9. Montana

I was in a moonlit field where I felt connected to everything around me, the bubbling of a stream close by, the caress of the wind. Everything was heightened, and the moon seemed to light the world as brightly as the sun.

Then a stranger was at my back, shifting the hair from my neck and winding powerful arms around me, pulling me tight against him. His mouth was on my skin, cool and demanding. I wanted more, my body arching back into his until the sharp scrape of fangs on my throat had my head spinning and the dream tumbled into chaos. I saw red brick walls, a flash of golden hair and a man with blades that shimmered like sunlight. Then I was in an iron cage, rattling the bars and screaming until my throat was raw. A man watched me from afar, a dark and twisted grin on his lips that awoke a deep horror in me. He moved closer, his hands curling around the bars as he glared in at me with a demonic glory in his eyes. “You will never be free of me.”

I woke with a jolt, heart thundering as I bucked and kicked, still feeling that cage around me now. I clawed at the arms holding me, trapping me, my gaze locked on the window across the room where morning sunlight promised me salvation if only I could reach it.

“Calm,” Erik growled, pushing me onto my back and gripping my chin in his hand.

He was rough as always, fingers biting into my skin and his leg locking mine down as he rolled onto his side.

My eyes found his and my breathing evened out, those ash grey irises blazing. My body relaxed, perhaps caught in some spell of his, though I didn’t feel bewitched. The clawing fear of the dream reminded me of why it had felt so real. Because it was. This was my captor, bearing over me, in possession of so much power that he could break me the moment he decided it.

“Your heart is beating steadier now,” he said, voice low, gruff, the deep tenor of it sending a wave of heat flooding through me.

His thumb dragged over my cheekbone and his eyes followed the movement, a hawk taking a moment to admire its catch.

My breaths were the only thing to fill the small space between our lips, his chest entirely still, void of life. So why did I feel the urge to reach out to this creature of darkness and draw him closer?

“Sometimes the gods send bad dreams to warn you,” Erik said quietly, his brow lowering as if disturbing memories were tearing their way through his mind. It occurred to me that he had lived many lifetimes, had experienced things I couldn’t even fathom, and had perhaps endured things that haunted him still. But that would assume a monster like him could feel, hurt and regret. Looking at him now, it was hard to deny that might be true. That he was not just evil incarnate, but a man trapped in death.

“What did you see?” Erik pushed when I didn’t speak.

It felt as though there were few barriers between us right then, and perhaps it was because I missed my sister so much and needed to speak to her so urgently, that I let myself open up as if she was here now. “A moonlit field. A lover turned beast. A cage where I felt watched by a monster.”

“A monster like me?”

“Yes,” I breathed, though I didn’t add that I wasn’t sure if it was him specifically.

“What else?” he demanded.

I frowned, trying to recapture the dream that already seemed to be spiralling away from me like rainwater down a drain. I shook my head, unsure I wanted to give him any more details even if I could salvage some. If, like he said, the so-called gods had offered me the dream, then they were likely warning me of the very monster who held me now. I didn’t exactly need the heads up on that one though.

He released his hold on my chin, but didn’t get up, his hand moving to press against the pillow by my head. We were half tangled, his muscles tensing just enough to keep his weight from crushing me. His scent of cypress surrounded me, and with him this close, it was always too difficult to think straight. Like my body took over, heat and want making my skin prickle in a demand. It was his vampire allure, no doubt. But sometimes it felt like so much more than that.

“There is something I need to do. I shall return to you soon. Get dressed.” He shoved to his feet and was gone in a flash, leaving me there with a curse on my lips.

I thought on all that had happened last night, pushing myself to sit up and looking at the spot where the vampire had turned to ash. Whoever wanted me dead surely wasn’t going to give up so easily. Once they realised their assassin had failed, how long would it be before they sent another one after me?

Sunlight filtered through the broken window shutters, just a dreary, wintery glow. For some reason, the ordeal I’d been through didn’t make me want to run. Instead, a strange feeling was stirring inside me. An intangible sensation like an anchor rooting my heart to this place, this room. Something was urging me to stay…

Moon child.

I sprang out of bed, my pulse pounding at the silky voice in my mind. Dropping down to my knees, I reached for the blade under the bed, certain it was the source of the voice. My fingers were drawn to its magnetic aura, and as I grasped the hilt, calm filled me like I’d been reunited with a vital piece of myself.

“What are you?” I breathed, turning the beautiful dagger over in my palm.

Nightmare. It warmed my skin and seemed to sing a quiet song just for me. Holy shit, was I talking to inanimate objects now? And was it talking back?

The shimmering gold blade was perfectly polished, reflecting my chestnut eyes back at me. I blinked as they momentarily appeared green, the colour of my sister’s. I was either losing my mind or something strange was going on with me. The dreams, this blade and now the mark on my arm...

“Why can’t you be here with me right now, Callie? Or better yet, why can’t I be with you? I have so much to tell you.”

I sighed, checking the clock on the wall, figuring I should probably wash and get dressed. I had to be ready to spend the day with Miles, and though another date with a vampire was the last thing I wanted, getting out of this room wasn’t. I needed some fresh air and time away from Erik to just fucking think.

