Page 104 of The Ballad of the Vampire Prince

He snaps the chain on my wrist in a movement so fast I barely register it. A sharp chill goes down my spine when the lock clicks, my earlier fear screaming back to life. “What are you doing?”

“I told you, little fawn. I’m keeping you.” His voice has gone low.

I was mistaken. It was not a moment of insanity. My husband is crazy through and through.

I try tugging my wrist free from the manacle but it’s useless. “Take me back, Svenn.”

His eyebrows lift. “Why? You don’t even like that place.”

“That’s not true…” My voice is starting to break and I’m struggling to keep it calm. “I have duties to my kingdom.”

“And you hated every minute of it.”

His words slice deep into me, shocking me to my bones.

That is supposed to be my deepest secret.

No one knows that.

“I wasn’t trying to hurt you.” He heaves a breath, his voice becoming less strained. “You weren’t happy. I see a little part of you dies every time you go and play queen.”

He runs his knuckles on my cheekbone, the movement so devastatingly gentle that I lean in to the touch. I come to my senses quickly this time, though, shaking my head. “I want to go back.”

“If you want to go back so badly, then make your choice. Right here, right now,” he says, not even bothered to offer me the countdown this time.

It seems like a simple option.

An escape from this prison or never seeing this cruel man ever again.

Yet, my tongue has turned to lead as I look at him. The air pulses with a heavy silence during our stare down.

“Thought so. You chose me, Rhianelle.” He leans back, looking handsome and smug.

A flash of anger eclipses my fear for a moment.

“I’ll run away.” I glare at him.

He glares right back. “No, you won’t. I was dead for hours. You had your chance.”

The fury rises in me like a tide.

“You’re a disgusting prick!” I pull against the metal chain.

He smirks. “You need to come up with a better insult, wife.”

I am about to borrow some from Blaire’s vocabulary when a piercing, blood-curdling scream pierces through the air.

Chapter 15 Rhianelle

Iangle my head towards the terrifying sound. “What is that?”

“Seadragons,” Svenn mutters under his breath.

Shock flies into me over his answer.

Seadragons.

The last surviving real dragons in this world. One of Avalon’s strongest allies. These intelligent beings aren’t mounted like the wyverns but are considered as champions in the fae’s rank of warriors.