The Vampire Wish: The Complete Series (Dark World)

by Michelle Madow

  “I do.” I nodded—it looked like I would have to figure out how to delay the wedding on my own. “In the meantime, please keep me posted on how the conversation goes with Prince Jacen, if you decide to speak with him at all.”

  “That,” he said with a smile, “Is certainly a promise I can keep.”

  Annika

  I was so nervous for my date with Jacen that I felt like I was going to be sick.

  It had been days since our kiss in the town—and the kiss had happened so quickly, so in the heat of the moment, that I couldn’t be sure if it meant anything to the prince at all.

  The worst was that I wanted it to mean something to him… because it had meant something to me. I knew it shouldn’t—that the prince was a cold-hearted liar—but I couldn’t forget how impressed he’d looked by my desire to help the humans during the attack.

  Surely someone who didn’t care about humans would have thought that my risking my life for theirs was foolish?

  I also didn’t understand why he’d eliminated all of the princesses except for me and Princess Karina.

  Prince Jacen was a puzzle that I couldn’t figure out, and my inability to piece him together was driving me crazy.

  As I prepared for the date, I took steady breaths, reminding myself that I needed to get my head in the game. I was here to destroy the queen—I couldn’t let myself forget that.

  Geneva coerced me into wearing a dress. It was green and short, which was good because I wouldn’t risk tripping on it. I couldn’t deny that the green looked good against the long red hair of the girl I was masquerading as. Once I returned to my true form, I was going to miss having this girl’s hair.

  “Princess Ana,” Jacen said as he opened the door for me. “Thank you for joining me this evening.”

  “Your Highness.” I gave him a small curtsy and entered the room. It was set up the same way as it had been for our first date—with the dining table set up alongside the window. The full moon lit up the sky. Well, it was nearly full—there was still a sliver missing.

  I returned my focus to Jacen, waiting for a hint that what had transpired between us meant something to him—a kiss, a touch, or something. But the prince was as stiff and formal as ever, his silver eyes giving away none of his emotions.

  Disappointment catapulted through my veins. Whatever connection that had sparked between us in town seemed to have disappeared completely, and I was at a loss as to what to do to revive it.

  “I apologize that I couldn’t be more creative with our date this time around,” he said, motioning for me to enter. “Due to what happened last time, I thought it best that we remain inside the palace.”

  I stepped inside, and as I did, he moved back. It was like he wanted to make sure he was far enough away that we didn’t accidentally touch.

  He was rejecting me.

  Instantly, I realized how silly I was being. It had only been yesterday that he’d sent all of the other princesses home but me and Princess Karina. If he’d wanted to reject me, surely he would have sent me home with the lot of them.

  I straightened, forcing myself to appear confident, even if I didn’t feel it.

  “Surely there’s more to the palace than just your quarters?” The words slipped out before I realized how snarky they were. “Not that I’m not appreciative of the dinner—I am. I just meant that the palace of the Vale is extremely impressive.”

  Hopefully, covering my mistake with a compliment would work.

  “You’re right.” He chuckled. “The palace is large. But the walls of the palace have eyes and ears, and I wanted to be sure that what we discuss tonight doesn’t leave this room.”

  “Sounds serious,” I said.

  “It is.” He studied me intensely, as if his eyes were x-rays and he was trying to see the secrets in my soul. “And the chefs have prepared an extraordinary meal for us tonight. Let’s sit?” He led the way to the table, pulling out my chair. My back brushed against his finger as I sat down, and he yanked it away, as if my skin were diseased or something.

  I wasn’t imagining it—he was rejecting me.

  What had happened between when we’d kissed and now to make him pull away?

  He waited for me to situate myself, and then took his own seat. The waiters soon emerged to serve us wine, and they placed a fancy looking platter in the center of the table that featured a strange black beady looking food that I’d never seen before.

  “I’m sure you have a lot of questions for me.” Jacen picked up a cracker from the platter, smeared some white stuff on it, piled on some of the black beads, and then topped it off with some garnishes. At least I recognized the garnishes—chopped egg and onions. “Do you not like caviar?” he asked, motioning to the platter between us.

