Page 21 of Wedlock (Vampire Bachelor Games #3)

I sip my tea and watch Eleanor closely.

She’s distracted again today. She keeps staring off into the distance and isn’t even really giving the baby any attention. Usually she’s smothering him with kisses and cuddles and speaking ridiculous baby-talk to him.

Something’s up, and my mind has been in overdrive as I’ve considered just what that could be. Given the machinations of vampire nobility, I’ve narrowed it down to half a million things, each as damaging or scary as the next.

I know it’s not Viper’s return, not yet.

This evening I’d jumped into his head to find he’s somewhere surrounded by other vampires.

He’s happy. The room he’s in seems like a kind of opium den.

There are dragon motifs on the walls and there’s smoke, thick, strange smoke hovering all around.

Women and girls, naked and lolling on crimson cushions, were being bitten and fucked.

I’d wanted to stick around longer to see if I could hear any snatches of conversation, but I pulled out of his head when two little girls were presented to him.

Now that Eleanor’s here, I need to frame my question in a way that she opens up, because if it’s not Viper causing a stir then there’s one scenario that keeps topping my list of possibilities.

‘Please, please don’t let her tell me that Falcon killed Jag.’

“Eleanor, I can’t help but notice something is on your mind. You’re not still mad about my ‘cutting your throat’ comment, are you?”

She turns her worried gaze from the wall, where she’d been staring for a full minute.

“Pardon?”

“What’s worrying you? Is it Falcon? Has something happened?”

“You could say that,” she mutters, looking down at the baby and shaking her head.

“Is it…” I take a deep breath, “he hasn’t fulfilled his vow, has he?”

“Vow?”

“To, ah, kill Jag. He hasn’t done that, has he?”

She says nothing, continuing to stare blankly at my son.

“Eleanor?”

Frowning, she looks up at me.

“Is that all you’re worried about? That your lover might have been harmed?”

I jerk upright, startled by her vehemence.

“No, I, it was just one of the scenarios…”

“Let me paint you another scenario,” she snaps. “One where your husband flies back into the web of a woman who will one day suck him dry like the spider she is, and all that will remain of him is the outer husk of the man he once was.”

“What?”

She shakes her head and hands me the baby.

“I have to go.”

“No, Eleanor, please. If Falcon’s in some kind of trouble, I’d like to know.”

Standing, she stares down at me, looking more royal and unapproachable than I’ve ever seen her.

‘And more dangerous.’

“Really, Angelina? Why? You profess to despise him, tell him you’ve never loved him, present a baby purporting to be from another liaison. Why would you possibly care if my son is in peril, after everything you’ve done to him?”

I clamp my lips shut. Everything she’s said is true, but if she knew the reality she’d know that my heart aches for my husband. My eyes glitter with tears as I shake my head and look down at the child in my lap.

“If you must know,” she growls, “he’s with his former vampire partner, Princess Revna of Denmark. He was in love with her once and destined to marry her. Your treachery has sent him back to her.”

I don’t look up; her words are so painful I can hardly breathe.

‘He’s returned to a former lover? A vampire princess, no less? So much for ‘eternal love’ and his broken heart.’

“I would have thought,” I whisper, “that you’d be happy he was moving on.”

“Happy?” Her voice rises. “If my son marries the Princess, this castle and seat will go to Viper.”

“Oh fuck!”

“Yes,” she snaps, “my sentiment exactly. Moreover, an heir will not be required any longer, a wife will not be required any longer, and my eldest son will become, eventually, the King-Consort of Denmark.”

I hear what she’s saying, but my heart had stopped when she said Viper’s name, and all I can think of, on a loop, is that he’ll be back here and all-powerful.

I can’t even speak; my horror is so all-consuming, but Eleanor isn’t waiting for my thoughts anyhow; she’s gone.