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Icas shut me up by pulling me closer, his grip on my hip hard enough to leave another set of bruises. “We won’t bother you any longer, gentlemen. Thank you for the chat. I’ll follow up with you later about what we can do about those witches.”

His promise to them made them entirely ignore what I was about to say. I let him pull me off to the side before I launched into my questioning.

“Whatwecan do about the witches?” I asked in a hushed tone.

The witches were not to be messed with, every vampire knew that. They had the power to destroy us. Every single one of us, if they amassed enough people. And they were known to travel in close-knit covens, tighter than any vampire family out there. So if you fucked with one, the rest would come.

He gave me a look before flagging down a waiter with crystal flutes of blood.

“Yes, Aurelia, whatwecan do,” he said and sent a smile to the waiter after snagging a drink for himself only. “You think all I want out of this marriage is your blood and body?”

The flames of anger licked at my insides.All he wants?He said it like my body, my entire fucking soul, wasn’t sold to him to be a sex slave whose only purpose was to be passed around and shoot out an heir that could do whathefailed.

“You told me your father wanted?—”

“You know, you were right about one thing,” he interrupted, leaning close. The music was loud, loud enough to drown out any conversations around us besides our own. “If my father thinks he can use me to get back at your father for a decades-old revenge, he has another thing coming.”

I stole something from him.Father’s voice ran throughout my mind. A sick feeling twisted my stomach.

“Are you suicidal?” I hissed. “Not only are you trying to piss offtwovampire kings but also waging awarwith the witches over something that was hardlytheirfault to begin wi?—”

“Not me,” he said, slipping an arm over my shoulder before turning us straight to look at the man of the hour—my father. He was sitting on his throne at the very back of the room. The platform he was on was elevated and gave him a clear view of what was happening at the party. My stepmother was at his side, chatting with a guest, but Father seemed woefully disinterested. His eyes were searching the crowd…until they came to us. “Name goes a long way here, darling.”

Not for the first time, fear clawed at my heart.

“War with the witches will bring you nothing,” I whispered.

He let out a huff of a laugh.

“They started it,” he said, rolling his shoulders to stand straight. “Those little parties you go to, the ones where you whore yourself out?—”

“Watch yourself,” I growled, stepping closer to him. I looked around us, hoping no one heard him. While the parties were not totally secret, they weren’t something we discussed out in the open.

“The drugs were laced, princess,” he said. My eyes snapped to him just in time to catch his wicked grin. “That’s right. Instead of giving you a high, they just about killed a handful ofextremelypowerful vampires. In my mind, that calls for retaliation.”

But from him? What gives him the right?Not only that, but he wasn’t a savior on a white horse riding into town to save everyone. His motives were corrupted and just as ugly as his dead heart.

“Is that why you tried to get in?” I asked.

He let out a huff. “Let’s call it a happy accident,” he replied before taking another sip of his blood. “You still don’t get it, do you?”

I looked to him for an answer but was interrupted as he waved down another couple in the sea of vampires.Smile for the people, Aurelia.

It was torture having to act like I was enjoying what he was putting me through, but with the weight of my father’s eyes on me the entire time, I couldn’t help but play my part. Laugh when I was supposed to. Insert a well-timed information snippet. Charm them. The works, until they were tired of us.

But the entire time, I couldn’t get what he said out of my mind.

He is going to get me killed.

Prince Icas had grown up much like me, in the comfort of his father’s money. But all that did was give him the illusion that he could do anything. I, on the other hand, knew that he was walking a dangerous line, and he wouldn’t be the only one to pay.

If he was using my father’s name to wage a war on the witches, there would be no saving myself. It didn’t matter that the drugs were laced—as horrible as it was, we all knew it was a risk. Working with witches always carried the same risks, just as it did when they worked with vampires.

But none of us could survive an all-out war.

Maybe I can use this.Instead of falling victim to his plan, maybe I could tell Father. Maybe it would be the key that I needed to finally get rid of this god-awful man.

I just needed to wait. Just needed to get more information.I can do that.