Filed to story: The Vampire Prince’s Bride
The spunky human girl had made me feel alive for the first time since I’d been turned into a vampire.
After the vampire guards had shown up at the celebration-searching for me-she’d sneaked me into the attic of the place where she lived and worked-a bar called the Tavern. The attic was her own secret book nook, and we’d spent hours up there laughing and talking, with her having no idea that I was anything but human. It was the closest I’d felt to anyone since being turned.
So when I’d learned that the vampires were trying to bring her to the dungeons, I’d rushed to help her escape. I hadn’t told her at the time, but I’d been planning to escape with her. I hadn’t figured out the details of the plan-all I knew was that we needed to get as far away from the Vale as possible. There were rumors of an island that harbored humans who’d been exposed to the supernatural world. I’d wanted to get Scarlett there. As for me… I’d hoped to get to the Haven. It was the only place where I might be protected from Laila’s wrath.
We’d barely gotten past the borders before the wolves had found us. The commotion had gotten the attention of Camelia and the vampire guards-who were already out searching for us-and the witch and the guards had overpowered us. They’d come prepared with wormwood-the only plant that acted as a kryptonite for vampires-and injected me with it on the spot.
Soon after I’d awoken, Camelia told me that the vampires had wanted Scarlett because she was a thief, and that now she was dead. She even had her corpse to prove it.
At the sight of Scarlett’s body, the illusion of happiness that I’d found during my time with her shattered. It had taken all of my self-control to not attack Camelia on the spot. All I’d wanted was to rush toward her and break her neck.
But I’d restrained myself. Because acting on that impulse-the impulse to kill her-would have gotten me nowhere.
And in that moment, I knew what I wanted more than anything. I wanted revenge. Revenge on Laila for turning me into a monster against my will. Revenge on Camelia for killing the one person I cared about since coming to the Vale. But mostly, I wanted revenge for Scarlett. Because she didn’t deserve to die. She deserved a life away from the Vale-away from creatures like me. She deserved freedom and safety.
But she would never get that. Because she was gone.
As I’d stared down at her lifeless body, I’d decided that I was going to take down the dictatorship that was theVale.
But I wasn’t so naive to think I could do such a thing on my own. I would need help. And I certainly wouldn’t trust the help of anyone from the Vale. So I needed help from another kingdom that had the same mission thatI had.
Laila had wanted me to wed a vampire princess to bring an alliance to the Vale. I had a different idea. I would meet the princesses, yes. But in my search to decide which of them I wanted to wed, it wasn’t an alliance for the safety of the Vale that I would be seeking.
It would be someone with the same goals that I had. Someone who would help me in slaying Queen Laila once and for all, so that together, we could bring fair leadership to this kingdom.
The easiest way to meet the princesses would be by playing along with Queen Laila’s “eligible bachelor searching for an alliance” charade. So I’d pretended that seeing Scarlett’s body had no effect on me at all. I’d said that I’d been simply toying with her and would have eventually drained her myself once I’d gotten bored with her.
Each word I’d spoken had felt like a knife in my heart, but I was doing what was necessary for my revenge.
Once I got it, they would have no idea what had hit them.
Sean
L aila handed the invitation to Camelia. “Have the witches deliver these to the leaders of each kingdom,” she told her. “As quickly as possible.”
“As you wish, Your Highness.” Camelia gave Laila a small curtsy, glanced longingly in my direction, and hurried out of the room.
“She’s disappointed that you didn’t want to be betrothed to her,” Laila said once the doors closed behindCamelia.
“Camelia’s a talented witch,” I said steadily. “Her abilities are best used protecting the Vale. The Vale would benefit the most by my making an alliance through marriage to a princess from another kingdom.”
“Very true.” Laila leaned against an armchair, her eyes glinting with suspicion. “But last month when I first proposed this idea, you were dead set against it. I might even go so far as to say you were appalled by the idea. Now you’re eager to meet the princesses. What changed your mind?”
