4. Aurelia
His offer of engagement was not the first time I had set my eyes on the wonder that was Prince Icas.
I was a young vampire when I first met him at a mandatory ball all royal vampires forced their offspring to attend. It was my first time debuting as an eligible vampire. Also the first time I had ever seen so many male vampires looking at me like I was a piece of meat.
Even back then, he took a liking to me straight away. After all, there weren’t many other vampire families out there that could match his family’s esteemed reputation and wealth.
It didn’t matter to him that there were already rumors of his engagement to another princess. Or that he was over a hundred years my senior. Or that he had more than his fair share of fun with the other princesses in attendance while his bride-to-be was watching it all.
Well…princesses, maids, guards. Icas didn’t discriminate who he decided to sink his fangs into. But that’s not what made me loathe him. I could appreciate a bit of fun now and then. Hell, sometimes it was the only thing that made this dull life worth living.
What truly made me loathe him was his disgusting disregard for the humans who signed up to be his feeders.
It wasn’t uncommon for feeder abuse to occur, and it was especially rampant in rich families. For vampires, feeders were at the bottom of the food chain. These were the humans who signed up to be used by the family. Who gave their blood—and body—in exchange for room, board, and a hefty compensation they accumulated for their service.
They were there for whatever the vampire wanted. At their beck and call, no matter the situation. And often, their deaths were overlooked if the family just quietly paid them off.
I had been witness to more than one atrocity he committed against the poor humans in his service. Watched as his hazel eyes lit up at the begging of his humans as he bared his pearly white fangs in a twisted grin.
I was no saint and had the blood of many on my hands, but even I had a limit with the poor feeders. I would never force them into anything sexual. I wouldn’t tear their skin or cause them harm just for fun.
But he did. And he did it because he enjoyed watching the pain of others.
He had that same look on his face as he stormed Father’s throne room. He held himself like he belonged here. Like he was the one who was next in line for Father’s throne. Like just because he breathed the same air as us, he was entitled to the wealth and status my family worked for all those years ago, when Mother was still alive.
The human guards behind him refused to look at us. All of them had their eyes on the ground as they marched behind him. Each of their heartbeats pounded in their chest, the sound echoing throughout the room.
Did they know that they were already dead? That all of them stood for one thing and one thing only, and that was their blood, promised to me by their very own prince?
I hated it. I hated Icas. I hated my father. But what could I do other than smile down at the monster that would soon have his grimy fingers around my throat like a collar?
I would make him pay for this. Maybe not then, but I vowed I would make his life a living hell for thinking he could use me like this.
“I, Icas Solei, come to propose marriage to Princess Aurelia Castle,” Icas said, his loud voice causing my head to pound uncomfortably. “I have brought jewels and gifts, as well as fifty guards, at your disposal if you accept. On our wedding day, I plan to triple anything you receive from me today.”
Oh great. Just what I need. How generous.
I didn’t respond. It wasn’t my place. Per royal vampire law, it was my father who had the power to accept or reject his proposal.
Instead, I let my eyes wander over the guards. Maybe they could provide some entertainment. It would at least be better than whatever I could do with Prince Icas. Their bodies were healthy, their blood warm, and most of them probably signed up for this knowing that they had the possibility of warming my bed if I requested it.
But most of them looked far too nervous to provide any fun. Sweat beaded a few foreheads. Hearts raced as my eyes traveled over them.
And then there was her.
Bright silver hair pushed out of her face, save for a few strands that fell onto her pale, scarred skin. She was bowed, like the rest, but she was deathly still. There was not a single bead of sweat on her, nor was her chest rising and falling rapidly as her lungs tried to keep up with her pounding heart.
…because her heart wasn’t pounding.
I almost missed it in the commotion of the room. But at the very front, off to my right-hand side, there was an absence. Her heart was steady, almost silent in the wake of all those pounding around her.
Warm honey eyes met mine as she lifted her gaze. Just like me, she was taking in her surroundings. Analyzing the people who stood in front of her. Her heart jumped, and her heartbeat continued to rise as our gazes locked.
But she isn’t scared. Taken aback, maybe, but not scared like the others.
Even after the prince all but threw their lives away, she was calm. The only thing causing any type of reaction was my gaze. A thought that only inflated my ego.
A little mouse wormed her way into the prince’s ranks, has she?
