From Slave To Queen (Athena and Michael) novel Chapter 53

Chapter 53

Evanora gave me a knowing look, as if she could sense all the shame inside me and pitied me for it.

Night closed in on us, and as we delved deeper into the Twisted Forest, the air grew heavier and heavier, like syrup. At one point, Drystan tried to joke with me, nudging my shoulder, and when I turned to look at him, I saw a radiant smile on his lips.

“That frown will cause your mortal skin to wrinkle ahead of time.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t think I’ll live to be an old lady anyway,” I mutter. “No feeder survives to see another full moon, and I’ve already outlasted that.”

Drystan leans his torso over mine and brings his mouth close to my ear.

“You’re so naive, Elara.” His voice drops just enough to be nearly inaudible to the human ear. “If he wanted you dead, you would be already. Don’t you see you’ve caught his interest?”

“And that’s supposed to be a good thing?”

His laughter shakes us both.

“It’s the worst thing that could’ve happened to you,” he confesses. “We’re vampires. We have all the time in the world. Our obsessions aren’t as fleeting as a human’s. I’m afraid, darling, Cassian is going to keep you close for a long time.”

“I don’t get it.”

“No one dares stand up to him like you do. Your fierceness fascinates him.”

“You’re not talking about yourself, are you?” I joke.

“Oh, I go crazy watching how you drive him crazy.”

He gets me to laugh lightly, and strangely, I feel something unexpected: gratitude. During this past month, Drystan has only been kind. I look ahead, where Cassian’s horse leads the way. Evanora is riding behind him with her hands on the saddle, refusing to touch one of them. I spot her turning her neck toward us, and although I can only see her eyes, the feeling in them is intense enough to make it clear that there are others like me whose lives seem marked by vampires.

“Maybe you’ll find someone to drive you crazy too, Drystan.”

I know he heard me, but he chooses to ignore it, because we all prefer talking about others than about ourselves. The sky gradually shifts from dark shades to grayish ones as we approach sunrise.

“Isn’t everything too quiet?” I dare to ask.

“Cassian made sure it would be. You can rest easy, Elara. None of those creatures will cross our path today.”

And, indeed, we crossed the rest of the Twisted Forest without incident. I quickly recognized the area they chose to rest–or better said, for me to rest. I don’t forget that my traveling companions aren’t mortal and don’t share the same basic needs. Evanora looks for me, sits beside

me, and quickly pulls several things out of a small bag. She takes the water canteen from my hands and I watch as she pours into it a combination of liquids in different colors that, frankly, don’t look drinkable.

“Drink.”

“What is it?”

“What you need until you’re fully healed.”

“I paid quite a generous amount so you could finish the job in one go.”

In front of us, leaning against a trunk with his legs crossed at the ankles, Cassian watches us with an unfriendly face.

“Sorry to be the one to tell you, but there are things that can’t bend to your will–and magic is one of them.”

“Don’t make me try. I can be very creative

“Do you ever shut up?” she snaps.

“Only when my mouth is busy with other things.”

His icy gaze seeks mine, and from the way he looks at me, I expect to feel his voice inside my head any moment, but it doesn’t happen. There’s only silence, so without thinking further, I obey Evanora and drink from my canteen. At first, I feel nothing different, and I wish it had stayed that way. At least fifteen minutes pass before I feel my stomach turn and, with trembling legs, I manage to move away from the others and empty my

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8:41 PM

Chapter 53

stomach into the bushes. What comes out of me is black as soot, with a viscous appearance that makes me wrinkle my nose in pure disgust.

Just as I’m about to wipe the tears caused by the retching, I feel Evanora’s hand rubbing my back gently.

“It’s okay, it’ll pass soon.”

I want to believe her.

“How many times will I have to drink that?”

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