Page 126 of The Ballad of the Vampire Prince

Our gaze holds for a charged moment before I turn away. “I’m fine, really.”

My brick walls are crumbling down from his relentless onslaughts today. I need time to fortify my defenses.

I wriggle free from him and pretend to sort the bowls and plates aside to clear the table in front of me. I’m just finding something to do so I won’t have to look at him.

“We’ve been gone for a whole day. What am I going to tell people when I get back tomorrow?” I mutter to myself.

“If you get back,” Svenn says with a lazy drawl.

That tone has my heartbeat picking up again, I turn slowly to look at him.

“The day after tomorrow then?” I ask, hopeful.

“No.”

“Is it because of the storm?”

He doesn’t answer, his eyes nearly glowing in the candlelight. I touch his fist where he’s holding my paper crane. “Svenn, we made a bargain.”

“We did. I haven’t decided when I want to honor it,” he says with an impassive tone. “I’ll take you back to that slum next year.”

My heart escalates in my chest. That was careless of me…

Always specify the timing whenever you’re dealing with a fae, or in this case, a deranged vampire.

A smirk lifts his lips, sardonic and entirely evil. “But maybe we can go back next month. If you behave.”

I blink my eyes at him, feeling a little numb.

That’s it.

I refuse to play his game anymore. I scramble from his lap onto the table I just cleared. I perch myself on the edge to face the devil.

He pulls the table closer. I plant my feet on the chair in between his thighs to stop that. I have the height in this new bearing. I need all the advantage I can get for my next move.

“What are you doing, Nel?” he asks, his voice light and airy, still playful. I square my jaw as I stare down at him, fighting the anger churning inside of me.

“Let’s have that countdown again. I’ll tell you what I want this time.” Lightning strikes over the large windows, making my words sound ominous.

Fear flickers on that arrogant face for a fraction of a second before he squashes down the emotion. “We just made a deal.”

“I haven’t decided if I want to honor it,” I say it in the same way he taunted me earlier.

“Nel, I was just teasing—”

“The choices. Now. You said I can request it anytime I want.”

A vein in his temple pulses.

“Fine,” he mutters through gritted teeth. “Ten.”

“Close your eyes,” I quickly demand.

He raises one dark brow.

“Vampires have compulsion, don’t they?” I say in a controlled voice. “Maybe the choice I made this evening wasn’t mine after all.”

There is something like devastation on his face. Svenn was thrilled when he thought I had chosen him. Now he looks as if I had carved out the memory straight from his heart with a dagger. He seems distraught for a moment, restless even.