CHAPTER 9
“I JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND how this happened,” Dani said the following morning. She and Evan stood around their small kitchen island with Sera and Alex. “I’ve heard of these sorts of marks before, of course, but I thought they only happened between two vampires.”
“Mating marks are very rare,” Sera said.
“But it would explain the symptoms you’ve been having, and why they intensified so quickly after only a single feeding.
The cravings are only going to get worse.
Both of you will continue to experience blackouts, headaches and dizziness.
When they get bad enough, the only way to find relief will be for Alex to feed from you again. ”
“But won’t that just increase the craving?”
She thought of her stepmother Nadine and her struggle with blood addiction.
In the last months before she’d finally moved out, it had gotten so awful that her hands would shake constantly.
She’d been unable to sleep, pacing the kitchen at all hours of the night as if desperate to keep herself from going out onto the streets in search of her next fix.
“When a vampire finds a human whose blood calls to them like this, there are only two outcomes.”
“Which are?” Dani’s stomach had begun to hurt. Evan gripped her hand.
“The vampire must either get mated to their blood bonded, or—” Serafina hesitated, not quite able to look at her.
Dani tensed, sensing she wasn’t going to like the answer.
“Or what?” Evan demanded. “Spit it out.”
“Or the human has to die.”
The room fell silent. And then—
“That’s not an option,” Alexander growled.
“I wasn’t implying it was.” Sera held up both hands.
“I’m just giving you the information I’ve been able to pull so far, which to be fair, is very limited because this is a rare phenomenon.
The binding ritual would have to be completed, typically within the next several moon cycles, before the blackouts and feeding urges overwhelm either of you. ”
“So it’s going to get worse?” Dani asked.
“Very likely.”
“What’s involved with the binding ritual?” Alex paced across their small kitchen.
“You would need to formally take each other as mates.” Sera hesitated. “And that would require Dani to be turned.”
“Do humans ever survive being turned?” Dani’s fingers found the vein at her throat. “I thought it was outlawed because there were so many deaths.”
“It’s a risk. Turning a human poses nearly a twenty percent fatality rate.
It’s dependent on the strength of the blood of the vampire who is turning them, and the health of the human host. We don’t actually have data on what percentage of turnings carried out under ideal conditions might result in survival because often the circumstances are less than ideal. ”
“Forced turnings, you mean,” Evan said.
“Yes.”
“This entire conversation is a nonstarter since we all know Father is forcing me to marry Lara,” Alex said tiredly. “What are our other options? There has to be a way to sever the bond.”
Sera shook her head. “If there is, I’m not aware of it.”
“Find another way,” he growled. “It’s my fault Dani’s family is in danger. We have to get her disentangled from this mess that is my palace-scripted tele-drama so she and her sisters can return to their regular lives.”
“Fine, but I need time to figure out how to get the mark removed. We’re putting pressure on Father to stop him from going forward with the marriage contract, but I doubt anything will stop him at this point, short of you disappearing the way I have.”
“And then he’ll just force Dante to marry Lara,” Alex said. “Though I doubt they’d consider him a suitable alternative.”
“If Dante refuses to marry Lara, Isabella will be matched with Luciano Cavalieri, despite him being forty years her senior. They will find a way to marry someone in their family onto the throne, one way or another.”
“Fuck,” Alex muttered. “I should have seen that one coming.”
“The king will use anything he can as a pressure point,” Sera said grimly. “On that note, we should move Dani and her sisters to a safe house until the danger passes.”
“I’m not going.” Evan shook her head. “I can take care of myself.”
“At least let me assign Henri to protect you,” Alex said. “If not for your sake, then for Ava’s. I don’t like this, but I think Sera’s right. With Dani at the castle, I’ll be able to better protect her while we figure out how to erase the binding marks.”
Dani touched the strange collection of swirls at her wrist, and saw Alex close his eyes, softly exhaling. Every time she grazed the mark linking them, it was as if an invisible tether between them pulled taut.
Everything made sense now. The connection she’d always felt to Zander. The way she couldn’t banish him from her thoughts no matter how hard she tried. The almost sick desperation she’d felt to see Alexander again after the first time he’d fed from her.
