Filed to story: The Vampire Prince’s Bride
“Now you need to focus,” she chided. “Like I said, there’s a special Vale broadcast that Laila wants you to see.” She situated herself on the sofa and patted the seat next to her, giving me a “come hither” look.
Gross. She must be deluded to think I’d ever be interested in her.
I crossed my arms and remained where I was.
“Or stand, if you prefer.” She pouted like a child who’d been told no at a candy store, although she got a hold of herself a second later. “All that matters is that you watch.”
She inputted the channel, and the image on the screen switched to one of Laila standing on a platform in the center of the main square in town. The queen wore a long, red dress-she looked like she belonged in a period drama-and she had a golden crown perched on her head.
Next to Laila was a disgruntled man with cuffs around his wrists and ankles. His height and build were similar to mine, although his hair was a few shades lighter. He refused to look at the surrounding crowd, instead just staring at his feet in shame.
“There are only vampires in the crowd,” I observed, noticing that all of the people shown on the broadcast wore expensive, fine clothing-clothes that only vampires could afford to purchase.
“Humans are watching from the televisions in the village,” Camelia said. “They’re not allowed to mix with the vampires.”
“The humans have televisions?”
“Only to watch official Vale broadcasts,” she said. “Their televisions are blocked from watching anything else. Now-pay attention. This is important.”
I turned my attention back to the broadcast. The man in shackles shuffled his feet, still refusing to look up.
“Thank you, fine citizens of the Vale, for gathering here today,” Laila said. The crowd grew silent at her words, all eyes on her. “As you all now know, yesterday we experienced one of the worst massacres in the history of the Vale. Nearly one hundred of our humans-the humans we’ve all sworn to shelter and protect-were victims to a newly turned vampire who lost control of his bloodlust. This goes against everything we stand for, and it will not be permitted!”
The crowd screamed out in agreement, many of them raising their fists in support.
“The vampire next to me-John Morley-is responsible for this brutal attack,” she continued. “Due to the extremity of his crime, I’ve brought him up with me today to demonstrate what happens when a vampire of the Vale breaks our rules.” She turned to gaze at the man, her eyes dark and serious. “Do you, John Morley, plead guilty to massacring nearly one hundred humans in their sleep last night?” she asked.
“Yes.” His voice was monotone, and he finally turned his eyes up to the camera-they were wide with fear. “I do.”
Outcries broke out from the crowd.
“But that man didn’t do it.” I stared at the television in disbelief. “I did.”
“I know that.” Camelia smirked again. “Laila knows as well.”
“So why’s he taking the blame for my crime?”
“Because Laila compelled him to do so,” she said. “Just like she compelled the guards who saw you to believe they’d seen John and not you. As for the humans, the only ones who saw you up close are now dead. And for those who got a glimpse of you from far away, the sunglasses and hat you wore made you practically indistinguishable from John. In comparison to other bumps the Vale has hit along the centuries, this cover up was relatively simple.”
Time felt like it stood still around me. I didn’t think I could feel any more guilt than I’d felt after killing all those humans.
It turned out I was wrong.
“It should be me up there.” I glanced at my padlocked door, wishing I could run out there with the truth to put a stop to this myself. “Not him.”
“The queen sees great potential in you,” Camelia said. “She spent a lot of time browsing through potential princes before selecting you. She’s not willing to let you go just yet.”
With that, she turned back to the screen, refocusing on the broadcast.
The crowd continued to scream out against the man, until Laila finally raised a hand to silence them.
“Thank you for your confession.” Laila’s voice was hard and cold. “Now, you must pay the price for your crime.”
She held her hand out to the side, and a guard handed her a silver stake. With swift precision, she arced the stake around in a deadly blow to John’s heart.
John’s eyes went wide, glazing over a second later.
She pulled out the stake and he tumbled backward, hitting the platform floor like a piece of wood. Laila didn’t bother looking at him. Instead, she raised the stake to her mouth, slowly licking off the blood coating its end.
Vampire blood tasted bland to vampires, and it offered us no nourishment.
She was doing this for show.
Having seen enough, I ripped the remote from Camelia’s hand and pressed pause. The broadcast stopped right after Laila had finished licking the stake, a smug smile on the queen’s face.
I hated her more than I’d hated anyone in my life. She couldn’t continue getting away with this. Keeping humans as slaves, turning people into vampires against their will… it was wrong. Not to mention all the others who had died because they’d gotten in the way of her plans, like my teammates and all the other innocent lives that had been lost in the bombing she’d orchestrated at the hotel.
She’d destroyed too many lives, and she needed to be stopped.
It was at that moment, as I stared into Laila’s eyes on the television screen, that I made a vow. I’d play her game for now. I’d continue to learn as much as possible about the supernatural world. I’d get control over my bloodlust. I’d learn proper combat skills under the pretense of wanting to protect the Vale and everyone in it no matter what.
I’d become the model prince that Laila desired.
Then, once I had her unconditional trust, I’d kill the vampire queen who had destroyed my life and the lives of so many others. Nothing could make up for the lives I’d taken, but killing her would be a good start. It might take a while-years, or perhaps longer than that-but I was an immortal now. I’d be patient until it was the perfect time to strike.
Because I wouldn’t rest until Queen Laila was dead.
***Book 2 Starts***
Prologue: Scarlett
“R ace you to the bottom!” my older brother Grant yelled the moment we got off the chair lift.
Mom and Dad skied up ahead, but beyond the four of us, the rest of the mountain was empty. It was the final run of the trip, on our last day of spring break, and we’d decided to challenge ourselves by skiing down the hardest trail on the mountain-one of the double black diamond chutes in the back bowl.