12. You can practice on me

12

YOU CAN PRACTICE ON ME

S ilencing a person's notifications doesn't keep them from calling. And ignoring their calls doesn't keep them from texting . I cringe when I see five unanswered text messages.

I've done my best to avoid Prince Lucas. In the meantime, I've been spending my weekday nights learning how to be queen and my weekend nights going out with whichever prince Kaine has set me up on a date with. If I thought Kaine would take it easy on me, I was sorely mistaken. He is bound and determined to get me married off as quickly as possible.

"How was your date last night?" Kaine comes into my office with a stack of books. Unfortunately, it's not the fun kind of books with romance and a fun storyline. Oh, no, my luck is unfortunately not that great.

The books make a loud thunk as he drops them onto my desk. I already know that they're law books—specifically, vampire law books. Nobody warned me that, as heir and future queen, I have to know the laws of my people. Though, maybe that should have been obvious.

"Being heir isn't fun." I poke out my bottom lips as I look at the title on the first book.

Laws & Regulations on Biting Humans , Vol I.

"There are thirty volumes on that particular subject." Kaine sits down across from me. "Biting humans has fallen out of favor as of late, with blood packs being the go to, but some vampires still prefer to keep human blood donors."

My eyes widen. "Is that legal?"

He holds the book out toward me. "I guess you will have to read and find out."

I groan, flopping my head against my desk with a loud thump.

Kaine chuckles. "Are you going to ignore my initial question?"

That causes me to lift my head. "Which question?"

"You had a date with Prince Caedmon—"

I cut him off. "He decided to end the date early."

He lifts an eyebrow. "What happened?"

I give him my best innocent look. "Nothing happened. Prince Caedmon is very… attractive. He could give an incubus a run for their money."

"That's… good." Kaine eyes me warily. "But I have a feeling you're being vague on purpose."

I tap my fingers on my desk. "What is there to say? He started the night by propositioning me. I would've punched him, but after the lectures you've given me about accidentally punching Damek, I can only imagine I would've been in even more trouble for purposefully punching a prince."

"You would be correct." His face goes pale. "Prince Caedmon's mother is trigger happy. She is the type of person who would start a war over her son being punched."

Well, it's good that I didn't punch him then.

I make a mental note to be wary of Prince Caedmon and his clan. Though, if I have my way, I won't be seeing him again.

"Though, now you have me curious why he ended the date early." Kaine leans forward in his seat, his leg bouncing up and down. "Don't leave me in suspense, Madeline."

Kaine never calls me anything except Princess Madeline. Hearing him say my name without my title is jolting, though I try to hide my surprise. I've been asking him to drop the proper titles since I got here. If I call attention to the fact, he will make double sure not to do it in the future.

"Let's see," I say, continuing to recall my most recent date. "He took me to a nice restaurant where he flirted with the hostess, the waitress, and a group of girls at a nearby table. He even pulled some girl onto his lap and proceeded to kiss her on the neck while she giggled and told us about her boyfriend."

Kaine clenches his jaw. "I'm going to murder him."

I wave a hand at him. "Don't worry about it. I got my revenge when I accidentally spilled an entire bottle of wine on him—and let me tell you, it wasn't the cheap kind of wine."

He grins. "That's my girl."

His girl?

"I told him I didn't drink, so it's his fault for ordering wine anyway." I chew on my bottom lip as I mull over him calling me his girl.

"You've been out on five dates and not one of them has gone well," Kaine muses.

"Six," I correct.

"Prince Laurent, Prince Octavia, Prince Alexander, Prince Karpov, and Prince Aliester." He holds up five fingers. "Who am I missing?"

"Prince Lucas ."

He rolls his eyes. "You didn't go out with Prince Lucas. You talked to him for less than five minutes, pretended to be sick, and proceeded to ignore every single call and text from him."

I shrug. "Five minutes in his presence is still five minutes too long. I'd rather get a root canal. Or have period cramps."

Kaine chokes. "Can you not talk about your period in front of me?"

"I was unaware that the subject of blood made vampires uncomfortable." I bite my bottom lip to try and hide my smile.

I just love pushing Kaine's buttons.

His face is bright red, but he sits up straight and flawlessly changes the subject. "It has come to my attention that, even though you're a succubus, none of your dates have gone well. Is it normal for your species to have issues dating?"

