Chapter 2

2

Thirty minutes earlier, sundown.

Cassius, Prince of the Bloodvale

I ducked beneath the crooked branches of the oaks and spurred my stallion up the forested slope. Foam dripped from the corners of his mouth, and his midnight flanks glistened with sweat, but I pushed him harder.

A fallen immortal was stalking my woods, and I would hunt him down.

The bastard had already massacred two families living at the edge of the valley. He'd torn another man limb from limb in front of his wife, then nearly drained her dry. Undoubtedly, more corpses would come to light in the coming days.

The brutality of the murders went beyond the blood tithe humans paid us for protection and the right to live on our lands. This was the work of a wild creature, an immortal who'd forsaken civilization and given into their thirst, going mad with a lust for blood.

While we called ourselves immortals, some still whispered the ancient word for what we were: vampires .

I prayed to the Fates that the rogue was my brother Valen, returned home at last. It had been fifty years since I'd seen him. Fifty years since the madness had taken hold and he'd abandoned the throne, leaving the kingdom to me.

I'd forgive the bastard a hundred murders if he'd just return and take his rightful place. Fates knew I'd never wanted it.

I spurred Tenebris faster, my fangs bared in anticipation, yet I didn't let hope take control or cloud my mind. I'd left the chains of emotion behind long ago. My brother was the only one I'd ever cared for, and he was gone.

Hoofbeat by hoofbeat, we ascended the ridge, not stopping until the trees thinned and the valley stretched out before me. Shadows had consumed the forested vale, but the edges of the clouds still shone like they were on fire. I saw no beauty in it, only relief. The blinding light of day would no longer burn my eyes and hinder my search.

I reined in Tenebris, and we stopped in a clearing on the ridgeline, the best vantage point in the Bloodvale. My castle rose from a cliff above the river on the eastern side of the valley, its spires streaked by the last rays of the setting sun.

I scowled out of habit. The place was a prison filled with vipers—the simpering courtiers plotting and scheming behind my back, and the meddling high council, trying to control my every move.

Valen had been born into that world, not I. As a second son, I'd spent my youth defending our borders and was far more at home among the gnarled trees of the cursed woods, despite the monsters that lurked in its shadows.

Hoofbeats thudded on the hillside behind me, and moments later, Aamon, the Master of the Hunt, pulled his winded steed alongside mine. "You're a madman, Cassius. Searching in the daylight and charging through the woods like that. How do you expect to find the bastard?"

Ignoring my advisor's protests, I pointed across the valley. "The first attack was there, near the village, two days ago. The second was there by the river last night. And a hunter spotted him further upslope early this morning. He's moving this way, but only in the dark."

Aamon grunted and gave a faint nod. "You mean to cut him off."

"I mean to keep looking through the dawn if that's what it takes." I inhaled deeply but caught no scent of my brother or any other of our kind. We were predators, and although our eyesight was keen in the dark, scent was by far our most powerful sense.

"He's not upwind," I said. "We should keep looking."

I lifted the reins, but Aamon placed a hand on my shoulder. "I know who you're looking for, Cassius. It's not him."

I turned to face my old friend. "What do you mean?"

Aamon's blond hair hung about his face, dislodged by the hard riding, but his glacial eyes betrayed no sign of exhaustion or doubt. "It's not your brother. No matter what form his madness took, Valen wouldn't do this. It has to be an outsider driven insane by the mists, or perhaps one of our nobles giving in to his demons at last."

"We can't be sure."

Aamon shook his head as he repositioned his brace of flintlock pistols. "You must stop this. I'll help you hunt down the savage, but you must accept that your brother is not coming back. It's been half a century. You must do your duty. You must forget him and wed. You must take the throne."

And as soon as I did, my brother would become an enemy of the kingdom.

My lip curled as a low growl tore from my throat. "If there is any chance, I will keep searching. That is what I must do."

"Your friend is right, Cassius," a craggy voice said behind me.

I spun Tenebris around and dropped my hand to the hilt of my sword. I had the speed and strength to tear someone apart with my hands, but a blade was far cleaner.