I stood still, searching for an explanation that would make sense. “It was the wolves,” I said, the explanation obvious now that I’d started. “When I went on my… adventures in the forest with the human girl, we fought the wolves, as you well know. The leader of the pack we encountered-Valerie-made it abundantly clear that the wolves intend to wage war on the Vale. They believe this land is their birthright, and now that their numbers are higher, they’re going to fight to get it back.”
“They wouldn’t care about this specific plot of land if it wasn’t for us,” Laila spat. “We-
I-took it and turned it into the kingdom it is today. The wolves agreed to our pact, and we haven’t broken that deal-we haven’t extended further into their lands. They’re simply jealous that we were able to create a kingdom of such luxury when they could not.”
“Wars are rarely waged because both sides are acting logically,” I said. “But you must remember-I’d never seen a wolf before that point. I didn’t realize how strong they were. If I’d known, I never would have tested the boundaries by bringing the girl out there. Because when I was fighting them, the numbers were not on my side. The wolves would have killed me if Camelia and the guards hadn’t gotten to me on time.”
“And yet, you fought the guards once they arrived,” Laila said.
“The wolves had gone-they realized the numbers were no longer in their favor,” I said. “And that was before I’d realized that Scarlett was a thief. If I’d known she’d been stealing from the vampires, I would have brought her in myself. As it was, I was irritated at the guards for intervening on my personal affairs, and I’d lost some blood in the fight with the wolves, which only furthered my irritation. That was why I attacked.”
“Yet you claim not to have cared for the girl…” Laila said.
“I didn’t care for her.” I scoffed, as if the thought of caring for a human left a bad taste in my mouth. “I was attracted to her and intended to use her for my own pleasure. I never denied that. And in that moment, it didn’t benefit me to have her harmed.”
“No.” Laila shook her head, relaxing again. “I supposed it wouldn’t have. But I can assure you-that human girl will pale in comparison to the princesses you’ll meet from the other kingdoms. Just wait and see.”
“I’m eager to meet them,” I said, glad for the change of subject. “In the meantime, I’d like to learn a bit about each of the kingdoms. Which of them will be best for forming an alliance? If I know, I can devote more focus to those princesses than the others.”
“I’m glad to see that you’re beginning to care about the future of the Vale,” she said.
“As much as I hate it, I’m a vampire now,” I said, allowing my true disdain to leak into my voice. After all, there was no point in lying and saying that I was glad to be what I am-Laila would see through that in a second. And weren’t the best lies based on truths? “I wish I could return to being a human, but we both know that’s impossible. The only option is to move forward. And the Vale is my home now. It would do none of us any good to have it overtaken by wolves.”
“It certainly wouldn’t,” Laila agreed. “And since you asked, there is one kingdom whose allegiance I believe would benefit us the most-the Carpathian Kingdom. It is, like its namesake, located in the Carpathian Mountains ofRomania.”
“And why would they benefit us the most?” I asked.
“Because like us, the Carpathians have a wolf problem,” Laila began. “But unlike us, they’ve never had peace with the wolves.”
“They fight the wolves?” I straightened, interested to hear more, Because if they did fight the wolves, I understood why they would be a solid alliance.
“They don’t need to,” she said. “Their castle is a fortress. Whenever they need to leave, a witch teleports them to their destination. But their hatred of the shifters is as strong-possibly stronger-than ours. If you choose one of their princesses, I have no doubt that the kingdom would rise to our aid. Plus, their king-King Nicolae-has a certain weakness for me.” Her eyes glinted when she spoke the final sentence, and she gave a smug smile. “He would hate to see any harm come to me or theVale.”
“So it sounds like an alliance with the Carpathians isn’t necessary,” I said. “If King Nicolae has this weakness for you, surely his interests already lay with theVale.”
“There’s no harm in solidifying the alliance further-in making it official,” Laila said. “But yes, that’s a good point. Which leads me to the other solid choice- theWard.”
“Where’s the Ward located?” I asked.
“Western Africa, in the country of Benin,” she said. “The vampires of the Ward are a warrior clan, constantly training for potential threats. The best fighters in the supernatural world live in theWard.”