by Milana Jacks
Chapter Two
Maya
The vampire court’s layout is as confusing as the fairy palace I grew up in. On purpose, so only people who are often in the palace can get around it easily. As I follow Salvatore, we pass several realistic statues of men and women. Though I find them eerie, they help me memorize the twists and turns. We climb four flights of stairs. They don’t use elevators like in most human buildings with more than a few floors. I learned about the human realm via extensive reading in the genre they call romance.
On the fourth floor, we walk down a long hallway, past numbered doors, and pause at the end before a door marked with the number 411. Salvatore rummages through his pocket and gets a white card, which he sticks inside a card reader. A little green light flashes, and we walk into a spacious room with two large beds, a sitting room, a balcony, and a bathroom.
I run my hand over the plush suede brown sofa across from the beds, then sit down and cross one leg over the other. “That will be all,” I say.
Salvatore chuckles and leaves, the door closing behind him with a hiss.
I lean back and smile.
The mission to retrieve my wings has three stages. Locate the wings, steal them, and then escape. Grandma’s feather imprints will fade in three days’ time, leaving me with no magic, thus no glamour. So I don’t have time to waste. I approach the mirror and check the feathers. The magic holds. I spin around, and the muscles on my back twitch, a reflex even though I don’t have wings. But I will have them soon enough.
My stepmother overthrew my father, then the King of Rornia, after he protested her decision to give Prince Sevile my wings. She gathered massive support in her coup because the fairies wanted peace with the vampires. If Sevile hadn’t gotten my wings, their army would’ve crushed Rornia. The Queen loved reminding me that refusing the prince could’ve led to our extinction. Back in the day, and in my defense, I didn’t understand the gravity of what I’d done when I rejected his hand in marriage.
Before the wedding day, my dad said I should marry the good, gentle, and fair vampire prince, and we would live happily ever after. So when the scary brute showed up and stabbed me with his fangs, I tried stabbing him back with a hairpin.
At the memory, I shudder and open the closet, expecting to see new clothes. I find an…iron, I believe, having never seen one. We press our clothes with magic in the fairy realm. There are other things in the closet, but no clothes.
The knock on the door makes me jump.
“Come in,” I say and hurry to sit back on the sofa. An elderly brownie with dark hair, large, long pointed ears, and round brown eyes enters, carrying a tray with covered plates. She smiles as the door closes behind her. I sit on pins and needles, wondering if she can see through my glamour. I had no idea Sevile kept brownies.
I frown. Hey, I know this brownie.
She left Rornia after my dad died, but I didn’t know she ended up in Sevile’s court. Her name is Orelia, and, thank the Great Fairy, she doesn’t recognize me.
“How are you today, miss?” she asks. “Do you like your room?” She puts the tray on the table before a large window and adds fresh flowers to the vase. She turns and raises an eyebrow.
“Oh! Yes, I’m great. Will I be living with a roommate?”
“Probably.”
Well, that’s nice. I’ll share a room with a human. Hopefully, I’ll learn more about her realm so that I’m not feeling ill-equipped after I escape the vampire court.
Orelia folds her hands in front of her and stands there.
She needs to be dismissed, of course. “That will be all.” It’s so easy for me to slip into the Princess Maya role after years of being treated like a servant. I miss my old life and my dad. Everything was pleasant when he was alive.
Orelia’s eyes brighten, and she heads for the door.
“One more thing,” I say, and she turns around.
“Anything,” she says.
So sweet. “When will the prince be dining?”
“Whenever he calls for you.”
“And what should I be doing now?”
“You must eat everything so that you don’t faint from blood loss.”
I must look like I’ll faint right now, because Orelia adds, “It’s not as bad as it sounds.”
“I’m sure it’s worse.”
Orelia scrunches up her nose. “He is a good master. Gentle when one is kind to him.” She reaches beneath her shirt and pulls out her necklace.