An old woman sat cross-legged on one of the protruding boulders. Her right hand clasped a long walking stick, while the left held an open flask of strong whiskey, its scent wafting on the breeze.

My hand relaxed and left my blade. It was the Fates-damned seer.

She'd lived in these woods as long as our family had ruled and had been old when I was young, centuries ago. Whatever she was, and whatever powers she possessed, the spell that repressed magic in the Bloodvale didn't suppress her foresight.

The Triad—our kingdom's high council—didn't like her, but our father had always cautioned us to keep our distance and do her no harm. Who knows what evil tampering with the Fates-touched witch could bring down on our family?

I eased Tenebris forward. "What are you doing out here, old woman? You're a long way from your cottage, and the forest isn't safe for travel."

Despite my keen hearing, I hadn't heard her approach or caught her scent. Had she been here all along, lurking in the shadows, or had she just appeared out of thin air?

"Old woman?" The seer chuckled, giving me a foxlike grin. "You're not so young yourself, Prince Cassius—though I'll admit you wear the centuries better." She winked with one eye, the other covered by a patch. "And as far as your thoughtful warning, I've nothing to fear from your kind."

I narrowed my eyes. Did she already know about the fallen immortal stalking the woods? "Then what do you want?"

"Only the honor of serving the Lord of the Bloodvale." She gave a mocking half-bow from her seat. "I offer counsel, should you desire it."

A muscle in my jaw tensed at her tone. "Then say your piece and be done with it."

The seer took a swig of whiskey and tucked the flask beneath her cloak. "I know you miss your brother, my lord, but you need to accept that you're not the one destined to find him."

Her words crashed over me like meltwater from the high mountains, chilling my skin. How much did she know?

I buried my surprise and steeled my expression. "We shall see."

The old woman shook her head. "I don't doubt your determination, but Valen isn't the one you should be looking for."

I straightened in the saddle as a shadow crossed my face. "Then you think I should be looking for a bride, like all the other fools in this realm? A queen to seal my throne?"

Her good eye laughed with mischief, and she swept her hand out in a flourish. "I simply wished to remind you that the choice of a queen should not be made lightly, Your Highness."

The council would have me pick a bride during a grand masquerade ball. It was a tradition dating back to long before our family had taken the throne, but the ridiculousness of it galled me. If I were forced to marry, I would pick a bride who would leave me to my own affairs. A woman was the last thing I needed or desired in my life, even less than the crown.

"Trust me, there is no lightness in it for me." I tugged on Tenebris's reins, beginning to back the ebony brute away. "Have you any wisdom, or are you here simply to mock my affairs?"

"Wisdom?" she said. "No one has wisdom, but I will give you a warning from the Fates."

Her good eye flared with an unearthly light, and Tenebris backed away as the shadows of the night stretched and flowed around the old crone. The air thrummed and turned cold.

She raised her hand and pointed to me. "Heed me, Prince Cassius. If you fall in love, the woman you choose will destroy everything your father built. And if she ever takes the throne, she will make your people pay the price of their thirst. Choose a bride wisely ."

The wind stirred the branches overhead, and then, just as quickly, it died. The shadows dropped away from her, and the energy prickling the air subsided, but her words made a chill race over my skin, and I couldn't shake the feeling of power in the place.

Fucking hell. I didn't need the old witch messing with my mind.

My mouth turned down. "If do not fall in love is your warning, then don't worry yourself, Grandmother. I have no love left in me."

"I can see that, my prince." She chuckled as she rose and shook her head. "I wish you the best of luck with the ball and a long and happy marriage." With that, the seer turned and began hobbling stiffly down the ridge and into the woods below.

I opened my mouth to call out after her, but a flock of crows burst into the air above the dense trees in the valley, filling the forest with haunting cries. They screeched and dove down the slope, attacking something I couldn't see.

I sat up and pulled Tenebris's reins, preparing to ride.

The old woman glanced at the birds and then back at me, and her lips twisted in a self-satisfied smile. "Oh, my. Seems like there's a bit of trouble ahead. Imagine that."