Howl by Brieanna Boyce (chrome ebook reader txt) 📖

I knew that she was.

“Oh quit pouting Tristan.”

I felt my fists clench but then I let them release and go limp. “Your highness,” I said blankly.

The queen sighed, “Are you always so formal? I am sure had I been Skylar you would be whispering sweet nothings in my ear.”

“I don’t hate her.”

The queen chuckled at this, “You do not hate me, you don’t know it, but deep inside you need me.”

“I have tried depending on you my lady, when I was young, but I hate you. I hate everything you are and I hope that one day,” I turned to look at her, “I get the chance to slaughter you.”

The queen shrugged sitting up, “Of course, but my blood is melded in yours, you want to kill me because I stand for everything you hate. However, you are going to realize after I die that you and I are not so different.”

“We are very different,” I hissed looking into her cold, hard, blue eyes.

The queen let a few moments pass, “I left the thrown to you, even before Delilah died.”

“I don’t want your thrown.”

The queen laughed, “Oh I very much doubt that, you love power, you yearn for it, more than anything.” She continued talking easily, “I’ve seen it in your eyes you’ve been denied so much liberty that you secretly want for power. You constantly fight the darker part of yourself, but you cannot, you can deny it as long as you like, you can lie or simply dismiss it. One day though you will have to come to terms with that darker part.”

I got up, put on my clothes, and left the room without another word. She was right, I do want power, and I do have a dark stain in my soul. That much I can’t ignore, but I was not her, I was not that soulless creature. I would fight, as long as I could, to be anything but her.

I visited Adoni, when he saw me he moved away, “What?”

I sighed, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was a vampire.”

Adoni shrugged, “I wouldn’t have believed you... are you and sis going to live forever?”

I smiled sadly, “Your sister doesn’t want to live forever and certainly not with me.”

He sighed, “I see, what is it like being immortal?”

“You have to watch all your loved ones die.” I wish I hadn’t said what I did that I could take it back, I looked over at Adoni, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s okay,” Adoni sighed, “That is a good point losing mom was really hard. Sometimes I worry I’m forgetting her, but then I see Skylar and realize that mom’s exactly like her.”

I sighed, Adoni really had no clue how dead on he was, I had figured out about their mom’s actual life before she died. There was no harm in not telling Adoni, let him think his mom died in a car crash and had never known anything of our world let him think this was all some freak chance.

“Hey maybe we can try to negotiate with the queen.”

I thought about it, normally I would’ve shot a person down but Adoni… Adoni was a really intelligent kid, and even more impressive than that was his ability to manipulate other’s emotions. He would have to be the more persuasive and the more charismatic than he has ever been before… but perhaps… I could hear him out. Besides, Adoni’s green eyes were like what Skylar’s used to be. They were glowing and dancing in a pool of dark green, only a brother of Skylar would attempt actually negotiating with the queen. I just hope it works out…


Skylar

The first thing I did when I woke up was to groan, I already felt better, but feeling better still meant like I feel like crap. I opened my eyes and had to squint against the surprisingly bright light. Then I realized that there was no sharp pain in my back just a bit of soreness.

I sat up and waited for my eyes to adjust, the pain was excruciating when I moved, so I lied back down. I noticed that I was comfortable; I closed my eyes and smiled, never was I so happy to be on a mattress. I looked up and saw a bright ceiling, the room was a light purple and very open with high ceilings and a large window. My clothes felt different, they weren’t sticky with blood or sweat, and they weren’t oppressive. In fact, it was the most comfortable thing I have ever worn. When I looked down I realized that it was a dress and a beautiful one at that. It wasn’t overly extravagant like a lot of the vampire girls here wore. It was a long flowing dress that spilled around me. The first layer of the dress was a soft pink material; a bow positioned on the center of my dress was a light blue. Than a trail of buttons came from the bow on my chest to my waist where the first layer of the dress parted, almost as if it were a petticoat and underneath this pink petticoat was a white flowing material soft as Egyptian cotton. It was quite lovely and you could tell that a lot of effort into it, and yet it held the casualty of a night gown. I found myself so comfortable in fact that I almost forgot I was held captive and most likely going to die while also shouldering the lives of my loved ones. Almost.