  Caviar—that must be what those strange black beads were.

  “I’ve never had it,” I admitted. In fact, this was the first time I’d ever seen it. All I knew about caviar was that it was a fancy term for fish eggs. And that it was ridiculously expensive.

  “Here.” Jacen handed me the cracker he’d just made. “Try it.”

  I popped the cracker in my mouth and chewed. It tasted strange—salty. I tried to keep my expression neutral as I finished chewing and swallowed.

  “Well?” he asked.

  “It’s… interesting,” I said.

  “You hated it.”

  “No!” I said, hoping I hadn’t offended him. “I didn’t hate it. It’s just different. Perhaps it’s more of an acquired taste?”

  “Maybe,” he said. “But I don’t want to force you to acquire it during this meal. So, what’s your all time favorite food?”

  “Pizza,” I answered instantly. I missed pizza like no one could believe. As a human in the Vale, it hadn’t been a food we’d been allowed to eat, and they hadn’t served it in the palace. Which meant it had been over a year since I’d eaten pizza.

  I suddenly craved it more than ever.

  Jacen tapped something on his phone, and the waiters entered the room immediately.

  “Tell the chef that the planned menu for this evening is cancelled,” he told them. “In its place, we’ll be having pizza.”

  “That’s it, Your Highness?” the waiter closest to him asked. “No more appetizers, either?”

  “Do you have a preferred appetizer?” Jacen asked me.

  “Umm… cheesy bread?” I suspected I sounded silly—what kind of princess wanted cheesy bread and pizza at a royal dinner? But I loved cheesy bread and pizza. And at this point, what did I have to lose?

  “You heard the princess,” Jacen told the waiter. “Tonight, we’ll be dining on cheesy bread and pizza.”

  “I’ll let the chef know,” the waiter replied, and both of them headed out of the room, presumably toward the kitchen.

  The prince didn’t crack a smile until they were out of the room.

  “Don’t tell anyone, but I prefer pizza to fancy food, too,” he confessed.

  “Don’t worry.” I leaned forward, completely serious. “Your secret is safe with me… as long as you don’t judge me when you see how many slices I’m capable of eating.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t promise you that,” he said. “Because the more slices you eat, the more impressed I’ll be.”

  “Is that a challenge?” I raised an eyebrow.

  “I don’t know,” he started, and he paused, as if contemplating it. “I can eat quite a bit of pizza myself. And I don’t want you to feel too bad when you lose.”

  “Oh, this is definitely a challenge,” I decided. “May the one who consumes the most slices win.”

  “You’re on.” He raised his glass in a toast, and I clinked mine with his. “I already know what I want when I win,” he said.

  “And what’s that?” I took a small sip of my wine—enough to make the toast official—and placed the glass back down. I didn’t normally drink, but toasting without taking a sip was bad luck.

  He looked me straight in the eyes and said, “A trip to the Seven
th Kingdom.”

  Annika

  “What?” I sputtered, glad I’d already swallowed my wine. Otherwise, it would have been all over the white tablecloth.

  “You heard me,” he said. “If I win, I want you to take me to the Seventh Kingdom.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t do that,” I told him.

  “Why not?” He sat back, looking irritated now. “If the Seventh Kingdom exists, and if they sent you here to compete for my hand in marriage, why shouldn’t they expect me to want proof that it’s real?”

  “The Seventh Kingdom is very secretive,” I told him, and my stomach twisted at the lie. Because how much longer could this continue? Eventually, if Prince Jacen chose me to be his bride and we married, he would expect to see the Seventh Kingdom. And then where would I bring him?

  I would be exposed as the imposter princess that everyone called me behind my back.

  Geneva needed to figure out a way for us to destroy Queen Laila before Prince Jacen chose a bride. I knew she didn’t want to, but now that Jacen had eliminated so many princesses, we were running out of time.

  If Geneva didn’t want to do it, I would simply command it.

