Page 26 of Eternal Captive

“Get yourself cleaned up,” he ordered. “The king will need to hear this.”

You had no right to interfere.

The words rang loud and clear in my head as the princess glared at me. Her father was sitting on his throne again, his lips set in a strong frown. His daughter was a spitting image of him, the only difference was the roundness of her features and her lithe frame. Even without seeing her mother, I could imagine what she looked like.

What would she think if she knew you wanted this to happen?

The man I passed while taking Elora to her car lay at my feet, his hands bound. His sobs filled the silent throne room.

Why me?

I had one job here and one job only, and I fucked it up on my first day.

Kill the princess.

I had her right in my fucking hands, and Isavedher life.Why?Just so I could be the one to do it?

How was I even going to move with all this attention on me now?

I grabbed the man’s hair and forced him to face the king. Hate boiled underneath my skin.

I shouldn’t be killing humans for these monsters.

My gaze met the princess’s.This is your fault,I wanted to say.You’re the reason he’s going to die, and for what?

“Do it,” the king ordered. “I’m tired of this.”

I reached for the short sword attached to my back, the one I was reserving forher.Now it was going to be stained with human blood.

This wasn’t the first time I killed a human. Just because my family specialized in vampires didn’t mean we weren’t contracted forotherbeings. But there was something so bitter about this. About having to take his life while the vampires stared down at me with their red, shimmering eyes. Their bellies were full of blood, their slow-beating hearts speeding up as much as they could because of the excitement of the bloodbath that was about to take place.

But there was one thing I knew to be true.

I might have fucked up. Might have lengthened my stay. Might have garnered unwanted attention on me…

But I earned their trust.

I placed the blade at his neck and, with one motion, sliced it open. I held his head up so they could watch as he bled out. His gasps turned to gurgles as he drowned in his own blood.

It took a few minutes for him to die, but when he did, I let his body fall to the floor and bowed to the king.

“Get this cleaned up,” the king ordered and stood. He looked over at the corpse with disgust.

We were dismissed with a wave, but I didn’t move, the princess still resting her eyes on me. Then she gave me a sinister smile before tilting her head in her own informal bow.

Aurelia

She was watching.The little mouse was always watching.

She thought her little stunt would keep her safe. That I wouldn’t take it like the shot it was.

The air was cold outside. Cold enough to chill my face but not enough to penetrate the fur coat. Underneath was nothing but a satin dress that would do nothing against the world outside.

I had a role to play, and with that role came the outfit. It wasn’t my normal attire and maybe something I would have worn when I was younger, but the place I was going required a certain type of…attitude,so I was forced to look the part.

And act it.Something I was looking forward to even less.

It was late at night, the sun had long since fallen, and thousands of stars lit the sky above my head. I let myself linger in the fresh air and silence, trying to clear my head and the anger that had been boiling underneath my skin since the prince had sunk his fangs into me.

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