Prologue
Serafin
Heels sharply tap along the marble floor as Emer paces across the waiting room we’ve been assigned. In all honesty, we really could have waited in our dorm until the time came for the ceremony, but why turn down a royal suite in the visitor’s section of the Hub?
I’ve been here before, back when Emer’s brother was alive and visited, but that was for a different type of visit: the naughty kind. This time, I was the bratty princess’ hairdresser and entourage.
Every time Emer comes to the end of the room, she pivots on her heel, and her hair flips around, slowly unraveling her braid around her crown.
A sigh slips as I watch another pink tendril break away, undoing all of my hard work. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but you need to calm down, Em. You’re messing up your hair,” I say, picking at my nail polish as I lay sprawled out on the sofa.There’s no point in trying to fix her hair now when all she’ll do is go back to pacing.
She turns to shoot me a glare before growling, “Who the fuck cares?” and continues her pacing.
I don’t take it to heart, though. I can’t blame her when I’m on edge too. My future relies on this as much as hers does.
“Where’s Angel? Have you heard from her?” She demands more than questions. She wants answers as to why things aren’t perfectly going her way.
I worry my bottom lip as I think of how to answer my already irritated friend. I guess the truth would be wise. It’s not my ass that’s on the line for getting burned by pissing off Emer.
“Last I heard, Angel was visiting her dad this weekend in Hell. I think she was picking up the memory potions while she was down there, but she said she was going to be here in time for the ceremony.” I purposely perk up, trying to give her some shining hope.
“Pfft. Well, obviously that didn’t happen since we were required to be here at eight o’clock, and she’s yet to show up,” Emer points out. “What time is it, anyway?” she barks, not even bothering to look up at the wall clock over the fireplace.
“It’s five minutes since you last asked. So, ten thirty.”
“Ahh!” She screams, letting out her frustration and digging her hands into her hair.
Shit, really? Why even ask for me to put it up for you if you’re just going to fuck it up?
A knock at the door has her ripping her fingers from her hair and hastily putting herself together. “Come in,” she sighs, and the door opens to reveal King Elverson wearing his full ceremonial garb.
“Father!” Emer says, her blue eyes going wide. She gives him a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes and motions for him to join us.
King Elverson comes in, and I swiftly get up and curtsy as he casually looks around. This might not be a formal setting,but I can’t take a chance of pissing off his majesty and having my kingdom face the repercussions. My father might find it amusing, but my mother would be livid before thinking of ways to dispose of me.
We’ve never had a close relationship. My mother sees me as competition, and I guess I am if you go off the royal documents buried underneath the castle. King Abalone, my father, isn’t really my daddy but a stepdad. Of course that knowledge isn’t public. So how else am I to take his lingering gazes except as him begging to be mydaddyin my bed? Plus, I know he has a penchant for younger women, just as my mother enjoys parading her boy toys around the castle. That’s why I’m here; she caught Daddy getting a little too friendly with me and shipped me off to Purgatory Prep for schooling.
I have no doubt she was scared Daddy would trade up for a younger version of her, so this is my punishment and her failsafe. Instead of coming here when my powers first showed up on my twentieth birthday, I’ve been here…shit, how long have I been here?It doesn’t matter. I often find myself homesick. The few times that I’m allowed home long enough to attend formal dinners don’t cut it. It’s hardly enough time for a quickie in a closet or to flirt with Daddy or my uncle. Mother dearest ruins all the fun.
But I guess something good came out of coming to this shit hole. I found Emer, and with her help, I’ll get my prince if I can’t bag my king. Everything was going fucking perfect until that human shit stain showed up. But with Emer’s plan, we will each have the men we deserve to own—our own princes.
Emer will be bound to Levi, and when all of his brothers welcome her into their family, she will slip them memory potions that Angel has access to since she’s part Demon. Once that’s done, it’s time for my job. There’s no such thing as alovepotion, but there’s a way to sway your pheromones to alterone's attraction for another person. The main ingredient is a rare stone, Condonial, found in the sea. Grind it up, ingest it while wearing a medallion for intent, and boom…you’ve got your man. Emer will be with Levi, me with Ryker, and Angel will have Knox. We don’t care about the other guys, but Nerezza doesn’t even deserve the trash.
“Hmm. I see you scaled down on your entourage,” King Emerson says, pulling me from my thoughts. His dark and heavy chuckle follows him as he makes his way over to the mini bar in the corner. “And your standards with your presentation.”
He starts making his drink as Emer and I share a bewildered look.
He turns around to face us with a glass of fae wine and gives Emer a look from head to toe. “Well, don’t let my appearance stop you from fixing your own,” he nudges as he takes a sip of his drink and moves to my sofa.
I swiftly get up and head to the vanity, pulling out the chair for Emer to slide into. My deft fingers gather up her loose strands and start braiding them around her simple golden crown set upon her hair.
We both watch her father in the mirror as he makes himself comfortable.
“Is everything okay, Daddy?”
“That depends. What time was Leviathan supposed to arrive?” he replies, swirling his drink.
Emer shifts in her seat slightly before licking her dry lips and replying. “He was told ten o’clock, and his immediate family could come at eleven.”
