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CHAPTER ONE

G wil had long since given up on being welcomed into the elite circles of vampire society. He was allowed on the periphery, where he could be useful, like investigating mundane issues for the Vampire Council, but nothing he’d consider important, so he still couldn’t quite believe he was part of the congregation for the marriage of the Dark Viscount of MacLove and Robin Flint, the future Dark Viscount Whetford. He didn’t think either of them knew he existed or was present at their nuptials.

Hyax stood next to him, looking amazing in full fae prince regalia. Another thing he’d been unprepared for was to actually get to have Hyax as a lover rather than just a friend and business partner. Not behind closed doors either, kept as a dirty secret, but out and proud, even if Hyax’s parents weren’t one hundred percent on board.

“I don’t think I’ve been to a legitimate vampire castle before,” Hyax said. “It’s really rocking the gothic vibe.”

“I’ve not been to this one, I don’t think many have as the Dark Earl of MacLove isn’t known for being big on visitors. And I’m only here because I’m your plus-one.” He didn’t want to sound bitter, but it summed up his standing in the paranormal community that he’d got an invite because of Hyax. “I’m still not sure how you managed to swing an invite either, let alone bring me along.”

“I told you, I’m representing my parents as the leaders of one of the six other tribes, all of which were invited, so it was considered something of an olive branch.”

He knew the MacLoves were big shots in the vampire community, but Hyax had confirmed the rumours he’d heard about the Dark Earl being royalty in the fae realm, so could be considered more important there. Their tribe, the Calanti, weren’t what he’d call flavour of the month with the other fae—not having had official open channels to the others for more than a thousand years was a bit of a giveaway. “Since when have you lot accepted olive branches?”

“When I started shagging a vampire.” Hyax rolled his eyes and jostled him with his elbow. “Get with the picture, Gwil, a vampire and fae wedding, we could hardly not go as a couple.”

They’d been dating a few months now, although Hyax’s parents thought they’d been together longer. Hyax bending the truth when he’d needed a boyfriend to stop his parents from marrying him off and Gwil was the first person he’d thought of to play his Romeo.

“I bet your mum loved that. I can’t say I’ve noticed a warming towards me on your mother’s part.”

Queen Talia had made her opinion of him pretty clear—she thought Gwil was an acceptable plaything for Hyax, but he wasn’t worthy enough to marry him. Hyax believed she’d mellow eventually and while Gwil was immortal, and had the time to wait her out, he wasn’t convinced he would win the long game.

“I might have insisted I attend, and with you.” Hyax squeezed his hand. “Not just because I think we should find a way to improve relations with the Calanti tribes, but it helps socialise the concept of a vampire marrying a fae with my people.”

Hyax had proposed, not with the grandeur Gwil might have expected from a prince but he’d learnt in his long un-life not to miss out on something by being a churlish twat, and Gwil had accepted despite Hyax’s parents not being too keen on the idea. “Oh, well when you put it that way I can see your reasoning.”

Hyax leant closer and dropped his voice lower. “It does mean I get to see you in a suit. You know how much I love peeling you out of one.”

Gwil was partial to Hyax stripping him naked. “We do have a lovely room. Would be a shame not to make proper use of it. Four-poster beds have great potential for all sorts of fun.”

Hyax’s eyes glowed gold for a second and Gwil suspected he might end up at the mercy of his clever magic, pinned to the bed for both their pleasures. If Hyax had planned to reply, he was cut off by the sound of bagpipes. Not the usual caterwauling he associated with the Scottish windbags of doom, but more melodious and less eardrum-splitting. He might go as far as to say he didn’t hate the noise.

“Oh, I don’t think I’ve heard the fae pipes played in years,” Hyax said, sounding as if he were fond of them.

“They’re tolerable I suppose.”

“I take it you’d not be keen on having them at our wedding?”

“I’d rather record Midnight retching up a furball.” Midnight was his cat, and apart from the odd heaving action, she was a good girl, and he’d fight anyone who disagreed.

“I’ll put that down as a maybe then.”