Reluctantly, I tucked the blade back under the bed and headed to the bathroom.

The heated water was a sweet gift. If there was one good thing about this place, it was this. I washed my hair, running my fingers through it and thinking over each and every detail of the fight I had won against the vampire who had come to kill me. How was it even possible that I was capable of such a thing? Capable of taking on the creatures who had kept me prisoner my whole life? Had I always been strong enough to do that? Were other humans able to kill them too? Could we make an army, rise up, actually have a chance at winning?

As I rubbed the soap against my skin, I scrubbed at the strange mark on my arm which seemed less red today than it had before. My fingers traced the image of a blade, and I wondered if it was possible that I was a slayer. Fabian had told me they’d been wiped from the earth, so what did this mean?

There were too many unanswerable questions, but there was one thing I knew for sure. General Wolfe had almost certainly sent that vampire to murder me because of the blade that was now hidden under my bed, so I was in serious danger. Would he tell the royals what he suspected? Or try to end me before they found out? I didn’t know how the fuck I could prepare for any of those outcomes, but I would have to be on guard, ready for another attack to come at any moment.

Tension coiled in my stomach. The only thing that would make me feel safer was keeping Nightmare with me. Whatever strange power possessed that blade, it seemed to unveil a potential in me I’d never realised had been there. The ability to fight back. So I wasn’t going anywhere without it.

I could keep it concealed, tether it to my thigh where it would remain hidden by the flowing dresses I was given to wear here.

The idea made my heart swell and bolstered my confidence, liking the idea of finally having some defence against the creatures who had captured me.

Stepping out of the shower, I wrapped myself in a fluffy white towel and walked into my room.

My heart lurched.

Erik had returned and was standing there in a white shirt and navy trousers, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

“Could you ever knock?” I hissed, hugging the towel tighter around me.

His eyes travelled over me. “I’ll add knocking to the long list of ways I so wish to please you,” he said hollowly.

“Back to the dickhead behaviour today then,” I said lightly, moving to the closet and opening the door so it concealed me before I dropped my towel.

“I tend to become rude when I am bored,” he said.

“So it’s my fault you’re an asshole?” I scoffed. “I think that’s all on you, Erik.”

“There’s no need to get riled up.”

“I’m not,” I growled.

“She says, whilst riled up.”

“Stop saying riled up,” I said irritably.

“I think I preferred you when you were sleeping, actually. Much less lip.”

“I prefer you when I’m sleeping too. It’s like you don’t exist,” I said, tugging on some underwear, followed by a flowing grey dress with a tight bodice. I pulled on a cardigan, the sleeves hiding the mark on my arm.

“Except when you dream of me,” he taunted. “You moaned my name at least three times last night. It’s sad how obsessed you are really.”

I shut the closet door sharply, finding Erik watching me with wicked amusement gleaming in his eyes. I had a moment of doubt, a terrible fear that he wasn’t lying about that, and heat flashed through my cheeks. He noticed it, head cocking to one side and a dark laugh rising in his throat.

“I didn’t moan your name,” I hissed. “I would sooner choke on it.”

“It sounded like that wasn’t the only thing you were dream-choking on.”

A snarl left me and I strode toward him with intent, unsure exactly what I planned but wanting to tear that mocking look off his face. His eyebrows arched, waiting to see what I might do with complete intrigue, like this was all some game for his entertainment. And I realised that was exactly what this was. The bored prince playing games and hoping it might be enough to fill the void in him.

I slowed my charge, giving him a sweeping look up and down. “You know what’s really sad?”

“What?” he mused.

“For however many years you’ve walked this earth, you have never found anything to make you feel even close to human again. Because that’s the thing, isn’t it? You want to feel something, find anything worth making this endless existence worthwhile. But you can’t find it, Erik, can you? You’re trapped in a perpetual, unchanging body. You’ve reaped all you can from the barren fields of your soul, and now there’s nothing left that grows. Your torment of me is a small distraction from the colossal abyss that lives in you, but when it’s quiet and there are no distractions left to keep your mind from that truth, it haunts you, doesn’t it?”

His throat bobbed, eyes hardening, and victory surged through me at knowing I had finally cut him deep enough to wound.

Maybe I should have held my tongue, seeing as he had covered for my ass after killing a vampire and I needed him on my side. But I was tired of his cruelty, of his baiting and mocking. And the more I thought about him admitting his ‘miniscule attachment’ to me, the more insulting I found it.

“You’re angry with me,” he stated.

“No shit,” I muttered, moving to the dressing table and snatching up a hairbrush.

There was no sign of Nancy today, so I guessed Erik agreed I didn’t need to look my absolute best for Miles.

“Well...” His lips pressed together as I watched him in the mirror. For a moment, I glimpsed that humanity in him again, glimmering just beneath the surface of his eyes. But it couldn’t have been real. This was the illusion my father had warned me of, their ability to lure us in, mimicking human behaviour. It wasn’t genuine.

