Page 114 of The Vampire's Bride

I glance at his blood wife. “But she is, isn’t she?”

His expression darkens as I strike a nerve.

I continue. “Is that why you’re so fascinated by the idea of my taking a human as my true wife?”

“Mind your tongue,” he warns. “Else you may find yourself without it.”

This male is dangerous, and I’ve had enough. I turn to Juliet, dancing with Raine’s blood wife. Aerlyx hides in the shadows behind them. She can easily be teleported away before—

“The Incubus will not be fast enough,” Raine says.

A chill runs down my spine.

“Not to escape me, anyway.”

My heart stops as a smug smile curves his mouth.

“I must commend you on such an inventive plan, Lord Greyvale. If my father’s advisors were even half as clever as you, perhaps our people would have conquered the seven realms by now.” He sighs. “But as it is, we often find ourselves having to make concessions with the humans, even though they are beneath us.”

His gaze slides to Juliet, and I growl low in my throat. “If you do anything to my bride, I will—”

“Remember who it is you are speaking to, Lord Valaric,” he cautions. “Besides, I am merely trying to determine if I truly need torescueyour human, as her king has requested, and return her to her people.”

Rage blisters through me. Prince or not, I will end him if he tries to take Juliet from me.

The tempo changes and, before he can react, I push away from him and rush toward my wife. I cannot risk remaining here any longer. We’ll have to chance escaping with Aerlyx.

“Stop!”Raine’s voice is like a thunderclap in my head.

Shocked, I turn back to him. The prince is avocari—a mind whisperer, like the Ancient Ones.

His crimson eyes pierce mine as we regard each other warily.

There have always been rumors that Raine had the gift of mind speech. Some even claim that he is able to manipulate the thoughts of others, bending them to his will.

Fated mates are able to speak to each other in their minds, after they have sealed their bond, but to speak in someone else’s mind is an entirely different thing. Many consider it dark magic.

I’m stunned he would demonstrate his power to me. The royal family of Morrowynd has many enemies within its court. But if the prince’s ability became common knowledge, the number of those against them would likely double.

The Ancient Ones—the original Vampires—had this same dark power. It’s how they kept the Vampires they had created to be their soldiers enslaved. Drovyan the Conqueror led an uprising against them nearly five centuries ago. It was how he became king, the first ruler of the current royal line of Morrowynd.

Historians cannot agree upon how Drovyan managed to overthrow the Ancient Ones, but if vocari magic ran through his veins, like it does through his descendent—Prince Raine—perhaps he was able to use his power against them somehow.

“If you run, I will be forced to hunt you,”Raine’s warning echoes in my mind.

He walks toward us with his blood wife, and flashes what could be mistaken for a friendly grin if he hadn’t just been threatening me in my head. “I’m taking Alayna outside for freshair.” He gestures to the doors. “You and your bride should join us.”

His words could be construed as a suggestion, but Raine is the crown prince and I have no doubt that he is issuing a command.

Across from us, Damar’s gaze meets mine. His expression betrays nothing, but I know him well enough to recognize his concern in the tense set of his shoulders and the slightly pinched lines in the center of his brow.

He looks at the shadows, silently asking if I intend to run to Aerlyx.

I know if I did, Damar would do his best to shield me, to buy us time to reach the Incubus and escape. But Raine already knows of Aerlyx, and Juliet is human. I’m not sure we could outrun the Vampire prince.

Subtly, I shake my head at him and then rest my hand possessively on the small of Juliet’s back as we follow Raine and his blood wife outside. As soon as we step into the gardens, the prince snaps his fingers and two of his guards appear on either side of us.

“Take the humans,” he commands.

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