One Bite Read Online Free PDF Page A

searching within the kingdom’s border for Serafina’s territory.
     
    “Her castle must be there somewhere,” he murmured. If he was right, and Serafina did know more about the prophecy than she was sharing, then finding her castle would provide him with the greatest chance of getting that information. As the prince of the kingdom, he had the right to demand entrance to any building in Dacia , including Serafina’s castle. All he had to do was find it.
     
    The sorceress had been irritatingly secretive about the location of her home. No matter how Kirill flattered her or seduced her, the woman refused to invite him to her home. Without the invitation, Kirill had thus far found it impossible to locate her.
     
    Growling, he turned away from the map and strode to the door. He would leave now and search until he found Serafina’s castle. He would find her tonight if he had to ask every creature in the kingdom for clues.
     
    Kirill shut the door behind him, forcing himself to do it quietly. He stormed through the twisted passageways, his mind spinning over his kingdom, trying to parse out where to start his search.
     
    “Kirill!”
     
    The queen clutched at her chest as Kirill jerked to a halt just in time to keep from running her down. Her brown eyes narrowed.
     
    “Kirill, really, must you blunder around like that? You nearly scared my heart to beating again.”
     
    “My apologies, Mother,” Kirill said, infusing his voice with sincerity as he smoothly drew his mother’s attention away from the passage he’d just come down. Her gaze followed him as he turned, taking her hand in his as he did so. “I did not mean to frighten you.” He laid a kiss on the back of her hand.
     
    “Why don’t you turn that charm on a young lady from a nice noble family?” his mother demanded, pulling her hand back. “You’re not getting any younger, you know.”
     
    “I’m not getting any older either.”
     
    The queen rolled her eyes. “You jest, but I am not kidding. Find a wife, settle down, and stop stalking around like a lion with a thorn in its paw.”
     
    Kirill fixed a polite smile on his face as he fought the urge to grind his fangs. “Yes, thank you for the advice, Mother. Now if you’ll excuse me, I really must be going.”
     
    “Off to do some more scheming, no doubt.”
     
    “I—”
     
    “No, no, don’t tell me, I don’t want to know,” his mother interrupted. “You and your father can parcel it out amongst yourselves, I want no part of it.”
     
    Kirill’s shoulders dipped slightly as he watched his mother sweep down the hallway, headed in the direction of her chambers. It had taken him nearly a decade after rising from the grave to fully realize what rising from the undead meant for his chance at the throne. Almost ten years to realize that not only would his father never die, or grow too old to rule, he would also never step down and let Kirill succeed him. Kirill didn’t blame his father for that, after all, it was from his sire that Kirill had inherited his thirst for power. The fact that his mother had never pressured the king, never even tried to insist that her son, who had been training to take the throne all of his human life, be given a chance to rule…that had hurt.
     
    “It doesn’t matter,” he whispered. He turned and flowed down the hallway, not slowing down even after he’d burst through the front gates. The guards saluted him, standing so hard at attention that they nearly vibrated with the effort. Kirill flashed his fangs, making his mood clear just in case there was any doubt. The cool caress of the winter air on his fangs reminded him that he had not yet fed, and he made a mental note to keep an eye out for an appropriate meal. With any luck, he would encounter a traveler and be able to slake his thirst, hypnotize them, and send them on their way.
     
    Almost as if the gods were listening, a tinge of blood tickled his nose. Kirill froze, his gaze darting about the