He cleared his throat. “Your assessment of me isn’t so far from the truth, I’ll admit. And yes, I do enjoy finding out how deep I can delve under your skin, rebel. But you are wrong too. There was a time in the early days of my curse that I tried to reclaim humanity, but I have long since accepted the truth of what I am. I tried to make payment to restore my soul, I tried to abstain from drinking human blood. I tried. Once. But that was very long ago, and somewhere along the way, I embraced this power in me and decided to wield it instead of fear it. I have the strength of a god in my veins, so why shouldn’t I use it to rise? To make a mark on this land. But do you know why we call ourselves princes and princesses instead of kings and queens?”

I shook my head, shocked that he was opening up to me at all.

“Because the only true rulers of this world are the gods. I know what it is to scorn them, to have their wrath lay on my shoulders. So I became one with their wrath. And there is power in that, if nothing else.”

He gave me a bleak look, no longer distracted but laid bare, and I hated how it made me almost empathise with him. But he had said it himself, he chose power over fighting his apparent curse, so this was on him. Honestly, I didn’t know if I believed anything that came out of his mouth anyway.

“These gods…” I said, returning to brushing my hair. “You speak about them as if they’re real. Like you’re certain they are. But my father only ever spoke of things like that in terms of myths and legends.”

“Is my kind not proof enough of their existence?” he questioned a little sharply.

“Forget it,” I muttered.

A beat of silence passed, then he spoke again. “There are many gods and goddesses, but all are divided into two kinds. The Aesir gods are those of war, bravery, courage and society. They reside in Asgard, a celestial palace in the sky.”

I turned to him, intrigued. He examined my expression as if checking to see if I was going to scoff at him, then decided to go on.

“The Vanir gods are one with nature, they wield magic and pursue peace far more readily than the Aesir. They are gods of fertility, wisdom and harvest, and they reside in a lush land known as Vanaheim. Right here, where we are. This is Midgard. The land of man.”

“And women,” I added, and he twitched a smile.

“Yes, and draugr now too.”

“Does that mean…vampires?”

“Smart little pet, aren’t you?”

I gave him a dry look.

“That is enough learning for today. I think any more might strain that tiny human brain of yours.”

I pursed my lips. “Does pretending humans are stupid make you feel better about imprisoning us?”

“If you really think I need to tell myself lies to ease the guilt of my actions, then you are not grasping how little I care for your kind.”

“But you did. Once.”

His eyes sparked with anger. “Once. In a time long before the now. There is only so much blood one can spill before caring becomes irrelevant. What use is it to care? It does not wash their deaths from my hands. I will not pity any who fall because of me now. In fact, there is much to envy from those who die at our hands, for their souls remain intact, welcomed into the Hall of Valhalla in the heart of Asgard, or into the underworld of Helheim. If I am ever to die, my soul will either be too fractured to make it into the afterlife, or if not, the pieces of it which remain will be so tainted it shall be sent to the region of Helheim called Náströnd, where sinners are sent to suffer, and the great beast Níðhöggr will feast on what is left of me for all of time.” He spoke with force, but I could see the fear lying beneath those words that he would truly face that fate one day.

“Why not release the humans, make up for all you’ve done?” I demanded.

“I cannot undo my sins,” he hissed, stepping closer to me. “And I do not intend to make up for them either. I am set on a path of malevolence, and you are my latest misdeed. I suggest you start praying to the gods I speak of, for they are far more likely to favour you than me, but they are also the ones who gifted me this power. So go ahead and pray, rebel, let us put it to the test to see if my will is greater than the gods’. Because I do not believe even they could tear you from me now.”

My throat constricted, the tension wrapping around my neck like a tether that led straight back to the hand of my captor. “And what of my will?”

A flicker of surprise crossed his face. “Yours?” he laughed, and anger flooded my chest.

“You’re a fool to discount me.”

“Then I am a fool.” He shrugged, then changed lanes, speaking casually again as if we hadn’t been on the verge of a full-blown argument, “I will continue my pretence of courting the other women today.”

“Pretence?” I echoed. “You seemed pretty captivated by Brianna yesterday.”

He dropped his head beside mine, gazing at my reflection in the mirror. “There is only one thing I am interested in pursuing in this world.” He trailed his fingers up my neck, then curled them around my throat, his touch light yet threatening. The closeness of him made me burn, and it wasn’t just in the bad ways, but the wickedly good ways too. “And it is not a woman.”

“Then what?” I growled, reaching up to pull at his hand, but he didn’t seem to notice.

He didn’t answer, his gaze tracking over me in the mirror with a hard and penetrating scrutiny. His thumb caressed the pulse point on my neck and a look of hunger glimmered in his gaze that made my hackles rise.

“By the way, I’ve sent General Wolfe to the west coast to release your father,” he revealed in a casual tone, dropping his hand from my neck just like that.

I turned to face him fast, grabbing his shirt in my hands and fisting it tight. “You what?”

“I believe you heard me.” He scraped my hands from his shirt, keeping my fingers trapped in his.

“Thank you,” I gasped in utter relief, tears searing the backs of my eyes at the thought of Dad walking free from that place.

