Page 70 of Fated to the Vampire Prince
There was so much more to explain but now wasn’t thetime. I had to speak with Natalia and tend to the council. “I promise I’ll answer all your questions. But right now, I need your word that you’ll keep it out of sight.”
Nodding, she said, “I promise.”
I took her face between my hands and placed a slow kiss on her lips. One that stirred more than my desire, but my deep and growing affection for this brave, beautiful creature. When I pulled back, I found it difficult to leave, even though I knew I had to.
“Goodnight, Claire.”
“Goodnight, Bastien.”
With that, I buttoned up my shirt and fastened my trousers, then made my way to the door, casting one last glance at her before leaving her alone. At least I knew she would be safe. If she needed me, she’d call for me. And if she didn’t, well, I’d always know how to find her.
Chapter 32
Montrer
BASTIEN
The gravity of what I’d just done and the decisions I’d made settled over me when I came face-to-face with Natalia. As soon as the door was closed, she rounded on me. “What the hell was going on in there?”
Despite the sound-dampening spells on Claire’s room, she knew I was doingsomethingI shouldn’t have been. My niece knew the law just as well as I did. Vampires aren’t allowed to make sexual advances on their sanguine partners.
From her perspective, what I was doing wasn’t just foolish. It was illegal. But she didn’t know the truth. So, instead of being honest, I brushed past her, making my way across the hall toward the council chamber, irritation collecting at my temples.
Undeterred, Natalia grabbed me by the arm and whirled me around. When she did, her eyes fell to my chest. “Bastien!” she gasped. “Your bloodstone!”
I looked down, realizing that I hadn’t put my jacket or cravat back on, and the bloodstone was glowing right through the buttonholes. Pulsing away for all to see. “Leave it alone,” Isaid, slapping her hand away and turning to fetch a new jacket and tie from my room.
Natalia followed at my heels. The door of my private apartment—which was carved of ebony-stained wood and bore the sigil of House Allard—opened at my approach. The magick of the castle allowing only its master passage.
She followed me inside, and the door closed behind us. “Gods, this makes so much sense!” she nearly shouted once we were safely behind the wards. “This explains why you’ve been acting so… soweird.”
I glared at her. I’d been called many things over the course of my life, but never had I been accused of beingweird. I could feel my temper begin to rise, and the part of me that was a predator awakened, just as it had done in Claire’s room.
“Uncle, you know what this means,” Natalia continued. “The implications alone of taking your mate as a sanguine partner are severe. You could be dethroned! Or worse,exsanguinated!”
“Don’t you think I know that!” I shot back.
If she could figure it out in a matter of weeks, it was only a matter of time before others did as well. Marius might’ve forgiven me for tasting Claire’s blood before the first bite, but he would have no tolerance for this. He’d demand my return to the capital, or he’d be duty bound by the Blood Treaty to kill me.
My carefully composed life felt like it was unraveling at the seams. I was acting careless and impulsive—wholly unlike myself. But there was nothing I could do to stop the effects of our mate bond. I knew I was risking everything by telling Claire about our mate bond and giving in to my primal urges, but I didn’t know how to resist her. It was like asking a vampire not to crave blood. It was… impossible.
Unless, of course, I was willing to summon a god.Which I wasn’t.
When I saw the tears in Natalia’s eyes, I realized she was less angry at me for keeping this from her and more afraid. Still, I couldn’t find it in me to ask for her help. “I’m sorry,” I told my niece. “Trust that I know what I’m doing.”
When she didn’t respond, I made my way toward the back of my apartment, to the bedchamber I never used except to store my clothing. “I do trust you,” she said, as I grabbed a fresh jacket and shrugged into it. “More than anyone else. But this is different. You’remated. To her of all people. By the gods, Bastien—you have new responsibilities. Things you’re supposed to do. Like, create an heir that isn’t Tyson!”
“My heir wouldn’t be ready to lead for decades.”
“The longer you wait, the longer it will take to replace Tyson!”
I glared at her. “I don’t mean to leave Château Rose and start a family. I’m staying put.”
She stood there, mouth agape. As if I needed to be reminded, the weight of those responsibilities followed me wherever I went. For a vampire, being mated wasn’t just a responsibility. It was a way of life.
But one thing was for sure:I would not create an heir with Claire.
For the longest time, I’d thought was a mateless vampire. Forgotten by the gods and glad for it. In nearly five hundred years since I’d been turned, all of my brothers had succumbed to their mate bond multiple times over as their mates were reborn again and again.