My eyes widen. Sparklies! Fairies love sparkly things, and brownies do too. I jump off the sofa and reach Orelia in record time. I lean in to see. It’s a sapphire pendant. Very precious, sparkly, and big. “It’s beautiful.”
She tucks it back under her shirt. “It’s one of the stones he intended for his bride.”
Mine! “His bride?”
“Mm-hm. The fairy princess. When she refused him, he distributed the jewels to us. All my daughters have rings with diamonds the size of peanuts.”
I put a hand over my heart so it doesn’t push out of my chest. “A peanut-sized diamond.”
“Diamonds,” she repeats, emphasizing the plural.
“I want.”
Orelia nods and leans in conspiratorially. “You are the first pet he’s taken in a decade. If you are kind to him, perhaps he’ll keep you for good. Then you can get the crown.”
“There’s a crown?”
“Mm-hm. It’s the most valued possession in all the supernatural world. Comes from an Egyptian tomb. Made of gold and adorned with many, many jewels.”
We sigh wistfully.
Sevile
“How is the princess?” I ask and open the window so I don’t suffocate in my new bedroom. The clean, cold mountain wind lifts the white curtains and makes me shiver. I lean against the wall, awaiting an answer.
Orelia’s eyes are saucers as she looks around the master bedroom.
“Orelia?” I remind her I’ve spoken.
“She’s well.”
The mess distracts her. I brought the brownie head of housekeeping inside the room, which hasn’t seen a brownie in months, if not an entire year. Orelia is looking around, horror evident on her face. She hurries to the bed and pulls up the white sheet. Dust bursts in the air, and I cover my mouth and nose. Orelia coughs.
Brownies are pleasant, sweet creatures, eager to please their masters. They don’t have a violent bone in their body. Still, I’m almost afraid to ask. “Do you think you can have it ready by tonight?”
“Tonight?” she screeches.
My eardrums just exploded. I wince. “Mm-hm.”
“We need half the court’s servants working in here.”
“Get them, then.”
“But the new pets are a priority.”
“Change priorities.”
“I’m not sure if we can finish in time for your dinner.” She bites her nails.
Orelia operates under the impression I will take my princess here and have her for dinner. I would not bring my princess into a room unless it is spotless. I open my mouth, but Orelia cuts me off. “She is a fairy princess, accustomed to beautiful things. We must make haste.”
“She was stripped of her title and placed to work with your kind inside her castle.” I smile, hoping the spoiled princess regretted not marrying me with every stroke of her duster as she went about her work.
Orelia chokes, and I pat her back, reaching for the black throw above the bed. I yank on it and step back, waiting for the dust to settle. I throw a hand over Orelia’s shoulder, and we admire the pair of crowns hanging from nails on the wall, the big one for me, the other smaller one for my princess. But the smaller of the two is worth twice the big one for the jewelry adorning it.
Orelia’s hand trembles, and she stretches it out as if to touch.
I slap it.
She yelps and folds her hands behind her back.
“The statues in my court,” I tell her, “are those who touched the crowns.”
“They’re bes
pelled.”
“Dark fae magic. Apart from myself and the princess, anyone who touches the crowns turns into stone.”
“I’ll let the others know.”
With that settled, I leave my apartments, intent on going about my night. I had pet files to read and sort through, phone calls to make to the families, and other vampire business my parents gladly passed on to me before they left for Spain. Salvatore waits for me at the bottom of the steps, his cheeks rosier than before. He’s already fed, and my stomach rumbles. Before dawn, I’ll feed on glorious fairy blood.
“What’s the plan with the princess?” he asks, since I told him about her after he returned from escorting her into the pets’ wing.
“Revenge.”
“Taking her wings wasn’t enough?”
“No. She’s back, so she’s looking for more. I will remind her I own her and her fucking destiny. She refused me. Can you believe it?”
“Maybe she thinks you’re ugly.”
I pause at the stairs and stare at Salvatore.
“What?” He stops at the ground floor. “It hasn’t occurred to you that arranged marriages are arranged before the bride sees the groom?”
