Sold to the Vampire Crown Prince

CHAPTER 1

TWILIGHT WAS JUST FADING as Daniela Girard cleared the final checkpoint at the iron gates leading into the Old City of Sector Four.

Stuffing her identity card back into her satchel, she cast a look up at the winter sky, which was growing darker and more ominous by the minute. Storm clouds gathered off to the west over the mountains. Gray wisps of fog shrouded the turrets of the imperial palace in the distance like a veil.

At the sight of the castle, Dani drew her coat tighter around her shoulders.

People said that the capital city was once a testament to the greatest human achievements in art and culture.

That was before razor-sharp spires reshaped the skyline, their fanglike points serving as a constant reminder to the human population living within the city walls of who now ruled over their sector.

As if anyone could forget the monsters that walked among them.

The first flakes of snow scraped at her cheeks where her homespun red wool scarf had slipped down in the wind.

Pulling it back into place, Dani stuffed icy fingers into the pockets of the old black coat that had once been her mother’s.

They were out of heating oil again, so she’d given her mittens to her youngest sister Ava before leaving.

With their parents gone, it was only the three of them now in their small apartment, Dani, Evan, who absolutely refused to be called Evangeline, and Ava, who at ten, was far more fragile than she or Evan had been at that age, four years of illness having left her too frail and weak, especially in the cold winter months.

Dani frowned at the crowd gathered up ahead on the sidewalk, clustered around one of the screens by the train terminal.

“What’s going on?” she asked a man, who was craning to see.

“Another announcement from the palace, looks like.” He hurried towards the line for the trains.

Dani tried to push past the onlookers, but was cut off by a military unit lining up on the platform, no doubt deploying to suppress the outbreak of fighting at the borderlands.

She fought to push down the sudden cold wave of panic at the thought of Ava back in their apartment, unguarded and alone.

They were nearly to the full moon and the explosions they could hear at night in the distance had been getting worse for days.

They’d all heard the whispered rumors of another shifter attack coming along with the impending ice storm.

With no choice but to wait for the unit to pass, she turned her attention to the royal announcement up on the screen. The cold voice of Crown Prince Alexander Visconti, the king’s eldest son, filled the platform.

“My father and our family extend the warmest season’s greetings to you all.

The winter season of celebration has long been a time for families to gather, and for us to salute what unites us as a sector.

As you do your holiday shopping in the coming weeks, I would encourage you to support our hard-working local businesses.

From artisanal cheeses, fae wines, cashmere sweaters and silk robes, there’s something for everyone on your list this year in our downtown business district. ”

Dani snorted, muffling the sound as a cough when the woman beside her turned to glare.

But really, artisanal cheeses? Fae wine?

If the prince had actually set foot outside his own castle in the past ten years, he might have noticed the entire sector was starving.

They’d just spent the past three days freezing in the latest power outage.

He was droning on again, no doubt about truffles that cost a thousand silvers a pound that were just perfect for your Christmas stocking, but Dani had stopped listening.

Never had she more wanted to stuff a pompous vampire prince into the moats of the imperial castle.

Or perhaps a coffin? Were the coffins actually a thing, or just another of the false narratives the vampires had spread like rumors they could be killed with holy water and garlic, designed to distract them all during those first terrible months after the world had changed, when humanity had still been trying to fight back out in the open on a larger scale.

Prince Alexander extended his hand towards the royal ballroom, which was festooned in greenery, and sparkling silver and gold Christmas decorations.

“We’ll be holding a royal ball this season and I look forward to sharing updates with you all as our talented staff prepares for the festivities.”

“It’s just like a fairy tale,” the woman beside her whispered, as the feed cut to an image of the prince beside Lara Cavalieri, daughter of one of the pharmaceutical oligarchs. “They’re so beautiful together. Do you think they’ll announce their engagement soon?”

“I’ve heard rumors the king is sick,” someone else said. “It’s why he’s pushing for his son to finally choose a bride. They won’t admit it publicly, of course, but there’s talk he may not live out the next year.”

