by L. Danvers
Ben’s face went pale. “Oh. I forgot those were up there. I guess you found them, huh?” He rubbed his brow. “Yeah. They’ve come in handy over the years.”
I leaned in closer. “And you’re planning to use them now?”
“I don’t think I have much of a choice. If the siblings fail, the kingdom will be left vulnerable. And who do you think will take over?”
A shiver raced down my spine at the realization. “Princess Bianca.”
“And I can’t let that happen.”
Grace’s bright green eyes were clouded with concern at the possibility of Crescent Cape falling into even more dangerous hands. She had been the one who had found Freya’s body. She knew better than anyone what Princess Bianca was capable of. “How can we help?” she asked.
Ben shook his head. “No. It’s not safe enough for you. Heck, it’s not safe enough for me. But I’ve been studying those magical objects since I was a kid and practicing with them for just as long. I didn’t bring this up to ask you for your assistance. But I did want to prepare you for the fact that I will be leaving—after Julian is gone, of course.”
“You might find me to be more useful than you think,” Grace said.
I was surprised she was bringing it up, but I guessed she was as concerned as I was about what the princess might do.
Ben smirked. “Oh? And why’s that?”
“Because I’m a witch,” she said flatly. “And I’m not about to sit back and do nothing and risk Princess Bianca turning the blood slave village into some sort of demented slaughterhouse.”
“Me neither,” I said. I didn’t know how I would contribute, but I wasn’t about to hang back at the house alone. If there was anything I could do to keep Crescent Cape from falling into Princess Bianca’s hands, I would do it. Yes, I’d given Aiden my word. But this was a promise worth breaking. He’d protected me. And now, I’d do whatever I could to protect him, too.
Aiden
“She’ll be here in five minutes,” I announced. The servants had been on edge the past couple of days. They’d seen what Princess Bianca was capable of. In a tizzy, they excused themselves to prepare for her impending arrival.
“I have to say,” Charlotte said casually, tossing her blonde hair behind her shoulder, “I am really looking forward to this.”
“I’m so sorry I put you in this situation, Aiden,” Natalie said, her deep brown eyes soft and sincere. “If I had kept my mouth shut, none of this would have happened.”
I took Natalie’s hand and squeezed it. “She would have eventually found out one way or another. You can’t blame yourself, dear sister.”
She forced a smile.
Turning to address the rest of my siblings, I said, “Now, does everyone remember the plan?” They all nodded. “Evanna?”
I didn’t even have to ask the question before she retrieved a chalice of artificial blood for me. I tossed it back, drinking it all in one giant gulp. I wiped the corners of my mouth with the back of my hand before returning the cup to her. “Thank you.”
“I thought you might need that,” she said with a wink.
“You have no idea. Now, I want you to get out of here before Princess Bianca sees you.”
She agreed, promising she’d be ready in case things took a turn for the worse and we needed her aid. “Good luck,” she called out before slipping out the door.
I glanced over at Julian, who stood with his hands clasped behind his back—his standard pose when he was plotting something. Our eyes met, and he bowed his head. “She’s safe,” he insisted, reading my mind. “Uncle Ben will look after her and Grace.”
I clenched my jaw, trying to fight back the anxiety I felt over what would happen if somehow Princess Bianca got her hands on Danielle. It’d been so long since I had felt this way about a woman. I had already loved and lost once. My shoulders tensed at the thought of my dear Victoria. Granted, Victoria had died from an illness. But it was a loss all the same. I wouldn’t lose Danielle, too. Especially to Princess Bianca.
I could hear the scrambling of feet and the creaking of the grand oak doors at the castle’s entrance. Princess Bianca was here.
Xander planted his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. “You ready for this?”
I swallowed hard. Calming myself by releasing a deep breath, I declared, “I am. Let’s get this over with.”
With that, I exited the room and marched down the hall. I turned a corner and saw Princess Bianca standing there. For her many faults, I had to admit she was stunning. Her skin was as pale as a winter moon—a sharp contrast to her hair as red as fire. She wore a tight red dress, the sleeves of which hung off her shoulders, accentuating her curves. Entering the castle, she removed her dark oversized sunglasses, pressing the tip of one of the earpieces to her blood-red lips. Her mouth curved into a flirtatious grin.
Her eyelashes fluttered. “Aiden,” she said, so endearingly I almost forgot what a wretched excuse for a woman she was—almost.
“Bianca,” I said, extending my arms as I went over to greet her. I was going in for a hug, but she latched on to my black suit and pulled me in close so that we stood chest to chest. She pressed her full lips against mine, and I caught a taste of the human blood she’d had earlier.
To my relief, she must have last fed hours ago, because somehow I found the strength to fight off the surge of temptation that rushed through me at the sweet taste.
After forcing myself to kiss her back, I pulled away and asked, “How was your trip?”
“Fine,” she replied.
I glanced up and realized that she had not come alone. Eyebrows arched, I asked, “Who are they?”
“You didn’t think I’d come without my entourage?” she said, batting her eyes. “I assumed it would be alright.”