“I am beautiful.”
He rolls his eyes.
“And…” I jump and close the distance. “She will beg me to take her back. Which I won’t until she shows me where her portal is. This time, I’ll bring my mother.”
“To seal the portal she came from?”
“Yes.”
“She won’t be able to cross into the fairy realm, then.”
“Correct. I’m locking her in my…castle. Like a beast.”
“What about her wings?”
Many footsteps echo down the hall, and the ground shakes. We pause and listen. From around the corner comes an army of brownies carting all manner of cleaning supplies. They’re marching toward us. Salvatore pushes my chest and moves me out of the way lest I get trampled. We plaster our bodies against the cold wall. The brownies barely have time to greet us as they pass. I nod to each one until my neck hurts. There’s at least fifty of them. Orelia’s small army will make those rooms livable by tonight or die trying. Such is the order in my court with loyal, hardworking people.
Like my fairy should be.
Loyal and working hard on impressing me with her pussy and her mouth.
I stifle a groan as my cock twitches. I’ve been hard for hours. It’s gonna be a great evening for me when I relieve myself. I can hardly wait.
Salvatore’s phone pings. He gets it out of his pocket, frowns, then throws his head back. His laughter rings in the hall. My sensitive eardrums might just blow for real this time. I glance at the security feed on his phone.
Would you look at that. My fairy made her way into the brownie wing and inside Orelia’s family’s apartments, where she found their safe, broke into it with her magic, and is pocketing everything she can get her little hands on. I look closer. No, not everything. Three golden rings, the same ones, I reckon, given to Orelia’s kids. “Interesting,” I say.
“Hilarious,” Salvatore says. “What do we do about it?”
“Nothing.”
“What do you mean? Orelia will come to me and report it.”
“I’ll pick out something else for Orelia.”
My heart fills with joy, and when I smile, Salvatore raises an eyebrow in question. “Go upstairs and get the princess. Then bring her to my office.”
Chapter Three
Maya
After following Orelia around the court in hopes of finding His Majesty the prince’s quarters where I’d take my wings and fly away, I end up in the servants’ wing. There, I hide under the bed until Orelia leaves. I use a bit of magic to crack open her magic-sealed jewelry box.
I should not use borrowed magic for any other purpose but sustaining glamour, but I feel like dancing as I stuff three of my rings with peanut-sized diamonds into the back pocket of my jeans. I spin around, ready to escape before the brownie returns. I scream at the top of my lungs.
Salvatore is at the door. He covers his ears. “Ouch.”
“You scared me.”
“Not as much as the prince will scare you. Come along.” He waits for me. I push past him, wondering if he caught me stealing. I need to get rid of the evidence, but he’s walking behind me. I slow down my mad dash, and, when he catches up, hook a hand around his elbow. I’m a bit rusty in the flirting department, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.
“Salvatore,” I purr.
Salvatore stops in his tracks and looks at me like I’ve grown horns. I should practice seduction. He’s not looking impressed; he’s horrified.
“I’m wondering…” I bat my eyelashes and move my hair away from my neck.
“He’s scared to death.” A voice booms in the hallway. It comes from all around us, and I search the ceiling. There’s something tiny embedded in the corner of the hallway. I approach the contraption with a frown.
“What’s this?” I ask.
“Camera,” Salvatore says.
“Oh.” I didn’t realize they’d have those dreadful things.
“Pet,” the prince says, “I’ll wait in my office.”
Salvatore extends his hand. “This way.”
Unsure if Sevile will chop off my hand, I dig my heels in. “I’m hungry. I’m going back to my room.”
Salvatore jerks his head. “If I were you, I wouldn’t make him wait.”
“I’m waiting,” Sevile says.
“But I haven’t eaten. I will come after I eat.” I’m not hungry. I need to remove the rings from my pocket. The best place to hide anything is where I sleep.
Male laughter, then: “If I have to collect you, I will feed from you right then and there.”
