Page 39 of Princess For All

Someone cleared their throat and I saw Vitor move closer. “They think you’re here to take the woman and deal with her so she can’t tell people what happened.”

I looked at the woman with horror. “What have Iremotelydone to make you even consider that? Accuse me of something so heinous?”

Someone snorted to my left and I mentally winced when I saw it was Chris, a bit worried with everything that had been going on.

“You’rewayoff base and don’t understand her at all. She’s here to find the vampire who did this and punish him. So let her. She’s the boss around here. She found out and immediately dropped everything to handle this and keep order. You owe her that for accepting her protection and then not having faith she’d keep her promise to keep order.”

The woman bristled. “She promised we weren’t food.”

That pissed me off. “I can’t control people. You all bitch about how much I control you now and don’t allow you to have weapons and to just do what you want. But you also want me to keep you safe. Well, what others want is to do bad things. I can’t make everyone never do bad things. I can punish them and I will.”

“Make a hole,” Kristof barked, people listening and immediately parting for us.

“Wait out here,” I told him, sighing when he gave me a look that it wasn’t happening. “You’re scary, my love, and she’s been through something traumatic.”

“We’re here,” Trisha said from behind us. “A few female noble vamps as well.”

“Good.” I nodded to Kristof that it was fine.

“We’ll protect her, and none of the humans are armed,” Trisha reminded them.

I nodded to a woman who waved to me and went over to her. I went inside the room and knelt in front of the woman who was still sniffling and mopping up her face. “I need to hear you say it.”

“A vampire fed from me,” she whispered. “He didn’t force me, but I didn’t feel I had a choice really.”

“She’s telling the truth,” a noble vamp I recognized from Kaitlin’s coven told me. “I have the same gift as Sundar.”

I muttered a thank-you and lowered my head to the human. “I am so,sosorry this happened to you. I will make it right and punish him. I swear it. Are you okay? Physically? Did he take too much or—”

“No,no, nothing like that. This wasn’t even—” She hugged me and let out a shaky breath, people gasping around us.

Yeah, I was shocked too thinking there was no chance she’d want to even touch a vampire right then.

“Some men just want to hurt us,” she rasped. “This wasn’t about your species or mine. He was pissed I only allowed my wrist. I don’t care about the blood. He was annoyed that was all he gotthis time, and next time he expected more services.”

He was dead. He was so fucking dead that… Dead.

I rubbed her back and apologized again and again, promising it was over and he would never hurt her or anyone again. Once she settled a bit, there was really only one thing I needed to know. “Who? Do you know who?”

“I don’t know his name. I’ve seen him around a few times.”

“I know his face too because he was around her yesterday,” another woman said. “He talked of Bahati once when he came for food. That’s one of the old coven leaders, right? You know how to find him from that?”

“Yes, she was, but—maybe,” I muttered as I glanced at Trisha.

“You have to go big, Inez,” she warned.

“Oh, he’s dead,” I chuckled darkly, ignoring the gasps around me. “Painfully.”

“Yeah, but to find him and make it clear this isn’t just for show,” Lara muttered. “And others will fight for the vision you share. Tell people to turn him in.”

“Yeah, but if people only turn him in for a reward, then do they really believe in the same vision, and then it’s hostility that they can’t trust each other,” Trisha worried.

“Do not leave her side,” I told them when it looked like they had more to say. I met the woman’s gaze. “I need you to be brave and identify him when we find him. Can you do that for me?”

“Yes, Princess.” She pursed her lips. “And I was going to report it. I just—I needed a minute and—”

“I know. Sometimes all the people with great hearing are really helpful even if they stick their noses in too much.” I helped her up and was glad when she was steady on her feet and confident when the right people were with her. “Walk me through what happened if you can.”

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