Page 65 of Hitched to the Vampire King

“How?” he returned. “Adrian would have noticed. And then I’d be the dead one. I just had to trust that you guys would figure things out on your own.”

“You said you wanted to learn what Adrian was planning. Did you find anything out?”

Elias took a sip of his lemon-infused blood before answering. “Yeah, he’s pretty set on killing you. The both of you. He put all his faith in that damn Academy of yours. He thought it was the perfect setup. He could arrange Gabriel’s death while keeping his hands clean. When that failed, he turned to the witches and their pet demon. Let’s just say he wasn’t thrilled when he learned that you’d killed the creature and obliterated the coven.” Elias’s tone was nonchalant, but I caught the undercurrent of satisfaction, and perhaps a bit of envy.

“How did he initially learn about the Academy’s corruption?”

“That I don’t know,” Elias said.

I guess in the long run, that answer wasn’t important. Adrian had somehow learned about the corruption and decided to take advantage of it. The how didn’t really matter.

There was one last burning question I had to ask, one that I suspected Gabriel would be equally interested in. I fixed Elias with a steady gaze before asking. “Do you want to be king?”

Both vampires fell deathly silent. Elias flicked a glance at Gabriel, then back to me, his expression tight. Bound by the compulsion, he had to answer truthfully, but from the look of his gritted teeth, he didn’t want to. “Yes.”

Gabriel stiffened in the seat next to me. “You do? You always told me the throne held no appeal for you.”

Elias bit out a bitter laugh. “Who wouldn’t want that kind of power? You forget, I was the true heir. You usurped me. I always thought the throne would be mine, but you snatched it up.” He sighed, the edge in his voice softening. “At first, I was bitter. But then I started to see things from Gabriel’s side, and I realized he was right to take the throne. I was a puppet to our mother’s whims, blind to her madness. Gabriel did what was necessary to protect our people. I’m not sure I would have been able to do that back then. My anger faded when I started to realize that.”

Gabriel and I sat silently, processing everything Elias had just said.

Then, breaking the tension, Gabriel announced, “Well, tonight’s your lucky night then. I’m passing the torch to you. Making you king.”

Elias almost choked on his drink, coughing and sputtering in surprise. He grabbed a bunch of napkins and dabbed at his shirt. “What?” he rasped. He stared at Gabriel, then me, then back at Gabriel. “What are you talking about?”

“Which part confused you?” Gabriel asked teasingly. “When this is all done, when Adrian is dead, I’ll hand the crown to you. You’ll be king, and I’ll…” He sighed and leaned back in the booth.

“You’ll what?” Elias pressed.

Gabriel looked at me, a soft smile on his lips. “I’ll stay here, where I belong.”

I blinked back unexpected tears, touched by the simplicity and honesty in his voice.

“I’d meant to discuss this all with you before Adrian staged his little abduction,” Gabriel continued.

Elias sat forward in the booth and rested his elbows on the table, his focus lasered in on his brother. “You want to make me the king?”

“Absolutely. You were the rightful heir,” Gabriel said, his voice carrying a weight of certainty. “And you’re also right that you’ve changed. You aren’t our mother’s puppet anymore, primarily because she’s dead, but that’s beside the point. You’ve also proven that you can stand against our father. I don’t want to be the king anymore. You do. It seems like the perfect solution to me.”

Elias bit his bottom lip, his expression conflicted. “Forgive me for asking this question, but are you only doing this for her?” He shot me a look.

Gabriel’s eyes met mine, and a warm smile curled his lips. “Oh, I’m definitely doing this for her. But it’s for me too. I need to be with Maddie. I love her. Trust me when I say I want this more than anything.”

Elias let out a low whistle. “Wow. I never thought you’d walk away from all that power. I’m not sure I could make the same choice.”

“You haven’t met your mate yet,” Gabriel countered softly. “When that happens, your perspective might change. Things might be different for you, of course. She may want to be queen and rule together. But Maddy’s roots are here, and after everything she’s been through, I would never ask her to leave. Besides, as you pointed out, the position was supposed to be yours. Consider this a course correction for a mistake made six years ago.”

Elias leaned back. He ran a hand through his hair, then blew out a heavy breath. “You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?”

Gabriel nodded. “I am. This isn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision. Maddie and I discussed this the night before Adrian abducted us. I promised her I would give up my crown and move here to be with her, and I intend to keep that promise.”

“Alright,” Elias murmured, his eyes wide as though he still couldn’t believe this was happening. “If this is what you want, then yes, I accept. I honestly never expected this.” Then he burst out laughing. “Guess it’s a good thing I didn’t take Adrian’s side, huh?”

Gabriel laughed with his brother, but I merely forced a smile. Maybe it was just too soon for me, but I didn’t find that joke funny.

“Speaking of Adrian,” I said, hoping to steer the conversation back to the topic at hand. “What are we going to do about him?”

Elias picked up his drink and braved another sip, this time not choking on it. “He’s a vampire, so you slay him. Isn’t that what you do?”

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