“I told you I would,” he murmured.

“Will you bring him here once he’s released?” I asked.

“Like I said before, it will be more complicated.” He frowned as my heart fell. “But,” he added, and my heart lifted again. “Perhaps I can arrange it. If that’s what you’d like?”

“Yes,” I said firmly.

He couldn’t go back to the Realm, it was unthinkable. And I wanted to see him with my own two eyes, to prove he was really safe. This wasn’t exactly freedom, and I’d be damned if I submitted to this way of life, but at least here, Dad would have regular meals. We’d have each other too, and we could make a plan to escape and find Callie. The thought of it filled me with so much hope that it brought an actual smile to my lips.

“Then it’s done,” he promised. “As soon as Wolfe has finished questioning him about the location of your sister, he will be freed.”

“Wolfe won’t hurt him, will he?” I asked in fear, certain my father wouldn’t give up a scrap of information about Callie even if he did know where she was.

“I’ve told him not to be violent,” Erik said.

I had to believe him, unable to see a reason for him to lie. He needed me to cooperate, and this was the key to getting that from me. I knew I still had to pay the price for this, but in the face of Dad being safe and free, no cost seemed too great. Even if ultimately, it came down to letting Fabian claim me as his wife. For family, I’d do anything.

“Miles will be here soon to collect you.” Erik drew me a little closer, his cold hands still tight around mine. “He will treat you as if you are equal to him, it tends to be his way. He has a fondness for humans, but do not make the mistake of thinking he is your friend.”

I nodded, only half listening as I was still wrapped up in the news of my father’s release.

“Rebel,” Erik growled, and the warning in his voice made me focus. “Miles likes his ego stroked. He plays god whenever he can, and I would hazard a guess that he has sired more vampires than any of us. He wears his curse like a medal of honour, a gift from the gods which he hands out to his favoured followers, but it is a fragile delusion. I doubt he would ever admit it, but his bravado is a guise put in place to fool those around him, himself most of all.”

“What’s your point?” I asked, unsure why he was telling me this.

“Do not question his boasting. He will treat you kindly if you go along with his delusions of greatness, but prod at him too much and you might rouse the beast in him.”

“Are you trying to protect me, oh valiant prince?” I goaded him, and he gave me a flat look.

“I am trying to protect my asset, yes.”

“Fine, I won’t point out that Miles is a bloodsucking monster with no redeeming qualities.”

“I mean it, rebel,” Erik snarled, his fingers digging into mine.

“Alright,” I breathed, his ferocity making my heart rattle in the cage of my ribs. “I’ll watch what I say.”

“Good,” he exhaled, eyes searching mine before he finally released me, and it felt like the air in the room was at once more breathable.

He gave me a sweeping look, a line of tension on his brow that made me sure he was frustrated by something, but I couldn’t tell what.

“You look…passable.” There was a tightness to his voice, like he had planned to say something else but settled on that.

“I guess the plainness of humans is just another thing to bore the timeless prince. I’m sure you can’t wait to go and look at someone flawless. Perhaps your own reflection.”

He didn’t rise to my baiting, instead frowning, his grey eyes still picking over my features. “Perfection isn’t beauty. Looking at faces that never change, never age, never bronze in the sun, it grows tiresome fast. Everyone starts looking the same.” He flattened out a crease in his shirt, then dropped his hand as if noticing the action and rebelling against it. “I found an old snow globe once in the ruins at the edge of the city. It was sat there on a shelf, a miniature model of New York trapped inside the glass orb. It must have been there for years, untouched, collecting dust, just waiting for someone to come along and shake it.”

“What happens when you shake it?” I asked, trying to picture the thing he described.

“A snowstorm swirls inside it. Chaos. Change…” He eyed me a moment longer, then bowed his head in a polite sort of goodbye, moving to the door. He seemed confused by the action, his brow furrowing as he exited, and I was pretty damn confused by it myself.

I thought on the story about the snow globe, seeing how clearly Erik wanted his own life shaken up. But I supposed when you lived forever, eventually all the novelties of the world ran out.

I headed to the bed, bending down to retrieve Nightmare, keen to reunite with it. My hand curled around the warm hilt, and I stood, carrying it to the closet and taking out a silk scarf. I lifted up the skirt of my dress, holding the blade against my thigh and tying it there with the scarf. When I was sure it was secure, I dropped the skirt and eyed myself in the mirror. No one would be able to tell I was carrying it. And its presence built a wall of strength around my heart.

A rhythmic knocking came at the door. “Get your ass out here. You’re officially mine for the day, Montana,” Miles called, an eagerness to his tone.

I opened the door, finding him there in an open collared blue shirt, sleek golden hair pushed back and a roguish, friendly smile on his too-handsome face.

He gave me an appraising look, flicking a lock of hair from his deep blue eyes. “Fuck me, no wonder my brothers are warring over you.”

“They aren’t warring over me,” I scoffed. Erik is using me as goddamn bait.

“Yeah, yeah, play it modest. They’ll eat that up.” He grinned, then snatched my hand, tugging me into the corridor.

