Page 5 of Fated to the Vampire Prince
Marius snarled. “I won’t hear your excuses. This has caused enough scandal for one night. I quelled the outrage of the nobility by announcing that you’ve chosen her as your next sanguine partner, and that this was a mutually agreed-upontaste test.”
The magickal barbs retracted, relieving me of the worst of the pain. I couldn’t believe my luck. The High Prince was forcing his brother to accept me. Finally, something had gone right. I pressed my lips together, thanking the Moon Goddess.
As if he could sense my relief, Bastien glared at where I sat huddled on the cold stone. “I refuse to take this woman as my sanguine partner.” He spread his arms wide as if in invitation. “I’ll gladly accept death over suffering her presence in my castle for a year.”
The smile on my lips wilted.He’d rather die than be around me?
The old wounds his statement poked hurt more than the fresh punctures on my neck. Something must be truly wrong with me if I could be born without magick, and if a murderous vampire would rather die than spend a year with me.
I didn’t belong anywhere. Not truly.
“Stop being dramatic,” Marius said dismissively. Theshadows around his eyes receded along with his fangs, a serious look replacing his threatening one. “I need you in the west, expanding our territory. Or here at court, ruling beside me, if you ever see fit to track down your mate.”
He playfully slapped Bastien’s shoulder.
“I’m a warrior, not a politician, as I frequently remind you,” Prince Bastien snarled. The courage of his conviction sent a wave of adrenaline through me. “If you’re forcing me to accept this woman only to placate the sniveling aristocracy, then I suppose you’ll have to kill me.”
I couldn’t believe the nerve of this self-righteous vampire. It must be nice to have had such a long, full life that he could throw it away over something this trivial. But my life was still on the line, and I very much wanted to live. If only to make up for my inability to fight dark magick alongside Sera.
I contemplated the vampires, unsure of what to do next. They were a portrait in opposites. Marius, with his short black curls and deeply tanned skin. Bastien, with his chin-length pale blond hair and blue eyes. One built for parties and courtly appearances, the other for war.
Marius offered me his hand. “Come, poppet.”
I knew what had to be done. I had to continue to play the part of the terrified human girl who was desperate for this job. I swallowed hard, trying to beat back the fear as I glanced at his long, spindly fingers. After a moment of trepidation, I clasped his hand and allowed him to help me to my feet.
Prince Marius cast a look at his brother once I was safely at his side. “If you choose to ignore my offer to spare your life, then I will make sure this girl is well cared for, in accordance with our laws. She’ll be sent to your castle, where she’ll live in your room. As is her right.”
I was being used as a pawn, but Prince Marius had no idea I was playing a different game.
“You cannot be serious!” Bastien interjected, stepping forward to glower at me. “That necklace of hers is responsible for your unhappy nobles. Mark my words, she’s nothing but trouble.”
I huddled closer to Prince Marius, continuing to play the part of the terrified girl covered in her own blood. Truth be told, I didn’t need to act very much. I was scared of what Bastien might do. With his lips and his teeth and his hands and that cane.
He was dangerous. A killer. And he wanted me dead.
Marius draped a protective arm around my shoulders, shielding me. “If the girl bought a magickal necklace to bleed for you, then all the better. She’s a cunning little thing who is willing to do whatever it takes to secure this job. Appreciate the gesture, Bastien.”
The vampire set his cool hand on the side of my flushed face, commanding my attention while speaking to his brother. “We love a willing and dedicated sanguine partner, don’t we? Someone desperate to gift us with what we so badly desire.”
I hid my disgust behind a demure smile, which Marius seemed to appreciate. This vampire thought me soft and sweet, like a ripe grape ready to be juiced. He was completely unafraid of me. But he should be very afraid of what a sweet grape like me could learn. Of the things I could whisper to my family. And of the vengeance we planned to take on their beloved Dark Witches.
His ego would be his undoing. These vampires thought everyone was thankful to serve them. It made them careless, which was exactly what Mama had taught me.
Bastien growled like an animal about to strike. The sound caused another bolt of terror to land in my gut. I tensed as he stepped closer, walking into another shard of moonlight. With Diana’s gentle glow clinging to the silver white of his hair, Icouldn’t look away. He was so strikingly handsome it stole my breath. Terrifying and alluring at the same time.
“I don’t trust her,” said the Duke, striking his cane on the ground. “You can’t force me to accept this arrangement.”
My hand trembled as it floated to my neck. The memory of the death I narrowly escaped fresh in my mind. Bastien tracked the movement, his pale blue eyes following like a hunter stalking his prey.
A smirk crested Marius’s lips before his hand fell from my face, and he turned to his brother. “You’re right. I can’t force you to do anything you don’t wish to do. If you want to die for your crime, then fine. I’ll cut off your head. But the girl will live in your castle and drink your wine and live handsomely while your bones rot away in a mausoleum. Few will mourn you. Least of all her.”
He paused, turning to me. “Will you mourn the Duke of Roselyn while you lay on his silky sheets?”
Bastien watched me carefully. I didn’t know what to say, so I simply shook my head.
Marius laughed musically. “After all this, who could blame you?” He touched the side of my cheek, trailing a long finger through something wet, which I assumed to be blood. “She’ll enjoy her days, serving Tyson, whowill bethe next Duke of Roselyn after your untimely death.”
“I will not allow it,” Bastien seethed.