"I'm half succubus," I remind him.

"Which means you should be at least half capable of having a good date. Can't you use a bit of your succubus magic? Use your charm and charisma—it's in your DNA."

I snort. "What charm and charisma?"

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

Poor guy. It can't be easy to advise me, especially when it comes to my love life.

I lean forward. "Are you rethinking your career path? I'm sure Dad would give you a lovely parting bonus if you want to go back to college and get a different degree." I nod toward the books. "With all your knowledge of vampire law, you could become a lawyer."

He pinches the bridge of his nose like he's trying to ward off a headache or something.

"Do vampires get headaches?" I ask.

He sits up and levels me with a stare. "What kind of stupid question is that?"

I shrug. "I was curious. Succubi get headaches. I always get them…" I trail off, not wanting to bring up my period again.

Kaine sighs. "I will admit, I didn't get many headaches before you came. Now that you're here, I frequently get them."

"It's probably stress." I grab my bottle of water from the desk, sloshing it around to make sure there is still ice. It rattles against the cup. "Maybe I should ask Julien to pick me a husband instead."

Then again, Julien is mischievous enough that he'd probably set me up with a bad date just to torture me.

Kaine just looks at me, waiting for me to realize just how bad of a decision that would be.

"Okay, fine." I put my cup down with a thump. "Then what do you suggest, Mr. Smarter-Than-Everybody?"

"Can't you just, I don't know, stop being awkward on dates?" he asks.

Oh, now it's my fault that I've had bad dates?

Okay, I will admit a few times it has been my fault. But I won't say it out loud because it will only make Kaine look smug and I hate when he's smug about being right.

"The problem is, I don't know how to date. It's not like I had guys lining up to take me out. I'm a hybrid, remember? Nobody wanted to go out with me. What does one even do on a date? How do I act? What do I say?" I run my fingers through my hair, letting out an exasperated sigh.

"It's a simple solution," Kaine says.

I lift my head to meet his gaze. "What?"

He leans forward. "I will just have to teach you how to date."

"And how will you do that?"

"By taking you out on a date. You can practice on me."

I try to picture Kaine on a date, but the guy is about as cuddly as a cactus. But then I think about the warm feelings I got when he called me his girl. Going out with Kaine could be a huge mistake. What if I end up falling for him instead of a monarch?

I groan, letting my head hit my desk again. "I'm doomed."

What does one wear on a pretend date?

This would be so much easier if my mom were here. She could help me pick outfits and talk to me about boys. She could guide me on what I should do.

I hit my head against the wall of my closet.

"If you're trying to obtain brain damage so you can get out of being heir, it won't work. Vampires have supernatural healing."

Julien's voice startles me, making me jump.

"Nice dress," he says.

I look down at one of the dresses I tried on but hadn't made up my mind about wearing yet.

"Does it scream ‘I might be forced to go on a date with you, but I'm not marrying you'?" I ask. "Because that's the vibe I'm going for."

Julien raises an eyebrow. "I think you're asking too much from a dress. It's just a dress."

He may be right, but I still wish my outfit could talk.

If I were going on dates with an incubus, they absolutely would critically eye my outfit and wonder what it meant. Then again, vampires aren't as vain as incubi.

"I don't know why I agreed to this." I cross my arms over my chest. "As if all my regular dates aren't bad enough."

"Who did you agree to go out with?" Julien asks.

I hesitate before mumbling, "Kaine."

He hears because of vampire hearing and he busts out laughing. He laughs so hard that he has to hold the side of the doorframe to keep from falling over. I'm about two seconds away from pushing him over when he straightens and abruptly stops laughing.

"You're not into Kaine, are you?" He eyes me cautiously like he's questioning my mental stability.

"No," I scoff, pretending to be offended by the question. "Kaine is just convinced that I don't know how to be charming so he's made it his mission to teach me."

Julien takes a step closer. "He thinks he can teach a succubus how to be charming?"

I shrug. "Because I'm not charming."

"Did Kaine tell you that?" Julien raises an eyebrow, but I see it twitch slightly.

Is Julien upset on my behalf?

"No, Kaine didn't say I wasn't charming. I told him I'm not charming. Because I'm not."

Julien opens his mouth to object.

