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Being on a Vampire’s Good Side Entails Risk
The Claw, The Curse and The Crown — 5
Find the series list at the foot of this chapter.
Darkness was drawing in. Roberto doused the embers of the fire, and wondered what Rochelle was cooking. Then he stepped into the velvet darkness, and the hairs on his nape rose to attention.
“Who’s there?” Roberto croaked.
“It’s me, Thoraminta.” The voice sounded above his head.
“Thoraminta? I can’t see you — come closer.”
The princess swung down silently from where she had been perched on the smithy roof, and Roberto startled.
“What happened to you? Where’s Grant?”
The princess, milky pale with dilated pupils, bore a fierce expression. When she did not reply, dread tiptoed up Roberto’s spine. Thoraminta remained as still as a statue.
“Grant is dead,” she said flatly.
“And you’re … undead?” The blacksmith hoped he was wrong, but every instinct was clamouring for him to run.
“That was the choice I made. Be calm, Roberto, I mean you and Rochelle no harm.”
“You chose to be a cursed blood-sucker? Why?” Roberto leaned against the wall, not trusting his legs to hold him.
