He let out a long sigh. “I neglected to mention our betrothal extends to my world too, and we will have to create a convincing performance.”
“What?” I shook my head. Why would he, a vampire prince, want to pretend to be engaged to a human in his own world? “And what do you meanconvincing performance?” My eyes narrowed.
“My sister is Queen of Svealin. My father passed long ago, and I was next in line for the throne, but my sister was far better suited than me. So, I offered it to her. She wants me to marry the daughter of an allied family.” A pang shot through me, the origins of which teetered on the edge of jealousy. I couldn’t bring myself to acknowledge or accept the reaction. “I’m not interested, and I don’t need to take her hand, but my sister is very determined. Our betrothal will keep the peace.”
“You’re just going to show up suddenly engaged with me, a human, wrapped around your arm? In what world would that keep the peace?”
“In some ways it may be better this way. If I rejected her, they could keep pressing. But if I’m already engaged, they will have to honor the bond.”
“What do you mean?”
“During an engagement or the wedding itself, vampires create a bond. It’s similar to the idea of soulmates because it creates a deeper love by allowing you to see the hidden parts of your partner, the raw emotions you’d never be able to see unless you were in their head. The connection between partners strengthens because it brings them closer in a way that wouldn’t have been possible without thatwindow into their soul, so to speak. The sacrifice for such a connection is that it is unbreakable, until death.”
“And everyone will think we have bonded, which means we have to act like soulmates? How could we even fake that sort of connection?”
“I told you it would have to be a convincing performance.” He smirked, and my mouth fell open slightly. This was no smirking matter.
“Wait, this is the bond you mentioned before, the one that strengthens your abilities? How exactly does it do that?”
“We’re not quite sure. Back when vampires discovered strength in numbers along with everyone else, drinking from one another when other sources were scarce was not only nourishing, but it bonded us as well. It strengthened our relationships, which just so happened to strengthen us in every other way too. As we have evolved and can be more self-sufficient, bonding in that way has become something only lovers do now.”
“And that’s how it’s done, by drinking each other’s blood?”
“Yes.”
“There’s nothing else, that’s it?”
“Yes, it’s quite a simple ritual. Though as you can imagine, not everyone wants to be bonded. We have to be quite careful who we drink from.”
“But that would mean ... I already have Alaric’s blood in my system. Does that mean if he drinks from me we would be bonded as soulmates?”
“It could be possible. But it usually takes far more blood than what he gave—forced—on you.” Anger flickered through his eyes.
I was still far from comforted. There was still a possibility, and it would not take much for him to overpower me to drink my blood and complete the bond.
“Complete the bond ... is that what Alaric had threatened? He wants to bond us in that way?”
Sebastian stiffened, his jaw clenching. “What exactly did Alaric threaten?” His tone turned cold.
“He said I wouldn’t be able to contain my desire for him.”
My eyes widened at Sebastian. Did he just growl?
“He asked if I knew about the bond, and I thought he meant the tracking spell, but he meant this all along. He wants ...”
“Not going to happen,” he bit out.
Reality sank in slowly as I took in the very real possibility that at any moment Alaric could bind me in that way. Bind me to him. Forever. I shuddered at the loss, the helplessness that enveloped me.
Sebastian’s firm hands suddenly cupped the sides of my face. “That is not going to happen,” he repeated, much more forcefully.
I nodded weakly.
A short while later we came through the trees to a vast, open expanse. I gasped at the sight. A sparkling river cut through the ground before us. The sun caught the ripples like winking stars. A bridge with ornate, iron rails stretched over the water leading to a path of white stone. I trailed my eyes along the stone that reached out to a hilltop of cascading green grass. Atop the hill was an expansive castle comprised of more white stone and pointed spires all around. My mouth hung lower at the magnificent backdrop of snow-capped mountains behind it.
“It’s ... I never expected this.”
“What did you expect?” He tilted his head slightly, amusement coloring his eyes.
