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her. Her heart raced faster.

"Did Kahli have any kind of friendship with Will Tatum?" the question was simple, direct. That worked best with fragile minded humans. The King had enough blood to compel her for weeks, but even as he asked, he could feel the power draining from him. The King knew he would need that power to find the wild girl - Kahli. She'd killed two guards and taken off on a snow mobile with a vampire in tow and Will chasing after her. Or accompanying her. He needed to know which one.

For the longest time, he was certain of the boy, but when he saw the expression in his eyes, when Will took off, running after the wild girl, he wasn't so sure. Fear flashed in the young Will's eyes, but fear of what? That was what he needed to know. His gut told him that Will saw the drained bodies behind him - that he saw the blood spilled on the floor. The boy knew of his power, of his ways for a long time, but he'd never reacted like that before. Every year the King had his way with a few of the girl's in the Queen's court. He did as he pleased, unknown to the Queen, and he drank directly from them. It made him stronger and stronger until it was difficult to hide his power. The King's lust for blood grew as his power increased. More bodies were required to sate his thirst, but when he tasted Kahli that changed.

After a moment, Cassie blinked. Her voice was soft and lacking any inflection, "No. He was her Handler. He took her blood. She didn't like it." Cassie fought the urge to delve deeper into her memories.

The King walked in front of the chair and leaned close to Cassie's face. The pale girl didn't move. He breathed in her face, "Does she have feelings for him?"

Before she could stop the words, they fell from her lips, "Yes, as her Handler."

The King looked puzzled, "Explain."

Cassie could feel the words being pulled from her. "Sometimes a Handler can arouse his charge. Kahli was upset by it."

"She's attracted to him." He said, and turned to look at the fire, stroking his chin. "Interesting. Very interesting. This is Will Tatum, correct? The same boy she stabbed? The same boy who was charged to make her presentable to the Queen?"

Cassie fought the urge to nod, but her head moved without her consent. Cassie's eyes fixated on the flickering flames. She wanted to say something to contradict Kahli's secret, but she couldn't. Not while the King had her under his thrall.

The King circled the chair and bent at the waist looking into her eyes. "One last question, Cassandra. Did she act on these feelings?"

"No," she said flatly. Her tongue twisted around the word, unable to hold it back, but she kept from saying more, from offering that she didn't know. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she suspected that something happened between them. The way Will and Kahli acted around each other wasn't one-sided. Will was always sweet, but he didn't look at anyone else the way he looked at Kahli. Cassie never spoke these words to her friend and she wouldn't speak them now to the King. They hadn't formed into full thoughts yet, just prickling premonitions at the back of her mind.

Disappointment shot through the King. "Damn it," he swore, turning from her. Staring out the window, the King's eyes raked over the frozen landscape below. The information that he gleaned was useful, but only if he captured one of them. If that stubborn girl had feelings for Will, the King would certainly use it. The question that still hung in the air was whether or not Will returned those feelings. That boy was difficult to read.

"Go," the King said, dismissing Cassie without a backward glance. "Return to your bed and do not discuss this with anyone."

Cassie's body stood and before she could blink, her feet started moving, and took her out the door. Cassie was aware of her bare feet on the plush carpet and of her hand gripping the brass door knob, twisting it closed in her palm. When she turned to walk back to bed, Cole bounded up beside her.

He grabbed his sister's shoulders and turned her toward him, "Thank God! Are you all right?" He looked her over, Cole's anxious eyes meeting hers. "Cassie, what'd he do to you?"

Cassie seemed like she was in a