Page 28 of The Vampire Court

With as much trouble as she has been, I am glad that I spared her. I watched her grow up. She was always like a niece to me. Her mother had been a valuable employee, and Rosalie had cherished Elise.

“What do you want, Elise?”

“This. I’ve always wanted this. I wanted you to see me.”

My brows draw together. “I’ve always seen you. You were Charlotte’s daughter, but you were still an employee.”

Elise recoils at the last word. “Is that all you ever saw?” her voice breaks. “I loved you,” she says accusingly.

I bow my head. “I’m sorry. I never have, and I never will see you as anything more. I do not, nor will I ever have feelings for you. I watched you grow up. It would be impossible to see you any other way.”

“Loved,” she all but yells the word. “I had loved you once. When you sent me away, you killed that part of me, but now, I am here asking you to see me as your equal.”

The fire snaps in the hearth as if punctuating her words.

“That’s not how this works.” I shake my head. “I never thought you would need to understand the intricacies of vampire hierarchy… But, Elise, you will never be my equal. You are a lesser vampire, turned by a member of the court, not the queen.”

Elise goes deathly still for several heartbeats. When she moves, her upper lip curls in a snarl. Her eyes are hard as steel as red seeps in, swallowing up the pale color.

“That’s not true! You are a liar, Alaric,” she hisses through her teeth “I see my sire was right about you.”

“Elise…” I lift a hand, beseeching her to end this fight.

“You will regret this, Alaric Devereaux,” she hisses, then spins on her heel and storms out of the room.

I rub my forehead. Who the fuck could have sired her? It must be someone I know, at least in part, to have said something to her.

I sigh, regretting that I hurt her but refusing to play into her games, refusing to be manipulated by guilt. Her threat is empty, of course. She is a lesser vampire with weak powers at most, and depending on her sire’s power, she could be little more than a human, and I am the crown prince.

The title is a bitter taste coating my tongue, but I am more powerful than all the others, save for Elizabeth.

Elise will heal in time. She will forget about me.

I stride from the room, heading for my own. Clara should have returned there by now.

Chapter Eleven

Clara

I only manageda few minutes alone with Alaric before he was pulled away for demons only know what reason. It feels like we’ve been here for an eternity, and I have been waiting the entire time—waiting for him to open up, waiting to learn why he brought me here… and waiting for him to see him again.

Doubt seeps in.

Was coming here a mistake?Should I have just disappeared and changed my name? I cringe at my selfish thoughts.

Before we left Windbury, Alaric admitted that if I hadn’t come, he would have remained indefinitely. His disdain for this place shows in the tick of his jaw and the sharpness of his words when he speaks of the queen. He means something to me, and I couldn’t leave him to that fate.

Knowing that he won’t end up trapped here makes this worth it. It doesn’t matter that we will hardly see each other for now. There are only a few days left before we leave, and then… then we can talk, and I can decide where to go from there.

Knots form in my belly, twisting painfully at the thought of never seeing his face again, because… because…

My world shifts.

My heart thumps in my chest as the toe of my boot catches, and I stumble.

I care for him. As more than a friend… Far more than I should. I want him, and I can’t deny the connection between us, but this is so much more than that.

It’s not just the mark.