Page 23 of Claiming the Dhampir

No matter what happened, we couldn’t let them get their hands on Lorna. Damon would burn all the realms to retrieve his mate. I’d happily fight by his side. As I’d told Lorna the day before, I’d given in to fate. I’d accepted that she might be my soulmate. I never dreamed it would be possible for a vampire, but Lorna was special. She demonstrated so much self-control—possibly more than my own. I was determined to find a way to make her mine without trading blood.

I just had to get out of this mess first.

With a snarl, I tucked all my emotions away and let my monster rise to the surface. “They’re idiots. Lorna has no way of finding you. Damon would never allow her to come here, regardless. The fae will face the wrath of my demon brother and Elliott’s allies.”

Determination burned away my pain, and my vampire fully emerged. I would not let these entitled pricks ruin everything I’d worked so hard to accomplish. It wasn’t like they even had a good reason to destroy my life.

During my meeting with the fae, Brance and Alyssa had informed me that they’d convinced the other exiled fae that they could return to Fairie. Which was absurd! Everyone knew that once someone was exiled from Fairie, they couldn’t go back. It wasn’t just the royal families saying, ‘Get out!’ The magic of the realm prevented re-entry. I’d said as much to them. They didn’t appreciate my comments.

I had no idea how they thought they’d get Kenrid home.

“Ah, you’re awake.”

Brance’s voice made me spin around. I hadn’t even heard him come in, but there he was, standing in the open doorway Kenrid had pointed out a few minutes ago. I snarled at him, making no attempt to reign in my monster.

“Has your cute little dhampir seen this side of you?” Brance asked, closing the door and strolling toward me. “I can’t imagine she’ll find it attractive.” He stopped several paces away and curled his lip. “Or maybe she will. She’s obviously attracted to the demon, who is even more of a monster.”

I hissed, but that was the only response he would get from me. I knew he was baiting me. Yes, I was angry, but I wasn’t stupid. I wouldn’t let myself get drawn into a pointless argument and reveal something we’d all regret.

Brance slipped his hands into his pockets and frowned. “Nothing to say? No questions about how you got here or for what purpose?”

I snarled again but refused to speak.

“I see,” Brance said, pivoting on his heel and heading toward Kenrid. “Our dear prince is much stronger than I gave him credit for. I knew he held many secrets, but I didn’t anticipate the strength of his magic.” Brance stopped a few inches from Kenrid’s torso and looked down at him. “Even now, I can feel his magic. The amount of iron covering his body should leave him as helpless as a newborn human.”

“I will kill you for this treachery,” Kenrid snapped.

Brance flinched. He must have felt the promise in Kenrid’s words just as clearly as I had. I also knew that Kenrid held his secrets close. He’d been with me for over thirty years before he revealed his role in the fae experiments with the dhampir. If we hadn’t found Lorna, I doubted he ever would have told me.

Had I also underestimated his power, though? I knew no one could match Kenrid’s wards. I also knew how intelligent he was. Did he have more magic? If so, why did he hide it? Or was it something new because of his connection to Lorna?

“You’ll do nothing,” Brance said, interrupting my line of thought. “As soon as your mate arrives, we’ll have all the proof we need for the Winter Queen to allow us back into Fairie. You’ll be delivered to the Summer Court and promptly killed, and I will be known as the one who reinvigorated our research with the dhampir. We’ll create the perfect weapon and rule as we were always meant to rule.”

I laughed. Brance was a complete idiot! I’d just asked myself why the fae wanted a war, but hearing Brance’s cult-like monologue made the whole scheme sound utterly ridiculous. Surely the queens had not fallen into the ‘I want to rule the universe’ delusion, right?

Brance whipped around and pointed a long, bony finger at me. A bolt of lightning darted across the room and slammed into my chest. My body went rigid, every single muscle screaming in agony from the jolt of electricity surging through me. I bit my tongue and blood filled my mouth.

“Laugh all you want!” Brance bellowed. “Your kind will be the fuel for our army. I’ll force you to sire every single vampire we enslave.”

The thought of being forced to sire a generation of slaves hurt worse than the magic threatening to stop my heart. I would die before I allowed that to happen.

Thankfully, Brance’s phone rang. He stopped his assault on me and answered the call.

“What?”

I reveled in the seconds that followed. My body sagged with relief, but I knew it wouldn’t last. Especially when Brance’s scowl turned into a feral grin.

“Very good, Alyssa. We’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Brance ended the call and slid his phone into his pocket. “Your dhampir is on her way. Let’s get you ready for her arrival.”

My skin crawled as I watched Brance cross the room. He pressed his hand against the wall and a door slid open. I would’ve been amazed by the hidden room if Brance hadn’t emerged with a long, serrated knife.

Panic replaced my unease. He was going to bring Lorna into the room with a bleeding vampire.

Chapter 9

Lorna

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