CHAPTER 6
THE FIRST THING DANI became aware of as consciousness slowly returned was a pounding headache. She groaned, fumbling for something to block the early pre-dawn light that was spilling in through the window, and vaguely registered the familiar smell of her own pillow.
Wait, that meant—
She blinked, the memory of the night before flooding back in a rush.
The auction house. The bidding war. Her terror as her dress was nearly torn from her back. And then—
Alex.
Her eyes flew open, which was when she noticed the three concerned faces peering down at her, two belonging to her sisters, and one to the family cat.
“You’re finally awake.” Evan always forgot the meaning of inside voice when she was worried, and was in rare form this morning. “We’ve been so worried.”
“Urgh.” Dani covered her face with the pillow. “If you love me at all, stop shouting. And please tell me someone has finally trained the cat to make tea?”
“I’ll get it,” Ava said helpfully, padding into the other room.
“Sera’s on the way,” Evan continued once Ava was out of earshot, mercifully lowering her voice.
“You’ve never lost consciousness for this long with one of your attacks.
The Prince of Fangs and Darkness swore he didn’t take that much blood from you.
” She scoffed. “As if he actually expected me to trust him? You look white as a sheet.”
“Thanks, Ava.” Accepting the mug of tea, Dani grabbed her chunky plum-purple cardigan off the back of a chair.
Shivering at the chill in the room, she threw off the quilts and headed out towards the kitchen.
“So Ale—the prince was here?” she corrected, barely covering the slip in time. “He brought me home?”
And why didn’t he stay until I woke up?
Something in Evan’s expression darkened at the question, and Dani quickly looked away.
“He was called back to the castle,” Ava said in a hushed voice. “But not before Evan slapped him.”
Dani nearly dropped her mug, sloshing tea across the old wooden table. Hissing, Cinder leaped out of the way.
“You didn’t.”
“He brought my sister home unconscious and in someone else’s clothes,” Evan snarled. “He’s lucky all I did was slap him.”
“Evangeline Marie Girard.” Dani rubbed her temples. The headache she’d woken up with was getting worse by the minute. “You’re lucky we weren’t all arrested. I cannot believe you actually slapped the crown prince.”
“Can’t you?” Ava said dryly. “It’s so Evan.”
Evan snorted and they burst into giggles. Cinder wound herself around their legs, mewing for breakfast.
Dani checked her pockets. “Did they bring my phone?”
“It’s by the door.”
She went to retrieve it. Probably it would take hours or maybe even days for the money to be deposited into her account, but once it did, they could buy good, nourishing food.
“Are you all right?” Evan picked up the cat, expression growing serious. She flicked a glance in Ava’s direction and lowered her voice. “Did he hurt you? Try to touch you?”
“He didn’t touch me, not like that.” She thought back to how terrified she’d been at the auction house as the vampires closed in around her. And then remembered the snow falling down outside as Alex took her wrist, his words of quiet reassurance somehow convincing her he wouldn’t harm her.
I swear to you, I shall touch you nowhere but your wrist, and only then if you give your consent.
“When he brought you back, you were out cold.” Evan shook her head. “Any of them could have—”
She glanced at Ava, biting back whatever she’d been about to say.
Ava sighed. “You treat me like I’m a little kid. You both forget how quickly you had to grow up when you were my age.”
Dani opened her mouth, saved from having to answer by a soft rap at the door.
“That’s probably Sera.” Evan frowned through the peephole, then cautiously cracked the door.
“This is the Girard place?” A delivery man dropped a box atop a stack of several more. “Sign here, please, and I’ll bring the rest up from the truck.”
“Sign for what?” Evan turned to Dani. “Did you order something?”
“There wasn’t time. The money hasn’t come through yet. I just checked the bank.” Dani hurried over. “What is this?”
“It’s been paid for, by order of the crown. Which one of you is Daniela Girard?”
“I am.” Fingers trembling, she signed the delivery receipt and together, they dragged the boxes into the front room.
“It’s food,” Ava squealed in delight. “Oh, look. This one is orange juice. Can I have some?”
“Only a tiny glass. That will send your blood sugar through the roof.” Evan snatched it, then began pulling more parcels from the boxes and refrigerated bags. “There’s chicken. Sacks of rice. Dani, what’s in yours?”
“This one looks like heating oil and canned vegetables.” She dug into a second box, heart thrumming wildly in her chest at the thought of Alexander sending such a costly gift. “Potatoes and powdered milk in this one.”
