Page 59 of Fated to the Vampire Prince
“One that isn’t fit for parties.” He paused, then said, “Besides, I think the better story is how His Grace asked for volunteers to dye their hair red.” He leveled a look at me, along with a charming grin. “I know I’m no Dark Witch like Devlinn, but I hope you’ll consider me just the same.”
My feet missed a step.Dye their hair?
Bastien hadn’t paraded nine Dark Witches in front of me—only one. He just wanted me to think they all were. Why? Why was he intent on treating me this way? It was almost like he didn’t want anyone else to touch me. Like… he wanted me to himself. But if that was the case, why not just say it? Because of the laws? He didn’t seem the kind to follow rules.
Still, he’d told me he didn’t want me, and I certainly didn’twant him. And yet, I couldn’t stop my thoughts from drifting to him, again and again.
During those quiet nights together in the tent, when we’d talked late into the night before he lay me over a pile of furs and sank his teeth into my thigh, licking and tasting my skin like I was the only thing in the world that could satisfy him.
“I’m sorry if I upset you,” Alec whispered.
“There is nothing to apologize for,” I reassured him. “I just was thinking about… something else.”
Alec spun me in another circle, but this time, when we came back together, he wasn’t being the flirt he’d been before. “They told you about my scratches. Didn’t they?”
I stilled. “Tansy mentioned you’d been hurt.”
Slowly, he pulled up his sleeve, revealing a set of angry red scratch marks that had been covered in thin linen bandages. My hand shot to my mouth. “What happened?”
He held my gaze, then said, “I was attacked during the last full moon… by a werewolf.” Disbelief cinched my brows together. A werewolf? “I know it’s a mad story, but I’m not crazy. I know what I saw. I know how I got these scratches.”
“Of course. The good news is that you’re safe now.” I knew without a doubt that Alec was my third. I needed more time with him. Alone. To hear his story. If not to spy on Bastien, then to learn what he knew. Mama would want to know. “I want you as one of my consorts. That is, if you’ll accept.”
“It would be my honor,” he said.
His fingers slid up my spine until they cradled the back of my head, thumb brushing the base of my skull. His other hand cupped my cheek, thumb ghosting over my lower lip. And still, maddeningly, Bastien’s face flashed through my mind. His lips at my throat, his voice in my head. I drew in a stuttering breath, which made him smile. But it wasn’t for him.
“Thank you for being so kind when others would shun me.I promise to repay each kindness in turn as one of your chosen.”
His comment warmed my cheeks. He was very handsome, that was hard to deny, but I knew this was his job, and he had to say things like that. I’d never been kissed before, even though the heavy sense that Bastien’s lips had been on mine once before lingered with me, but I had a tingling suspicion that Alec was about to kiss me.
He tilted his head. His lips angling closer. So close. Did I want him to kiss me? A little voice saidno. Because my body wanted someone else. Another saidyes. Because it would prove Bastien didn’t own me.
The sound of a door slamming sent my heart into a wild flutter.
Chapter 28
Dépouiller
CLAIRE
Ipulled away from Alec, putting a foot of distance between us. Only…it wasn’t His Grace in the doorway.
“Lord Tyson of House Allard, Viscount of Aurenne. And his sanguine partner, Lady Okeri Djannelle,” the attendant announced.
“I can’t believe you’re hosting a party and didn’t invite your favorite traveling companions!”
A whoosh of breath left me.
Tyson wagged two bottles of amber-colored spirits in my direction. “Miss Donadieu, this is the perfect opportunity to play a proper game ofDépouiller!”
Excited applause and giggles went around the room at the mention of the card game, and I swore the temperature rose as everyone’s attention shifted to me. I recalled the game they’d taught me to play on our way to Roselyn. The one that took me the better part of a day to learn and the one they’d abandoned, explaining it was only fun with more people and…strong drink.
Tyson kicked the door closed behind him and the pair strolled inside without further invitation. “Never, ever chooseyour consorts without playing Dépouiller with them first,” Lady Okeri told me, sauntering up to where I stood and pulling a deck of cards from the satchel around her waist. “It’s practically an unwritten law amongst sanguine partners.”
Okeri and the Viscount were both dressed in royal blue trousers and tunics that bore evidence of swordplay. Her curly hair had been braided in tight rows with gold beads threaded into the ends. She was so beautiful and fierce, it was hard not to be intimidated by her confidence and the way she justknewthings. Especially about this role I was supposed to be filling.
“Isn’t drinking with your consorts… illegal?” I asked Okeri.
