Page 68 of The Reluctant Heir

I stop by the kitchen to grab a coffee—I have a feeling I’m going to need the caffeine. Dad joins me, getting his coffee cup.

“Hey, Madeline. I need to talk to you,” he says, before I can walk away.

I turn to face him, my coffee cup warming my hands. “What’s up?”

“I hate to tell you this, especially after last night, but I’m going to need you to choose a marriage candidate soon.”

I lift an eyebrow. “How soon is soon?”

“By the end of the month.” He grabs his coffee cup and takes a casual sip.

Casual after the bomb he just dropped.

I look at the date on my phone and realize that I have less than two weeks to choose a husband. Two weeks to decide who I want to spend mylifewith.

“Why the rush?” I ask. “I thought I had time.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just that weneedan alliance,” Dad explains. “If we want our enemies to stop coming after us, we need a strong front. We need to show them that the Scott Clan isn’t to be messed with. And for that, we need another clan backing us.”

I frown, not liking his explanation at all.

Are vampire clans so petty that they’d come after one another? Succubi and incubi may be vain and superficial, but the last thing any of them want is a war. Meanwhile, vampires are all apparently war hungry.

“Talk to Kaine.” Dad continues talking like I’m not having a complete nervous breakdown. “He will help you choose a suitable candidate. He knows who the strongest clans are. Trust his judgment. But whoever you choose, it has to be a strong royal. An heir or a spare. I don’t want any cousins of heirs, Madeline. I don’t even want third born sons—first and second born only.”

Vampires take marriage alliances way too seriously.

“I’ll be in my office once you and Kaine narrow down a list for me.” Dad smiles at me before he turns and strolls out of the kitchen.

I stand there with my coffee cup gripped tightly in my hand.

He can’t be serious.

How am I supposed to choose ahusbandin eleven days? Even with Kaine’s help, it’s an impossible task.

I take a sip of my coffee, but even the comforting taste isn’t enough to help soothe my aching soul.

Reluctantly, I make my way toward the office. Knowing Kaine, as soon as I tell him what my dad said, he’ll pull out a slideshow and give me the pros and cons of each marriage candidate. But I’ve already been out with all of them. And for most of them, their personalities are the biggest cons.

When I walk into the office, Kaine is sitting at his desk with a huge law book open in front of him. I’m pretty sure the guy readsthose books for fun, which makes me wonder what Lucien is like. Since the two of them are best friends, maybe they bonded over their love of boring vampire law books.

I sit down at my desk and swivel my chair to face Kaine.

He lifts an eyebrow at me. “What do you want?” He quickly looks back and his book, like he wants to dismiss me.

“My dad just informed me that I have until the end of the month to choose a husband,” I inform him.

He doesn’t look up from his book. “Okay.”

Okay? OKAY? Is that all he has to say about the fact that I have less than two weeks to choose ahusband?

I can’t murder him.

Or maybe I could. I’ve read enough vampire law books to know that a princesscouldget away with murder, as long as there was probable cause. Is annoyance probable cause?

I throw a pencil at him. Without looking up from his book, he catches the pencil before it hits him. He puts it down on his desk and—finally—shuts his book. He swivels in his chair so that he can face me.

“You’re in a mood today,” Kaine says.

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