Page 22 of Hot Vampire Next Door: Season Five

There is nothing remarkable about her up close. She is beautiful, but there is something about her that is making it all seem wrong. Like a gorgeous daffodil with its stem bent and tattered.

From afar, it might be hard to see the brokenness of the flower, especially when it’s surrounded by many other pretty things.

But if you get close enough…

“I’m not sure you’re in the position to be negotiating,” the queen counters.

I vaguely remember an old neighbor giving my mom haggling tips over the bleached concrete of our driveway way back when I was a kid. My dad always handled negotiations, but Dad was dead and Mom needed a new car—she wasn’t ready to turn Dad’s Bimmer into an everyday ride.

“When they counter,” the neighbor had said, “and if it’s something you don’t agree with, just stay silent. Just keep looking at them.”

Mom managed to talk the car salesman down by a thousand dollars and also got three free oil changes out of it. She was so proud of herself that day.

I just stare at the queen now and say nothing.

The woman on her left, the one with the green hair, gives the queen a side-eyed glance.

The other woman on her right adjusts her grip on the hilt of her sword as if preparing to draw the weapon.

Bran could have me out of here before the entire blade was unsheathed. Couldn’t he?

“We can see how he does,” the queen finally answers, raising her nose even higher. “But the iron blade must be destroyed.” She snaps her fingers. There’s a rustling to the left and two fae clatter over, a large black pot suspended on two poles between them.

They stop beside Bran.

“Into the pot,” the queen says.

One of the fae—the man with sharp teeth and wide-set green eyes—uses a hook to pull off the lid on the pot. Steam hisses out and heat blooms in the air. Whatever concoction is inside is bright blue and the consistency of taffy.

Bran gives me a look. I give him a look right back. Toss the damn dagger, I tell him with my eyes. It’s my only fucking weapon, Mouse, he says back with his glowing amber gaze.

We can find you another weapon.

With a grit of his teeth, he tosses the blade in and the thick liquid bubbles up around it, burning the metal into nothing but silver glitter.

The queen turns away and walks the perimeter of the dais, her hands now clasped behind her back. “I am a very happy mother this day. My eldest son is betrothed, and what was once our greatest enemy will soon be our kindred. Tonight, we will celebrate this union and in five nights, their betrothal will be consummated beneath the glow of the smiling moon.”

The queen turns for an arched doorway.

“Wait!” I shout and my voice echoes around the large, domed room.

I sense a collective intake of breath.

It’s probably not a good idea to speak out of turn to a fae queen, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do to get shit done.

The queen turns. A wave of her dark hair falls over her shoulder and sparkles in the diffused sunlight pouring through the glass overhead.

“I should return home to prepare,” I tell her. “I’d like my sister to attend. And…there are things…things I need to wrap up.”

“Wrap up?” she repeats, like these are the two stupidest words she’s ever heard.

“Yes. I can take Arion with me if that helps. And you already have this collar on me to stop me from using my power.”

Just gotta pretend to be the good girl, the innocent one, the harmless one.

The queen snaps her fingers again and six guards step forward.

“Take them with you instead. I have much to discuss with the Lord of the Summer Court.”