Page 17 of Forced Vampire Mate

I pushed myself up, shaking my head to wake myself up. “What’s happening? Is it Draven?”

“Worse. They’re my guards,” he said, letting the curtain fall shut. “Fucking hell. I told Marissa to cover our absence.”

“What’s going on?” I jumped out of bed and pulled on my shoes. “What are they doing?”

Luken strode to where our packs were and picked them both up on one hand. “Just telling everyone that the king and queen are missing, and they have to search their homes. Fuck!”

A heavy knock came on the door. Luken sighed and turned on the light. “Leave the talking to me.”

He strode to the door and opened it. A heavily armored guard stepped through the door, whatever he was going to say turning to a shocked cry.

“Your Majesty,” he said, starting to drop to one knee.

Luken grabbed the guard’s collar and yanked him inside, shutting the door behind him. “Silence.”

The guard’s eyes widened, but he closed his mouth.

“My bride and I are not missing. We’ve decided to go on a secret honeymoon,” he hissed. “And you will not disturb us. In fact, we aren’t the king and queen. We’re just a couple of peasants. We are on no notice.”

As he spoke, he lifted his hand. A silver light glowed around his fingertips and went straight into the guard’s eyes. He blinked a couple of times before a blank look came over his face. He nodded once. Luken released him and stepped back.

The guard shook his head, and the blankness disappeared from his eyes. When he looked at us again, there was no sign of recognition.

“I apologize for disturbing you,” he said rotely. “The King and Queen are on their honeymoon, and we’re simply doing a security check.”

“Excellent,” Luken said, waving his head toward the guard again. “Share that with the other guards before they start a riot.”

The guard nodded stiffly, turned on his heel, and marched away. Luken shouldered his pack and mine and glanced back at me. “Shall we?”

“What was that?” I demanded, remaining rooted to the spot.

“They swore an oath to me, and as such, I can use my magic to compel them to do what I wish,” he answered nonchalantly.

I swallowed hard. “Can you only do it to people who have sworn an oath?”

“Those who are oath-sworn or have weak minds,” Luken answered.

“Have you done that to me?”

The mirth in his gaze darkened. “Never, Elara. You have sworn no oath, and you are anything but weak-minded.”

“But I have sworn an oath. I married you. Our wedding vows…” I trailed off, shivering.

Luken stepped closer. “Even if I could, I wouldn’t do that to you, Elara. Never to you.”

Maybe it was stupid of me, but I believed him. I took my backpack and slipped it onto my shoulders as he led me downstairs. We encountered a few more guards, but they all had that same blank look in their eyes before ignoring us. It was as though we’d become invisible to them.

The orc met us at the car and passed something to Luken. He tucked it into his pocket and slid into the car. I followed him.

“What did she give you?” I asked as he started the vehicle.

“Fake IDs,” Luken answered. “We’re going to need them.”

Chapter 9

I glanced at the fake ID card I’d been carrying for the last two days. The face looking back at me was unfamiliar, yet I knew that was what people who looked at me would see now. The woman on the card was my age, but was blonde instead of dark-haired. Her skin was paler, her eyes more prominent, and she had a softer sort of look that made her look naive.

“You’ll lose that if you keep pulling it out,” Luken said beside me.

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