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“This condition isn’t unheard of in human and witch females, Your Majesty,” Healer Chastain said from where she kneeled on the floor at the foot of our bed. “Since her system is now clear of your blood, the adverse effects should subside within a few hours.”

“And?”

Healer Chastain’s shoulders hunched at the chill in Luc’s voice. My soulbound stood before the healer, a wall between the room and our unconscious bride. Nessa lay tangled in the sheets, her breath softened from its earlier harsh rattle, but sweat still marred her too-pale skin.

I brushed a strand of copper-brown hair from her face and imagined her fever lessening. Soothe . If I focused, the cloying heat of it trickled weakly through the bond. It felt almost akin to the humid air of the Alvarese rainforests, heavy and exhausting on my shoulders. It wasn’t anything I had ever experienced myself. I’d been gutted a time or two, but vampires didn’t get sick, more like our demon ancestors in that regard.

What a delicate little creature we found ourselves bound to.

I traced my finger along the soft edges of her face. I had always been aware of our differences. I had killed enough mortals to know how easily they crumbled. But healing them? Stitching them back together? That had never been a concern of mine.

“I will have to consult my colleagues, Your Majesty,” Healer Chastain continued, her voice careful. “Our healing runes aren’t effective against the condition. We can’t target the misplaced cells since they aren’t abnormal. And our blood only increases the immune system response, which results in inflammation and worsens the symptoms.”

Luc stared down at her for a moment. Healer Chastain lost control of her heartbeat under the Conqueror’s glare. Most people did. It was impressive she had lasted as long as she did.

“None of that sounded like a solution,” he said.

Healer Chastain ducked her head. “I apologize, Your Majesty. We haven’t had much reason to study the illness, so I’m not sure if there is a cure. But I can gather the brightest minds from the healer guild and create one, if not. I have no doubts about that, Your Majesty.”

Luc gave a sharp nod and waved her away. “Consider it your guild’s top priority.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Healer Chastain backed away, remaining on her knees. When she was far enough away, the healer climbed to her feet, Estrella holding the door for her on the way out.

Luc turned his attention back to Nessa, cuddled into my chest. I patted the space on her other side, but he shook his head. He hadn’t relaxed since our bride stumbled hours ago. I doubted he would again until she woke.

After a heavy pause, Sabas cleared his throat. “Imperium?”

My gaze snapped to him. Our council and guard had watched the healer examine our bride from the far side of the room, their backs nearly against the wall. It was strange to see them so distant and wary… yet entirely necessary. Cédric had approached a step closer earlier out of curiosity at Healer Chastain’s discovery spell, and it had taken everything in me not to rip my brother’s heart out. Before my nails could fully sharpen, Luc had growled and Cédric quickly scrambled back.

I didn’t even want to imagine what would have happened if my soulbound hadn’t warned him away from our bed and our ill bride. What the fuck would I have told Perry? Hope you enjoyed Kotara, I murdered our brother and then had to mercy-kill Sabas before his broken bond drove him insane. Do you want to raise Rosier and Vérène or should I?

When Luc didn’t respond, I said, “Yes, Sabas?”

Our Crown Enforcer hesitated. “If she doesn’t consume your blood, she’ll age.”

“I’m aware,” Luc said coldly. “I think we’re all aware.”

“Of course, Your Majesty. I meant no offense.”

Luc inhaled, trying to steady himself, to bring back his ironclad control. “It wasn’t offensive. Speak plainly, Sabas. Neither of us considers your words as an attack, even in this… heightened state.”

My gaze locked with Luc’s. The same intensity that burned through me scorched through him. To protect, to defend, to shield. If we hadn’t spent centuries mastering our self-discipline, how would we have reacted when Nessa nearly collapsed in public?

Everyone at the bond rite would be in pieces, scattered across the castle.

Hells, today was only our second day as heartmates. I had known being bound to a human would cause problems, but I hadn’t imagined senselessly slaughtering my friends and courtiers among them. Senseless slaughter had never been an issue for me. I played the role of the impulsive king well, but I had never killed anyone accidentally.

