Page 66 of The Broken Prince

His stare accompanied his emotions, full of anger. “There’s no scenario where I allow you to prey on the people I’ve vowed to protect.”

“I wouldn’t kill them. And I would only take volunteers.”

“Why would anyone volunteer?” King Rolfe asked blankly.

I didn’t give the real reason. “Because I’ve pledged my life to their protection, and I think it’s in their best interest that I succeed. I also saved their kingdom from destruction, so it would be a nice way to show their gratitude.”

He released his breath slowly, his nostrils flaring in the process. He crossed his arms over his chest. “If you ever—”

“I would never feed on Harlow. Even if she volunteered, I wouldn’t accept.” And I hadn’t accepted last night, even though she’d begged me to do it.

“Why?” His eyes pierced my flesh, searching for a hint of a lie.

Because I might kill her. “I care for her.”

King Rolfe looked at his wife, and a silent conversation passed between them.

“I think it’s fine, Huntley.”

“What happens when the others come?” he asked. “They feed on all of us?”

“They would bring their own prey,” I said. “Keep them on the ships.”

“So, you keep prisoners.” He stared at me again.

I didn’t deny it. “Some are prisoners…some are volunteers.”

He turned guarded once again.

“Different vampires have different ideologies.” I answered the question he never asked.

“And what ideology do you hold?” he asked.

I wouldn’t lie, not for anyone. “When I left my lands, I despised humans and believed their only purpose was to serve us, The Originals. But since I’ve come to your lands, I’ve had a drastic change of opinion. My brothers have always held the opposite belief, that we should coexist peacefully with humans.”

The king looked at me, his stare cold and hard, analyzing me with his intelligent eyes. “You can accept volunteers. But if you kill a single one, our alliance is broken.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

“I better not.”

At that moment, Harlow came into the room, her eyes tired and puffy. She’d clearly forced herself out of bed because it didn’t look like she wanted to be there. Instead of taking the seat beside me, she sat next to her mother and poured herself a big cup of coffee.

I tried not to stare at her, to appreciate the way she looked first thing in the morning. Whenever we were in the same room together, she sucked in all my focus, making it hard to concentrate on anything else. But I couldn’t let my thoughts slip when I was in the presence of her parents, especially her father. “What did you discover during your trip to the east?”

He finished off his omelet with a few more bites, a mountain sitting at the table, making his wife and daughter look even more petite in comparison. “Ian and I infiltrated a labor camp and spoke to one of the prisoners.”

Harlow was about to drink from her coffee, but she returned it to the saucer instead. All the sleepiness left her gaze, and there was a flash of unease across her body.

King Rolfe continued. “They described them as demons, coming from a ring of fire in the earth.”

“A ring of fire?” I asked.

“Ian and I saw it from the sky,” he said. “It’s literally a ring of fire, black in the center. It was dark when we flew overhead, so I don’t have the details.”

“There was an earthquake before they struck,” I said. “Perhaps they come from underground.”

“But how can something live underground?” Harlow blurted. “I can see something living inside mountains, but straight up in the earth? How would that be possible?”