“Yes,” I said, clearing my throat. “Of course.”
Her entourage consisted of two men and a woman. The three of them watched me, their faces riddled with suspicion. Something about them struck me as strange, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
It didn’t matter, though. What mattered now was convincing Bianca that I was in love with her.
Danielle
Ben sped down the narrow road, winding his way through the mountains that surrounded Crescent Cape. I wondered if I was crazy for willingly going back there. Knowing we had driven across the boundary filled me with unease. I folded my arms, hugging them around my waist as I looked out through the window. Dark clouds had gathered overhead as if the sky itself knew how much danger we were putting ourselves in.
But Ben had done his best to prepare us.
Grace sat in the front seat beside him. He’d pointed out different spells in the grimoire, encouraging her to study ones that would prove to be useful should the worst happen.
He’d also brought a backpack full of magical objects that had been passed down through his ancestral line. He’d handed me a dagger to hold onto. Its handle had been carved from bone—I could only hope the bone hadn’t belonged to a human, as I was too afraid to ask—and the blade itself was inscribed with ancient runes.
It was the only object he trusted me with. The others were used from a distance, and he warned that if I didn’t use them properly, I might very well miss my intended target—and cause torment to someone else instead.
If things went wrong—and if I could get close enough—I could dagger Bianca. The advantage of the blade was that I could strike her anywhere. It didn’t have to be in the heart, as it would be if I were to use a wooden stake.
As uneasy as the prospect of daggering a vampire made me, it did offer me some peace, too, in knowing that I had a means of protecting myself.
“I have to ask,” Grace began, filling the silence, “why is your family so loyal to them? The blood heirs? Wouldn’t it be easier to cut them off entirely and start fresh somewhere else?”
Ben pondered the question for a second, running his hand along his peppered unshaven beard. “You said it yourself. We’re family. And family look
s out for one another.”
“But vampires? Werewolves? Magical objects? Don’t you ever think it’d be easier to be done with them? Not only for your sake—but for your children and theirs? Do you really want them to bear this burden, too?”
Ben laughed. “Well, that would require me to have children first. I’d like to say preventing such a thing is the reason why I’ve never settled down. But really, I never found the right person. I think you can imagine why. Family dynamics can be hard to navigate—but mine takes it to a whole new level.”
“Yeah,” Grace said, flipping through the grimoire as he talked. “I can see that.”
“I will say, though,” Ben continued, “it’s not just my line looking after theirs. They’ve interceded on our behalf countless times. My grandfather was a war hero—he took a bullet to the chest. Doctors tried to save him, but they feared the surgery didn’t take. Natalie showed up at the hospital, fed him her blood, and he healed.”
“Too bad more vampires don’t work in medicine, huh?” Grace said, turning another page.
“Yeah,” Ben chuckled. “Too bad.”
My attention kept dipping in and out of the conversation, the dagger pulling my focus away. I wondered what the markings on it said... and I wondered if I was really capable of using it. I mean, I wanted to think I could. If it was a life and death situation, surely survival instincts would kick in, right?
But was I really capable of murder?
Aiden
Internally, I was trying to imagine how I’d do it—stake her, I mean. I was running through every scenario I could think of, every way she could fight back, and trying to think two steps ahead.
Externally, I was ever the proper gentleman. I pulled out Bianca’s chair so that she could sit down and share a meal with me. She smiled bashfully—if I didn’t know what a wretched being she was, I would never expect such evil from her. She masked it well.
Through the double window, lightning slashed over the water, making it shimmer in shades of silver. Watching the storm clouds, I sipped from my chalice of artificial blood. I had wondered how Bianca would react, being as that she was the one who had Freya killed, but she didn’t so much as bat an eye.
Man, she was good.
“I’m so grateful you invited me here, Aiden,” she said, taking a drink, too. Hers was real blood, of course. Her lips turned scarlet as she sipped.
Knowing I was watching, she ran her tongue along her lips before patting them dry with a napkin. “I still can’t believe your brother thought it was a good idea to set you up with a human.” She shivered at the thought.
“Do you remember what it was like?” I asked without thinking.
“What? Being human?”
I nodded.
Bianca raised her chin, her soft expression turning stern. “I was weak. I didn’t realize it at the time, of course. But I was.”
“And now?”
She laughed. “You know better than anyone.”
One of the servants swept into the dining room, carrying a tray with two bowls of lobster bisque and placing them in front of us.
Picking back up where we’d left off, Bianca asked, “You don’t miss it, do you?” Her voice was thick with judgment.
But how could I not miss it?
Vampirism wasn’t a gift. It was a curse.
The thought of immortality was thrilling for the first century or so. But eternity was a long time. And the longer the years went on, the less meaning they had.
For most vampires, aside from fearing retribution for not obeying the laws of the land, there was no incentive to be good. What did it matter if there was nothing after this—because this would never end?
“Sometimes I do,” I confessed, because it was true. “However,” I said, trying to play the part of who she wanted me to be so that I could lower her defenses, “vampirism does have its advantages.”
