Chapter 5
Chapter
Five
Louis
I’d been waiting in the throne hall for a fucking hour, smiling at every royal guard just to creep them out. They’d all made a point of not meeting my eyes. I’d come alone instead of bringing my own guards. I just wanted to get in, get this over with, and get the hell out.
My father loved his power plays. Making me wait was just another reminder of who wore the crown.
I adjusted my tuxedo for the third time, the fabric hanging looser than it should.
Five weeks without Barbie’s blood had cost me fifteen pounds.
My cheekbones were sharp enough to cut glass.
The other courtiers had noticed—vampires always noticed weakness—but none dared comment. Not to the prince’s face, at least.
A servant scrambled toward me with a third glass of blood wine, disturbing my train of thought.
I took a sip as I studied the room. I seldom came to court since starting at the academy.
The entire space reeked of old blood and older power, all obsidian marble and the imposing black opal throne.
Silver and gold adorned most surfaces. Silver was lethal to shifters, and the throne room was designed to repel any perceived shifter attack.
Just as I decided to abandon the throne hall to track down the king myself, steeled to suffer the consequences if he was in the middle of feeding, the massive silver door groaned open.
King Malik entered with a theatrical flair only an ancient vampire could pull off, his expensive cape sweeping across the floor of polished black opal.
His face was a mirror of my own, layered with a century of malice and arrogance.
The same pale blue eyes, the same aristocratic nose, the same mouth that defaulted to a cruel sneer.
He didn’t acknowledge my presence for another five minutes, making a show of examining documents a servant had handed him. I stood perfectly still, resisting the urge to tap my foot, and let my mind wander to more interesting matters than my father’s power trips.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Barbie and Sy, now the most powerful beings among us.
Barbie had turned my world upside down, her blood ruining me for all others.
I doubted I’d ever get another sip of her goddess blood now that that Killian asshole had claimed her as his eternal mate.
Their bond was complete, unbreakable, written in magic older than kingdoms.
What shitty luck I had! I blamed myself. If only I’d recognized that little Bob was actually Barbie when she lived under my roof. If only I’d courted her with all my riches and charm, she might have been mine, and then when she finally met the chaos asshole, it’d be too late for him.
I sighed. Barbie was no longer on the table. I had to live with that. But Sy, that delicious wild thing who shared Barbie’s body, remained available. Rowan insisted that she was his, which was bullshit. Silas and I both contested his claim.
My fangs ached at the thought of tasting Sy’s blood. Would it be like nectar, like Barbie’s? Sy might not be a goddess, but she was pure magic, and that worked for me.
“You look terrible,” my father announced, still staring at his papers as if they held the secrets of the realm.
I nearly snorted. He wouldn’t recognize the realm’s secrets if they slapped him in the face. I dragged my mind back from the girls; it was time to deal with my father. My task was to extract the intel from him so I could rejoin the other heirs and plan how to get them back.
“How touching, Father. Your concern moves me.”
His eyes snapped to mine, a flicker of red in their depths. “Your sarcasm bores me, Louis. As does your failure.”
I kept my expression neutral. “Which failure specifically? You’ll need to narrow it down.”
The temperature plummeted. The obsidian walls seemed to darken, a visible testament to his displeasure. “The girl. The one with the unusual blood. You had her in your house, and you let her slip away.”
“She wasn’t mine to keep,” I said drily. “And it wasn’t my fault. She lived in my house disguised as a boy and drove everyone half-mad!”
I’d regretted my mistakes endlessly, and I didn’t need the king rubbing salt in the wound.
“Everything is ours to keep if we’re strong enough to take it.” He rose from the throne, descending the dais. “Instead, you’ve spent years drowning yourself in blood orgies and gambling, avoiding your responsibilities to the kingdom, to me!”
“Ah yes, my duty to find a fated mate and produce the prophesied One with her.” I let my fangs extend just enough to make a point. “Strange how everyone conveniently forgets that fated mates can’t be forced or stolen. They either happen or they don’t.”
“As if you know better,” he sneered, circling me slowly, each step a calculated reminder of who held the power here. This was getting old. “I had to step in to accelerate the process and make it happen!”
My nostrils flared, anger searing me. “That’s why you voted for the second trial to start without informing the heirs,” I accused, shooting to my feet. “We might carry the title of heirs, but to you, we’re nothing more than pawns.”
He slammed a hand against the side table. “You should be grateful you’re still useful enough to be a pawn!”
We glared at each other, the air thick with resentment.
My fangs ached to sink into his throat, but I knew I couldn’t take down the most ancient vampire, my sire.
And no matter how displeased he was with me, he wouldn’t dispose of his only pure-blooded, natural-born heir in centuries. We were at an impasse.
“Where are the bride candidates now?” I demanded. “At least tell me that! That fucking vortex didn’t leave a trail.”
A cruel smile twisted his lips, the kind that would make lesser vampires flee. I held my ground, meeting his gaze without flinching.
“You won’t be able to track it,” he said. “The candidates were taken to the Underworld to prove their worth. Queen Lilith graciously offered her domain as neutral ground.”
Lilith’s territory, where she controlled every shadow, every flame, every breath of sulfurous air. And to my knowledge, only Killian could enter the dark realm without an invitation from the queen herself.
