Page 9 of Princess Claimed

Diederik puts his hand over Phil’s forearm. “I understand,” he says calmly. “And I will help, if you permit me.” He shakes his head, as if the grenade, not to mention our being here, is a minor annoyance. Just a tiny blip in his day.

He’s too calm. I want to set him on fire.

Phil backs off the man, and Diederik picks up the phone. But before he dials, an electronic sound pings, and a large screen on the far side of the room comes to life.

“Ah,” Diederik hangs up the phone. “I should get this.” He pushes a button at the side of the desk, and the screen fills with the image of a large, blond-haired vampire.

“Princess Anastasia,” says the vampire on the screen, an urgent tone in his voice. “She’s in grave danger.”

“No fucking shit.” Phil stomps toward the screen. “How do you know, and who the fuck are you?”

“Gentlemen.” Diederik steps toward the screen. “May I introduce, Calix. Precisely the vampire I was about to contact.”

“Are you psychic?” Crusher asks, clear skepticism in his voice.

Diederik gestures toward the screen. “Calix is a Knight of the Royal Order of Sanguis?—”

“Former.” The big man on the screen interjects. “And no, I’m not psychic, but I have the ability to sense other vampires. To pick up on their vibrations. Especially members of the royal family.”

“How?” Crusher charges the screen.

I grab his shoulder. “Does it matter how? If he can find her?—”

“Where is she?” Phil shouts, his entire body charged and ready to detonate.

The Knights of the Order of Sanguis are a secretive group, but everyone knows that one of their primary duties is to protect the Monarchy. Their having a member who can locate the royal family is not a huge shock to me.

Blade appears at my side, shaking. “We need to find Ana,” he says toward the screen. “Please. Tell us whatever you know.”

“He’s been trying to.” A female vampire appears on the screen beside the vampire called Calix.

Calix slides his arm over her shoulders, plants a kiss on the top of her curly blond hair, and a soft, contented smile brushes her lips.

“This is Willow,” Calix says. “The love of my life.” His expression shifts as he looks at her, and the love in his eyes is so palpable it sears me inside. Because I can no longer deny how strongly I feel about Ana. If anything happens to her…

“Where! The fuck! Is! She?” Phil shouts, each word coming out hard and strong.

Calix leans forward. “I’ve narrowed it down to the Philadelphia area.”

“No shit.” Phil stomps his foot so hard the paintings on the walls shake.

“Let him talk.” I punch my brother’s shoulder, and Phil grunts.

“I contacted you, Diederik, because she’s in Philadelphia,” Calix says from wherever the hell he is. “The princess is in a great deal of pain. She’s very afraid, which is unusual, because Her Highness is very brave.”

“We know,” the four of us say in unison.

“Where is she?” I ask. I mean, seriously, when will this dude get to the point?

“I don’t know.” Calix shakes his head. “Not exactly. But we’ve been studying maps of the city.”

“We?” Lighting a match, I flick it to the side, not even bothering to aim or let it burn out. “How long have you known she’s in danger? Why didn’t you do something sooner?”

Calix and Willow lean back, and two other male vampires appear in the frame.

“Zane here,” says a dark-haired one with a stern expression. “We’re in Europe, at the moment.” His tone is clipped. “And for your information, Calix has been on this case from the moment he felt a shift in the princess’s vibrations. For a couple of weeks, Calix couldn’t detect Her Highness. She might have been held in an underground dungeon?—”

“Dungeon!” Crusher interrupts. “She was in our home. We were keeping her safe.” He punches his chest.

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