Page 1 of Fated to the Vampire Prince
Chapter 1
Voir
CLAIRE
Ispotted him across the ballroom and couldn’t look away. His golden hair was carelessly pushed to one side, and he wore a smirk that looked like he’d just awoken from a very good dream.
But I didn’t think anything Prince Bastien of House Allard did was careless, and he certainly didn’t dream. He was a vampire, just like all the princes who ruled the Unified Territories. And tonight, it was my duty to become his nextsanguine partner—the person he exclusively feed from for the next year—bound to him by contract at the conclusion of his Sanguination Ball.
I was repulsed by the idea of getting close to him, but I had no other choice. This was my fate. And if I failed… Suppressing a shudder, I touched the side of my neck, just above the black lace choker Mama bade me to wear. The vein in my neck throbbed, keenly aware of all the reasons I had to be afraid of a vampire.
Blackness crowded the edges of my vision, and queasinesschurned in my stomach. I stared at the floorboards, trying to slow my breathing.
Just thinking about the wordbloodmade me lightheaded, which was something I struggled with over the years. Now, I had no idea how I was going to convince a vampire prince that I was the one he was searching for. What if I swooned at his feet during my interview? That would put an end to my mission pretty damn quick.
My sister snapped open a paper fan and waved it in my direction. The cool air chilled my skin but did nothing to quell my nerves. “Don’t look,” Seraphina muttered, “butthe Duke himselfis staring right at you.”
I glanced up to find the pale blue eyes of Prince Bastien, the Duke of Roselyn, watching me from across the ballroom. His gaze cut through the pack of hopefuls crowded around him.
The eyes of my enemy.
Yet everything inside me stilled. My breath, my thoughts. I swear, even my heart skipped a beat. He was painfully, hauntingly beautiful. And like all predators, those eyes were crafted to lull me into a false sense of security. The longer he stared at me, the more time slowed. The people around me fading. Dulling. Blurring into the background. The chamber music and conversation fell to a low buzz.
I shook my head to clear it, but that didn’t help. It was like I was underwater, and the only thing I wanted to swim toward washim.
A disgusting concept.
“Enchanté,my dear,” said a silky voice that was so close, I swore it was whispered in my ear. I looked around for who’d done it, but no one was nearby. A musical laugh hummed in my ear, and my attention snapped back to the vampire.
It couldn’t have been him… but byDiana… it was. He was speaking to me.Inside my mind. It was terrifying. And yet, I waselated. Against all odds, I must’ve done something right. I’d caught his attention.
“Care to join me on the balcony?” The voice slid into my mind like a guest. “You look like you could use some fresh air.”
The Duke pointed to my left, and I followed his finger to a set of ornate doors. I struggled to find words, but I wet my lips and whispered back to him, “Is this for m-my interview?”
His mouth didn’t move, but I heard his reply just the same. “Yes. And no.”
The bubble of hope expanding in my chest popped.What did that mean?
I had to secure this job as his sanguine partner. I’d made a sacred vow to my coven, and even though I had no concept of what I was getting myself into, the fact remained. I might be a witch without magick, good for nothing but tending the gardens and feeding the crows. But I had to be better—different—than the girl I’d been if there was any hope of avenging Gran and the countless others who’d died at the hands of dark magick. The vampires had failed to maintain the balance of good and evil.
I had to become a spy.
The vampire broke eye contact, and my senses screamed back to life. The music. The chatter. My sister beside me. It returned so fast that I was dizzy all over again.
“I told younotto look,” my little sister said through her teeth. She fluttered the fan faster, blowing the fine hairs framing my face so they caught in my eyelashes.
“Telling someone not to look is daring them to do it,” I bit back, tearing the fan from her hand. “And stop waving this thing in my face.”
A swell of guilt rose in my throat. I wasn’t mad at Sera. I was just… nervous. Something I couldn’t afford to be.
I untangled a lock of silver lilac hair from my lashes only tofind the Duke of Roselyn chuckling like he’d heard our whispered conversation from across the hall. I swallowed hard. If he could speak to me from across the ballroom and distort the noises of the guests, then surely, he could heareverything.
A good thing to know for someone who wished to deceive a vampire.
Clasping his hands behind his back, the vampire strolled toward the set of ebony-stained doors he’d pointed to, casually shrugging off the questions of those around him. He glanced back and gave an encouraging, beckoning me forward. The look on his face was curious, but I was wary.
I didn’t want to follow him. I was scared of what might happen. But at the exact same time, it was all I wanted to do. There was no room for fear.
