But I didn’t expect her to actually do it.
Cedar
Ishould have known it was a bad idea to follow Vesper to some random vampire sex house after she came to, spouting nonsense about our princess.
But I couldn’t blame her. Not when Aurelia was sitting on that chaise with a sinful dark red dress with a deep V that went straight to her belly button and the sides slit, giving us a glimpse of her tempting legs.
She was like a forbidden treat just waiting for someone to take a bite of.
Vesper? She was the rabid dog.
She lunged forward before I could stop her, but instead of burying her teeth into Aurelia, she stopped when the princess reached out and cupped the newborn vampire’s face.
Such a simple move, but it rendered her powerless.
Even I could hear Vesper’s shuddered breath. My heart ached, seeing her lean into Aurelia while the princess ran her hand through Vesper’s white hair in a soothing gesture.
They look so perfect together.That was how it always felt when I was looking in, watching them.
It was torture having them away from me for so long, but for them? Their bond must have made it excruciating.
My heart twinged. I felt more like an outsider than ever before. They seemed to fall back into their roles so easily, but me? There was still something gnawing at my chest, a violent emotion that had me banging at the cage around my heart.
“Poor Little Mouse,” Aurelia murmured, her voice full of mock pity.
Anger rose inside me, and my body moved of its own accord. I marched forward, ready to grab her by the hair and show her what it meant to leave us, but Vesper’s broken voice stopped me in my tracks.
“You abandoned us,” she whispered.
I could tell how hard that hit by the look in her eyes. For a minute, the mask dropped, and I saw the princess I knew.
“Without a word,” I added. “I only figured it out when Atlas’s people came to drag me back, saying you had left.”
When she looked at me, I saw a flash of…shame?
“I am doing what I need to do,” she said. As she slowly rose, Vesper grabbed her.
“You bonded him.”
Aurelia refused to look at Vesper, but that meant she had to meet my gaze. I was shocked to see the pain there.
“That’s what we do at vampire weddings.” There was zero remorse in her tone.
A hot, cutting emotion licked at my chest.
She bonded him. The random vampire. And now she was going to go off and do gods know what with him.
She got away from Vesper and stalked forward, stopping right in front of me, her hand reaching out to brush mine. Electricity zapped.
“You’ll see soon. Trust me.”
She walked past me. I turned in a panic, my hand reaching out to grab her, but she dodged me with ease, and I froze when I saw who was waiting for her in the doorframe.
Her new husband.
Caspian stood there, looking at us with an unamused expression. My gaze lingered on his bloodied mouth and clothes.
“Are they bothering you?” he asked. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the anger was back. I stepped forward, but Vesper’s hand took mine, stopping me.
