I gasped, tearing my wrist from his hand. “Did you just ask me to be your mistress?”
How dare he!
“I … I’m trying to find a way we can be together.” Shame burned in his voice as I stepped away from him.
“All royals, please report to the fighting mat,” the announcer said, the command muffled in our tiny closet.
“I want you.” Hurt crossed his face, still glowing from the blacklight as he reached for me. “More than I’ve ever wanted anything.”
Tears lined my eyes, as my heart burned with the reality of our situation.
“You have to have children to be king? How is that even possible? You’re a vampire and so is Cassara. You can’t procreate.”
He looked down at me sadly. “We grew up in a breeding farm similar to the one your mother is in. When I was seventeen, they … took sperm samples. The same with Cassara for her eggs. We have human embryos waiting to be inserted into a surrogate. Once the children come of age, they would be changed and the Drake line goes on forever.”
I stumbled backward. “That’s … you can’t … how?” My mind spun with questions.
He was changed against his will?
“I would never do that to my children, but I need to get put into power before I can make changes,” he pleaded with me.
A sob ripped from my throat at the sheer horror of it all. He and Cassara already had embryos together?
“Luka Drake to the fighting mat!” The announcer sounded annoyed.
Luka nodded. “Now you see my entire life has been planned for me. I’ve had no say in any of this. I never wanted to be king until now. To save Walsh, Talon, Bennett, your mom. I’ll do it for them.”
Tears slid down my face and I nodded softly, coming to terms with our situation. Mistress or nothing. Those were my options.
“Good luck in your fight. I hope you win and get everything you want,” I said sincerely, turning to leave the room. I wasn’t going to waste my youth on another guy who couldn’t commit to me. With each step I took away from Luka, I hardened my heart toward him. I wouldn’t let him die of starvation, we would always have this bond and I would honor it, but I wasn’t going to kiss him again, or flirt, or allow myself to be wooed by his charms. I wanted marriage, kids, and the whole package. Mistress wasn’t enough.
Chapter Six
The first fighthad already started, between Morgana and Keres, and I watched in horror as they tore each other apart. I didn’t mind blood and gore, I was a hunter after all, but it seemed stupid to me that you would kill all of these royals just to have a last-man-standing type of thing. But the Drakes had bloodline in spades. There were over a hundred of them. Losing ten a year was nothing. And now that I knew about their little embryo breeding program, I was sickened by how long they could continue their line.
Forever?
The former mad king tore into Morgana but it was clear he was weakening. He swayed and then buckled under her. The female vampire stood with a feral grin, blood dripping from her dagger as she hovered over Keres, who lay on the floor.
He looked up at her, the oldest vampire alive, and didn’t move.
“Do it,” he begged, and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. He was craving an end … that much was clear. Without so much as a pause for thought, Morgana slammed the dagger right into his heart and his body stilled, slowly drying up into a petrified husk and turning to ash.
Silence spread over the gathered crowd. There were hundreds of vampires present. They’d been cheering and screaming through the entire fight but now said nothing. There was no honor in killing someone who just lay there and asked for it.
“Morgana Drake. Winner!” the female announcer finally said and the crowd cheered, though it seemed forced. Morgana was bloody and beaten but still very much standing. With a nod she called her feeder over to her and the good-looking male human stood and approached her.
We were here to feed them so they could heal rapidly after a fight if injured; it was slightly horrifying. We were basically human coffee cups.
The female announcer looked down at a sheet she held in her hand and then pulled the microphone to her lips. “Next fight! Isabella Drake and Georgio Drake!”
Everyone fell into hushed silence. They were brother and sister! My mouth hung open, horrified when I realized Keres, the mad king who’d just died, was their father. I couldn’t imagine grieving my father and fighting my brother on the same day.
Izzy looked over at her brother and nodded once before standing. “I forfeit my right to the crown for all eternity,” she stated, and the crowed rose up in murmurs, shouting and pointing her way.
Okay … now that was interesting.
Morgana shot Izzy a scowl from her place on the mat where she had just finished feeding. “Coward!” she yelled up at Izzy.
