9. Vesper
Nothing about the princess should have caught me off guard.
Not her cruelty. Not her bloodthirstiness.
Not even the way she was trying to play me.
But for some reason, the way she treated me after she was done was something I never expected.
She treated me like a lover, not an object.
Her teeth had brought a searing pain, but her hands were gentle, even as she tangled them in my hair. And then there was that pause as she tore into my flesh to allow the venom to enter my system.
It would have been better if she had treated me like the piece of meat she thought I was. It would have made it easier to hate her and not fall victim to the way the venom made my body feel.
After her comment, I couldn’t help but let out a scoff and forced myself back into the seat beside her, whatever happened during the feeding long gone.
But if that was supposed to be a glimpse of what would come…it caused my unease to worsen.
Going to this event would only help me. Even when the princess died, the type of blackmail material I could gather here would be a powerful tool for my family’s future.
I didn’t know exactly what that future would look like. My entire life had been spent preparing for the moment when I would shove my sword into her chest, and that moment alone. For me, there was no talk of an after.
My siblings would get yearly plans. Each of them getting jobs and contributing to the family in ways I never could. I was lucky if I got assigned jobs, and most of the time I had to go out searching for them myself.
But after this?
I snuck a peek at Princess Aurelia as she fixed her coat. The blood had been wiped from her mouth, and her skin had a nice flush.
My body was still buzzing from her venom. Heat curled in my belly at the remembrance of her hand in my hair. Of how she arched into me.
You can think of the future after you complete this job. Stay focused.
My inner critic’s voice was my father’s. Reminding me just how vital this job was. Not like I didn’t already fucking know it.
But for the first time since I was a teenager, I pushed him to the recesses of my mind. As much as I didn’t want to do this job, I would need to if there was any chance of a future for me. And there was no way in hell I would lose my life to the spoiled brat of a princess who had trouble keeping her fangs to herself.
“Will they be watching?” I asked. Her eyes shot to me before a small, feral smile spread across her face.
She likes the attention.
“Me, yes. Everyone wants to see a princess embarrass herself,” she said as she shifted her body to face me. Her fingers worked quickly against the buttons of my uniform coat. I shimmied out of it for her, leaving me in nothing but a tight black tank top that showed off the scars on my arms. “They don’t care much about the blood bags. So just look pretty and try not to scare people off with that mug of yours.”
A smile threatened to pull at my lips at her comment. So she does find me attractive.
The car came to a stop, and, moments later, her original guard was opening the door for us. Cold air rushed through the car, causing my skin to prickle. The princess got out first, and it took me only a few moments to regain my footing as I followed her.
I didn’t miss the way the guard’s eyes narrowed at me. How he looked at me with a disdain that could only mean I had stolen his place for the night.
The princess placed her arm through mine and pulled me along toward a house that spanned stories above us. Not as extravagant as the Castle family residence, but it was still a magnificent show of wealth all on its own. It was well lit, with a multitude of guards standing outside, all wearing different uniforms and looking bored as hell.
“They’re not allowed inside, so they wait out here,” she murmured to me.
“What a waste,” I said under my breath.
Many of them looked at us as we approached, some of their hands going to their weapons. One even had a gun. She let out a light laugh.
“Sometimes they stay till morning,” she said. “But don’t worry, I only have a few people I need to speak to, and then we will do our thing and be off.”
“Is this something you like to do?” I asked, looking down at her. “Having strangers watch you get off?”
She does. I could see it in her face when she mentioned it. How her pupils dilated, and her mouth fell open just slightly.
“Ahh,” she breathed out. “That’s what you’re worried about. Sweetheart, no one asked you to get me off. Not that I have much faith a human would, woman or not.”
Her jab only caused my resentment for her to grow. It was a stupid, petty comment, but it was enough to severely bruise my ego.
Her smile told me she meant for it to do just that.
Fine. I slipped my arm around her and pulled her closer as she led us up the stairs.
“We’ll see about that, princess,” I whispered in her ear. “I’ll play your game, but don’t come complaining to me when you really embarrass yourself tonight.”
She all but puffed up at my words, but there was no more time to discuss. The doors were opened for us, and what I expected to be an empty foyer was actually a hallway packed with humans and vampires in various stages of undress.
Many were couples, sometimes three or more people touching and kissing each other. Fangs were buried deep into necks. Hands shoved between legs.
But what took me aback was the potent smell of magic in the air.
Vampires could smell it easily, but if a human could pick it up as much as I did, that meant the place had to be filled with it.
“Very lively tonight,” the princess said from behind me, a small teasing tone in her voice. I followed her gaze past the entrance and farther into the house, where there was a large opening. Right in the middle was a stage with multiple vampires rubbing a human’s blood all over their skin before licking it up.
The inside of the house was bathed in red.
Red drapes. Red carpets. Red lights. What wasn’t red was a shade of black, and whatever clothes people decided to wear showed so much skin, it was a mystery why they even decided to wear clothes at all.
That was when I saw it. When my eyes were roaming across the people surrounding us. A bright pink glitter-like substance was being rubbed on the bodies of humans before the vampires bit into them. As soon as they did, the vampires’ eyes went wide, and black veins started to form on their foreheads.
Magical…drugs?
Was that why the princess hadn’t been worried when she poisoned herself?
