I chuckled. “I do.”
“Good,” he murmured. “Because even though there’s no longer a curse, I can’t seem to sleep without you.”
He rolled to his back, still not releasing me, and I went with him, my head on his chest. I could feel that heartbeat beneath my palm now—slow and strong, and utterly unburdened.
And then he whispered, his fingertips trailing through the whorls of my hair, “I love you, seer.”
My eyes closed.
Strange, how being so exposed can make a soul feel so very safe.
We had challenges ahead of us, I knew. A kingdom that would not want to accept us. A human populace struggling with poverty and drug addiction and decades worth of oppression. A Bloodborn populace still struggling with an ancient curse, even if Atrius’s had been lifted. A vampire society that might one day decide to interfere with ours. Gods who may grow displeased at a kingdom led by a vampire and a human.
I was more vulnerable than I had ever been.
But for the first time in my life, I was not afraid. I was at peace with the past, the present, and the future.
“I think,” Atrius murmured, as if he was having the same thoughts I did, “the future will be good.”
He said this thoughtfully, slowly, like it was a conclusion he had arrived at logically.
“You’re lucky I believe you,” I murmured.
“I don’t lie.”
I smiled, recognizing the echo of our past. “Everyone lies.”
He stroked my hair. “Not me.”
And Weaver help me, I believed him.
THE END
Read on for a note from the author plus a preview of Slaying the Shifter Prince by Clare Sager—the next book in Mortal Enemies to Monster Lovers!
Author’s Note
Thank you so much for reading Slaying the Vampire Conqueror! This story and these characters took me by surprise, and I hope you loved reading this tale as much as I loved writing it.
The world of the Crowns of Nyaxia is so dark, twisted, and complex. I absolutely loved getting the opportunity to explore other corners of it with this story. If you’d like to read more vampire goodness in this world, check out the Crowns of Nyaxia series, starting with The Serpent and the Wings of Night. While Sylina and Atrius have their happy ending with each other, they still have tons to accomplish in the Crowns of Nyaxia world—they will be making very important appearances later in this series!
If you enjoyed this book, I would truly appreciate if you’d consider giving a review on Amazon or GoodReads. I can’t overstate how important reviews are to authors!
And if you’d like to be the first to know about new releases, new art, new swag, and all kinds of other fun stuff, consider signing up for my newsletter at carissabroadbentbooks.com, hanging out in my Facebook group (Carissa Broadbent’s Lost Hearts), or joining my Discord server (invite at linktr.ee/carissanasyra!).
I would love to keep in touch!
Slaying the Shifter Prince
PREVIEW
CLARE SAGER
1
Ten years.
It was a long time to wait.
But revenge was a patient master, and I was its creature.
From up here in the fly loft, the stage looked so small… and yet the audience looked smaller. In the dimness, they stared at the jugglers as they threw flame into the air. They caught it, tumbled with it, danced with it, like it was a beautiful partner and not a deadly one.
At my side, Eric shifted, worrying the cuff of his shirt. He wasn’t usually this agitated, and we’d fucked twice today, so he’d had a chance to get out his pent up energy.
Then again, this wasn’t any usual performance.
And this wasn’t any usual audience, as a pair of horns jutting from the darkness reminded me.
These were fae.
Prince Sepher of the Dawn Court lived here outside the capital—exiled. (I might’ve had something to do with that.) In his exile, he’d gathered the misfits and the monstrous—the fae who struggled to fit in at the capital and instead dwelled in the Court of Monsters.
And monsters they were.
At the back, I spotted one with leathery wings, another with feathered. Various horns, curled like a ram’s or stubby and short like a young goat’s, as well as branched antlers that caught the stage light.
My prince had no horns. But he was the most monstrous of them all.
From up here, he was only a shadow amongst his followers, but I knew what those shadows hid.
Claws. Fangs. Slitted pupils. A tail that had swept in agitation the one time I’d properly seen him.
More animal than fae.
I didn’t bother to keep the sneer from my face—they couldn’t see me up here in the theatre’s labyrinthine catwalks.
Eric and I sat above the stage, legs dangling. The prince had quite a set-up in his partially ruined palace with its own theatre. The walkways up here were chaotic and jumbled, some repaired. Below, an impressive thrust stage extended into the seating, allowing the audience to sit on three sides.
It was my favourite stage set-up, giving me the opportunity to perform left and right, making eyes at my spectators, angling my poses to best excite them. Tonight, I’d have one focus, though. He sat right at the end of the stage, front and centre, in a large, gilded chair.
At my side, on the far more mundane seat of the catwalk’s timber, Eric chewed a cuticle. His sovereign ring caught the light, the little flower engraved in its flat surface glinting.
“You’ll ruin your hands.” I gave him a sidelong look.
With a huff, he thrust his fingers into his lap. But a moment later, he was chewing his lip.
“I’ll be fine.” I squeezed his thigh, running my thumb along solid muscle. They were quite impressive muscles, too, thanks to hours rehearsing and performing on the trapeze.
He pressed his lips together. “Hmm.”
My reassurance was a lie. And from his reaction, he knew it.
I didn’t expect to survive the night. But as long as I was successful, as long as I ripped apart that bastard prince with my iron blade, it didn’t matter.
“Are you sure about this, Zita?”
Not my real name, of course. Average women from Albion didn’t have such exotic names. That was exactly why I’d chosen it for the stage.
The great and beautiful Zita will spin impossible feats before your very eyes. It had much more of a ring to it than Marigold will dance in a suspended hoop and try not to fall and break her neck.
In performance, it was all about the sell.
“Am I sure? Hmm, I don’t know.” I pulled a thoughtful face, touching my chin. “It’s only been a decade in the making. Let me think… Of course I’m bloody sure. That bastard thinks he got away with it. It’s about time his past caught up with him.” My smile was stiff and sharp—it might’ve looked more like a snarl.
Eric’s jaw flexed as he searched my eyes and finally inclined his head.
Below, the jugglers—a dozen brothers and sisters who lit up the stage with constant movement—took their marks, ready to form a pyramid for their frenetic finale.