Page 20 of The Reluctant Heir

I sigh. “I offered to abdicate so Julien could be heir, but he all but threatened me for suggesting it.”

Kaine groans, his head lulling back. “Please don’t do that. You may be ignorant, but at least you’re taking this seriously. Julien doesn’t do serious—everything is a joke to him.”

I start to argue in Julien’s defense but then I realize that Julien is right. Kainedoeslike me better than him.

Huh.

“You know I’m a hybrid, right?” I ask.

He rolls his eyes. “Yes, I’m well aware of the fact that you’re a hybrid.”

“And you’d rather have a hybrid heir than Julien?” I ask.

He lifts an eyebrow. “Who do you think was stuck tutoring Julien in vampire politics while he was in university?”

I can’t help but grin at the thought of Julien annoying Kaine. I bet it was a sight to behold.

Kaine groans. “No, no, no. None of that.”

“None of what?” I ask.

He waves his hand wildly at me. “You and that mischievous smile. It reminds me far too much of Julien—one of him is enough. And worse, you’re half succubus. You can’t just flash that smile around. It’s inappropriate.”

“Smiling is inappropriate?” I cross my arms over my chest.

“It is when you use your succubus charm,” he says, very matter-of-factly.

I snort. “I don’t have succubus charm. Did I not explain this to you already? I may be a hybrid, but I didn’t get any succubus traits. I’m more of a vampire than anything, but I’m hardly even that.”

He stares at me for a few uncomfortable moments. “Whoever told you that was lying.”

I swallow hard.

“Though I have a feeling you already know. Is that how you killed Lucien? You charmed somebody else to do your dirty work?” he asks.

I roll my eyes. I guess that means he still thinks I murdered my brother. “I didn’t kill him and I didn’t charm anybody else to do it. Trust me when I say, I’d rather be doing about anything else than being in here with you.”

“What’s wrong? Being heir isn’t as good as you hoped?” He narrows those icy blue eyes at me.

“I don’twantto be the heir. Can’t we just, I don’t know, focus on trying to find Lucien? Once he’s back, we will only have to see one another in passing.”

“You want to help find Lucien?” he asks.

Wait,helpfind him? Does that mean he’s trying to find him? For some reason, that makes Kaine fifty percent more tolerable to me.

“Yes,” I answer after hesitating for only a moment. “I do want to help you find Lucien. I vow to do whatever I can to assist.”

“That surprises me.” He sits back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest as he studies me.

“Why would it surprise you? I already told you that I don’t want to be heir. I told my father that too.” I don’t break eye contact as I say it and I pray that he believes me this time. “I don’t want to be a queen—I don’t even want to be a princess. I just want to be… Madeline.”

“JustMadeline?” He quirks an eyebrow. “You realize you’re a princess on both sides, right?”

I play with the handle of my coffee cup. “I’ve never felt like a princess. You asked me what I did for my grandfather and the truth is, I got coffee for everybody in the office. I ordered lunch. I took notes in the meetings. I kept my mouth shut because my family thought it was better for me to be quiet. I think they preferred to forget the fact that I exist. And maybe I liked it that way too.”

“You didn’t like it,” Kaine says.

I jerk my head up. “You don’t know me.”

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