Chapter 6
Devoir
BASTIEN
The sound of hooves beating on paving stones and the creak of wheels came. Moments later, my coach appeared. Its black carriage and riders a welcome sight. Unlike the woman beside me.
The one whose heartbeat was pulsing inside my bloodstone.
The one who was marked by my bite. I’d never been more conflicted in my life.
Somehow, I’d taken the blood of my mate and hadn’t lost my head.
However, I’d lost something much more precious.
My free will. I realized I no longer belonged to myself. But to her.
The blind panic I’d experienced when she’d fainted in my arms was something I never wanted to experience again.
And yet, with her phobia of blood, it seemed an inevitability.
In the short term, I’d avoid feeding from her.
I’d gone hungry before. Then, when we arrived at Chateau Rose, I’d ask Imogen for answers.
My fingers grazed the throbbing stone hiding under my shirt, the one that had named her my mate.
As I did, I caught myself studying the way the moon shone on her hair, turning the loose lavender strands into a rainbow of color as they whipped around her heart-shaped face.
She was an infinitely beautiful problem.
I hated the thought, despised myself for thinking it, but couldn’t look away.
I knew I made her uneasy. I could tell by the way she held herself and the way she kept shooting sidelong glances in my direction. If she hated me, all the better. It would make resisting her easier.
The coach came to a grinding halt and a footman hopped down, making a fuss over opening the door and preparing the steps.
Claire hugged her arms against a sudden gust of wind, and I struggled to hold back a smirk.
If she thought this was cold, she was in for an awakening.
My castle was tucked away in the northwestern foothills of the mountains.
Snow decorated the pines nearly year-round and the wind was unforgiving.
I suppose it would be my responsibility to keep her warm. Marius’s voice lanced through my unhelpful thoughts. “Why is my general leaving so soon?”
So much for stealing away while the party raged on. I’d done my due diligence by attending the ball, as Marius demanded, and now it was time to go. Two members of my family accompanied him—my brother Claude and his son, the little wretch, Tyson.
My heir.
Marius stopped short of where we stood. A glass of red wine in one hand, the other resting on the hilt of his sword. Subtlety had never been his strong suit.
Claude and Tyson stood beside him, looking as much alike as father and son could. Dark brown hair and bronze skin. They both had the air of vampires that lived far too comfortably. Their strength earned by practicing in the training yard, not real battle.
Taking a sip of wine and eyeing Claire in a way that made my fists clench, Marius continued. “I thought you’d stick around for a dance or two. Make small talk with the courtiers. You know, reassure the people that they’re in good hands.”
Make small talk with courtiers? Perhaps the wine had washed out his good sense. I wasn’t someone who offered reassurances. I was good at two things: building alliances and ending lives.
Dried leaves swirled around our feet. Even this far south, the usually warm air had turned crisp. “The seasons are changing. I have little time to send troops through the mountain passes before they’re iced over. I cannot linger.”
Marius and Claude exchanged looks, and I wondered what they’d really come to say, especially with Tyson in tow. He had his eighteenth name day this past year, and appeared a man grown. In Tyson’s case, I suspected the spoiled boy would take a millennium to actually mature.
I introduced Miss Donadieu, who curtsied and smiled. I wasn’t sure if the money I’d given her sister had muzzled her, or, if in the aftermath of our first bite, she realized she was in over her head.
Little did she know, Natalia was arranging for her sister to be followed by a scout. I didn’t like loose ends any more than I liked small talk.
“The Viscount is eager to ride with his uncle and learn more about the lands he’s to inherit. Whenever you see fit to find your mate and return to the capital.”
I stilled, barely daring to breathe, not wanting to give anything away.“I’ve explained that won’t be happening. I don’t think the mated life would suit me the way it suits Claude.” My lip curled in the suggestion of a grin.
“Same old Bastien, I see,” Claude deadpanned. “Content to die alone in that frozen wasteland you call home.”
“If my life is so unappealing to you, then withdraw your petition to have your second son appointed as my heir.”
He eyed me sharply. “We may be immortal, but none of us will live forever. The treaty must be upheld and you are heirless.”
“I have trained Lady Natalia.”
Claude ran a frustrated hand through his coal-black hair, a color he hadn’t been born with, but reborn with. A physical manifestation of the family allegiances we sacrificed to become what we are. As if the change in our deadened hearts hadn’t been enough.
“She is Josse’s child. His heir. If she would only…”
“Enough,” I snapped.
The following silence was dark and hollow. We’d disagreed on this many times before. I’d been outvoted in favor of a male-only inheritance. The urge to argue the ridiculousness of it rose inside of me, but Claude pressed on, side-stepping the real issue once again.
“Take Tyson with you,” he demanded. “He’s the best fighter in the training yard, and has run out of challengers.”
I snorted in response. My family didn’t find any humor in it though.
Claire, who had been quiet, was watching me with big, brown eyes framed by thick lashes.
The look she gave me stole my breath. In an instant, I was consumed by her.
My attention sinking to the luscious curve of her lips.
My own parted, desperate to taste her—to seal our bond.
I regarded her neck and the lace choker that was coated with dried blood, and my suspicion resurfaced.
Why would an orphan girl dabble in magick?
Didn’t she understand the consequences? There was something about her I couldn’t place.