Dani sighed and reluctantly studied the screen, wishing the convoy would pass already.

There was no denying the crown prince was conventionally attractive.

All vampires were. With sharp cheekbones, tousled black hair and hazel eyes, even Ava swooned over him.

After today’s announcement, Dani could just picture the way her frail sister would be dancing around their tiny apartment in her threadbare slippers.

In all fairness, she could hardly blame her for indulging in the fantasy. Given how bleak the dark days of winter were every year as the days grew colder and food became scarce, could she really fault her little sister for wanting to believe in a harmless fairy tale?

“May this December be a time of prosperity and peace from our family to yours,” the prince finished, to thunderous applause.

As the convoy finally passed and they were able to make their way through the square, Dani narrowed her eyes one last time at the cold-faced Prince Alexander.

Any prince who allowed half the population to starve while he lived the decadent life of a royal was no prize.

She’d just as soon swoon over Ava’s one-eyed cat.

The sidewalk was crowded as workers hurried home before the bad weather hit.

Warm golden light glowed from shops where merchants were open late in the hopes of selling out of the last of their wares.

Three days of power outages had hit them all hard.

The feeling of hunger was palpable in the air.

Merchants were desperate to earn a few coins before the snow hit, and shoppers were braving the ice and snow in the hopes their few remaining silvers might stretch a little farther if prices were slashed just before curfew.

A line of people stood outside the butcher shop, where spicy sausages and prime cuts of meat were being wrapped in white paper for the last of the day’s customers.

Dani’s mouth watered at the warm scent of chocolate fudge coming from the sweet shop.

A decadent chocolate fountain had been set up in the window and rows of fudge and chocolate nonpareils had been set out.

A little vampire boy pressed his nose to the glass, tugging at his mother’s hand and pointing. Smiling, she let him lead her into the store. Dani tucked her fingers into her coat pockets, blinking back tears at the thought of how little there would be this Christmas.

“A silver, miss?” a voice rasped from a pile of cardboard and dirty snow at the end of the alley. A woman shook a paper cup, rattling a bit of change inside. “Spare something for an old woman?”

Dani hesitated, knowing she shouldn’t. She knew far too well the dangers of stopping on these streets.

And then there was the fact that there was no money.

Not for food. Not for the rent that was due in a week, and not for the water that their landlord was threatening to shut off if she didn’t come up with a way to pay.

And still, how could she not, as she stared down into the face of this woman who would sleep out in the cold tonight?

A silver wasn’t much, but perhaps it would allow her to get a cup of soup, a bit of bread, to stand in line in one of the warm shops for a bit before the worst of the bitter weather and snow set in.

Kneeling down, Dani reached into her handbag for a coin. “What’s your name?”

As the woman reached for the silver, her shawl slipped down, revealing a prematurely gaunt face.

Her blue eyes were slightly unfocused. The trembling fingers that clasped the silver had a pale cast. Dani knew it could have been from the cold, but suspected that wasn’t it.

She’d seen the telltale marks of blood addiction far too many times.

She could hear Evan’s voice in her head, asking how many times she would give away their last coin to a beggar in the streets in the hopes she might find Ava’s mother.

She was just starting to rise when the gnarled hand shot out to take her wrist. Startled, Dani tried to pull back, but the old woman held fast, leaning forward to study the lines of her hand.

“Your sister. She’s sick?”

Dani’s heart began to pound. She glanced around, but no one seemed to be paying them any mind. Still, if she were caught with an aberrant—

“Yes. She’s been sick for nearly four years. Time is running out and if we can’t get her the medicine she needs, I’m afraid she won’t survive the winter.”

The woman nodded, one ice cold finger tracing the palm of her wrist. Dani saw she had a long rose with intricate thorns tattooed on her arm.

“Something you do could change her fate, could change all your fates.” When Dani nodded quickly, she held up a finger.

“But everything comes at a cost. Only you can choose.”

She opened her mouth to ask more, to ask how she was supposed to save Ava, but the old woman dropped her hand.