The doors of the great hall swung open, and Gwil craned his neck to get a decent view. The Dark Earl of MacLove was a secretive bastard, and his mixed fae heritage wasn’t openly discussed, but Gwil knew even less about his son Prince Simon. Gwil wasn’t high enough on the social ladder to be party to the good secrets, but he presumed there must be more behind this wedding than members of different vampire Houses wanting to play nice.

Robin Flint followed minutes later. He was an attractive bloke, not on Hyax’s level because Gwil was nothing if not biased, but Robin had an aura about him that corroborated his reputation of being able to get whatever he wanted. Gwil had seen him about. He’d only ever been on the periphery as he didn’t get to visit the places Robin Flint inhabited unless he was working, so he wasn’t surprised to see him scrub up well for his wedding. Prince Simon though, was hidden under a cloak and Gwil was as intrigued as everyone else when he stood opposite Robin and the hood was pulled back to reveal a pretty bloke with long black hair who screamed fae as much as vampire. He was the perfect blend of his parents.

Hyax leant closer. “I can taste his magic from here.”

“That strong?”

“More that it’s a different flavour. Let’s just say, I would say the fairy prince is probably an expert sucker and I don’t just mean of Robin Flint’s cock.”

He had to bite his lip to hold back the snort. The ceremony itself was interesting enough—a blend of vampire and fae traditions—and not like any he’d attended before. His sister was a dark countess and they’d not been on speaking terms when she’d married. From what he’d heard, hers wasn’t as grand an affair as this, but then she was her husband’s third wife and Penelope wasn’t a princess, no matter how important she considered herself.

Hyax watched with a dopey smile. Gwil wasn’t sure what it was he hoped for his own wedding, but he’d pretty much do anything Hyax wanted, be that eloping to a human registry office or a five-day immersive ceremony in a woodland glade.

They filed out into the reception hall, following the other guests, all of whom were more important than him, so Gwil decided he would stick next to Hyax to avoid being asked who he was and prevent himself from being thrown out for being a pleb. He would be a pretty poor detective if he didn’t know who most of the people in the room were on the vampire side. There were representatives from every House and various societies, and no one would have turned down an invite without a good reason. Gwil nursed a glass of blood, the vintage of which was so rare it probably cost more than everything he was wearing, including his favourite pocket watch. Which made him think of someone else. He glanced around. There were famous vamps and beautiful people, but no sign of his old friend, well, ex-boyfriend, but it seemed the society wedding of the year couldn’t tempt Oliver Hoffman away from his research.

“Who you looking for?”

“Hoffman.” He had mentioned to Hyax before they arrived that he might be here given his status, and he wanted to warn Hyax because he could be a bit of a jealous arse for no reason at times. Although Hoffman, who he had dated for over twenty years, didn’t seem to trigger Hyax as much as another individual from his past.

Hyax also glancing around, checking out the other guests. “I didn’t think this would be his sort of event.”

“Stranger things have happened, and with his connections and wealth, I’m sure he’d have been invited.

“It’s amazing how profitable blood can be,” Hyax mused then grimaced.

To be fair to Hoffman, he had revolutionised the whole feeding process for vampires by creating a process to bottle blood and stop it from coagulating. “Yeah, people will pay a lot of money for convenience.”

Small talk wasn’t his forte unless it was for a case and he suspected he came across as not the sharpest tool in the box. Hyax was led away by Queen Hylei to speak to her son, and Penelope had swept in making a big show of kissing her brother on the cheek before sodding off. He somehow ended up trying to make conversation with Elaine Vine from the House of Devereaux, who wasn’t a future Council member but important enough to get to use the family name.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch who you were,” Elaine asked. She was the sort of woman who, in normal circumstances, wouldn’t have given Gwil the time of day unless he was carrying her bags and wanted to check he hadn’t stolen something.

“Gwilym Hilt, I’m Prince Hyax’s partner.”

“Oh. And you’re a vampire?”

To be fair it wasn’t an unusual response, most people were surprised he’d bagged Hyax. “Yeah.”

