Page 61 of Searching for the Prince
“House rules as usual. No tolerance for draining, maximum two taps.”
Gwil took a swig from the bottle, removing all pretence of caring what anyone else thought. Stu reappeared several minutes later with a docile man in his late twenties. The herd were generally subdued, kept about for a few months and then released with a large amount of money they often didn’t remember earning, and a case of anaemia.
Gwil wasn’t given a name, and he didn’t ask. He was cute, with ginger curls and vacant blue eyes. Built on the wiry side, he wasn’t someone who Gwil would describe as being his type, but this wasn’t a date.
Ginger sat and cocked his head to one side to give Gwil access to his throat. There was a school of thought that this wasn’t how things should be done. Vampires were meant to be dangerous and wild, but this was evolution in his view. Why waste time and energy when there were those willing to be fed from?
He stroked a finger down the column of his neck feeling the glorious pulse of Ginger’s heartbeat under his fingertips, his fangs extended and he began to salivate. For all his words about how bottled blood was good enough, there was nothing like drinking straight from the source. A chemical replaced the need to use his thrall, Ginger was compliant and Gwil shifted closer. He sank his fangs into the willing flesh and drank down the red nectar. He didn’t rush, and eased off a little when Ginger whimpered. He had no desire to cause him pain, not when he was proving such a heady repast.
The hit of the blood was better than any chemical high and he withdrew and sank back into to a cushion. Ginger’s eyes were heavy-lidded and he panted slightly. He was aroused but no doubt he’d find someone later to help him out. Gwil didn’t pay much notice as Ginger was guided away and he sat in his own bubble of happy chemicals as the blood worked its way through his system.
“What the fuck are you doing, Gwil?”
He recognised the voice, but he had to be wrong. He peered up to see Penelope standing over him. She looked as if she’d come straight from a business meeting, her hair in a bun, and wearing a trouser suit. This was not the place she would ever come to. “Are you lost?”
“I have people looking out for you, when I heard about Hyax and then you turning up here, I thought I would need to stage an intervention.”
The blood and whisky combined to make him wonderfully light-headed. “S’fine. I was having a nibble, that’s all.”
“If you wanted to live feed, you could have come to me, and I’d have ensured you had something of a better calibre.”
Penelope was such a snob. “No need. I’m good, promise.”
“Somehow I don’t believe you. You’re coming with me.”
He opened his mouth to protest but two of Penelope’s security guards pulled him to his feet.
“Since when have you cared what I did?” He snatched his arm away as he stood. “You don’t need to be here.”
“I know we haven’t always been close, Gwil, but you are my brother, and I don’t want you doing something stupid. You’re in the good graces of two of the Heads of House, you will not squander the opportunity you can get because you’ve had your heart broken by a sparkly twat.”
Penelope would also be able to capitalise on Gwil’s new fortune, and he didn’t like the way she was referring to Hyax. “I’ve not had my heart broken.”
“That’s why you’re in a dive bar getting shit-faced on cheap blood and whisky.”
“Hardly cheap.”
“Not the point. You’re coming with me.”
“No.”
He was grabbed and he knew he wouldn’t be able to fight these two goons off. “Honestly, I’m okay. I was blowing off steam that’s all. I’ll be back to normal tomorrow.”
“So Hyax won’t be marrying another fae prince?” She raised an eyebrow and he wanted to pluck the fucking thing off her face.
“It’s not like I didn’t know.”
She turned on her heel and clicked her fingers. Gwil was lifted off his feet and carried out of Gilmont’s between two burly vampires. He was pretty sure this wasn’t an unknown event given some of the clientele, but it was a first for Gwil. Moments later he was bundled into the back of a car, and next to Penelope.
“Gwil, I know you think I’ve overreacted but you put yourself in a dangerous position. High on blood lust and whisky, you could have been taken advantage of or done something more stupid than being seen live feeding in a dive bar.”
There were a lot worse places than Gilmont’s, some where he wouldn’t dare show his face thanks to some of the cases he’d taken over the years. “I’ve been going to Gilmont’s since it opened and never had an issue. You’re being a snob.”
She scowled. “You’re associated with a fae prince, your sister is a Dark Duchess, you are the one not understanding the levels of social hierarchy and the place you inhabit within it.”
He didn’t think dealing with the vampire elite would ever be his problem on a day-to-day basis—as he had said to Solivatus, he knew important people, but he wasn’t important.“My position in society puts me at the bar in Gilmont’s. As you pointed out, it’s my partner who’s the prince, not me. And as he’s currently off out at his engagement party I can’t exactly get into places I’d go when I’m his plus one."
“But you also have me.” She laid a hand on his arm which made him immediately suspicious. “I accept we’ve had our differences, I could have helped you more, and now I want to ensure that even if things go south with Hyax, you don’t lose the progress you’vemade."
