Chapter 2
Mourir
CLAIRE
Ithought the spell would provide me a quick death, but apparently, Mama hadn’t granted my failure that kindness.
Another drop of blood landed beside my hand, and a sickening wave of dizziness broke against me.
Partly because I couldn’t stand the sight of it, and partly because I was going to die here, at Chateau Corbin, on some Diana-forsaken balcony, miles away from my family home where my spirit could be at peace.
Tears streamed down my cheeks as I collapsed against the railing. I had so many regrets. Most about my failings as a sister and a daughter, but at least Seraphina wouldn’t have to see me like this.
The sharp sound of metal striking stone came from behind, and once again, I felt his presence. Slowly, I turned to find the Duke of Roselyn mere inches away, staring at me with those cool blue eyes of his.
He was back. Why? I searched his face for an answer but found only an emotionless mask. He grabbed my chin in his cold hand and tilted my head to the side, examining my neck, which caused the searing pain to spread. I swallowed a scream as tears raced down my cheeks.
“Who did this to you?”
When I didn’t answer, he released his hold on me, but the pain didn’t. A breath passed. The barbs dug deeper. Another wave of dizziness had me stumbling right into his arms. He drew his dagger and slid the cold blade between the lace and the thin skin covering my throat.
My eyes went feral when I realized he was going to cut the choker off, which wouldn’t work. It would kill us both. This wasn’t just a scrap of lace, but an enchanted object. No one but Mama or a true Prideaux witch could remove it.
“No! Don’t!”
His hand stilled, the blade waiting against my throat.
We stared at each other for a hot, tense moment.
Tears leaked down my cheeks. Fear gathered in my chest. I was waiting for him to say something, anything.
Instead, he pulled the dagger away and brought the bloodied blade to his lips.
He dragged it across his tongue, sucking the tip, staining his lips red.
The sight of my blood turned my knees weak.
He fitted his arm around my waist, holding me upright.
When I looked into his eyes, I wondered if this monster would be the last person I’d ever see. If he’d be the last one to hold me. I hated how desperate that thought felt.
“Your blood is tainted with magick,” he rasped. “Did you know that necklace is cursed?”
I didn’t dare answer.
“How foolish could you be?” the vampire continued. His voice was dark. His expression pinched. “Magick isn’t something to meddle with.”
As if he cared. Vampires didn’t concern themselves with humans, even though it was their promise to keep the balance of power and protect innocents from evil. It was hard to focus on my hate when red tears leaked down the front of my dress.
Live, live, live, my heartbeat sang. Live long enough to avenge your family. To protect Sera.
“Please,” I pleaded, meeting his cold eyes. Knowing this was my last chance. The pain made words nearly impossible. “Help me. Save me.”
The shadows around his eyes darkened, and his incisors lengthened into sharp points that peeked out from beneath his top lip.
He wasn’t my savior. He wasn’t going to make this better.
He was going to drain the rest of my blood and leave me for dead.
Fear sharpened all my senses, and I struggled to escape his grip, but Bastien’s hold on me was absolute. His fists like manacles around my arms.
“Who are you?” he demanded.
Before I could respond, the door to the balcony was thrown open, and Marius, the High Prince of the Unified Territories, loomed behind us.
Now I was alone with two vampires.
Like Bastien, Marius was in his monstrous state.
His eyes were coal black and shadowed, and his fangs were bared.
Bastien released his crushing hold on me, and I fell to my knees.
I scraped my palms catching myself on the rough stone floor, but the pain didn’t stop me from crawling away, needing to put space between me and the two brothers who looked like they wanted to tear each other apart.
“Dammit, Bastien. I know you don’t want to be here, but how could you feed from a girl without a contract? In the middle of your Sanguination Ball?”
“I have done no such thing,” he snapped back, turning to glare at me with murder in his eyes. “This girl is bewitched.”
I wasn’t technically bewitched, but I didn’t think revealing that would help.
Turning to the moon, I said a silent prayer to Diana to protect me. If the vampires discovered I was sent from the Prideaux Coven as a spy, I’d be thankful that the collar would kill me before they tortured me into providing information.
“Don’t test me, brother,” Marius cut in. “The proof is in front of me. Her blood is on your lips. The law dictates death for a vampire who feeds without contract.”
Death? No. If Bastien died, I would too, and this would all be for naught.
“I know the law, and I did not break it,” Bastien refuted. “I tasted her blood to confirm the presence of magick.”
Marius snarled. “I won’t hear your excuses. This has caused enough scandal for one night. I quelled the outrage of the nobility by announcing that you’ve chosen her as your next sanguine partner, and that this was a mutually agreed-upon taste test.”
The magickal barbs retracted, relieving me of the worst of the pain. I couldn’t believe my luck. The High Prince was forcing his brother to accept me. Finally, something had gone right. I pressed my lips together, thanking the Moon Goddess.
As if he could sense my relief, Bastien glared at where I sat huddled on the cold stone. “I refuse to take this woman as my sanguine partner.” He spread his arms wide as if in invitation. “I’ll gladly accept death over suffering her presence in my castle for a year.”
The smile on my lips wilted. He’d rather die than be around me?
The old wounds his statement poked hurt more than the fresh punctures on my neck. Something must be truly wrong with me if I could be born without magick, and if a murderous vampire would rather die than spend a year with me.
I didn’t belong anywhere. Not truly.
“Stop being dramatic,” Marius said dismissively. The shadows around his eyes receded along with his fangs, a serious look replacing his threatening one. “I need you in the west, expanding our territory. Or here at court, ruling beside me, if you ever see fit to track down your mate.”