A vampire threw her head back, the blood dripping from her mouth shimmering with pink magic before falling onto her naked chest.
My attention was drawn to the princess as her coat was taken from her. She was dressed in a satin dress that had a plunging neckline and showed the top of her belly button. She wore no bra underneath, a nipple poking through the deep red fabric. There were slits on both sides of her body, leaving only a small cloth between her legs as coverage.
My mouth dried at the sight, need attacking my entire being. Stop, I ordered my body. It’s the venom. Get a hold of yourself.
I swallowed thickly and averted my gaze to look at the rest of the party. It was hard not to get overwhelmed with the sheer number of vampires in the room, all of them either with bloodstained lips or actively drinking.
“Party favors?” I asked.
“I think I have had enough of that already, don’t you?” she retorted before she slipped her arm through mine again and gave me a sly smirk before pulling me farther in.
Bodies pressed against us, only moving when they caught the scent of her. Even through their bloodlust and magical haze, they made sure not to invade her space.
Mine, on the other hand, they had no problem invading. I wanted to snap at the wandering hands that touched me like some prized meat ready to be sampled. A hand caressed my shoulder as we passed, another tugging my tucked-in shirt out of my pants.
“Aurelia,” gushed a woman as she came up from our right. Her eyes were bright red, just a shade off from her long hair. She wore a see-through, open-chested robe that showed off a matching sparkling bra and panty set. Shimmering blood stained her pearly white teeth, and what I mistook as lipstick at first also happened to be blood.
“Dalia,” the princess greeted and untangled herself from me to meet the girl with open arms. They embraced only for a moment before Dalia pulled her back and made a show of complimenting her outfit.
This was a different friend from the blonde one. Dalia was carefree and, just like the princess, seemed to like the attention she was getting.
Do you help this one, too? Maybe it was the opposite in her case. Maybe the princess owed her something.
In that case, I would need to pay extra attention to this vampire.
“I almost thought I’d never see you after that proposal,” Dalia whispered, her eyes shooting to me before going back to the princess. “Daddy told me Icas is—well, I’m sure you know.”
The princess gave her a smile. “You won’t get rid of me that easily. Is he here? I’d like to say hi.”
“Not the kind of daddy you thought he was, huh?” the princess whispered to me with an all-knowing smirk that showed off her left fang. “It’s her husband’s father.”
I couldn’t sneer down at her, not even if I tried. I was too taken aback by the scene in front of me.
No, he was not the daddy I was expecting him to be.
Instead, what I came face-to-face with was a burly vampire sitting comfortably on one of the all-red couches in a room off to the side of the main area of the mansion. It was smaller than the rest but more intimate and allowed for only a handful of other people to be in the room at the same time. Though that didn’t stop people from trying to look in through the door.
The red wallpaper looked to be made of velvet and had intricate, shining swirls. A large chandelier swayed above our heads due to the pounding of feet on the roof. There were lamps placed on all walls, but they were dim and only shone just enough light into the space.
The man had the power to suck up all the attention in the room without even so much as changing positions. As soon as you stepped in there, there was a sort of force drawing you to him, making it impossible to look anywhere else.
He had to be old.
His white shirt, already stained with blood, had many of the buttons missing—probably popped off, based on the way his shirt was straining against his muscles. Red eyes, salt-and-pepper facial hair, and a grin that told me he owned this place. Though the flock of girls, both human and vampire, hanging all over him could have told me that instead.
Dalia had no problem plopping herself in between his legs, her petite frame looking almost comical in front of the huge vampire.
His hand wrapped around her neck before forcing her against him so they could share a heated kiss. The women on either side of him ran their hands through his hair and helped Dalia undress without a care for us as onlookers.
Dalia moved to straddle him, letting the girls take off her bra at the same time.
“Aurelia’s here, Daddy,” she whispered as she pulled away from his kiss. “I can’t believe she’s being sold to that brute. He’s gonna make it hard for us to play together again.”
Sold. What a nice way to put it.
His reddened eyes traveled to the princess at my side, assessing. There was something about his stare that made me uneasy. His hands came up to cup Dalia’s breasts without breaking eye contact, his thumbs running across her nipples.
“A pity,” he said with a sigh. “He has no tact. No care. Treats women’s bodies—” Dalia let out a content sigh and fell against him, her eyes meeting mine. “Like trash.”
I couldn’t help but stiffen under his gaze.
“That’s why I’m here, is it not?” the princess asked with a laugh and leaned against me. “He was so kind as to give me such a skilled guard that I decided to make full use of our time together. If not, I might just go mad.”
Cue the attention. Princess Aurelia’s hand slid across my back before spreading out her fingers. Then she gave me not one, but two, pats.
What is—is she trying to get me to relax?
Annoyance pricked at my senses.
I know how to do this. I don’t need her to guide me.
I let an easy smile fall across my face and reached my hands behind me to grab hers and use it as leverage to pull her closer.
“It’s an honor to serve you, princess,” I purred, dropping my voice low.
Her nails dug into my palm, but the look on the faces of the group in front of us told me I played my part well.
“Well then, Aurelia,” he said, his eyes trailing down her form. “Why don’t you join us? I’d love to see the way a mere human makes you squeal. I’ll even lend you Dalia, for old times’ sake.“
“You seem to be enjoying her plenty,” the princess said and looked up at me. “But why not take my new toy out for a ride?”