Page 363 of Halfblood Deceived

He didn’t kiss me. He didn’t kiss me once. That was her last thought before her awareness faded into a dreamless sleep.

The Princes

The meeting took place in a lavish presidential suite at a high-end hotel. Both princes—one a fey, and one a vampire—would settle for nothing less. The gold and red decoration of the massive living room they were in was fit for royalty.

Both princes sat at a small round table with a chilled bottle of champagne and two glasses. It had been prepared exactly for this occasion by the vampire prince, the one who had called for the meeting.

Each male had two of their most trusted warriors poised at their back.

It was not a social reunion by any means. Their courts were not on friendly terms. They had made a no-war pledge, but that didn’t mean they had to tolerate each other.

The fey prince, a tall male with black hair that fell down his back in a straight, glossy curtain, tapped his fingers against the table. “I haven’t all night.” He was clad in a white tunic and trousers that could almost pass for modern in the human world.

Unlike the vampire prince—a male with gunmetal eyes and blond hair, who wore an expensive three-piece suit. He smirked. “I thought patience was a virtue of your ilk.” At the tight, disapproving expression of the fey prince, he laughed. “Relax, pretty boy.”

The fey prince’s nostrils flared. He felt the tug of the four scars marring one side of his once-beautiful face more acutely than usual.

“Too soon?” the vampire asked with fake innocence.

The fey prince gave the vampire an appraising look. “You don’t look so pretty yourself. Are the rumors true, then?”

The vampire gritted his teeth. “Perhaps we should get on with it.” He made a beckoning gesture with two fingers at the male on his right, who handed over a tablet. “Have you been keeping an eye on your rebellious daughter lately?” He slid the tablet across the table.

The fey prince took the tablet with poorly hidden disgust. He hated human contraptions on principle. And as he saw the picture displayed on the screen, he wanted to destroy the device. A stunning female with long black hair and light brown skin in a ball. Clad in a transparent dress, leather breeches, and a corset. Dancing with a vampire male in a black suit.

His stomach churned at the blissful joy on the female’s beautiful face as she smiled at the vampire male.

She doesn’t deserve to be happy; the fey prince thought acidly. I wish I could break her.

He’d tried. And he’d failed. His disfigured face was a reminder that she was not to be trifled with. That she could defeat him.

“That’s your brat, I presume,” the fey prince said, pointing at the tall blonde vampire. He was beautiful, unlike his father, who merely possessed aristocratic bland handsomeness.

“Yes,” the vampire prince said, gray eyes turning calculative. “Rumor has it your brat is almost as powerful as you. And under the Davashkov twins’ protection.”

“Funny, I’ve heard the same thing about your brat,” the fey prince said in a clipped tone.

The vampire nodded. “Your daughter and my son share a soulbond. Do you know what this means?”

“That they’re most likely even more powerful than they used to be?” the fey asked.

“That they have a weakness we can exploit,” the vampire said, fangs flashing. “That we can break them.”

“That didn’t turn out too well for either of us the last time we tried,” the fey pointed out.

The vampire smirked. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re afraid of your daughter. Of nothing but a female.”

The fey leaned forward in his seat. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you are so afraid your halfbreed son will tear your heart out again that you’re asking for my help.”

They growled at each other.

The vampire relaxed back against his chair first. “Tell me you don’t want to make your daughter pay, and I’ll leave. Tell me you are not even a bit curious about my plan to make both of those ungrateful wretches pay for humiliating us.”

The fey gritted his teeth and sighed, leaning back and crossing his legs. “So, you have a plan?”

The vampire smiled. “I do. And if you agree to do your part, we’ll both get what we want—retaliation and the power they stole from us.”

The fey prince considered it. If they failed, not only would they have to deal with his daughter’s deviant mother and her half-demon whore, but also the Davashkov prince and princess. If they failed, they’d lose it all.

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