Either way is not gonna be good for me. The thought of feeding Sevile makes my stomach rise. “Are you gonna drain me dry and bury me in dirt?”
“No.”
“What are you gonna do?”
“Whatever I please. You are my pet.”
I chew my lip.
“This is not open for discussion. Walk to my office now and pray I’m in a good mood.”
I will my feet to head for the stairs, Salvatore on my heels. “Is he in a good mood?”
“Yes.”
The prince’s office is on the ground floor. As we walk, I chat with Salvatore, asking about the layout since Orelia hadn’t gone down this maze of hallways surely created to confuse intruders. I do my best to memorize the paths. I don’t bother with the exits. With my wings, I’ll fly through the windows. Thinking about my wings gives me courage as I step into Sevile’s office, a large space with a view of a small, glass-enclosed garden. On a beige rug in the middle of the spacious room, four masculine brown leather armchairs surround a rectangular glass table. Sevile sits in one of them, a leg crossed over the other. He fiddles with his cuff links, not looking up when I enter, and Salvatore closes the door behind me.
“Have a seat.” Sevile taps his knee but doesn’t look up from fixing his cuff links.
A thought to give back the rings passes through my mind. It passes so quickly, though, that it doesn’t gain traction. I sit, the rings in my back pocket digging into my bottom.
Sevile lifts his head. “Come to me. I’m hungry.”
Hungry, I repeat in my head. This is bad, but I don’t have a choice. I want to find my wings, and the best chance of finding them is pleasing the prince. He must take me into his lair during the day, while he sleeps. Vampires go into a coma during the day, a perfect time for me to roam about his quarters. He won’t let me inside his quarters if he doesn’t trust me.
I round the table on shaky legs. He takes my hand in his big one and brings me to stand between his legs. His gaze roams my body with possessive intent, his blue eyes rimmed in red. He’s hot and horny, I think.
Sevile lifts my T-shirt and runs a hand down my lower belly. “No buttons on your jeans. How strange,” he says.
Buttons irritate m
y skin, so I wear stretchy jeans, akin to tights. He hooks his fingers under the hem, intent on pulling down my pants. I grip his hands.
Sevile chuckles and leans back so he can unwind the belt from his pants. He folds it in half, making sure the moment he folds it, the leather snaps.
I take it as a threat. “Oh no. No, no.” In record time, I strip off my shoes, the jeans and T-shirt, and unsnap my bra.
Sevile smiles and puts the belt on the armrest, his gaze on my pink panties. On the front is an image of a fairy from a children’s story. Sevile pokes her wings. “Fucking fairies.”
I bristle but keep my mouth clamped shut. His long elegant finger travels lower and brushes over my clit. It’s a feather-light touch, but enough to perk my nipples. He fits his finger between my legs and slides it along my entrance. It’s a pleasant sensation, and heat rushes down my body. I feel myself growing wet at the same time Sevile’s nostrils flare.
“Tonight, I will feed from your wrist.” He takes my wrist and presses his lips to it, his eyes closed. Somehow, my body finds the act sexy, and I rub my thighs together. The last time Sevile bit me, it hurt and my neck looked ravaged for a week. I shouldn’t be excited about his bite. There’s something wrong with me. Maybe he’s spinning some sort of vampire mojo that makes me compliant. Yes, that must be it. His kind lures in their prey and plays mind tricks on them, so that the prey doesn’t protest when the vampires feed.
Sevile licks my wrists. “Tomorrow, I will feed from your neck. Or maybe I will dip my fangs into your thighs so that I may taste your pussy and your blood.”
I whine.
“Yes?”
My arteries throb with their own heartbeat as if inviting him. Definitely, something’s wrong with me. “Nothing.”
“Your family trained you, haven’t they?” He peels his gaze away from my wrist, and when he locks it with mine, blood bleeds into his irises and makes them a deep red color. He smiles wide, showing me his big fangs. “I asked you a question.”
Something about my family. When in doubt, say yes. “Yes.”
“Do you have a problem serving a vampire?”