I tried to think, for what purpose would the queen dress me up and put me in a more relaxing room? It could be a display of the benefits of indulging the queen. I admit, it was a much more comfortable experience to be under her mercy however, I was not going to betray anyone’s life for the sake of luxury and comfort, so she’d have to do a lot better than this. There was also the gnawing worry that she was dressing me up for something else, an event of some sort. She probably could tell I was extremely weak, who wouldn’t be?

My stomach was rolling, it had not consumed food or blood in what I am guessing was a few days now. My eyes would go back and forth from the red blood vision, in which I could see the arteries, veins, and hearts of others, and then back to regular vision. Unfortunately, the red vision only came in flashes, so there was really no way I could use them to my benefit. No doubt, it was a symptom of my starvation.

Then suddenly it hit me, suicide. I could kill myself, I could starve to death, I was already starving if I just kept on perhaps I could die before the queen could pry information out of me. At first, suicide seems the escape of cowards, and in most cases it is. However I felt in this circumstance it was the best way to protect those I cared about, I knew Tristan would take care of Adoni, they could run away. Suicide, The thought made me smile, before it seemed to me a ghastly thing, but now death brought me close to its breast and cradled me. It would be hard to commit to starvation; it is not the easiest of ways to die, but if I could commit to it than I could save everyone. I could die so others could live; had I any tears left I would have wept at the relief of it.

Suddenly, a smell caused my resolve, which was not prepared for the assault, slipped. A boy walked in, his brown hair disheveled and his dark eyes wide in fear as he was thrown into my room. The door closed behind him and the boys smell filled the room. My mouth ached, my incisors slowly sharpened, and my parched tongue swept over my cracked, dry lips.

The boy took a shaky step closer, “the uhh… the guard told me you needed to drink blood.”

I covered my mouth and shook my head, the smell was so strong and pungent, it smelled great amazing. I could smell his mortality and almost tasted it on my lips. I let out a groan.

The boy stepped to the side of his bed his eyes wide with fear, “the guard said I had to…” he leaned forward dipping his neck towards me. I felt my tongue slowly surface from my lips than I retracted it quickly and pushed him away weakly.

The boy stumbled backwards only slightly, “you’re pretty weak for a vampire, and they said you killed a lot of vampires.”

“I don’t believe in drinking from humans, I only drink from vampires, but even now I’ve made the switch to blood bags from the blood bank or the hospital.”

The boy blinked shocked, “no way,” he sat his eyes widening, “are there more like you.”

“Well my friend, well he was my friend than my boyfriend… now he’s neither, he drinks from people than cuts them and bleeds out our poison so they don’t turn and I’ve never seen him drink anyone and kill them.”

“Whoa,” the boy said extremely intrigued, “I’ve never been bitten; I didn’t know you could be drunk from without turning or dying… but if you can do that and you know how why don’t you do it now?”

I shook my head, “I’m too weak right now I couldn’t control myself.”

“Why are you weak?” The boy asked.

I sighed, “The queen bled me out all yesterday,” I growled, “Someone needs to take her down.”

The boy blinked, stood up, and walked closer, “you need to drink from me, you can stop her, no one else will.”

“No,” I squirmed in the bed and could not help thinking of the boy Tristan killed, or Ashley, or that other girl who Delilah killed. They were all my fault, I couldn’t have another innocent life ruined or ended due to me.

The boy cradled the back of my head and pressed my lips to his neck, which made a shiver flow through both of us. I than traced my tongue over the vein their pulsing, beating, waiting for my sharp incisors to pierce through the thin flesh masking it. I closed my eyes and gave into the temptation for blood, my whole being ached for it.

Than Tristan walked in, the boy hesitantly pulled away, and I couldn’t help but feel as though something intimate were interrupted even though I knew it wasn’t the case. Tristan got red faced and stormed over, “What are you thinking?!” He shouted throwing his hands in the air, “are you mental?!

Tristan looked at the human boy with a stare that could melt flesh off bone. The boy shrank away his eyes wide with fear.

“Go away!” Tristan shouted, he then walked over and sat next to me.

I pouted and looked at the boy, “no he was just trying to help.”

Tristan leaned down, cupped the side of my face, kissed me gently and sighed. “You’ll be the death of me Skylar.”

The boy ran out of the room and I could not help but to feel ashamed at my behavior, I couldn’t believe that I had nearly given up on the very principles I believed in. Not drinking from humans; just to quench my own thirst.

Tristan dragged me close and muttered, “drink from me Skylar… drink