I spotted a burly guard standing behind him in a black uniform, his skin dark and eyes softest brown. His raven hair was shaved short, and his jaw was sharp and square, everything about him speaking of strength and composure.

“This is my bodyguard, Warren,” Miles explained. “Don’t worry about him, he’ll just follow us around and scare off a crowd. There’s a lot of people in the city who are kind of obsessed with me.” He chuckled in a way that said he wasn’t really joking, then pulled me along and Warren fell into step beside us. I recalled what Fabian had said about Miles and wondered if Warren really was his partner.

“So what do I call you?” Miles asked. “Montana is a mouthful. Do you go by something else? Tana? Ana? Mo? Monty?”

“Not Monty,” I said quickly. The only people allowed to call me that were Dad and Callie, and even then, I didn’t like it so much. Though to be fair if they stopped, I’d be upset, but I wasn’t going to let them know that. “And please god not Mo.”

“Godsss.” He emphasised the s. “Plural. Clarice said you probably didn’t know about them. There’s twelve you should definitely be aware of. Thirteen if you include Loki – he’s a trickster. Never trust him if he comes offering you riches and glory. He’ll likely turn you into a goat for it. An ugly goat at that. Anyway, the others you should be shooting prayers to are Odin – the all-father, king of gods, a fucking badass warrior too. Then there’s his wife, Frigg – she’s the hottest thing to walk the realms, queen of Asgard, goddess of all things love, and fate; then there’s their son, Thor, god of storms and the fiercest warrior ever-”

“Hang on, slow down,” I said, my head rattling from the information he was hurling at me a mile a minute.

“I’ll get you a book on it instead, how about that?” he suggested, and I shrugged, not sure if I believed in all this gods stuff or not. But I guessed it wouldn’t do any harm to learn about them.

“I have a surprise for you this morning. But first-” Miles reached into his pocket and produced an apple. “Breakfast.”

I took it eagerly, my empty stomach coming to life at the sight of food.

Miles made endless small talk as we walked downstairs and I devoured my apple, the golden-haired prince seeming able to hold an entire conversation without me having to do much but nod my head at the right moments. We walked out to the front of the castle where the wind was cold and the clouds were thick above. A gleaming white car awaited us, and a guard handed the keys to Warren as we approached it.

I held the apple core in my hand, fully picked clean, swallowing the last of the sweet fruit. Miles plucked it from my fingers and tossed it into the trees with such strength that it flew through the air in a blur and slammed into an oak so hard it dented the bark.

“In you get.” He opened the back door for me, and I dropped inside before he followed. “So here’s the deal, Snow White.”

I frowned at the name. “What?”

“You know, dark hair, pale cheeks, blood-red lips. Like the story? You need a nickname, so there it is.”

“That’s not shorter than Montana,” I pointed out.

“Sure it is.” He waved a hand, clearly set on calling me that, though I didn’t recognise the story he’d mentioned.

“It really isn’t,” I said.

“Anyway, you may have heard through the grapevine that I’m with Warren.”

My brows lifted in surprise at his honesty.

“If you pick me, I’m gonna be more like a friend than a husband, alright? I’d like to get that clear, in case you fall for my excruciatingly good looks and top tier personality today. Warren is mine and I’m his.”

Warren glanced at us in the rear-view mirror, looking wary. “Are you sure you should be telling her that? You didn’t tell the others.”

“Well, that’s because Fabian went and told her already, didn’t he?” Miles rounded on me accusingly, and I saw a glint of that beast Erik had warned me about. Not that I needed to be warned about the threat a vampire posed, though I could see he had a point about Miles’s easy demeanour. It wouldn’t have been too difficult to forget he was a vicious creature if I only focused on his smiles and apparent warmth.

“Yeah, he did,” I admitted, not seeing any point in trying to lie. “But why do you have to hide it?”

“I only hide it from the humans I’m courting,” Miles said with a frown. “I don’t think they would want to pick me if they knew they couldn’t actually have me.”

Super arrogant, but okay.

“So the public know?” I asked.

“Kind of. They know Warren is part of my harem, but they also think my human wives are true wives. Like, they believe I love them and we have real relationships.”

“But why lie? Don’t you and the other royals make the rules?”

“It’s politics,” Miles sighed. “This whole ritual garners a lot of interest from the public, and it can sway people’s opinion on us. I have a court of Elite who I sired, and they will always be loyal to me first and foremost, as is the same for those my brothers and sister sired. But there are generations of vampires spanning many years. Those we sire, sire others, and then they sire others, and on and on the chain goes until the waters of allegiance get a little murky. We have to make conscious efforts to win the support of those vampires so there is never reason for insurgence. There are already rebel groups on the rise-”

“Miles,” Warren growled as I hung on the prince’s words.

“It’s fine. Who’s she going to tell?” Miles said, then thankfully continued on, giving me more information than I had ever gotten from Erik. “The polls show that this ritual gains us favour. Everyone loves the intrigue of it. Vampires marrying humans is complete insanity on paper, right? So I realised I had to commit to it, let them think I was fully invested, be out there courting the humans alongside my family. It gains me new followers every year.”

