Blood Debt (Kingdom of Blood #1) - Callie Rose Page 0,15

trying to wrap my head around this new piece of information.

He’s a newly turned vampire. Maybe that accounts for his sweet vibe and upbeat attitude—but I don’t know, I’ve met vampires who had only been turned recently who were already bloodthirsty psychos. Maybe he is too, when he isn’t showing off for a bunch of tributes.

Why is he even bothering, anyway? Doesn’t he have all the power here? Why make the effort to charm us when he could just order us to do whatever he wants?

Connor steps to one side, sweeping his arm out in an over-the-top chivalrous gesture to indicate that we could proceed. “I’ll get out of your way. You ladies look like you have places to be.” He shoots the matron a look, wrinkling his nose. “Um, Anastasyia?”

“You’re looking for the main staircase again?”

He nods sheepishly.

She sighs. “Keep going this way, turn right at the end of the hall, take your first left, and it’ll be right there.”

“Thanks. This is the last time I’ll ask, I promise. Well, maybe second to last.”

He grins at her, and for the first time, I see her smile reflected in her eyes as she nods at him. As he heads away, she turns back to us.

“Come on girls, you have more to see.” She starts walking down the corridor again, and the group falls in behind her. “Now, most of the time you’ll be having dinner with the vampires in the great hall, but for breakfast and lunch, you’ll be on your own. Up ahead is the kitchen for this wing. Same rules as the bathroom, respect each other and clean up after yourselves. I don’t want to have to ground anybody from—”

I stop listening, dragging my feet a little and glancing back over my shoulder. Connor is heading away down the hall, but he looks over his shoulder at the same moment I do, and our eyes meet. His brow furrows thoughtfully, some expression passing across his face that I’m too far away to read.

I can’t believe he’s a fucking vampire.

When we first crashed into each other, I got a good vibe from him. I liked him—liked his goofy smile and relaxed demeanor.

How the hell did that happen? Have my instincts already been blunted that badly by this role I’m playing?

Is there a chance I’ve met him before, out on the streets somewhere? Have we ever faced off in a dark alley? No, I don’t think so. I would have remembered those eyes, that posture. Besides, I can’t really picture Connor hunting in the streets. He seems too… nice for that.

I snap my head forward, gritting my teeth. I’m not going to stand here and rationalize vampires. They’re all inherently monsters, and no amber eyes or brilliant smile can change that fact.

Get your head on straight, Mikka. Face forward, don’t look back. Vampires aren’t nice. They thrive on hunger, rage, lust, and pride. That’s it. Don’t humanize them, or you’ll never get out of this fucking place alive.

Chapter Five

Steeling my spine, I pick up my pace to rejoin the others, since I’ve fallen behind the group.

The crying girl is trailing behind the pack too. The tear tracks on her face have dried, but she still looks sad as hell. She doesn’t seem interested in the library or kitchen or anything else. She cringes each time we pass an oil-painted portrait of a vampire and keeps shifting her arms to cover her cleavage and hips, tugging her skirt this way and that to give maximum coverage.

She clearly doesn’t want to be here, playing this role she’s been forced into. That was obvious from the beginning, but now…

I’ve never been big on alliances. I work alone. Teaming up with someone else or creating some kind of partnership has always seemed to be more trouble than it would be worth. But in a situation like this, making a similarly-minded friend might be helpful.

“Hey,” I murmur to her in a low voice. “You doing okay?”

She glances mournfully at me and shrugs. “As okay as I’m ever going to be again, I guess.”

“Yeah. Can’t really argue with that.”

She looks startled by my blunt, quiet words, then narrows her eyes at me. “Really? Seems like you wanted to be here just as bad as anybody.”

“Seems like you don’t,” I shoot back, dodging the question. “So why are you?”

She looks like she’s going to cry again. Please don’t, please don’t. She takes a breath to stop the tears, and I let out a quiet breath of relief.