There was no other explanation. She entered the palace for a reason, and she must have known all too well what her future held…Unless that’s what she wanted?
I couldn’t stop the rise in my curiosity. I needed her close. I need to watch her next move.
She was dangerous. The beating of her heart and the various scars covering her body told me that. But that’s what was so enticing about her.
After years of being around guards who held no power and vampires who abused their mountains of it, here was a single human who had the possibility to tip the scale.
For the first time in more than a decade, I felt…excited. If my slow-pumping heart could, it would flip at the idea of what lay ahead of me.
“Such generosity,” my father said, standing and holding his hand out to me. Like the perfect primed princess I was, I placed my hand delicately in his and let him lead me down the stairs and to Icas. “Of course we would be more than happy to accept your proposal. Isn’t that right, Princess Aurelia?”
His tone gave no indication of how angry he truly was since the meeting, but I could feel it rumbling underneath his skin. The urge to rip my hand away from his as the volatile emotions trailed through our contact was so strong, I couldn’t stop the flinch.
I smiled at Icas as my hand was placed in his.
“I’m honored, Prince Icas,” I said, bowing my head to him. When I lifted my eyes again, I had to hold in the shudder.
He had already leaned forward toward my hand, but instead of kissing it, he flipped it over to bare my wrist to him.
“I shall drink from your vein to seal our proposal,” he murmured against my skin, his gaze daring me to pull away.
In front of everyone? He would dare?
Anger exploded inside me, only to strengthen when his fangs brushed across my naked wrist.
Never. Never should a vampire take blood from a royal unless for a blood bond. A blood bond I had no intention of forging with him. And it definitely wasn’t something that was done in front of an audience. It was sacred. Private. Personal. It was supposed to be my life essence. My power. Me.
And he is just taking it.
I averted my gaze as his fangs pierced my skin. I had long since stopped believing in Krae’s powers, but the sight of her image in the glass on the other side of the room caused a stray thought to rush across my mind.
And you will allow this insult to just go unpunished?
She didn’t answer, of course.
Pain traveled up my arm and to my shoulder. He hadn’t left his fangs in long enough for the venom. Just a deep enough prick before pulling some blood and licking it from the wound.
All pain and no pleasure.
The venom for vampires was nothing compared to what it did to humans, but his meaning was clear.
He was in control of the pain and pleasure that I would be receiving from him. If he wanted it to hurt, it would, and if I wanted pleasure, I would somehow have to earn it.
I hadn’t meant to look toward her, but again, our eyes met. The little mouse.
She was watching with hardly concealed disdain as he took my blood.
When he was done, I gave my attention back to him and his bloodstained lips.
“Princess Aurelia will show you to your room for your stay here. The guards will be taken by Henry, and he will explain the rules and get them accommodated,” Father announced, his hand coming to squeeze my shoulder. Another warning. Behave.
Icas gave him a beaming smile and linked his arm with mine. Disgusting.
“The silver-haired one,” I told Melia as I ran the brush through my hair. “I want her assigned to my personal guards.”
I flipped my hair over my shoulder, the smooth column of my neck reflecting back at me in the mirror. There was not a single thing out of place. The skin on my neck was still as unblemished as it had been just a few hours ago, but the phantom pain from his bite was still there.
I narrowly got away without forging a blood bond with him, but that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t drink from me whenever he wanted. As soon as he was seen to his room I was called upon.
If I was any stronger I wouldn’t have allowed him to sink his fangs into me a second time.
Vampire blood wasn’t even as good as human blood. It was bland, sometimes even dirty-tasting, in comparison. If he was thirsty, he had hundreds of humans to choose from, including the ones he brought himself.
But that wasn’t his intention. It was control.
He was still below my family in status, so the only way that he could feel comfortable entering an agreement like this with my family was to make sure I knew he was above me in every way.
I would allow it, even if the price was my dignity. Because there was nothing more powerful than letting a cocky vampire believehe had control when, in reality, I was the one holding it.
I’ll kill him one day. I swear it. Slowly, painfully, and without remorse. If not to get back at him for sinking his fangs into me, then for the humiliation of what he did in front of my own people.
I jumped as Melia’s cold fingers brushed against the spot his fangs pierced. For some reason, the act caused my eyes to sting. I blinked away the feeling before the blood could pool in them.
“Shall I go get her now?” she asked. “You must be thirsty.”
