Page 30 of The Depraved Prince
Still…she doesn’t hold a candle to Millie’s beauty, even with vampire enhancements. Millie is majestic for a human, and her waves of beauty are undeniable.
“Was what worth it, princess?” I tease with a bitter tone. I blow smoke into the air in the opposite direction of the Southern King’s daughter. I knew she was going to pay me a visit after I killed her brother to save Millie. They still don’t know the Valkyrie is in our hands, just a few rooms down.
I’ve known Eleanor all my life. We’ve had our ‘fun’ and occasionally still do whenever we want or when fate brings us together. We’ve gotten along pretty well over the past two hundred years.
She wants a life of commitment from me, but I’ve never been able to give it to her. I’ve been honest, and she has a number of men lining up to meet the standards I can’t. So, when she heardan arranged marriage was in the cards for both of us, she was excited.
The night I ran into Millie Flores, I was going to get on one knee and propose to Eleanor, as my father had wished not to break tradition.
Instead, I brutally murdered Davenport vampires by detaching their heads from their bodies, ending their lives, and beginning the start of chaos…a war.
“There’s no way I can marry you now, knowing you spilled Davenport blood in the South. How dare you!” She hisses. She grips the railing tight like she’s ready to unleash built-up resentment.
I raise an eyebrow at her, confused by her anger. I tilt my head to the side, just as a strong breeze blows through her strawberry-blonde hair.
Doesn’t she know that her father broke the law? That he had his men kidnap an innocent girl? Break her bones and was going to suck her dry? The animal attacks that the humans have been reporting on the news are due to her father. Her region is casually slaughtering innocents looking for Valkyries, so her father can unlock his powers.
“You killed our kind for this human girl. When did Hayden Drago begin to have a soft spot for mortals?”
I roll my eyes, smirking, taking the last hit of my cigarette before I unleash my truth.
“I don’t have a soft spot for humans. Ask your daddy to tell you the truth, Eleanor. I won’t break your precious heart any more than I already have.”
“What are you talking about?”
I cross my arms over my chest, a yawn following suit.
“Ask. Your. Father.” I push forward into my bedroom, and she follows.
“I can smell her. You have her, don’t you?”
I freeze momentarily. They can’t find out we have her, or the Davenports will surround us like prey.
I keep walking until I fall onto my bed nonchalantly. Doing whatever I can not to give away my little Bambi. I cross my hands behind my back, and Eleanor watches my abs contract as I take slow breaths.
“What you smell is my new toy for the week. I have to quench my thirst some days. Even you know that, Eleanor.”
She has her own victims and drinks from the source when the cravings get too loud.
“Are you fucking your meal too?” She flashes to my bed, standing before me.
“Jesus, Eleanor. Why so angry? Are you jealous?” I sit up, amused.
“Of course not.”
“For someone who traveled far from Daddy’s castle to question me makes me think otherwise. All the way from Texas to Montana. You flatter me, Eleanor.” I palm my chest with an innocent, forced grin.
She bites her lip, and her eyes turn bright blue, as all southern vampires do when their emotions are high. Her eyes change from human-like green to ice-blue eyes.
“I wanted to marry you, Hayden! Now, I’m not sure we will be able to!”
“Eleanor! We both know you deserve more than me. An eternal life with me might seem like heaven to you, but it will only be hell,” I snap, but I stay relaxed. Fighting the urge to change appearance. “I’m not capable of love, Eleanor. You know this.” I stand before her in a second. Holding both her hands, granting her compassion I never give. “You deserve someone who will worship the air you breathe. Another man deserves the smile you bless anyone that’s lucky enough to see it. Or when you enter the room, the man that adores you will fucking fall on hisknees and kiss the floor that you walk on because you made time come to a stop for him.” The more I ramble, the more I expose myself.
I’ve never felt like that with anyone before, but here I am, spilling a truth I didn’t know resided in me. The minute I saw Millie…that’s how I felt. The more I stalked her in the weeks that followed, it became more evident and clear to me that there was something different about her. I’ve been telling myself it has to be some sick game that Valkyrie’s unknowingly inflict upon us…it has to be that.
It can’t be that a human with pretty black hair dangerously pulls me in like a magnetic force. It can’t be a girl who always smells so serene, like strawberries, that makes me feel like a weak man.
It can’t be.
