Page 182 of Filthy Rich Vampires: For Eternity

He smirked. “You get that fiery spirit from me, you know.”

“I get it from my mother.”

“Ungrateful bitch,” Mariana hurled the worlds at me, her hand brandishing the dagger in my direction. “You don’t deserve to be his daughter and yet—“

“Darling,” Willem said softly. “She is a means to an end, but why don’t you give me that dagger before you forget?”

“Fine.” Her pouting was short-lived, utter adoration replacing it as she looked to him, passed the dagger to him.

He took it.

And plunged it into her chest.

I cried out, instinct propelling me toward her as another sickening surge hit me. Blood spilled from her lips, her eyes never leaving his, as her legs folded and she fell to the stone floor with a sickening crack. The room went silent as if the air had been sucked from it, and then it roared back to life with a force that sent me to my knees.

There was no one to help. I didn’t have to check her body for a pulse. She was dead. The ground trembled as if it had felt the Queen’s death, too.

I fell forward to my hands, struggling to lift my head. “She loved you! Is there no one you won’t betray?”

“She was volatile and weak.” He wiped the blade on the hem of his shirt. “There is no place for weakness on the thrones.”

“I will never join you,” I panted out. I felt like I was being crushed. Magic itself lashing out in grief over the two lost Queens.

“Thea, I don’t need you to join me.” He tsked, moving closer with that deadly blade. “You’re a lovely girl, but a bit too noncompliant for my taste.”

“If you think anyone else would join you...” I shook my head, shifting back on my heels, but even as I said it, I knew I was wrong. There were vampires that would join him. Maybe even familiars.

“Do you think I haven’t considered who will join me on the thrones? Oh, Thea, I thought you were smarter than that... Perhaps you do take after your mother.”

I stared at him for a moment as a final piece clicked into place. He didn’t need me on the thrones. Not when he had... “Hadrian and Laurel.” I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the trembling world around me. “That’s why you faked your death. You knew that Sabine would never reveal their location until you were dead.”

It all made sense.

“And thanks to your wedding, they were delivered right to me as planned. Congratulations, by the way. At least you won’t be married long enough to wish you’d never said yes.”

My fingers curled into fists as I stood there, my chest rising and falling with each deep breath I took. The anger was building inside me, a storm rolling into the sky. Julian was alive and that meant his magic was still inside me, that light and dark, life and death were mine to command. I listened for that terrible music. I might not walk out of here, but I would die fighting.

“Now, Thea.” He crouched in front of me and pressed the tip of the dagger under my chin. I didn’t dare move, but I didn’t need to move to call my magic. I just had to hear it. “I know that look in your eyes. Don’t get any ideas. I wouldn’t want you to do anything you might regret.”

“I wouldn’t regret it,” I seethed.

“Well, first, there is the matter of your mate and all those magical creatures. Right now, they’re asleep, but alive. It would be very easy for me to end them.” He tilted his head, arrogance glinting in his dark eyes.

But I wasn’t stupid. “You’re going to kill them, anyway.” There was a chance I could save them. “Someone will be able to break your curse.”

“Actually,” he drew out the word, “that was always the issue with the original curse. They tied its power to love, blind to the fact that even a vampire might love what they feared, given enough time. I chose something more permanent. As long as the thrones remain, so will the spell on your mate. You might be willing to give up your crown to save him, but what other creature would make that sacrifice?”

“I’ll find someone.”

“Someone the throne will accept. Magic chose you because you are powerful. Whatever weak soul you might dupe won’t ascend the throne.”

“Your problem is that you mistake goodness for weakness. Maybe some creatures are like you, but there are many who aren’t.” I would find them. I didn’t care how long it took. I just had to walk out of here with my own life.

“I was worried you’d say that.” He stood and walked to the door. “So I made sure I had a backup plan.”

I couldn’t hide my horror as he opened it to reveal my mother standing there.

For one terrible moment, I believed she had betrayed me. Then I saw her confused eyes. She looked from me to my father, her fists clenched at her sides.

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