I hold up a hand. "I know you're going to argue and say that I am, but you're my brother. You're supposed to be on my side about these kinds of things. But you don't understand because you weren't raised around succubi like I was. I know where I stand with the rest of them. I'm a hybrid. I'm not as powerful."

He shakes his head. "You're wrong. And I'm not just saying that because I'm your brother. You are special, Maddie, that's true. Being a hybrid doesn't make you weak. If anything, you're stronger than any of us. You have the strength and speed of a vampire, but you aren't limited by the fact that you have to drink blood. If I don't have a fresh supply of blood, I get weak and slow. You don't. And I don't know a lot about succubus magic, but I bet you're stronger than you believe."

I step closer to him and let my head thunk against his chest. He wraps his arms around me, hugging me.

"Thank you," I say, after a moment. I pull back to look at him. "I know that my existence can't be easy on you. I wouldn't have blamed you if you hated me. Instead, you accepted me from the first day even though me being around really hurt Eden."

"My mom loves you," Julien says. "She also doesn't blame you for what our father and your mother did. Despite what happened, my parents love one another. I don't know a lot about their relationship in the early days, but I don't think it was easy for either of them."

"She is gracious about me." I chew on my bottom lip, knowing that I'm right. Eden should hate me, but she doesn't.

Julien cocks his head to the side. "Kaine is on his way. I hear him walking down the hall."

Using my vampiric hearing, I listen for footsteps. "How do you know it's him?"

He shrugs. "I can tell in the way he steps. The servants are always rushing around like mad. Kaine kind of… struts."

Julien's description of Kaine's walk makes me laugh.

The idea of Kaine ‘strutting' is hilarious but also probably accurate.

There is a knock on my bedroom door. Julien turns to walk out of my closet.

"I will answer the door." I nod, taking a deep breath. Butterflies tickle my stomach and my heart races a little faster.

Am I… nervous?

I haven't been nervous about any of my dates. Maybe because I'm not interested in any of the guys Kaine has been setting me up with. But for some reason, the thought of going out with Kaine makes my knees feel a little weak.

I think objectively about my advisor. He's not a bad looking guy, though neither were any of my other dates. Supernaturals are, by nature, beautiful. And Kaine is definitely that. But I don't like him, do I? When we first met, he accused me of murder. He's since admitted that he doesn't think I have anything to do with Lucien's disappearance, but our relationship—if I can even call it that—hasn't gotten any stronger. He's bossy and moody on days that end in ‘y.'

It's just because I spend so much time with him.

Why did I agree to this? I need to spend less time with my advisor, not more. Somehow, having Kaine critique my dating skills makes me nervous.

Yes, that's it.

I take a deep breath and turn to exit my closet to meet up with Kaine. I pause when I see him standing in my room, talking with Julien.

Kaine always dresses nicely. He's always wearing a suit when we're working. And I've seen him in a tux when my father hosted the ball in my honor. But tonight, Kaine isn't dressed up in what I would consider ‘fancy' clothes. He's wearing a pair of fitted dark denim jeans, a nice pair of black lace up boots, and a fitted white shirt with a black dinner jacket. He looks… good. It's like seeing him dressed down has dialed up his looks by one hundred.

I'm in so much trouble.

"Princess Madeline." Kaine turns fully to face me as his eyes take in my outfit. "Wow."

Julien snorts. "If you're taking her out on a date, you shouldn't call her by her title. Just call her Maddie."

I stroll closer to my brother and my… advisor… date ? My pretend date? My practice date? I'm not even sure what this is. All I know is, that it feels like an extremely bad idea to voluntarily spend more time with Kaine.

"You look beautiful," Kaine says, ignoring my brother.

"Thank you." I lower my head, letting my hair curtain my face.

"Head up," Julien says as he nudges my chin upward. "Be bold, Maddie. Your date is right. You are beautiful. And I'm not just saying that because we look alike."

I grin at my brother, then turn to Kaine. "Are you ready?"

Kaine's Adam's apple bobs. "I'm ready."

I glance at Julien. "I'll see you in a little bit."

Julien rolls his eyes. "You think I'll be waiting for you to get home to see how your fake date was? No way. We've already established that I'm gorgeous. I've got my own date and I guarantee I'll be out later than you. So we will talk tomorrow night after we wake up."

I level him with a look as Kaine leads me past him.

With Kaine's hand on my lower back, the butterflies intensify and I can't help but think that this is a horrible idea.