“So that’s what this is all for? Aiding your political campaigns?” I asked, not disguising the bitterness on my face and my disgust over the charade.

“No, not just that,” he murmured darkly.

“Miles,” Warren said again. “That’s enough, you’ll frighten her.”

“I don’t care. Tell me the truth,” I insisted, but Miles shook his head, giving me an apologetic look that set my heart racing.

“Anyway, Warren came up with this idea. I didn’t want to do it like this, but he was right. It works. If you choose me, I won’t be a true husband. And you won’t ever win my heart, no matter how much you try to claim it. Warren has held it for many, many years, and there’ll be no changing that.”

He looked to Warren, their eyes catching in the mirror and tension passed between them that charged the air. Confusion ran through me as I took in their heated look, unable to deny the love that they seemed to hold for each other. But were vampires truly capable of emotions like that? It went against the way I had perceived them all my life and challenged everything I thought of them. Love was tender, warm, pure. But those weren’t things I had ever associated with these monsters.

“You do know I have absolutely no interest in winning anything from you or your-” I bit my tongue on the words ‘bloodsucking siblings’ and tried to curb my tone, considering Erik’s warning. “Brothers.”

Miles laughed like I was joking, and Nightmare flared with heat on my thigh, as if it was angry with my present company. Strike true, strike deep.

The words urged me to take action, the blade desiring the death of the vampires around me, but that sounded like a suicide mission right there.

Warren drove us into the city, and we took streets left and right, sailing between towering skyscrapers that blocked out any glimpse of the sunlight beyond the clouds.

The further we drove, the more relaxed I felt about putting some distance between me and the castle. I felt less like a prisoner beyond those walls, but I wondered if I’d ever escape them fully. If Dad was brought here, would we be able to come up with a path to freedom together? Or was I fooling myself into believing there was really a chance for us?

He just has to get here, then we’ll figure it out.

Warren parked outside a glass building nestled between two tower-blocks. We exited onto the street and Miles took my hand, keeping me close. Warren opened the trunk of the car, taking out two duffel bags, then followed without a word as Miles led me up to the building and pushed through the door.

A sharp scent reached me in the damp, heated air and I glanced at Miles with curiosity.

“Good morning, your highness,” said a female vampire behind a white desk. “We’ve had everything organised for the courtier.”

“All warmed up?” Miles asked, and she nodded, gesturing to a wooden door across the room. “The changing rooms are just through there.”

I frowned as I followed Miles past her, and we emerged in a short corridor. Two doors stood ahead of us, one marked with the symbol of a man and the other with a woman.

“Here.” Miles took one of the bags from Warren and thrust it at me.

“What do you want me to do?” I asked, eyeing the bag.

“Get changed into the bikini and meet us back here,” Miles announced before heading through the male door, followed closely by Warren, before I could ask either of them what the hell a bikini was.

I was left feeling a little lost as I headed through the other door and emerged in a blue room with a row of small cupboards on the wall with a bench in the middle.

I unzipped the bag, finding the item Miles had called a ’bikini’ which looked like underwear to me. The only difference was it was bright red and had a strangely smooth texture.

I hesitated a couple of minutes, not liking the idea of walking around in next to nothing, especially with the mark on my arm.

Someone banged on the door. “You ready, Snow?”

“Fuck,” I breathed. “Yeah, just a sec,” I called then stripped out of my clothes and eyed the golden blade strapped to my thigh with anxiety in my chest. Shit, maybe bringing it was a bad idea, but how was I supposed to know he was going to bring me somewhere I had to take my clothes off?

I exhaled a sharp breath, making my decision – not that I really had much choice. I loosened Nightmare from my leg and wrapped it in the scarf before tucking it at the bottom of the bag. Stuffing my clothes around it, I pulled on the bikini and looked down at myself.

This was...so weird. What the hell did Miles have in mind for us to do?

Spotting a white robe in the bag, I tugged it out and relaxed a little. The sleeves were long, and would cover the mark fine, but this wasn’t looking good.

I took the bag and headed back out into the hall, finding Warren and Miles there in nothing but shorts. Both of their bodies looked cut from glass, their abs firm and shining, not a single blemish on their gleaming skin.

My mouth opened in surprise.

“You don’t need that.” Miles strode toward me, snatching the bag from my hand, and my heart jolted.

Shit.

He headed into the women’s changing room, and I gazed at Warren with an awkward expression.

“He’s a little extroverted,” Warren commented. “You get used to it.”

I nodded, forcing a smile and looking to the women’s changing room, anxious for Miles to return. If I followed him, it would draw suspicion, so I forced myself to stand there and wait.

“So... doesn’t it bother you that Miles has to take wives?” I asked, slightly concerned I might offend him. But surely this was maddening for him? Why would any of the royals take wives if they didn’t want them? Erik didn’t, so why did Miles?

“I can handle it,” Warren muttered. “For the greater benefit.”

“Which is?” My eyes narrowed and my heart thumped frantically.