My pulse skipped a beat. My mind raced through the possibilities, each worse than the last. Barbie, Sy, and all the candidates were trapped in enemy territory, their fates held in the demon queen’s hands. And Killian’s public rejection had lit the fuse.
“Talking about weaknesses, aren’t we?” I snorted. “And you just let Queen Lilith call the shots, Your Majesty?” The words escaped before caution could stop them.
“Mind your tongue, boy!” His fucking power slammed into me, knocking the breath from my lungs.
Every vampire in the throne room dropped to their knees.
I stayed standing through sheer stubbornness, then brushed off his power with the combined strength of the heirs now flowing in my veins.
My father’s eyes widened in surprise. He hadn’t known about the bond we’d forged.
Despite our rivalries, we’d grown up like brothers.
Now, with Barbie and Sy uniting us, our bond was stronger than ever.
We were the Covenant—unbreakable. We stood together so Mist of Cinder could survive.
A flicker of renewed respect crossed his gaze, and the red in his eyes receded slightly. My father respected nothing but power.
“Question your king again, boy, and learn what judgment truly means.” he thundered.
“My apologies.” I inclined my head, not in submission—never that—but enough to temper his rage. “I’m simply concerned about the political implications.”
“Political implications.” His laugh made me want to spit in his arrogant, cruel face. “You children play at politics as if it’s a game with rules. Let me enlighten you, boy. Whoever claims the true bride claims the high throne. Power calls to power, and currently, Queen Lilith holds the best hand.”
“Well, if you’re so smitten, Your Majesty,” I said with a lazy smile, “maybe you should mate with her yourself. Killian just broke things off, and she’ll need a stronger shoulder to cry on.
You could be the one to step in. She’s so fucking powerful—she might even be the true bride, ready to produce the One for you.
” I snapped my fingers to drive my point home.
“Then everyone gets their happy ending: you as the high king and her as your high queen.”
King Malik moved in a flash. Before I could react, a hard slap cracked across my face, the force enough to send a lesser vampire flying. But with my newfound power, I barely staggered, my hand flying to my stinging cheek.
Fuck. He’d left five fingerprints on the face that I cherished.
“What was that for, Father?” I asked, reminding myself that my job was to get the intel and get the fuck out. I needed to stop provoking him, no matter how tempting it was.
“Insolent boy!” he hissed. “When will you learn? While you’ve been sampling every neck in the kingdom, others have been scheming and gathering power to ascend to the high throne!”
“They’re unworthy,” I shot back. “The realm faces a far greater threat, the God of Ruin. His Shrieker army—”
“They’re tomorrow’s problem. We’re not going to risk our necks in a war that will leave us weakened, only for the other kingdoms, especially the shifters, to turn on us later.
Remember, while the realm is scared and in chaos, we seize the opportunity to secure our position.
” He returned to his vast throne and settled into it like a great bat, his cape spreading behind him.
“You will sabotage the other princes during this trial. You will claim whichever bride shows the most potential, even the Barbie girl. And you will produce an heir worthy of the prophecy. Do you understand? House Vampire must rise above all others.”
“If we don’t deal with the God of Ruin first,” I tried, “there’ll be no realm left for you to rule and no power for you to grab.”
“You lost the chaos heir’s pet. I’ve heard another has emerged. Focus on securing the true bride.” His fangs gleamed in the firelight. “Get to the Underworld before the other heirs and get the job done!”
I studied my king father, the vampire who had given me life yet saw his own son as little more than a piece to be moved at his whim. He had no idea what Barbie truly was, what Sy represented. He was playing chess while the board itself was burning.
I wasn’t going to offer him the truth, though.
“How?” I challenged him mildly, just for the fun of it. “Even you can’t enter the Underworld without an invitation, Father.”
He glared, clearly regretting having returned to his throne, where he couldn’t backhand me again so easily.
“You’ll figure it out,” he said, his voice dropping to a lethal calm. “Or you’ll learn what it truly means to disappoint your king. I’ve indulged your rebellious phase long enough. Deliver results, or I’ll find an heir who will.”
The threat hung between us like a blade suspended by silk. I had three half-blood, five-times-removed cousins who would drain me dry for a chance at the title of heir. They were more ambitious than I was and utterly devoted to my father’s vision of vampire supremacy.
“Fine, fine,” I said, waving a dismissive hand. “I’ll go to the Underworld—alone.”
The king had his agenda, and I had my purpose. I would enter the dark realm alongside the other heirs. They were more my family than my father or any vampire in this court could ever be. Together, we would get our girls back.
“Excellent. The trial takes place in a maze of rails in the eastern region of the Underworld,” he revealed. “Do not return until you have proven yourself.”
Prove myself, my ass.
“Thank you, Majesty,” I said, not bothering to bow. He ignored me anyway, already returning to his documents, dismissing me like a servant who had outlived his usefulness. “And excuse me. Time is of the essence, isn’t it?”
I left the throne room at a measured pace, my mind racing faster than a shooting star.
At least I had intelligence to share. The Underworld location was vital.
My father’s demands echoed in my skull, mingling with the constant ache of withdrawal from Barbie’s divine blood, a taste I’d never know again.
Killian’s earlier words haunted me: “When push comes to shove, we’ll have to move against our parents.”
Perhaps the chaos heir had the right idea after all. Perhaps it was time for old blood to spill and new blood to rise.