Page 47 of House of Vampires and Flame

“This isn’t about you, Little Bob!” Drusilla scolded, thinning her glossy lips.

I’d steal one of her shiny lipsticks and try it on my lips one of these days.

I was still staring at her lips. “But—”

“You stupid, callous, and self-centered boy!” She raised her voice a notch. “It’s a miracle that you’ve survived for so long.”

I tugged up the corner of my lips and smirked at her. “You have no idea, babe.”

“Don’t ever call me babe again, Little Bob! Don’t forget your place!” She scowled. “Prince Louis was called to the realm by the king.”

“That’s good then, right?” I soaked in the news and let out a breath of relief. I just had to be patient and wait for the prince to come back and pay me then.

“Summoned by the king is never good,” Drusilla said.

“Then I hope our prince is alright and the king is forgiving. Maybe His Highness shouldn’t fuck everything that moves.”

Drusilla looked like she really wanted to slap me, so I took another step away from her.

Mist of Cinder was divided into six regions, ruled by five kings. The House of Vampires ruled the north, the House of Shifters took the south, the House of Mages claimed the east, the House of Chaos made the west their territory, and the center of the realm belonged to the House of Fae, as they were native to the land.

The sixth region was called CrimsonTide, unclaimed by any house. It was the neutral zone and the most dangerous, cutthroat area in Mist of Cinder.

I had studied the map extensively, just in case I had to run one day. I wouldn’t want to go back to the human realm, so my best bet was to move deeper into the realm, somewhere like CrimsonTide.

Sy and I would be fine living amid criminals, rebels, and rogues.

Drusilla’s expression turned sour, as if she’d bitten into a lemon. “His Highness ordered me to keep an eye on you while he’s away.”

My face broke into a big grin. “So, Gunnar and the royal guards accompanied the prince?”

“I wonder why His Highness didn’t bring you with him, since you’re his new favorite.”

She wasn’t happy about the prince not bringing her with him. And if she knew I was a girl and the prince’s favorite, she might try to murder me in my sleep.

“Maybe he thinks I’m his dirty little secret that he needs to keep away from the king and the rest of the royal family.” I shrugged. “So, it’s best to keep me here so I won’t embarrass him in front of them.”

“You’ll embarrass him for sure.” She nodded. “You need to grow some sense if you know what’s good for you.”

“Yeah? Will you teach me?” I said, starting to notice a dozen vampires moving closer to me, their hungry gazes homing in on me.

My blood enticed monsters.

The vamps could all smell my delicious blood, which was like nothing they’d ever tried. Some of them still sought an opening to get their fangs into my neck, even after their prince had sent out a warning and marked me as his exclusive food source.

Problem was that Louis’s imprint didn’t exactly stick, as I ate spells, curses, and magic like candies. I didn’t tell him that though. He’d just use it as a legit excuse to drink from me daily to renew his “mark” on me.

Younger or newly made vampires had less control and could barely resist the call of my blood in my proximity. Incidents happened, and Louis had had to kill a few who came after me to set an example, right after I’d stabbed them with Deathsong, which I hid in my boot.

Personally, I wasn’t too worried about the vampires jumping on me after a while. They were less scary than Shriekers.

“I’m going back to my room. It’s getting crowded here,” I said. “But I’ll come down for lunch.”

With the prince gone, I had the rest of the day for myself. No more accompanying him to see him fuck and then having to find an excuse to depart. He thought it was a game. And now that Killian had put a terrible idea in his head, Louis might just act on it and encourage his harem to come at me to suck my dick.

“You’ll give me gray hair, Little Bob.” Drusilla shook her head. “I’m glad Gunnar wants to be in charge of you.”

“That’s the sweet burden he has to carry,” I said and shot toward the elevator.

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