Page 31 of Filthy Rich Vampires: For Eternity

“Oh. Just that,” she said flatly.

I smiled at her, but it didn’t last long. Because now that I knew they were both safe, protected, and whole, I had a new cloud hanging over my head.

“What is it?” Julian eyed me suspiciously.

He knew me too well. There was no point in keeping it from him, even if he already had enough problems of his own. “We have a problem with Camila.” I took a deep breath. “She knows about her children.”

CHAPTER NINE

THEA

My wardrobe consisted of gowns, all perfectly tailored to my petite frame, yet somehow from various time periods. I fingered the cap sleeve of a gossamer dress that looked like something out of a Jane Austen novel. It didn’t make any sense. Not that a lot made sense around here.

Especially me.

I was sleeping in someone else’s bed, wearing her crown, mated to her ex-lover. But I knew next to nothing about Ginerva. It was unnerving because I felt like I’d stepped not into her life but into her very skin. And underneath it all, my magic itched to release itself. It writhed and stretched, looking for a way to break free. The trouble was that I didn’t know the first thing about it, and now I was expected to be a Queen.

Shoving the gowns apart, I searched for anything that looked like me. There were no jeans or T-shirts, but I finally found a simple pair of black pants and a cropped tweed jacket. I felt silly as I pulled them on, but not as silly as I would have felt wandering the halls in a ballgown.

Julian would be back from speaking with Jacqueline at any moment. I’d been glad for the excuse for a minute alone to collect my thoughts. But as I ran a comb through my hair, a stranger stared back in the mirror.

It was my face, but different. My skin which had always been pale now glowed subtly like the moonstone embedded in the crown waiting in the next room. And I looked...older. Was that even possible? Had dying aged me? Or was my time under Willem’s spell to blame? My cheekbones were carved and sharp, my green eyes sparkled with emerald fire, and even my hair seemed to flicker like flames under the lights. I pulled it back, searching through the bathroom until I found a jar of pins to twist it up with.

But wound around my head, it looked like a crown of fire. I was about to give up and take it down when someone knocked on the bathroom door.

I turned, expecting to see Julian, and nearly jumped out of my own skin.

Behind me, the cloaked woman removed her mask quickly, and I recognized her immediately. She’d been with Lysander. She was the one who had taken me to my throne. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“Holy...” I rubbed my chest, my heart pounding frantically. “I didn’t know anyone could get in here.”

“Only those you allow access and your personal guard.” She pointed at herself. “That’s me.”

“My...personal guard?” I repeated, blinking.

“Aurelia,” she said. “It’s a lot to get used to.”

That was an understatement.

“I’m here to bring you to your throne.” She spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Already? I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” I gave her what I hoped was a charming smile.

“Your sisters await you, as does your court”

“My court?” I repeated, but the words tasted wrong. How was I supposed to face an entire court?

“You have taken Ginerva’s place. You now hold the most powerful throne in the world.” She paused as if waiting for a response. When it didn’t come, she continued, sounding put-out. “They’re expecting you.”

“Look, I don’t know what I’m doing.” Or why I’d been chosen. Regardless of the magic stirring under my skin, I had no idea how to use it. No idea how to tap the source of power underneath Venice’s water. And definitely no idea how to be royalty.

“For the first times in decades, the courtiers have returned. They want to meet their new Queen—to see who has claimed the throne. This is a day every creature in Venice has hoped for.”

“I’m not sure I’m what they expected.” Or what they wanted. After what Sabine had told us, I couldn’t help wondering how many of them had come not from curiosity or excitement but to plot how to undermine Le Regine once more.

“And yet, the crown chose you.”

“Only because you dragged me to that throne,” I pointed out. I chewed on the inside of my cheek until I tasted iron on my tongue. “Why? There had to have been someone more...qualified.”

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