I hadn’t even noticed the dull ache in my throat until she mentioned it.
God, why is she being so nice? It’s not like we were actually friends, and we both knew she was just here to report on what I was doing to that bitch.
The same bitch who was probably crying laughing knowing that she had one-upped me.
I swallowed thickly, fire coating the insides of my throat. When did it get this bad?
It was nowhere near the risk of the craze, but it was enough to pull my attention fully away from what the prince had done to me.
It was tempting to get her to call on the silver-haired one. Especially after I saw the look in her eyes when Icas’s fangs pierced my skin.
Would her face look the same when my fangs pierced her skin? Would the hate and disgust she held inside her be directed at me instead?
It was so easy to hate others. It removed the responsibility from yourself. All the anger and pain could be projected onto any object of your choosing. I wanted to see it. Wanted to see as she tried to fight the disgust as it took hold of her.
Or would she somehow be able to surprise me again? I hope so. I wanted her to hate me as much as she wanted my fangs to pierce her. Unlike the prince, the willingness was what made it worthwhile for me. But maybe too similar to him, I craved to watch humans give into something they wanted yet hated so deeply at the same time.
What did that make me, then? I met my own gaze in the mirror. Hate was brewing there too. But hate for what?
Hate for the prince? Of course…but also for myself. A violent, uncomfortable weight unfurled in my chest.It took real strength to hate yourself.
I couldn’t move my gaze away. The mask that I had been so carefully putting together threatened to crumble. Strength…right? Is that what they call kneeling for a monster while he drains you and thanking him after?
I stood up, unable to handle looking at myself in the mirror any longer.
“No, send a regular feeder, please.”
Melia hesitated for a moment. “Now,” I hissed when she didn’t move. She looked like she wanted to say something but scurried away regardless.
Good. She’d probably make a pit stop in my stepmother’s room to give her an update about the prince.
I stiffly walked to my bed and waited for the arrival of my feeder.
The feeling from before grew stronger as the moments passed. Traveling from my chest and settling in my belly. Hate. So hot and heavy, it threatened to pull me to the floor.
Hate for myself. For Father. For Icas.
But through it all, images of her warm brown eyes broke through. Who is she? Why does she have such an effect on me?
I wanted her. Needed to understand what on earth was going on in that mind of hers. She was an obsession I couldn’t help but latch on to.
My musings were cut short as the feeder arrived, knocking twice before letting himself into my dimly lit room. It was a man this time.
I didn’t have to tell him to sit on the bed. I maneuvered myself in front of him, trying not to look him in the eyes. I didn’t want it to be him. In my mind, it was her sitting on the bed, hate brimming in her eyes.
“No touching,” I warned. He gave me a stiff nod. “If it’s too much, say something. Make a noise, anything. As soon as I hear a peep, I’ll stop.”
Another stiff nod.
He tilted his head to the side. Swallowing thickly, I leaned closer and, without hesitation, sunk my fangs into his neck. I paused before drinking, letting the venom work its way into his bloodstream.
It never took long, but the ache in my throat was pushing me to go faster. To drain him even before it had a chance to work through him.
When he relaxed against me, I began. The blood hit my tongue, and sweetness exploded across my taste buds. Blood was the single most powerful and addictive thing in this universe. I couldn’t help but moan into it.
It changed based on who you drank from, but it was sweet, sometimes tangy, and, oftentimes, the single most delectable thing a vampire ever tasted.
The liquid traveled down my throat, coating it and chasing away the ache before settling in my stomach. It calmed the hate, even for just a moment, because of its sweetness.
His legs opened, allowing me to get closer to him as I gulped down mouthfuls of his blood. I shouldn’t have entered his space, but I was so lost in the taste of it that I forgot myself.
It had been weeks since I drank from the source, days since I had blood at all. I had been too careless.
When his hands grabbed my hips, I pulled away, ripping my fangs out of him.
My hand gripped his chin, and finally, I got a look at his dilated pupils and flushed skin.
“No touching,” I hissed. Before pushing him away, I licked my bites, making sure to coat them with my venom so they would heal faster. It was too nice of a gesture from me, especially since he went against my orders. This was the type of human I was tired of. “Get out.”
He scrambled out of my hold, his heart pounding in his chest and the smell of fear permeating the air as he left.
And then I was alone again, with no one but my bird to keep my company.
Maybe hating myself was the easy way out.