire hands shifting into razor-sharp claws.

"I have my own blades," he said before he let out a deep sigh. "And because you're definitely going to need it."