Page 3 of The Ballad of the Vampire Prince

“I’ll join you.” Bas trails behind her.

Han doesn’t accompany them this time and he disappears in a flash of motion to the kitchen on the lower floor of the castle.

There’s just something different about the way Bas treats the girl compared to his previous muses.

It’s worse.

For someone so smart, he fails to learn that this never ends well. He’ll be heartbroken again and again when they die.

Sweet giggles fill the air, marking the couple’s return from the bath. Bas hoists the girl to the bed once more. Han arrives just a little later with a covered metallic platter. I don’t recognize the scent of the food inside. It’s sweet and buttery. I stop mulling over the peculiar thing when Bas suddenly clears his throat. “I don’t want to share her anymore.”

I fucking called it.

The air shifts in the room as Han and I share a quick look.

Gwynn gazes down to the floor, heat scorching her pale face. Bas caresses her cheek, drawing her to look at him. “You’re mine. Forever, now, always.”

“I’m yours,” she replies easily.

My eyes casually wander to Han over their exchange. I’m prepared for the worst if they decide to rip each other’s limbs to fight for the girl. The other vampire’s face simmers with disappointment but it is quickly replaced by something sanguine. “Can I still play with you two sometimes?”

Han can be a little dense sometime. But Bas surprises us all by replying, “Only if it pleases my Gwyn.”

The guy is falling for her hard.Shit.

“Well, now that all is said and done, I have a surprise for you, Gwyn.” Han claps his hands.

The girl blinks curiously but she remains wary. She knows that surprises from Han could range from showing a head he dismembered earlier in the day, to a four leaves clover he discovered in a field.

He removes the food cover with a mischievous smirk. “From where I come from, we celebrate someone’s day of birth to something sweet. This is something made of cocoa, honey, and wheat flour. It’s called a cake.”

“You never told us you turned twenty-eight last week,” her lover chides softly as he smooths his hand over her shoulder. “I had to learn that from the innkeeper in the village.”

“Yeah, I’m an old lady,” she says, blushing.

A lighthearted chuckle escapes from his chest. “What does that make the rest of us? I have a present for you too.”

He drops a ticking metal into her hand.

“What is it?” she asks him, studying the trinket in her hand.

Bas smiles at her. “It tells the time.”

“Like the sundials at the centre of town…” she muses with twinkling eyes. “It’s beautiful.”

Han passes her a slice of the cake on a small plate. “Go on, have a bite. Tell me how it tastes.”

I almost smile at the rare time when he remembers that the mortal needs more than just wine to survive.

After years of living in Lilith’s servitude, this is the first time I feel a kernel of warmth. I didn’t get the girl anything, but I want to be involved in their small celebration. I move to the bed to present the girl with my gift.

A mild fear flares in her eyes, quickly banked, replaced by surprise.

“It’s for you,” I say, passing the bundle into her hand. This map of the known world is something I had procured for myself, but I know she would like it. I overheard the girl telling Bas she always dreamed of traveling.

“It’s beautiful, thank you,” she says, offering me a polite smile.

“I have more gifts.” Han disappears from the room for several seconds and returns with a pile of fabrics. He dumps them all in her lap.