She dabbed the corner of her lips with the linen napkin. “Werewolves do, too, don’t they?”
My brow creasing, I said, “I suppose.”
“Incredible strength. Impeccable vision. The ability to kill vampires.” She lingered on the last sentence, allowing time for the words to sink in.
“If you’re referring to Julian—”
“I wasn’t.”
Lightning flashed behind her, casting her in an eerie glow.
“What would you say,” she began, “if I told you I’ve discovered a way to control werewolves? To bend them to my will?”
“That perhaps you need another glass of blood so that you can think more clearly. Because, unfortunately, that’s impossible.”
“Is it?” She quirked an eyebrow, challenging me. “My entourage—what do you think they are?”
“Guards? Servants?”
“No, I mean what kind of supernatural being?”
I shrugged. “Vampires, of course.”
She cocked her head to the side. “Oh, Aiden. No. At least, not entirely.”
“I don’t understand.”
“They’re hybrids.”
My mouth fell open. “They’re what?”
“Half vampire, half werewolf. And, being as that I created them myself, I can bend them to my will.” She flashed a devious grin, chuckling to herself. “It took many years of experimentation, but it had to be done. The werewolves in the Kingdom of the Silver Seas have always despised our family—particularly since we hunt them for sport. So, it was only natural that we take measures to protect ourselves from attack.”
All I could manage to get out was, “Clever.” My head was spinning. It was one thing for blood heirs to attack a vampire princess. But it was another thing when that vampire princess was protected by hybrids—the bites of which, I presumed, could be fatal to us.
I wondered if Bianca had suspected we were up to something. All this time I thought we were outsmarting her, but perhaps she had outsmarted us.
I wanted more than anything to excuse myself from the meal and talk to my siblings. This news changed everything. Julian might be a match for the hybrids, but even that seemed improbable given that they had vampire blood in their veins, too. Could they heal like vampires could? If so...
Bianca reached across the table, taking my hand in hers. She trailed her thumb along the top of my hand. “But enough about them,” she said. “Let’s talk about us.”
Danielle
An onslaught of rain beat heavily against the car as we drove. The downpour was so strong that it impaired our vision, but every once in a while, lightning would streak across the sky, and I’d catch a glimpse of the castle.
In the storm, its stone towers looked as menacing as ever—and the Scarlet Queen’s signature cape depicted in the massive stained-glass window shone crimson.
It was overwhelming to think one woman’s selfishness could pave the way for a thousand years of death and destruction. I wondered how many people the blood heirs had turned over the years, and how many people those vampires had turned, too. The thought sent a chill racing through me.
“We’re getting close,” Ben announced. “Are you two ready?”
I gripped my dagger, trying to convince myself that I was.
“I’m ready,” Grace announced, the confidence behind her words apparent.
I’d be confident, too, if I had supernatural powers.
Grace had her spells. Ben had his magical objects that could be activated from a distance. But all I had was a dagger. I wondered if that would really be enough to protect me.
Still, I was grateful for it. At least it was something.
My throat tightened as we sped across the uneven stone bridge. My jaw began to ache, and I realized I’d been clenching my teeth. The rain had put out the torches that usually illuminated the path, leaving only the headlights of Ben’s car to light the way—that, and the sporadic glow from lightning strikes.
“Do you remember the plan?” he pressed.
“Yes,” Grace and I answered in unison. Of course I remembered it. I just wondered if I
was really capable of carrying it out.
Julian
My siblings and I were down the hall from Aiden and Bianca. We would have preferred to be closer so that we could be within range to hear their conversation, but that would also mean that they would be able to hear us. And the last thing we needed was Bianca getting wind of our plan.
“What’s taking so long?” I huffed. “How hard it is to convince someone you’re in love with them?”
Natalie glared at me. “You would think that after all these years you’d have learned a thing or two about women.”
“And you would think that you’d have learned not to blab about matters relating to the overseeing of Crescent Cape in front of rival rulers.”
Charlotte placed her hand on my arm, trying to calm me. “It’s not her fault, Julian.”
Xander smirked. “I have to agree with Julian on this one. This is entirely her fault.”
Charlotte gave Natalie a pitying look. “Don’t listen to them. You didn’t know Bianca was in love with Aiden.”
“How could she?” I said. “She’s never here.”
Natalie dipped her chin, avoiding making eye contact with me. Meanwhile, Charlotte released me from her calming touch and jabbed me with her elbow. “That’s not fair, Julian.”
“It’s true.”
“Yeah,” Xander said, “but not all of us want to lurk around the castle all the time pretending to be in charge.”
I shot a menacing stare at him, challenging him with a look. No, I didn’t intend to ever hurt my siblings, but sometimes it helped to remind them of what I was and put them in their place.
All of a sudden, strange sounds roared down the hall.
Xander, Charlotte, Natalie and I immediately stopped bickering so that we could better hear what was going on.
Xander’s thick eyebrows drew together, a serious look overtaking his usual carefree expression. “What is that?”
