Page 6 of The Vampire Court

“Why didn’tyoutell me?” My words are sharp and cutting.

At my outburst, Cherno startles somewhere across the room. Leathery wings flutter erratically until the demon settles above us on one of the thick beams.

“Because it doesn’t matter.”

I suck in a breath. “How can you say that? You’re fated to be with the queen.”

He goes deathly still. “Who told you that?” he asks sharply.

“It doesn’t matter.” I throw his words back at him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He takes a tentative step closer and, when I don’t back away, another and another. Alaric reaches out and takes me by the shoulders. He swallows hard, the knot in his throat bobbing. “Because of the way you’re looking at me now. I never wanted you to see me as the others do, but to see me for who I am.”

That strikes me like a physical blow. In the short time since learning who he was, I put up walls, blocking him out. If I had known all along, I never would have accepted his deal. I never would have allowed him to give me any of the marks, and I never would have returned to Windbury after Kathrine’s wedding.

When I don’t speak, he continues, “Being a prince means nothing. It’s an empty title that I hold only because I had the misfortune of being her second victim.”

“Second?” I frown. “Lawrence said you were her first.”

Pain darkens his eyes. “Her firstcreation.” Alaric turns his face away, glowering at a distant place I can’t see. “She nearly killed Rosalie. I had no choice but to submit to Elizabeth’s will so I could keep her from dying—” His voice breaks.

My hurt and anger melt away. Forgotten. I move closer and take his hand. His fingers squeeze mine—the only physical sign of his pain he allows himself to show.

“I turned my own sister because of her. I robbed Rosalie of the future she should have had… but I couldn’t let her die.”

“I understand,” I say.

And I do. I would have done the same if I had been in his place. I am thankful now that he refused to give me the final mark on the way here, but I don’t think I can ever allow him to mark me when he is essentially betrothed to the queen. I can’t allow myself to be tied to a man who can never be mine.

Alaric wraps me up in a hug, but I don’t fully relax into him as I would have in the past.

“Thank you,” he whispers, and I can feel the relief in his posture.

After a long moment, he pulls back and lets me go.

“You’re still upset,” he says.

I want to deny it, but I can’t. “Yes.”

“Why? How do I fix it?”

“It’s not your title. You are fated to be with the queen.” I spit the words. The ugly feeling from earlier returns with a vengeance, roiling in my gut.

Alaric flinches.

He is not mine. Knowing this—seeing him stand with the queen on the dais, watching her kiss him—forms a hollow shell out of my heart. I’m afraid that he’ll slip through my fingers. I have lost everyone else I’ve ever loved in my life, and now I am afraid I will lose him, too.

It’s selfish, but I wonder what will become of me when he is hers.

“Fate is what will come to pass, but we can control it by deciding for ourselves what we want. We can forge our own path. I will not have Elizabeth or anyone else choose for me… for us.”

I pull in a breath and hope he’s right.

Chapter Three

Clara

Strong hands grip my shoulders,pinning me down. A heavy form settled on top of my body keeps me immobile. My eyes fly open, and all I see are bared fangs. I blink at dark sapphire eyes ringed with a thick, red line. Morning sun gilds Alaric’s tousled black hair and thick eyelashes.