He playfully slapped Bastien’s shoulder.
“I’m a warrior, not a politician, as I frequently remind you,” Prince Bastien snarled. The courage of his conviction sent a wave of adrenaline through me. “If you’re forcing me to accept this woman only to placate the sniveling aristocracy, then I suppose you’ll have to kill me.”
I couldn’t believe the nerve of this self-righteous vampire.
It must be nice to have had such a long, full life that he could throw it away over something this trivial.
But my life was still on the line, and I very much wanted to live.
If only to make up for my inability to fight dark magick alongside Sera.
I contemplated the vampires, unsure of what to do next. They were a portrait in opposites. Marius, with his short black curls and deeply tanned skin. Bastien, with his chin-length pale blond hair and blue eyes. One built for parties and courtly appearances, the other for war.
Marius offered me his hand. “Come, poppet.”
I knew what had to be done. I had to continue to play the part of the terrified human girl who was desperate for this job.
I swallowed hard, trying to beat back the fear as I glanced at his long, spindly fingers.
After a moment of trepidation, I clasped his hand and allowed him to help me to my feet.
Prince Marius cast a look at his brother once I was safely at his side. “If you choose to ignore my offer to spare your life, then I will make sure this girl is well cared for, in accordance with our laws. She’ll be sent to your castle, where she’ll live in your room. As is her right.”
I was being used as a pawn, but Prince Marius had no idea I was playing a different game.
“You cannot be serious!” Bastien interjected, stepping forward to glower at me. “That necklace of hers is responsible for your unhappy nobles. Mark my words, she’s nothing but trouble.”
I huddled closer to Prince Marius, continuing to play the part of the terrified girl covered in her own blood. Truth be told, I didn’t need to act very much. I was scared of what Bastien might do. With his lips and his teeth and his hands and that cane.
He was dangerous. A killer. And he wanted me dead.
Marius draped a protective arm around my shoulders, shielding me. “If the girl bought a magickal necklace to bleed for you, then all the better. She’s a cunning little thing who is willing to do whatever it takes to secure this job. Appreciate the gesture, Bastien.”
The vampire set his cool hand on the side of my flushed face, commanding my attention while speaking to his brother. “We love a willing and dedicated sanguine partner, don’t we? Someone desperate to gift us with what we so badly desire.”
I hid my disgust behind a demure smile, which Marius seemed to appreciate.
This vampire thought me soft and sweet, like a ripe grape ready to be juiced.
He was completely unafraid of me. But he should be very afraid of what a sweet grape like me could learn.
Of the things I could whisper to my family.
And of the vengeance we planned to take on their beloved Dark Witches.
His ego would be his undoing. These vampires thought everyone was thankful to serve them. It made them careless, which was exactly what Mama had taught me.
Bastien growled like an animal about to strike.
The sound caused another bolt of terror to land in my gut.
I tensed as he stepped closer, walking into another shard of moonlight.
With Diana’s gentle glow clinging to the silver white of his hair, I couldn’t look away.
He was so strikingly handsome it stole my breath.
Terrifying and alluring at the same time.
“I don’t trust her,” said the Duke, striking his cane on the ground. “You can’t force me to accept this arrangement.”
My hand trembled as it floated to my neck. The memory of the death I narrowly escaped fresh in my mind. Bastien tracked the movement, his pale blue eyes following like a hunter stalking his prey.
A smirk crested Marius’s lips before his hand fell from my face, and he turned to his brother.
“You’re right. I can’t force you to do anything you don’t wish to do.
If you want to die for your crime, then fine.
I’ll cut off your head. But the girl will live in your castle and drink your wine and live handsomely while your bones rot away in a mausoleum. Few will mourn you. Least of all her.”
He paused, turning to me. “Will you mourn the Duke of Roselyn while you lay on his silky sheets?”
Bastien watched me carefully. I didn’t know what to say, so I simply shook my head.
Marius laughed musically. “After all this, who could blame you?” He touched the side of my cheek, trailing a long finger through something wet, which I assumed to be blood. “She’ll enjoy her days, serving Tyson, who will be the next Duke of Roselyn after your untimely death.”
“I will not allow it,” Bastien seethed.
The High Prince merely shrugged. “This death won’t be like our first one, brother. When I cut off your head, you won’t come back.”
A flicker of relief passed through me. If he was dead, I’d still be protected as his sanguine partner. If he was dead, I could spy on the new Duke of Roselyn without enduring the feedings. And if he was dead, it would mean there was one less vampire in the Unified Territories.
And yet, the red smear on Bastien’s chest drew my gaze and refused to let go.
He’d tried to save my life. And when I stopped him from accidentally killing us both with his chivalry, he’d hauled me against him like he’d rather hold me in his arms than let me die alone.
But he hadn’t come to save me. He’d come to save himself. An important distinction.
I wanted to spit at him. I wanted to slap him. But deep down, more than anything, I wanted someone to hold me like that again.
Marius clapped a hand on Bastien’s shoulder.
Imploring. “I need you, brother. I need your leadership. Your army. I need you to hold the line against the Lawless Lands. You’ve heard the reports, same as me.
” He shook Bastien once. A smile breaking across his face.
“Stop being dramatic and do what you’ve pledged to do. ”
A moment passed. Wind howled through the trees. The torches hanging beside the balcony doors flickered. I waited for his decision, holding as still as a corpse.
But what would that fate be?
The blade, or me?