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“Shut the fuck up, both of you,” Louis ordered. “I can’t believe I have to deal with you two bickering nonstop in this humid weather.”

The weather was perfect with a gentle breeze and warm sunlight. The vampire prince was so spoiled.

“It’s so humid that my brain hurts,” I said. “Permission to be excused, high sir?”

“You can’t even get my title right, squire.” Prince Louis sighed. “You’ll be excused for the rest of the day under one condition.”

Life and suspicion both swirled back into my dull eyes. “What is it, sir?”

“I get a drink from you tonight,” he said.

“But what about tomorrow?” I asked. “We’re scheduled for tomorrow. Are we moving up the date?”

“No, little Bob,” said the prince. “Tomorrow is still on. Tonight’s drink will be compensation for you cutting short your working hours.”

My lips thinned, but I had no choice. The longer I stayed here, the sooner the prince of the House of Chaos would figure me out or make me slip. He’d riled me up enough!

“Then tonight shall be an appetizer,” I said. “We’ll have to measure the volume properly this time, so there won’t be any chance of overdose.”

“A snack then,” he agreed.

“And I’ll need a full disclosure of my job description, working hours, and compensation,” I said. “I’ll need to review a written contract and have a copy on record.”

“You dare, squire?!” Gunnar snarled for his boss’s sake.

“Let’s indulge our little Bob,” Louis said with dark amusement. “He’s young, and he has a lot to learn.” He turned to me. “I’ll have an attorney draft it up for you. Happy now?”

“Thank you, sir.” I beamed at him and pointed at the ice cream table. “May I have a cup of ice cream after I’m excused, good sir?”

Louis shrugged, not interested in the ice cream at all. “Knock yourself out, squire.”

Gunnar’s lips twisted with displeasure at me. Yet there was nothing he could do to stop me.

I flashed him a smile. “Sucks to be you, dude.”

Without waiting for his retort or threat, I shot toward the ice cream table.

“A dozen cups of ice cream to go for Prince Louis, all sorts of flavors, please,” I placed my order.

I looked over my shoulder while the servers scooped the ice cream and put the cups in a box. Among all the people, my gaze found the prince of the House of Chaos right away, only to see him smirking at me, looking utterly amused.

I snapped my head back, took the box of ice cream, and zoomed out of Sun Harbor with my heart pounding in my chest, sweat under my armpits, and liquid heat pooling between my thighs.

10

I was on my third cup of ice cream when I detoured to the main courtyard. I wanted to get familiar with every street, alley, and landmark in this campus town.

I spooned the rest of the ice cream from the cup into my mouth, grinning, which dropped as soon as I thought of giving my blood to the leech prince tonight. I soon shook it off, as I’d learned not to cash in the bad in advance.

The years in the pit being drained to within an inch of my life had taught me an important lesson—never let bad people steal your laughter. That was how you beat your enemies. Never allow them to have that power over you. Don’t talk about them over and over and thus let them live in your headspace. Treat them like they were nothing, and you’d get to move on to a better life. It wasn’t easy, but keeping doing that, you’d get rid of a victim mentality.

And you’d be stronger.

Then, you’d need to find a way to vanquish your enemy to be truly safe and free.

Some wounds may never heal. I would have this terror living inside me as long as Ruin was out there, but I made sure to laugh whenever I had a damn good time.

Like this moment, while I was enjoying ice cream and sunlight, I reminded myself not to let anyone steal my joy, not even the vamp and chaos princes.