I wanted to know this truth that was being kept from me, but equally, I feared knowing it too, certain it was going to be nothing good.

“It’s not my place to say.” He looked away, ending the conversation abruptly.

I frowned, sensing I wasn’t going to get anything more out of him on the matter, and when the quiet became unbearable, I asked, “Why are we all wearing this underwear?”

“Because we’re having a spa day.” Miles reappeared at last, grabbing my arm and pulling me along.

“A what?” I asked, glancing up at him and sensing no threat in his expression, so I guessed Nightmare remained hidden.

“Pampering,” he explained, but I was still confused.

I soon learned the entire building was designed to indulge in various things, and I picked out a couple from Miles’s explanation that didn’t sound like I’d have to take my robe off.

When my nails were painted red and my face had been scrubbed and moisturised, Miles led me along another corridor. He and Warren looked like plastic dolls since they’d been oiled up during something they called a ’Swedish massage’.

“Are we done now?” I asked, wanting to get my clothes back on and stow Nightmare back on my thigh.

“No, now we have pool time,” Miles announced before leading the way through a set of double doors.

We emerged in a massive glass room with a bright blue expanse of water at the heart of it. A fake arrangement of rocks sat at one end where a waterfall ran into it, causing the surface to bubble and foam.

“Is that a…lake?” I regretted the words as Miles barked a laugh.

“Kinda. Like an indoor, warm lake, I guess,” he said. “It’s called a swimming pool.”

“Oh,” I exhaled, taking a step back. Swimming? Absolutely not.

Miles ran toward the edge of the pool, diving into the water and swimming under it in a graceful arc. Warren followed, coming up for air beside Miles before they both turned their eyes on me. Though as neither of them actually required air for their survival, I supposed that wasn’t so impressive. I, on the other hand, very much enjoyed the pleasure of breathing.

My stomach twisted. My throat tightened.

I’d never been near water like this, and I wasn’t able to swim. Even more importantly, taking my robe off would expose the mark on my forearm. So all in all, this was a hard pass from me.

“Come on, Snow!” Miles urged. “Jump in.”

I shook my head, backing up further from the edge of the pool. “I’ll just watch.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Shed that robe and get in here,” Miles demanded, an edge to his voice that spoke of how little he was ever told no.

I shook my head, but he swam forward, clearly intending to come after me.

“No,” I growled more forcefully.

“Come on, you’ll like it,” he insisted.

“Leave it. She doesn’t want to,” Warren called, floating lazily on his back.

“But I want her to,” Miles said. “She’ll like it once she’s in.”

“I don’t want t-” I started but Miles leapt out of the water with a burst of speed, rushing behind me and tearing my robe off.

“No!” I yelled as he picked me up with a wild laugh, like this was all some game.

I screamed as he jumped into the pool with a whoop leaving his mouth and the moment we slammed into the pool, he let me go.

My scream poured out into the water in a stream of bubbles and I kicked, flailed, thrashed, trying to fight my way back to air.

Somehow, I made it up, but only for a second before I went under again, my feet kicking out and not finding purchase.

An arm looped around me and Miles yanked me above water with wide blue eyes fixed on me.

“I can’t swim, asshole!” I shouted, shoving his shoulders, but he only held me tighter.

“Oh shit, sorry Snow.”

Warren moved closer, giving Miles a look that said ‘I told you so’, and Miles gave him an innocent expression in return.

Miles roughly pushed some wet strands of hair out of my face, practically poking me in the eye.

“Ow, watch it,” I snarled.

“Woah, chill. I’ve got you. I won’t let you drown. And if you do, I’ll just turn you into a vampire,” he laughed, and I glowered.

“Miles, you’re doing that thing again,” Warren said.

“What thing?” Miles muttered.

“That thing where you think everyone wants to play your games and dance to your tune.”

“But my games and tunes are the best,” Miles insisted.

“You just threw a fragile human who can’t swim into deep water,” Warren pointed out.

“I’m not fragile,” I insisted, but they weren’t listening.

“Yeah, but I’ve got hold of her now, and I’ll play nice this time,” Miles said.

“Maybe ask her what she wants,” Warren suggested, and Miles turned his gaze back on me.

“I get overexcited sometimes,” he admitted. “I can teach you to swim.”

“That wasn’t asking,” Warren said, but Miles continued on.

“I’ve got you. Just do what I say, and you’ll be fine.” He smiled, and I could see I had no choice here.

I’d have to try and keep my arm underwater, and just hope for the best.

“Alright, show me,” I relented.

“Okay, I’ll hold your waist and you just kick your legs and spin your arms in a kind of cartwheel.”

“What?” I blurted but he flipped me over, laying me face down in the water and keeping me afloat by holding onto my waist.

I kicked like mad and water went up my nose, some chemical in it stinging the back of my throat.

“Just stop jerking like a finless dolphin and you’ll have it,” Miles said.

Warren roared a laugh, then started swimming on his back, moving his arms over his head as he went, cutting a path through the water. He made it look damn easy.

