Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I reappeared in my uncle’s library, the realm solidifying around me. A fire glowed in the fireplace, and the familiar walls in which I’d discovered my uncle’s deception surrounded me.
“That was fast.”
My uncle’s comment had me spinning around. He sat in a chair near the fire but quickly came to his feet. His mustache flashed a golden color in the firelight, and when he smiled, he looked so much like my father that I wanted to vomit.
“What do you want?” I demanded.
He stopped his approach, and his voice turned stern. “You’re to address me with respect. Always.”
Magic reared inside me, his command taking hold. Despite my teeth gritting as I tried with everything I had to defy him, my head dipped submissively. “Yes, Uncle.”
He resumed his stroll until he stood before me, gazing at me affectionately, as though I’d come here willingly.
“I have new orders for you. And I’ve decided from now on, I shall summon you at night. You’re to come alone, just as you did this time, every time I send a dillemsill. Understood?”
My nostrils flared, but the words flowed from my lips as though pulled from an invisible entity. “Yes, Uncle.”
He clasped his hands behind his back and canted his head. “In a week’s time, a male from Ironcrest will be visiting your father. Before he begins discussions with the king, you’re to get him alone and persuade him to not agree to the trade terms regarding crops. Understood?”
“Yes, Uncle.” My words sounded bitter, even to me. I had no idea who would be arriving from Ironcrest or what he and my father would be discussing, but I’d been given my orders, and I was helpless to resist them.
Hatred filled me that my uncle was once again weaving his control over courtly and political relations, all part of his larger master plan, no doubt.
My uncle peered closer at me. “Tell me, how did my brother do when you spoke with him on my behalf the other day?”
A sick feeling washed through as I remembered entering my father’s mind and twisting his thoughts so easily. “He didn’t suspect a thing.”
A sly smile lifted my uncle’s lips, and his eyes glowed with delight.
The urge to vomit grew. Even though I couldn’t defy my uncle, it still felt like I betrayed my father all over again by confessing to Arnel what I’d done.
My uncle chuckled softly. “Excellent. That’s all for now. You may leave, Primelle.” He gave me his back and returned to his chair.
For a moment, I just watched him, wishing I could lunge across the room, sink my fangs into his neck, and tear his throat out. It was such a violent thought. So unlike me.
But I was a vampire now. Death was apparently something my body craved.
Yet Arnel was done with me, and I could no sooner hurt him than I could a god among the stars.
I couldn’t even search his library or wander through his estate to see if I could find more potions, ingredients, or hidden vamfeers.
He would immediately know that I hadn’t left, his wards no doubt alerting him.
I stilled as a thought suddenly occurred to me.
“Primelle?” My uncle’s eyebrows rose. “You’re dismissed.”
“Yes, Uncle.” My magic reared, and in a blast of mistphasing power, I disappeared.
I reappeared outside, the dark night sky filtering through the Wood’s canopy. The moment the realm solidified around me, I crouched and flung my magic out, searching for any enchantments or magical spells that would alert my uncle to what I’d done.
A tingle brushed against my magic near the temple. Protection charms surrounded the circular stone structure that Arnel had hidden in his Wood, but I’d landed far enough away that I hadn’t disturbed it.
Thank the gods.
Determination had my hands balling into fists.
My uncle had dismissed me, telling me that I had to leave, but he hadn’t told me I had to return to the palace.
So I’d mistphased through his wards, leaving his home as commanded, but instead of returning to Whiteolf, I’d landed at his temple in the Wood, beyond his castle’s wards.
Even though I hadn’t been able to learn anything about his secrets inside, that didn’t mean I couldn’t poke around outside.
I smirked. Score one for Primelle the Clever Vampire.
I crept closer to his temple, and lights from my uncle’s library shone through his distant windows. He was far enough away that there was no way he could have seen any movement among the trees.
Nighttime creatures called from in the Wood farther away, the usual sounds of the forest enveloping me. But nearby me, it’d gone entirely silent. The Wood always knew when a deadly predator was among them, and apparently, I was classified as such.
I reached the temple and stopped just outside of its protective magic. Using my vampire and Ironcrest eyesight simultaneously, I altered my vision until everything became crystal clear.
The temple was similar to what I’d seen from afar.
