Her Lady, Her Princess: Book 2 of Hers Trilogy [WxW]

5. The Exchange

It was midnight. For most people, this was a time of quiet and recovery after the hustle and bustle of the day. At the Vogelstein family estate, however, midnight was the most active time. Today was even more alive than usual as every vampire in the estate stood on high alert, watching every move of their demon visitors with extreme wariness.

Inside a massive, luxuriously furnished study, Ivan and Nyx were in a meeting with three of their visitors.

"You have what you want. Return what is ours," said one of the three demons Qixoq had sent over to present the secession contract.

"Patience. I need to make sure it's not a fake." Nyx smirked, to which the woman frowned but said nothing. Nyx removed the file from the black folder. It was indeed a secession contract. According to the contract, Qixoq, First Power of Zorgan, from this day forward, hereby declares that Green Front was no longer one of the thirty-three Lowdren Dominions in the Highdren Dominion of Zorgan. Green Front was now an independent dominion with Onyx Castle as its First Power.

Nyx touched the seal of the Demon Circle. Everything seemed legitimate enough. But she couldn't possibly tell if it was real or not. Nyx passed the contract to Ivan. "What do you think?"

Ivan's icy gaze ran over the paper. "It's real," he said after a long pause. "That's Qixoq's blood and signature. Once you sign it with your blood, the contract will be in effect immediately."

"Hmm." Nyx inhaled.

"Pierre. Hand him over," the demon demanded.

Sensing the impatience and agitation within the woman's seemingly calm tone, Nyx said out loud, "Bring him in."

A door creaked open and two vampires escorted Pierre inside. His gaze lingered briefly on Nyx as he strode toward his people.

"Isiz." Pierre nodded at the leader of the group.

"Are you hurt?" Isiz asked. Nyx gave him a charming smile when he looked back at her. Would the bastard say that Nyx had almost killed him? Well, what did that matter? He was still alive and in one piece. He had Ivan to thank for that.

Pierre shook his head and looked away. "Non. I'm fine."

"Good. You know the drill. Give me your hand."

Pierre promptly obeyed. Isiz took a dagger from the demon standing to her left and swiftly cut into Pierre's palm. Then the third demon to her right stepped forward holding a transparent cube cube crystal. With his balled fist hovering on the cube, Pierre let his blood flow onto it.

"What are you doing?" asked Nyx.

Isiz shrugged. "I need to make sure he's not a fake."

Raising her brows, Nyx briefly exchanged glances with Ivan. To be fair, someone could shapeshift into Pierre to infiltrate Qixoq's camp. So, it made sense that they would want to verify it. Genius, actually. But what Nyx couldn't wrap her mind around was how they would know whether Pierre was real or not. What was that crystal supposed to do?

"It's a bloodstone. Royal demons use it to test the purity of blood of their sired," said Ivan. "That particular bloodstone must have been forged with Qixoq's blood and demoncraft. If he's indeed Pierre, the bloodstone will react in some way."

After a few seconds, the white-hued transparent cube slowly turned into violet, then indigo, then blue, green, and then finally stopped as a deep shade of gold.

"Damn," Ivan whispered.

"What?" asked Nyx.

"The closer the color is to red, the purer one's blood is to their sire."