She let out a hum. “Maybe you’re not as cruel as the rumors have you out to be.”
“My people have suffered under my family, then were used by Prince Icas, only to now fall under the rule of my brother, who has been murdering them left and right. They deserve freedom.”
“I want them.”
My heart sank. My fists balled at my sides.
“No.”
Her smirk was so wide that I caught not one, buttwoof her shiny canines, giving her a total of four on each side.
I’ve never seen a vampire with a mutation like this.It scared me to think I had no idea of what type of creature I was dealing with.
“Even if it’s the difference between your life and death.”
“Even then,” I said and stood tall. My people were nonnegotiable. I might not be their princess anymore, but I would do what I could to help with their suffering.
She held my gaze before delivering another one of those skin-crawling laughs.
“I told you, Princess; we have other creatures in our depths and have no use for your kind. I just wanted to see your reaction. I will provide some of our strongest, but don’t expect an army.”
Relief washed through me. Even if I couldn’t win this…they could.It hurt to think of what would happen to Vesper and Cedar when I was gone. Especially when we had just been reunited again.
“My husband will see to the land. Show up tomorrow, and it’s yours.”
I walked past her, not willing to stay any longer in such a claustrophobic place. It felt like the walls might collapse on me.
“Just a warning, Princess. If we see this Royale going south, we are backing out. Silently and without warning. Even awhiffthat it is doomed, and we are gone.”
“I would expect nothing less from a ruler who cares for their people,” I said and continued my exit.
“Good luck, Princess. If fate allows, maybe the world can finally see what true nightmares lie below the surface.”
Cedar
One more day.
One more day, and Aurelia was off to meet her husband. I was part jealous and part nervous. Tomorrow we would end this, for better or for worse.
Hopefully for the better.
I still felt like I wasn’t contributing enough because I wasn’t going to the coven. Vesper had been beaten up by the general and still went back to her hunter brother, after all.
Both of them had made a very interesting case for me not to. Apparently, tag-teaming me was an easy way to get me to submit.
But there was just too much on the line.
Now we were going crazy, searching the entire palace for the remote possibility that there could be a rune hiding somewhere. But the longer I stayed in the castle, the surer I was there was no magic involved at all.
Vesper and I had split up, with her taking the upper levels of the castle and me the lower. Hours later, and there was no hint of magic. Nor any sign of what Aurelia was doing through the bond.
My mind was going crazy.
Did she send us on a wild goose chase to distract us from her real purpose?
The palacewas unusually quiet. No sign of her brother or any of his guardsmen.
My brain started feeding me images of her being tortured. Of her brother figuring out our plans and taking her hostage. Or maybe Solei, who eyed her with so much disgust it made my skin crawl. Maybe he’d found a way to take what he was owed, just like her father did.
