Page 31 of Eternal Captive

I didn’t miss the way the guard’s eyes narrowed at me. How he looked at me with a disdain that could only mean I had stolen his place for the night.

The princess placed her arm through mine and pulled me along toward a house that spanned stories above us. Not as extravagant as the Castle family residence, but it was still a magnificent show of wealth all on its own. It was well lit, with a multitude of guards standing outside, all wearing different uniforms and looking bored as hell.

“They’re not allowed inside, so they wait out here,” she murmured to me.

“What a waste,” I said under my breath.

Many of them looked at us as we approached, some of their hands going to their weapons. One even had a gun. She let out a light laugh.

“Sometimes they stay till morning,” she said. “But don’t worry, I only have a few people I need to speak to, and then we will do our thing and be off.”

“Is this something you like to do?” I asked, looking down at her. “Having strangers watch you get off?”

She does. I could see it in her face when she mentioned it. How her pupils dilated, and her mouth fell open just slightly.

“Ahh,” she breathed out. “That’swhat you’re worried about. Sweetheart, no one asked you to get me off. Not that I have much faith a human would, woman or not.”

Her jab only caused my resentment for her to grow. It was a stupid, petty comment, but it was enough to severely bruise my ego.

Her smile told me she meant for it to do just that.

Fine.I slipped my arm around her and pulled her closer as she led us up the stairs.

“We’ll see about that,princess,” I whispered in her ear. “I’ll play your game, but don’t come complaining to me when youreallyembarrass yourself tonight.”

She all but puffed up at my words, but there was no more time to discuss. The doors were opened for us, and what I expected to be an empty foyer was actually a hallway packed with humans and vampires in various stages of undress.

Many were couples, sometimes three or more people touching and kissing each other. Fangs were buried deep into necks. Hands shoved between legs.

But what took me aback was the potent smell of magic in the air.

Vampires could smell it easily, but if a human could pick it up as much as I did, that meant the place had to befilledwith it.

“Very lively tonight,” the princess said from behind me, a small teasing tone in her voice. I followed her gaze past the entrance and farther into the house, where there was a large opening. Right in the middle was a stage with multiple vampires rubbing a human’s blood all over their skin before licking it up.

The inside of the house was bathed in red.

Red drapes. Red carpets. Red lights. What wasn’t red was a shade of black, and whatever clothes people decided to wear showed so much skin, it was a mystery why they even decided to wear clothes at all.

That was when I saw it. When my eyes were roaming across the people surrounding us. A bright pink glitter-like substance was being rubbed on the bodies of humans before the vampires bit into them. As soon as they did, the vampires’ eyes went wide, and black veins started to form on their foreheads.

Magical…drugs?

Was that why the princess hadn’t been worried when she poisoned herself?

A vampire threw her head back, the blood dripping from her mouth shimmering with pink magic before falling onto her naked chest.

My attention was drawn to the princess as her coat was taken from her. She was dressed in a satin dress that had a plunging neckline and showed the top of her belly button. She wore no bra underneath, a nipple poking through the deep red fabric. There were slits on both sides of her body, leaving only a small cloth between her legs as coverage.

My mouth dried at the sight, need attacking my entire being.Stop,I ordered my body.It’s the venom. Get a hold of yourself.

I swallowed thickly and averted my gaze to look at the rest of the party. It was hard not to get overwhelmed with the sheer number of vampires in the room, all of them either with bloodstained lips or actively drinking.

“Party favors?” I asked.

“I think I have had enough of that already, don’t you?” she retorted before she slipped her arm through mine again and gave me a sly smirk before pulling me farther in.

Bodies pressed against us, only moving when they caught the scent of her. Even through their bloodlust and magical haze, they made sure not to invade her space.

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