  In the meantime, I needed to say something—anything—to placate Jacen’s curiosity. And luckily, Geneva and I had come up with a story for me to go on for now—a story that would be nearly impossible for Queen Laila to disprove.

  “It’s also very far away,” I told him. “It’s all the way down south.”

  “You mean it’s in the States?” He leaned forward—my hint at the Seventh Kingdom’s location had definitely intrigued him.

  “Farther south…” I said.

  “South America?” he guessed. “Australia?”

  “Neither of those,” I told him. “The Seventh Kingdom is hidden in the ice of Antarctica.”

  “What?” He blinked—he clearly hadn’t been expecting that. “How is that possible?”

  “Centuries ago, our witches created the kingdom far below the ice,” I said. “It’s impossible for humans—or supernaturals—to stumble upon. It’s a small kingdom, and as you know, we keep to ourselves.”

  “Why?” he asked.

  “I’m afraid I’ve already told you too much,” I said. “I wasn’t even supposed to say that… but I thought you deserved to at least know something about where I’m from.”

  He nodded, clearly thinking through what I’d told him. I hoped he wouldn’t push me to tell him more, or worse—bring up visiting the Seventh Kingdom again.

  Suddenly, the waiters entered, carrying a steaming hot portion of cheesy bread. It smelled so delicious that my stomach rumbled—audibly. Jacen smirked, and I wrapped my arms around my stomach, wishing for it to quiet itself.

  The waiter placed the cheesy bread between us, and we were both quick to dig in.

  “There’s something else I’ve been wanting to ask you,” Jacen said after polishing up a piece of cheesy bread.

  “Okay.” I resisted the urge to grab another piece of cheesy bread, since I needed to save room for the pizza eating competition to come.

  “Did you not like the cheese bread?” he asked.

  “It’s delicious,” I said. “But we have the pizza eating competition coming up…”

  “You’re more competitive than I gave you credit for.” He placed down the piece of cheese bread he was working on with a smirk. “But if that’s the way we’re playing this, then it’s only fair that we start on equal ground. I also wouldn’t want to insult the chef after having already asked him to scrap our original meal. So let’s eat one more piece each?”

  “Deal.” I grabbed for a second piece, since it was delicious and I definitely wanted to eat more. “Was that what you wanted to ask me?” I asked in between bites.

  “No.” He chuckled. “What I wanted to ask is a bit more serious, but it’s something I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since the attack.”

  Was he about to bring up the kiss?

  My cheeks heated with the thought.

  “Go on,” I told him, bracing myself for the possibility of him saying that the kiss had been a mistake.

  “The wolves were attacking every vampire they came across without a second thought,” he started. “But not you. When the wolf got near you, he paused.”

  “He did?” Panic rushed through my veins—this was worse than I could have imagined. Because I knew why the wolf had paused—he’d no doubt smelled through my disguise and knew I was a human.

  “He did.” Jacen nodded. “You must have been so caught up in the moment that you didn’t realize. But I was behind the wolf, and I saw it. So I have to ask—do you have any idea why he hesitated?”

  “No,” I stuttered, wracking my mind for any explanation that might make sense. “Perhaps the wolves were only trying to hurt vampires from the Vale, and he stopped when he realized I’m not from the Vale?”

  “How would he have known you’re not from the Vale?” he asked. “All vampires smell the same to wolves.”

  “The entire kingdom knows the faces of the princesses who have come here for your hand,” I reminded him. “Queen Laila made sure of that by hosting the parade.”

  “And we don’t know how long the wolves were hiding within the boundary before they attacked,” Jacen realized.

  “Exactly,” I said. “The wolves’ issue is with the Vale—not with any other kingdom. Attacking a princess from another kingdom would surely mean war—not just with the Vale, but with that kingdom as well. It makes sense that they would take precautions not to harm us.”

  “In that case, perhaps I was too impulsive by sending the other princesses home so quickly,” he said with a chuckle.

  “You regret your decision?” I froze, my heart dropping.

  “I don’t,” he said, and I felt like I could breathe again. “I meant it when I said I couldn’t see myself marrying the princesses I eliminated, and that I had no interest in leading them on. The attacks simply gave me a more concrete reason to send them home.”