She wasn’t going mad. It hadn’t been one sided. He’d felt that draw to her on some level, too.
They’d always been linked, bound together by fate in a way neither of them had understood.
But even as part of her wanted to shout in triumph at the news that she, and no one else, shared this intimate link with Alexander, the impending feeling of dread that had tormented her ever since their first night together hadn’t abated.
Neither Alex nor Sera indicated the slightest bit of hope that this changed anything.
And of course, why would it?
The vampire must either get mated to their blood bonded, or the human has to die.
If anyone at the palace were to discover that Alexander bore a mating mark, they wouldn’t hesitate to kill her.
“We’re out of options,” Dani said softly. “I don’t like this, but I agree it’s the only way. We have to keep our wrists covered. No one at the castle can find out.”
Alex pressed his forehead to hers. “I will keep you safe, Daniela. I swear to you. Whatever it takes.”
Evan sighed. “There’s another problem. There are aberrants, ones who’ve been working for the resistance quietly behind the scenes for years. Now they’re going missing.”
“You’re sure? There were a lot of people who got picked up during the riots.”
“Most are back out now. Much as the king hates rioters, he can’t afford to lose us working grunts.
But there are reports anyone with aberrant abilities, anyone with even a hint of power, has just disappeared, and that’s really scary.
” She turned to Dani. “You’ll be in danger from the moment you set foot in that castle. ”
“You’re an aberrant?” Alex asked, fingers ghosting over the binding mark at her wrist.
“I can blur memories. Just a few minutes at a time, and only with physical contact.” Dani watched as Alex and Sera exchanged a worried look.
“There’s something we need to tell you about our father.”
They listened in silence as Sera explained about the powers the king had long kept concealed.
“There have been rumors for years,” Evan said at last. “But nothing more than that.”
“He’s very careful to control all the people in his inner circle,” Alex said. “Everyone who works at the palace has families and fears swift retribution if they were to talk. He’s done it many times before.”
“Can he be stopped?”
“It’s complicated.” Sera sighed. “Our father drains anyone he touches, anyone who gets close to him. He tried to drain Alex the other night and wound up killing the two guards holding him. He wasn’t even touching them directly.”
“He killed them through my body,” Alex added grimly. “And it wasn’t the first time.”
“That’s horrible,” Dani whispered.
Evan lowered her voice. “We have someone in our network who can poison drinks with only a few seconds of contact. It might work.”
“An aberrant?”
“Yes. We’ve been trying for over a year to position them close enough to someone within the royal court to make a statement. If we can get her into the palace—”
“I’m sorry, but what you’re talking about is impossible.” Alex shook his head. “My father has all his food tasted. He’s highly paranoid. The kitchen and serving staff are carefully vetted and have worked there for years. They don’t just hire random staff who apply off the street.”
“They might, under the right circumstances. We’ve gotten people in before.”
Alex shook his head. “This is an area where I’ll ask you to trust my judgment, Evangeline. It won’t work.”
“Fine. It was just an idea.” Evan blew out a breath of resignation. “So when do you leave for the castle?”
“Mmm… not that one. The yellow washes you out.” Stretched out across a divan the following day in her room at the palace, Sera tapped her lip with one gloved finger. “Unless you especially like it?”
“All of these dresses are far nicer than anything I own.” Lifting the voluminous skirt, Dani turned to face her. “And exactly how many formal gowns am I going to need? I thought I would only be here for a few weeks, just until the ball.”
Which surely no one would want her attending, not at the risk she might distract from Lara.
“Family dinners are formal.” Sera chose another garment bag off the hanging rack that had been set up in her bedroom. “This green will look amazing with your hair. And it shouldn’t require too much alteration.”
“Thank you for helping me.” Dani took the gown behind the dressing screen to change.
For a moment, there was only the rustling of layers of silk and tulle. Then Sera sighed. “I know you must be frustrated with Alex. You have to be asking, especially after the appearance of the mating marks, why he isn’t willing to throw it all away and run off with you, give up his crown?”
“You did.” Dani came back out. The green dress shimmered from a low-cut neckline to layers of tulle that floated all the way to the floor. “You refused to marry someone you didn’t love just for an alliance.”