Page 88 of The Reluctant Heir

I snort. “You’ve met the other options. Damek was the only one I was interested in.”

Damek smiles. “And to think, the first time we met, you punched me.”

Julien’s eyes widen. “WHAT?”

26

A WEDDING TO PLAN

Afew hours later, I sit on a loveseat in my father’s office. Damek is sitting beside me, his arm around me. He’s been at my side ever since I was rescued from Prince Lucas and the Nodin Clan and he’s made a point to always be touching me. I find it very comforting to be this close to him.

Julien walks into the office with a cup of coffee in his hands. He passes it to me as he takes a seat in one of the oversized chairs. I happily take a sip.

We’re waiting for Dad and King Rune to get back. They’re on their way and they will fill us in on whatever was found when they get here. For some reason, I’m anxious about the news. If they would’ve found Lucien, certainly they would’ve told us already, right?

“Do you think they found Lucien?” I ask.

Julien’s eyes light up. “I certainly hope so. I miss him.”

“I’ve never met him.” I chew on my bottom lip as I wonder what my older brother is like. I certainly hope they’re bringing him home, but I don’t want to get my hopes up. “I hope he likes me.”

“He’ll adore you.” Julien frowns. “He always wanted a little sister. Instead, he got stuck with me.”

“I’m only six months younger than him,” I say, thinking how strange it is that I have a brother so close in age to me. Growing up, I always knew it was a possibility that I had siblings I didn’t know about. Part of me is glad I didn’t know, I would’ve wanted to meet them so badly when I was younger.

I’m still upset with my mother for keeping me from my family. It would’ve been so wonderful to be raised being around Julien. It would’ve been nice to be around other vampires. I never quite fit in and Mom knew that.

“When is your birthday?” Damek asks.

“July twenty seventh.” I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “I’ll be twenty four this summer. What about you?”

“April seventeenth. I’ll be twenty six.”

Julien whistles. “You two are old.”

I roll my eyes. “You’re only two and a half years younger than I am.”

“Which means you’ll be thirty two and a half years before me.” Julien smiles smugly.

I narrow my eyes at him. “You’re really annoying, you know that?”

“Sure do.” He leans back in his chair.

I take a sip of my coffee, deciding to ignore him.

Damek’s chest shakes with laughter. “The two of you are going to be constant entertainment.”

I find myself wondering what Damek’s relationship is like with his younger siblings. I don’t know much about the Rune Clan yet. I’ve got six months to get to know my new family, and I fully intend to make good use of the betrothal time.

Is six months enough time to convince Damek’s mother to like me?

I hear footsteps in the hallway and a few moments later, the office door opens. Dad, King Rune, and Kaine walk inside. Theabsence of Lucien is glaringly obvious. Kaine looks at me, but he quickly looks away when he notices who I’m sitting by.

My chest aches.

I never should’ve kissed Kaine. I did it because I was confused about how I felt, but it wasn’t fair to him. At the time, I didn’t realize he had real feelings for me. But it must hurt him to see me with Damek.

I wasn’t fair to him. I will apologize for my actions, though I doubt it’ll be enough.

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