Page 82 of Fated to the Vampire Prince
The chanting rose. Dry leaves whipped around the loose circle that had formed around the body. A sense of dread rolled through me.“You’re not just here to pay your respects. Are you?”
He pressed his lips together, and by the expression on his face, I knew the answer before he said anything at all.“Magick this powerful requires balance.”
The wind howled. The witches beside me were bumping into me as they swayed back and forth.The tide of magick so strong that it penetrated through our connection.“What do you mean?”
Slowly, Bastien’s hand fitted around my jaw, cupping my face like he was fond of doing. Holding my gaze as he contemplated me. I could feel how badly he wanted to tell me everything he was thinking, but there was fear.
Fear… he would…scare me.
“The moon is a flame fed by night. Her shape is made visible because of the darkness.”
I narrowed my eyes, trying to make sense of his words.“I don’t understand.”
“Let me show you.”
Animals hissed and clucked and screeched and growled. The chanting was nearly as loud as Bastien’s voice inside my head. He drew our foreheads together as the chaos unfolded around us and closed his eyes. Suddenly, an image filled my head, just as it had the other night. I was standing in a circle with a group of men when a silver cup was pushed into myhands. The liquid was red and thick and I was ordered to drink it by an old wizened witch.
There was excitement and pride but also…apprehension.
“Prince Bastien!” came the shrill voice from outside the memory. The scene faded away and all that was left was the hundreds of eyes staring at us. “Your Grace, if you will, step forward!” Hera called.
My eyes went wide, my breath refusing to come. “She doesn’t mean?—”
“Stay right here,” he said, stroking my cheek. “I’ll be back.”
I covered my mouth with a shaking hand as I watched him cut through the mob of witches with tears in my eyes. What was he doing? What was going to happen to him? I might be trying to accept and respect their ways, but a sudden rush of dread filled me, and I knew he trusted these witchestoomuch.
The bloodstone nestled against my breastbone throbbed like it wanted to be back with its mate.
In the distance, past the fence line, I saw a pair of glowing yellow eyes that seemed to be staring right at me. I didn’t know if it was one of the familiars…or something else.
Chapter 38
Changer
CLAIRE
Iswallowed hard, my breath shallow. I needed to know what was waiting out there in the shadows, but the yellow eyes disappeared.
The chanting rose again, a low rope of voices tightening around the fire. The air hummed with the scrape of feet on shell and the wet, hungry answers of beasts. Smoke braided with the scent of herbs and iron and pushed into my face, and every sense dragged my attention to the circle where Bastien stood, a pale silhouette lit from below.
Was it truly his duty, as the Duke of Roselyn, to participate in a funeral ritual? I’d never seen the Duke of Nightfall at my family’s estate charging moon crystals. Not that Mama would’ve invited him.But still.
More than a prickle of jealousy raced through me when he clasped hands with Hera. With her long pointed black nails and blood-red lips, she was everything I feared and longed to be. Clearly, there were things about the Duke I didn’t know, like who he was before he became a vampire prince of the House Allard.
The vision he showed me made me believe he wasn’t born a vampire, like his niece and nephew, but was made into one through a blood-drinking ritual. What was I missing?
“We invoke the powers granted to us by the God of the Underworld!” shouted Hera. The ground trembled beneath my feet. “Send our beloved’s magick into the body of the worthiest witch in our presence!” shouted Hera, raising their clasped hands into the air. Her eyes glowed a demonic red. His caught fire like sunlight on a frozen pond.
It was like I was seeing him for the first time. My hands were trembling, but not from the cold. Bastien had been a witch—a Dark Witch. Duty had brought him here. Duty to helphispeople. “Hear our plea, great shadow spirit!” shouted Hera. “Give us the strength to fight back against the threat that plagues our people!” She meant… my people.My family.“Infuse Temperance’s gift inside a warrior who will protect us.”
So it was true. Therewasa war. A sick feeling sat in my stomach and angry tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. It seemed Bastien had already chosen his side.
Power swirled around the two of them, popping and hissing, while the cold wind blew the sweet smell of dark magick through the bare trees. I had no weapons. No magick. No coven. No means to defend myself when their warrior appeared. I had nothing except my desire to keep my sister safe from all of this. To prevent her from being just another skeleton in our family graveyard. There was no mistake. These witches and their beasts were coming for her.
A sob lodged itself in my throat. Beautiful, reckless Sera. So full of life and talent. She deserved every good thing in the world. I wished I had been born with magick so I could lead the coven instead of letting all this fall into Seraphina’s lap. If only I had power.
The bloodstone around my neck warmed against my skin, throbbing like a second heartbeat. Bastien might preach acceptance, but I couldn’t acceptthiswas Sera’s fate. To fight and die in this war.