“Any insulin?”
They checked all the boxes, including the last three the delivery courier brought up. But while the last crate contained soap, cat food (Cinder had definitely been wooed at this point) and other household necessities, there was no insulin.
“Maybe he couldn’t find it?” Dani was unable to keep the disappointment from her voice. “There have been shortages for months now.”
“He’s the crown prince,” Evan said pointedly. “If he can’t pull strings to get a single vial of insulin, how is anyone supposed to find it?”
“Yes, he—” She hesitated, realizing her slip. “Zander said as much the other day. That he suspected Cavalieri would try to force the palace into agreeing to a political alliance by withholding production of critical medicines.”
Evan studied her with narrowed eyes.
Dani looked away. She knew she should tell her sister that Zander was Alex, but given the way she’d reacted to Zander sending a simple text to ask if she was okay, confessing at this point was only asking for an epic-level Evan rant.
The last time her sister had gone off on one of her tirades, they hadn’t found the cat for two days, and at the moment, the headache pounding behind her eyes was making her want to shrivel into a dark corner and hide.
Prince Alexander was choosing a bride in less than a month, a bride who wouldn’t be her.
She doubted he would be returning to the legal aid center after the wedding at all.
Surely the alliance with the Cavalieris would require all of his time?
Her case would be reassigned to someone else.
There was no reason Evan needed to know when it would only cause a fight.
Dani felt a brief, quiet pang in her chest, but quickly dismissed it.
She’d known from the start that Alex could never be hers, not as Zander, and certainly not as the prince.
She’d done what she’d set out to do by going to the auction house.
There would be money in their accounts, and now they had enough nourishing food to last for months if they were careful.
She and Evan had always managed to find insulin before.
They would find another vial before the month was up.
She tried not to think of the kindness in Alex’s voice as he’d leaned against the wall, how tender he’d been with her, gently talking her down.
Her fingers traced over the fading puncture marks at her wrist. Vampire venom closed wounds.
When she’d woken up, they’d been little more than faint pink marks on her skin. Now she could barely find them.
Tears sprang to her eyes as she brought her wrist to her mouth, pressing her lips to the last place Alex had touched before that last piece of him faded away entirely.
Suddenly, she felt dizzy, her heart beating so hard she couldn’t breathe.
What was wrong with her? She was being ridiculous, getting this wound up over a prince every girl in town probably had a crush on at one point or another. Surely this was just a side effect of feeding a vampire for the first time?
Drawing a deep breath, Dani swiped the tears from her eyes.
“Purposefully slowing production is just like those bastards,” Evan growled, drawing Dani’s attention from thoughts of the prince. “Still, if the engagement goes through, it should be a temporary shortage, and production will start back up.”
“And Prince Alexander sent all this food.” Ava’s eyes shone. “Oh, Dani. Don’t you think it’s romantic?”
Dani frowned. “Ava, you need to listen to me. It’s not like that. It was a blood auction. Nothing more.”
She was interrupted by yet another knock at the door.
“Maybe that’s the insulin?” Ava said hopefully, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind one ear. “I’ll bet he did find it after all. He was so dashing, Dani. And so smitten with you. I could see it in the way he looked at you.”
“Ava, help me put the food away, and then you need to get ready for school,” Evan said, returning to the small kitchen alcove with Sera.
“I came right away.” Sera’s long auburn hair was pulled back in a high ponytail. She wore a dark blue puffer coat and faded jeans. “How are you feeling?”
“Um, shaky. A bit of a headache. And I’m a little dizzy, too.”
“That’s entirely normal after donating blood.” Sera took out a blood pressure cuff and wrapped it around her arm. “You should drink some juice. Eat something with protein. Any other symptoms?”
Dani hesitated, debating whether to tell her about the strange emotional surges.
No doubt she would be dismissed as yet another grasping commoner in tears because she couldn’t get her claws into the crown prince.
No, there was no need to tell Alex’s sister about her silly crush. Whatever this was, it would pass.
“I’m sure I’ll be fine. Thank you for coming to check on me.”
Sera’s expression softened. “Alex was worried. He asked me to come. You need to make sure to hydrate extra over the next few days as your body replenishes your blood.” Dani didn’t miss the look exchanged between her and Evan. “Alex said he told you how we know each other?”
“Yes.” She glanced to Evan, who shrugged in Ava’s direction. “She’ll be fine.”
Sera removed her mask.