Maybe this urge was something…artificial, because of this bond she’d been forced into. But then she thought back to her time in Monte Carlo, before they shared blood, and she had craved for Byron to bite her neck. She’d encouraged it.

Amelia covered her face with her hands, and heard footsteps coming across the grass.

She opened her eyes and saw Bhal coming towards her. She had no idea if Bhal was a supernatural creature too, despite her modern military utility trousers, boots, and long black hooded cloak.

Bhal stopped in front of her and bowed her head. “Principessa?”

“Don’t call me that. I didn’t choose that title, nor this stupid bonded-by-blood thing,” Amelia snapped.

“May I sit?” Bhal asked.

Amelia sighed. “If you like.”

Before Bhal sat she took off her long black coat and wrapped it around Amelia’s shoulders. “You look cold.”

It was a sweet gesture, and she couldn’t help but soften her attitude. She pulled the jacket tightly around her and began to warm.

Underneath the jacket, Bhal was every inch the warrior. She had a sword with an intricate hilt inlaid with green gemstone, strapped to her back. From the belt of her utility trousers hung a pair of dangerous looking daggers which were strapped to her thighs. Amelia was quite certain there were other weapons hidden from view.

“Did Byron send you out here?” Amelia asked Bhal.

“No. Not at all. She’d probably be pissed off with me if she knew.” Bhal sat and took out a silver hip flask, and took a swig. “Would you like a drink?”

It wasn’t quite lunchtime, but after what she had just witnessed, she guessed that it was allowed for shock. She wasn’t a whiskey drinker, so the swig of alcohol almost made her gag, but then the burning warmth gave her a little comfort.

“Thanks.”

“What brings you out here?” Bhal asked.

“I could list about fifty things, but I’d say seeing the woman you love feeding on another person would make you want to take some air to calm down.”

Bhal turned around and faced her with her brows furrowed. “She fed in front of you?”

“Yes. Apparently to show me why she kept all these secrets from me. In her words, to show how I could never love a monster like her.”

“You’ll have to forgive her. She isn’t feeling herself just now. She feels out of control, and frightened.”

Amelia was surprised. “You are the second person to tell me Byron is scared, and I just can’t believe it.”

Bhal sighed and took another drink. “I shouldn’t be telling you this probably, but Byron has been scared since she was eighteen years old. That is why she is so controlled.”

Amelia turned and sat cross-legged on the bench. She had to know more. “Why?”

“She told you about the difference between turned and born vampires?”

Amelia nodded.