That necklace left too many questions unanswered.
I was going to have my hands full with her.
There was no doubt about that. Babysitting a spoiled princeling while trying not to lose myself to the mate bond was going to be impossible.
“These aren’t sparring matches in the ring, boy,” I told my nephew, tearing my attention away from Claire.
“The Lawless Lands are just that. Lawless. The witches who reside there don’t live by our treaty.
They are still at war with one another. The Light and the Dark.
We are the only thing standing between our people and safety.
Are you ready to cross blades with a demon, to die if necessary, to maintain that balance? ”
Claire’s heartbeat drummed faster against my chest, and I set a hand over it if only to ensure the light wasn’t visible from behind my dagger. She wasn’t just nervous. I could feel her fear deepening. She was afraid.
Good. She should be.
Tyson pretended he wasn’t. He puffed out his chest, which made me laugh.
The boy responded with a hard glare that didn’t intimidate me in the least. He had been born a vampire, raised with the comforts of the capital.
He didn’t have the humility that came with suffering a human death, or an appreciation for delicate peace that made us what we are.
“I’m well aware of the dangers, Uncle. I’m ready for the challenge. Hector and Chastity will concede to our terms, and when they do, we’ll win more land to rule.” He paused, then added, “Ever since I’ve been named your heir, my little brothers have been begging me to get them a castle too.”
Win more land? Is that what he thought this was about?
Palaces for lordlings? In a single, vicious motion, I swept my cane out and cracked it across the back of his knees.
Tyson’s legs buckled, and he hit the stones hard, the air whooshing from his lungs.
Before he could scramble upright, I caught him by the throat and hauled him up until his boots barely scraped the ground.
Darkness bled into my vision as the monster within slipped its leash, baring its teeth.
The courtyard went silent, save for Tyson’s choking breaths.
“You think this is a game?” I snarled. “That we bleed so your brothers can decorate another castle?”
Tyson gripped my wrist, trying to pry my fingers off his windpipe. But he wasn’t nearly as strong as I was. No. Few were.
Claire let out an audible gasp, and that one little noise had me tilting my chin in her direction. Her fear curled around my senses, distracting me. Her heartbeat racing once again.
She wasn’t just afraid. I was scaring her. Something uncomfortable twisted inside my chest at the realization. I gritted my teeth, squeezing Tyson’s neck harder. So what if I was scaring her? If fear drove her away from me, all the better.
If I let down my guard and gave in to the mate bond, this boy would become the Duke of Roselyn, in charge of holding the line between our lands, and I’d be banished to this gilded place—with her.
I couldn’t let that happen.
I regarded my nephew with disgust. In all his well-kept southern finery—the royal blue of his father’s crest, the gold chains and rings and silk trimmings—the boy looked hopelessly unprepared.
He wouldn’t survive an hour in the Lawless Lands.
Nor would the soldiers respect him. This war was my burden.
Not his. I’d been fighting for hundreds of years.
Forging alliances he couldn’t hope to understand.
“The Duke of Roselyn does not conquer land for castles, boy. We have a higher purpose.”
“Enough of the theatrics, Bastien,” Marius drawled. “We only ask out of courtesy. Tyson will accompany you. He needs to be tested.”
I cursed under my breath as I shoved the little wretch aside, resigning myself to my fate for the second time this evening.
I knew I had to take him with me. If I tried to challenge Marius and it came to crossed swords, there was a chance he’d see my awakened bloodstone and know the truth: that I’d taken my mate as my sanguine partner, against our laws, and sought to deceive him.
It was best to take the boy with me.
“I can’t protect him from his own foolishness,” I told Claude, who nodded.
“All I ask is that you train him as you’ve trained Lady Natalia. Teach him how to lead, Bastien.”
My lip curled, and I shook my head. Restlessness coursing through my limbs.
There was nothing I could do to make Natalia my heir—not without Josse’s blessing, which meant I was done with this conversation.
It was time to leave. “Call for your sanguine partner and your trunk. We leave for Roselyn immediately.” I spat at the boy’s feet.
“Keep your ridiculous courtly attire here. You won’t need it where we’re going. ”
My nephew fled in a flash of shadow, his father behind him. I watched him go with a sinking feeling in my gut. No good would come of this. Marius, content with his troublemaking, waved his wine glass in the air.
“I hope to see you at the next Sanguination Ball. Until then. Brother. Miss Donadieu.” He bowed. “Adieu, mon sang.”
Once he was gone, I seized Claire’s hand and guided her toward the coach.
“Get in.”
She shot me a look that would’ve made a lesser man cower. “You don’t need to take your bad mood out on me. I didn’t invite your nephew.”
“Get in, please,” I added through my teeth.
Claire rolled her eyes, but did as she was told. A footman handed me the reins to my horse, Lucien. His black mane a welcome sight. With one easy motion, I mounted.
“Aren’t you riding with me?” Claire asked, pausing on the topmost step of the coach.
Me? Ride? In the carriage? With her? Absolutely not. Generals didn’t ride in carriages.
“I ride with the guard.” My lip curled in a reluctant smile. “My nephew can keep you company.”
Before anything else could be said, I motioned to the footman, and he snapped the door shut. I didn’t want to see her reaction. I didn’t want to see her at all.