“Which House?”

“I’m not a member of one of the Houses.” He saw her eyebrows rise but he did have a way to salvage this. “My sire is Solivatus.”

Her demeanour changed in a second. “I see. Now he is a remarkable gentleman. Pity I’ve not seen him here. No doubt you’d have liked to have caught up.”

When he’d been turned, his blood lust had outweighed his need to be fucked, but not by much, and once he’d been sated with blood, he’d spent three days being drilled into a mattress by his sire. They’d repeated the activity twice, on the tenth anniversary of his turning, and once after he’d parted company with Hoffman. He’d been surprised when Solivatus had turned up after hearing they’d split as it hadn’t been a bad break-up.

“I’m always honoured when my sire wishes to spend time in my presence. But I don’t think weddings are his thing.”

Elaine chuckled. “You’re right there. Tell me, are the stories true?”

Vampires weren’t known for their subtlety, but neither did they tend to give straight answers. “I’m not sure what you mean?”

“When someone is turned by Solivatus, the normal lust is almost as bad as the need for blood.”

Gwil cleared his throat. “Let’s just say his reputation is well-deserved and leave it at that.”

Hyax appeared at his side. “Whose reputation?”

“Good evening, Your Highness. We were talking about Solivatus,” Elaine said. “I’m not sure how well-versed you are about vampire society.”

Hyax slid his arm around Gwil’s waist. He wasn’t used to Hyax displaying his possessive side, and he saw a dangerous edge to Hyax’s expression. “I’m aware of the individual. Gwil’s past liaisons aren’t something he’ll be drawn on.” The if he knows what’s good for him was left unsaid.

Elaine appeared flustered, as important as she thought herself to be, she would know better than to rile a royal fae. “Of course, and I do believe congratulations are in order.”

“Indeed.” Hyax turned to Gwil. “If you’re finished here, I want to discuss something in private.”

Gwil wondered if Hyax was this jealous over nothing or if it were a plausible reason to get away. “Yeah, whenever you’re ready.”

Hyax didn’t exactly excuse them; more manoeuvred Gwil away with a curt nod in Elaine’s direction. “We’ve not discussed your sire in detail, and we will, especially if I have to continue to overhear inappropriate conversations of what you two got up to.”

He didn’t think Hyax was being fair, but they were already halfway back to their room, Hyax marching him away from the wedding as if he were in trouble. “There was nothing inappropriate, I have a history. So do you, and you’ve no reason to get annoyed with me.”

Behind their closed door, Hyax stood with his hands on his hips. “I don’t want to get into the whole Solivatus thing now, I’ve bigger things to worry about.”

“Hyax, there’s nothing to be jealous over. You know there’s a bond between a vampire and their sire, but I haven’t seen him in decades, and besides all that I love you.”

He saw Hyax’s posture soften. “I’m sorry. You know I’m dealing with a lot, and I’m waiting to be summoned home at any moment, but it was the conversation I had with Prince Simon that’s going to have a potential long-lasting impact.”

Gwil sank onto the end of the bed, Hyax could be a grandiose prat some days, but he didn’t tend to be this dramatic. “In what way?”

“He suggested that a future where the Calanti are no longer outsiders is a possibility that’s closer than ever before. While I had a similar hope, I thought it would take more persuasion.”

He could understand why Hyax thought it a big deal, the Calanti tribe had been ostracised for over a millennium and if Prince Simon was opening up a path to bring them back into the fold, then surely the other tribes would welcome them. It was also a great distraction, and he could shelve any conversation about Solivatus for a later date. “I imagine after his honeymoon it might be something you’ll want to follow up on.”

“I’ll need to talk to my mother first, and she’ll decide the direction, but I’m going to offer to be the go-between to see if the other tribes might be as keen.”

“Is this coming from Prince Simon or his father? You might want to hold off saying anything until you know if this is a next-generation idea, and he’s approached you because you’re his peer in that sense.”

Hyax pouted. “You might have a point.”

Gwil grinned. “I’m not just a pretty fang.”