“C’mere. We’ll do it where you can put your feet down.” Miles guided me over to the shallower side of the pool, and I immediately relaxed as my toes touched the floor. With the water up to my shoulders, I could still keep my arm concealed too.

Miles demonstrated how to move in the pool, swimming in a style he called breaststroke. Thankfully, it allowed me to keep my arms under the surface, and I practised for a while in the shallower depths until I actually started to get the hang of it. The movements grew more fluid as my body adjusted quicker than I’d expected. There was a strange feeling in my limbs, like they knew what to do, like they were made for this.

“Shit, you’re a natural,” Miles commented. “Wanna swim to the waterfall?” He pointed across the pool and I nodded quickly, feeling more confident in my movements.

As we arrived at the fall, Warren appeared from underneath it, the water streaming over his glossy skin. “There’s a cave back here, want to see?” he asked.

“Go on in,” Miles encouraged, and Warren gestured for me to follow him.

Holding my breath, I swam under the flow of water, emerging in a plastic cave lit by blue lights.

Warren sat up on a ledge that was cut into the fake rocks, and I drifted closer, keeping my arms under the water.

“This is pretty cool, I guess,” I said, looking around.

“Yeah,” Warren agreed. “Hey, don’t let Miles’s eagerness put you off him. He means well. He just needs to be reminded he can’t always do what he wants.”

“And you remind him of that?”

“Yeah.” He smiled. “When we met, he was the most arrogant, world-dominating insufferable bastard.”

“You sure he’s changed?” I asked lightly, and Warren actually laughed.

“Yes, more than you know. I keep him grounded, and he reminds me to enjoy life. I was so damn regimented before. We were polar opposites. But now…” He shrugged, light gleaming in his eyes. “We balance each other. That’s how love is, I think. A push and pull finding harmony in the middle.”

I sensed no lie in his words, his love so brutally clear, I found my opinion shifting on vampires just a little. And if they could love, didn’t that mean they were capable of good things too? Didn’t that mean they, in fact, did have souls and feelings and desires that went beyond power, greed, and blood?

Warren suddenly caught my arm, pulling me out of the water with inhuman strength, and making me curse in surprise as he placed me down beside him. His gaze fell on the mark on my arm and horror jolted my heart as his expression turned to alarm.

“Wait,” I hissed. “Let go.”

I tried to pull away from his vice-like grip, but his hold was unrelenting.

His eyes whipped up to mine. “Holy shit,” he breathed.

My gut spiralled and panic bloomed.

“Don’t tell Miles,” I gasped just as the prince appeared under the falls, and Warren let go of me.

“Don’t tell me what?” he growled, his eyes flicking between us and a threat dancing in the air.

I shook my head at Warren, begging him not to say anything, but he beckoned Miles closer.

“You need to see this,” Warren said, and I tried to scramble away across the rocks.

Warren caught my ankle, yanking me back to him before grabbing my forearm and presenting the mark to Miles.

Fear thrummed through my bones as Miles’s expression darkened and the atmosphere thickened with danger.

Miles looked to Warren, then back to me. “You’ve got five seconds to explain yourself,” he demanded, his light tone thoroughly abandoned.

“I don’t know what it is,” I admitted, my heart rioting with fear. All I had was the truth, and I prayed it would be enough. “It appeared yesterday.”

“Miles,” Warren said urgently. “We have to inform the others.”

“No, please don’t,” I begged, certain that would be the end of me.

“She has slayer blood, like all of them do,” Miles replied to Warren, acting like I wasn’t there. “Hers must be far stronger.”

I took in that information with a shaky breath. “You knew about this?”

“This is not normal, Miles,” Warren pressed. “They are never this strong. The others could turn on her. Kill her.”

“Tell me what you’re talking about,” I demanded, knowing it might be my only chance to get answers, the reality Warren’s words painted making my chest crush with terror.

Miles gave me an assessing look, his expression growing more intense as he thought about something, then he turned to Warren again. “What if this is worth a shot? The others might not risk keeping her alive, but I’m willing to. Because if she’s a true slayer, maybe that’s what we need, maybe she’s the one.”

“The one what?” I pushed, fury blazing a path through my chest.

“Miles...” Warren shook his head. “Don’t you dare say what you’re thinking.”

Miles’s expression became calculated as he turned my way, and the monster that lived in him peered through his eyes, locking its sights on me.

“I won’t tell anyone, Montana. I’ll keep you safe,” he promised. “But on one condition.”

“What?” I whispered.

“You must pick me at the ceremony.”

My pulse thumped loudly in my ears and my skin tingled all over with dread. That would mean breaking my promise to follow Erik’s orders and pick Fabian. It could jeopardise my father’s safety.

“Promise me.” Miles’s hand gripped mine, his desperation obvious.

I didn’t have a choice. I had to agree for now or he’d tell the others. A vampire had already tried to kill me because she thought I was a slayer, and they clearly thought the other royals might do the same. But if I truly made this choice at the ceremony, Erik would go back on his word. He’d send my father straight back to the blood bank, or worse.

“Okay,” I breathed at last, securing myself more time, if nothing else.

But the clock was already ticking.