Only intentionally.

“What if this is their play?” Isabeau asked carefully. Her arms were crossed, hands far from the hilt of her sword. A deliberate precaution. “An assassin isn’t needed to kill your bride if she can’t consume your blood to make her immortal. They can simply wait fifty years.”

“It’s not that she can’t consume their blood,” Cédric said. “It’s that doing so will cause her agony.”

Roxiana, the most at ease among our councilors, leaned against the table and scoffed. “It’s like you’ve never met heartmates, Cédric. Even if her agony wouldn’t one day feel like theirs, do you really think they’d keep feeding her their blood when they know it will harm her?”

Cédric narrowed his eyes. “Her dying of old age would harm her more.”

“It won’t get that far,” Luc mused, keeping his eyes on me and Nessa. The ghost of his tension in my shoulder faded when he looked at her, safe and whole in my arms. “There are other ways to get vampire blood in a human.”

The room dropped into silence at the implications. Especially coming from Luc.

Cédric cleared his throat. “Birthing a vampire only extends a human life by a decade. You can’t spend eternity knocking up your bride every ten years.”

My eyes dropped to the faded mark of the contraceptive runespell on her arm. Luc had been right to place it on her. Though the chances were always low—lower still with her fertility issues—it wouldn’t make any of our lives easier to navigate a pregnancy while our new bond settled.

Pity.

“Why not?” I quipped. “I’ve always wanted a dozen kids.”

“You’ll have surpassed number twelve two centuries in,” Roxiana muttered.

“I’ve always wanted a couple hundred kids, then. Happy?” A hundred was far too many, but I hadn’t been joking when I said I’d gladly put a baby in our bride as soon as she asked. If she woke this second with the demand, that rune would be gone and I’d be balls deep inside her.

I barely swallowed a shudder. Stars, this new soulbond made me want to fuck even more than usual.

And I wasn’t alone in that. Luc’s pupils had blown wide, his irises reduced to slivers of silver. I didn’t even need to ask. I knew exactly what he was imagining.

Fucking her until she was limp and sated.

Filling her up with his cum until she was round with our child.

If she was even remotely fertile when the blood moons rose next month, nothing would stop my darling’s Beasty from breeding her.

The urge already pounded through his veins, my veins. Ours, ours, ours. No one would take her away. If she died, I wou ld follow. I wouldn’t have to mourn her, the loss clawing a hole in my chest. My jaw clenched as I looked down at her. But she wouldn’t die. I wouldn’t let her. I had failed Corinne, but I wouldn’t fail her or Jules, my heartmates—

I wrenched myself out of Luc’s head with a ragged breath. Fuck. That would take some getting used to. I had always been aware of my soulbound, but I had never slipped into his head like that. Never felt what he felt as if I were him. I had done it with Nessa, too. And Luc had done it with both of us, though he hadn’t mentioned it. It was surely as unsettling to him as it was to me.

“Exactly what we need in the world,” Sabas grumbled. “An army of little Juliens.”

“It’d be more of a temporary fix than a permanent solution,” Cédric said. “You’d have to start sacrificing vampires to create fertility runespells powerful enough to conceive that frequently.”

I traced a finger along Nessa’s cheekbone. “I think our bride might object after a handful of births, too.”

Luc’s voice cut through the conversation. “I trust the healer guild will find a solution. But if they don’t, we will do what we must to survive.”

I couldn’t help the small smirk that played along my lips. Bright silver-edged eyes flickered to me, a question in the slight tilt of Luc’s brows.

I shrugged innocently. “If knocking our new wife up would be such a hardship for you, darling, I’m more than happy to play stud.”

Luc was on the bed in an instant, hovering over Nessa with one hand gripping my jaw. “I will surrender some things to you, Julien,” he murmured, voice dark and edged with need. “But that will never be one of them.”

I shuddered, but a wicked grin spread across my face. “I look forward to the challenge.”