  “So you don’t regret kissing me?” The question came out softer than I’d intended. I hated making myself so vulnerable… but I needed to know.

  “Never,” he said, his silver eyes focused on me with so much intensity that I had no choice but to believe him. “That kiss was the most meaningful moment I’ve shared with anyone since inviting all of the princesses to the Vale. Why would you think I regretted it?”

  “Because you haven’t so much as touched me since I arrived here tonight.” I lowered my eyes, feeling silly for bringing up such a thing. But it was true, and it was confusing me. I was so wrapped up in my lies that I couldn’t be honest about much, but at least I could be honest about this. “You did briefly when I was sitting down, but you pulled away so quickly that I couldn’t help but think that you were purposefully avoiding any physical contact with me.”

  He looked pained as I spoke, and I couldn’t help but feel like there was more going on than he was telling me.

  Of course, at that moment, the waiter came in to clear our plates. The second waiter was close behind, holding a steaming hot pizza. Yet a third waiter had now joined the group, and he brought with him a pizza stand that was the same height as our table. He placed it next to the table, and the other waiter placed the pizza on top of it.

  It was the perfect way to serve the pizza while still giving us room at our table. The chefs of the Vale truly did think of everything.

  The waiter refilled Jacen’s wine glass, stopping himself before refilling mine. There was nothing to refill, since I hadn’t touched my drink other than for the toast. He gave me a strange look before placing the bottle of wine back in its holder and retreating with the other servers.

  “There’s a reason why I’ve been keeping my distance tonight, but I promise you that I don’t regret what happened between us,” he said. “Because the truth is that it’s you I want—not Princess Karina.”

  “Why?” I sat back, stunned. “Out of all the princesses who came here
, why me?”

  “I knew it the moment you risked your life to save the humans,” he said. “I also care about the rights of the humans in the Vale. Yes, we need their blood to survive, but that’s no reason to treat them like slaves. You showed me in that moment that you would stand by my side to fight for their rights. Not only that, but you inspired your guard Tess to do the same. You’re exactly who I’m looking for.”

  “Why do you care so much for the humans?” I asked, the slice of pizza in front of me all but forgotten. “You’re a vampire prince. Aren’t humans beneath you? Aren’t they just things you can use as you feel like, and dispose of them when you’re tired of them?” I couldn’t help the venom that came out as I spoke. Because these were all things that Jacen had said about me—the human version of me. About Annika. He didn’t know that I knew he said them, but Geneva had shown it to me in the Omniscient Crystal.

  His face fell. “What have I done that made you believe I think those things?” he asked.

  I pressed my lips together, realizing I’d said too much. “Nothing.” I shrugged, since attacking him surely wasn’t the way to his heart. “It’s just the way that most vampires think, that’s all.”

  “Well, I’m not most vampires.” He sat forward, his eyes blazing. “What I’m about to tell you is a secret, but I want to be completely honest with you. Do you promise to keep my secret?”

  “Yes,” I said. “I promise.”

  “If you want to leave once you hear this and never come back, I’ll understand,” he said.

  “I won’t want to leave,” I said, since that I was sure of. I was in this deep—I was going to finish what I’d started.

  “When I was first turned, my bloodlust was incontrollable.” His eyes darkened as he began, and at once I realized that I knew this story—he’d told it to me when he knew me as Annika. “I escaped from the palace and ransacked the village, killing more humans than I can count. If I’d been any other vampire, Queen Laila would have had me killed. But no—I was her chosen prince. The fact that I’d been able to barrel past my guard—a trained fighter—only proved to her that she’d chosen right when she’d turned me. So she kept me alive. She used compulsion to wipe the memory of my face from everyone who had been there, blamed the rampage on someone else—someone innocent—and had him killed in my place. I should be dead. She should have killed me for what I did. I would have welcomed it to escape an eternity as a monster. But she didn’t. After all the harm I’ve done, there’s no way I can ever forgive myself. So I want to do what I can to repent. I want to help the humans.”