It was made of white stone and had an open circular design.
Air swirled around the rock pillars that supported a dome-like roof, and large flat stones graced its floor.
The stones lining the ground were all covered in intricate designs.
Each carried etchings of the most powerful constellations in our galaxy.
And at the very center was a carving of the supreme symbol that united all of the gods and goddesses—a circle with an array of connecting swirls and stars.
My mind buzzed as I studied it, and long-ago readings from my studies surfaced.
This temple was similar to what the Lochen fae used to contact the gods.
However, the Lochen used priestesses for such endeavors.
But my hunch had been right. My uncle had definitely built a temple designed to speak with the gods and goddesses of our universe.
It was undoubtedly here that he’d spoken with the God of Night.
I glanced back at my uncle’s castle. I still didn’t know if he had other vamfeers or vampires locked somewhere within his walls or even hidden outside somewhere. For all I knew, inanimate vamfeers were only a stone’s throw away from where I was crouched.
I contemplated how I could find them, but it wasn’t as if I was familiar with my uncle’s estate. I had no idea if it contained hidden rooms or passageways, or even a crypt where his vamfeers waited. Only my uncle knew that.
My brow furrowed. The only way to know for sure what he was hiding, if he was hiding more vamfeers or vampires, would require monitoring his every move. Following him.
But how?
The wards around his castle would alert him to anyone breaching them.
He likely was careful, even if he was alone inside, so it wasn’t as if he would reveal anything easily.
Arnel had gone full seasons never being caught by the kingsfae or Imperial Council, which meant he was smart and probably didn’t make mistakes.
That meant that if I wanted to catch him, I would have to be smarter.
But I knew I wasn’t going to find any more answers tonight, not unless I risked doing a thorough search of the outdoors. But if I accidentally tripped a charm or enchantment, Arnel would catch me, and he would know I was up to something. Then he would command me to stop, and all hope would be lost.
My shoulders slumped, but my determination grew. It was smartest if I waited until he was gone. Somehow, I would have to find a way to track his whereabouts, and once he left for a trip or an outing, then I could return and search properly.
Plans aligned, I mistphased back to Whiteolf, landing just outside of the palace walls so as not to alert the wards that I’d returned in the middle of the night.
Come sunrise, I would mistphase back to my chambers, and if my parents questioned why I’d been out so early in the morning, I would simply say I’d wanted to enjoy an early walk when our realm was replenished with magic. They knew it was my favorite time of the day.
With any luck, they wouldn’t check with Royden to verify that I’d actually gone out, and a part of me knew they wouldn’t. My parents trusted me, even though I’d become the very monster the Imperial Warriors were trying to protect me from.
After the sun rose, I returned to my chambers, then bathed and dressed for the day.
I didn’t wait for Betsee. I couldn’t. I was too restless.
A part of me was still trying to figure out a way to uncover if Arnel had created any more vamfeers or vampires and if he had more of his potions, while the other part kept thinking about Kole.
Tentatively, I released a powerful stream of mental magic and searched once more for my mate. Just to see if he was allowing me to find him.
Minutes ticked by as I stood deathly still. The sun continued to rise. Bright light streamed into my room.
But as had happened the other day—nothing.
My spirits sank, and the soul-shattering realization held that Kole had truly left me and didn’t want to speak with me. But I didn’t know how to deal with that. I didn’t know how to live in a realm in which he wasn’t a part of my life.
Despair gripped me so hard that my entire body hurt.
So when Betsee arrived with my breakfast tray and a pleasant smile, I couldn’t even feign happiness. Not even a fake smile.
She immediately dropped to kneeling at my side, her eyebrows drawing together, her four hands reaching for my two. But I had enough awareness to pull back and not allow her to touch my cool skin.
“What is it, Your Highness?” she said quietly.
“Are you unwell? Is something wrong? Please, m’lady, if you’re going to spend the day alone in your chambers again, at least let me fetch one of your sisters to keep you company, or perhaps your mother.
Please, Princess Primelle. It’s not good for one to never see or speak with other fae. ”
Unless they’re a vampire.
Of course, I didn’t speak that thought out loud, but just as I was going to insist that I was fine and she had nothing to worry about, a blast of mistphasing magic filled my room.
And Kole was there.