Page 69 of Hot Vampire Next Door: Season Five

The fuck. That’s new.

“Pull back!” I yell at her.

She drops her hands, but the ice has already formed, and three more icicles pierce the earth between me and her.

Maven barrels into her.

“Mouse!”

Maven takes her down. I have to sprint fifty feet in the opposite direction to make it around the icy fence and by the time I reach the other side, Maven has Mouse by the throat, hoisted off the ground. Her feet pedal at the air.

“I know you’re fast, vampire,” Maven calls. “But are you fast enough?”

Jessie wraps her hands around his wrist trying to get some relief from the pressure. Her power has retreated and I know in this moment she’s beating herself up, talking herself down in her own head.

I can practically hear her thoughts.

I’m not strong enough. He’s going to win.

Fuck that.

“How do you plan to legitimize your spot in the Winter Court if you have no queen?” I ask him. “Put her down.”

“I’m sure we can find another way.”

Mouse gasps for air. She’s turning blue in his grip.

I ease forward.

“Stop,” Maven commands. “Don’t come any closer.”

“All right.” I raise my hands. “You have my attention. Whatever you want from me. Just put her down. She can’t breathe.”

“She nearly killed me. I’m not putting her down.”

“Then what do you want to do?”

The bastard prince looks at me. There’s desperation in his eyes. Fear. Dread. Uncertainty. He came here to prove a point and to win and now he’s realizing he night not accomplish either.

There is nowhere for him to go.

“I never wanted the power,” he admits, his voice low and hoarse.

“Then walk away.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

He frowns. “Mother would never allow me.”

Mouse gasps for air. How much longer can she hold on?

“The only thing I can do,” he says, “is prove my worth to the Summer Queen and the rest of the realm.” He turns to Mouse. “And I can do that by killing our greatest enemy.”

Fuck.

“No!”

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