Page 52 of Wedlock (Vampire Bachelor Games #3)

I finish drinking the blonde and nod to the guard to come and let her out.

Like most court feeders she isn’t allowed to be drained to death; she’s under royal thrall and will be a feeder for at least a decade before she’s killed.

Being under a thrall she heals quickly and has the capacity to give blood more regularly and more of it than an ordinary human would.

And of course, her blood is of the highest quality.

If I had to guess I’d say she was of Icelandic heritage.

Pure, clean blood, reminiscent of the way humans used to taste.

Since my incarceration I’d had the same feeder every day, and I’m quite used to her walking in, drawing her hair to the side for me to feed, and leaving without a word.

Tonight is no different, except as she turns to leave she presses a phone into my hand and gives me a quick look before walking out, the guard slamming the door behind her.

After his steps have retreated and I hear the lock turn in the door at the end of the hallway, I pull out the phone and see one missed call.

Turning my back to the door, I walk towards the rear of my cell and dial the number.

“Falcon.”

“Attracta?”

“We don’t have much time. I have information about your father that can help with your case, if you use it wisely.”

My fangs run out as I narrow my eyes.

“How do I know I can trust you?”

“I was unaware of the thrall bite,” she sighs. “Asumpta was working with Viper alone, and I have abjured her. Your mother can vouch for this.”

“My mother,” I snort, “the keeper of more secrets than the Queen’s crotch.”

“Just hear me out,” she whispers, her words quicker now.

“Your father was in love with Spider’s mother long before she became Countess Dartlore.

The Count bit her and put her in a thrall prior to the marriage, but before that she was promised to your father.

He never stopped loving her or trying to get her back.

It’s said she grew to love the Count, or maybe she stayed for the children; no one really knows.

Either way, she cut all correspondence with your father and this escalated his long-running vendetta against the Count’s house. ”

“You know all this, how?” I frown.

“Interviews with those who knew them both, Court documents, hearsay, bits and pieces put together. I’ve been looking into this since you asked me about it last year.

I knew a little before, from your mother.

The fact remains that although your father married your mother a few centuries later, as required in order to get an heir, he was still obsessed with the Countess. ”

“So obsessed he killed her,” I mutter.

“That was by design.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“There was a fight, a battle to the death between your father and the late Count. You were deliberately left in the dark about this to spare you wanting to participate. I believe you were on a mission for the Queen at the time.”

“Yes,” I nod.

“As you know, their feud wasn’t just about the woman; they’d been enemies over territory and a great deal more for centuries.

But during the last altercation, which stretched several days and was tantamount to a war between their houses, your mother had Asumpta kidnap the Countess and bring her to the castle. ”

“Why?” I scowl. “For what purpose?”

“I think,” she pauses, “insurance.”

I raise an eyebrow, but don’t interrupt again as she hurries on.

“Your father returned from the battle victorious. He met with the Countess alone. What happened between them, no one knows, but he drained her. A few hours later he went on a blood rampage, and not long after, he fell ill and died.”

“When you say insurance?”

“Your mother hated your father, Falcon, we all did. She was trapped under thrall by a man who treated her like a punching bag.”

“You don’t need to tell me about my own family, Attracta,” I snarl. “I was there.”

“And I wasn’t,” she snaps. “I was sent to the Court decades before any of this happened, so forgive me if I have some catching up to do on who knows what.”

“Attracta,” I shake my head and rub my eyes, more from frustration than weariness, “are you saying that Mother engineered our father’s death using the Countess in some way?”

She’s silent for a long moment before taking the conversation in a new direction.

“I’ve been asked on more than one occasion over the years from a range of interested parties if your father’s illness is hereditary.”

“Let me guess,” I interject dryly, “a certain princess, my mother, the Queen.”

“To name a few,” she sighs, “and try as I might to find the answer, I just couldn’t put my finger on it. There were other cases of similar blood frenzies and death, but nothing seemed to link them all, until very recently when something was said that got me thinking…

“You said you didn’t have much time,” I snort, “yet this seems to be a long-winded and convoluted story, Attracta. Get to the point.”

“OK,” she huffs, before hurrying on. “The answer was right in front of me. Your father’s blood rampage wasn’t due to manic sorrow over the murder of the woman he loved. Spider can fly, so could his siblings.”

“So?”

“So, the only way a vampire can fly is if the mother is part fae or carries some of their genes. I recalled when I was younger and first attached to the Court that I found an antiquated book of fairy lore deep down in the vaults of the libraries. I read it as nothing more than fables and lies, and most of it is. But one thing that stuck out is that it’s said the blood of the fae, even part fae, cannot be consumed in excess by a vampire without causing a ‘frenzy of self-destruction.’

“You’re saying,” I scoff, “that somehow my mother found this out and ordered the kidnapping of the Countess? To what end? Because she knew the Countess would reject my father, even after being freed from hupotasso? I find it very hard to believe that Mother took a long shot that Father would bite the woman he loved, and some bullshit rumour about fairies would kill him?”

“I’m saying only that I don’t believe the illness your father suffered from is hereditary. Nothing more.”

“You didn’t answer my question, Attracta.”

“Ask your mother,” she whispers, before hanging up.