Claire must deceive a vampire prince while resisting her desire for him.
Season 1 of Fated Series
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Nothing in my life has ever been easy. Including the mission my family has sent me on.
My sister and I have traveled to the vampire stronghold to...
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Tromper (verb) to deceive
He thought me innocent. And maybe, in some ways—the ways he could see—I was.
But that didn't make me weak.
I struggled to find a reply. His lips were far too close to mine for coherent thought, and the sleeping draught made each one harder to articulate. I wasn't sure if he was going to kiss me or rip my throat out.
Although his question confirmed what I only hoped—despite his preternatural hearing, he couldn't read minds.
I struggled, but it was no use.
"Let me go, Bastien."
"I will," he said, "but first, I want an answer."
Had his men found something in my trunk that gave me away? Was this the end? Was that why he dragged me out here? To turn me over to the Witches of Darkness?
And what about Sera?
My fists clenched when I recalled the way his assistant had treated her.
Even though I wanted to tell the prince every terrible thing his kind did and why I'd given up my life at Proctor Hill to come here, I held my tongue.
I knew I was supposed to be submissive or, at the very least, fearful, to earn his favor, but I couldn't stop the humorless laugh that tore from my throat.
"You, my lord, are just as insufferable and pigheaded as your nephew."
I shouldn't have said it, but what was done was done.
The vampire's lip curled, and a shadow of the monster he truly was made itself known. The shadows under his eyes darkening. Fear rose inside me. I knew he wasn't allowed to hurt me, but that didn't mean he wouldn't anyway.
"And why is that?" he asked.
His kind were all the same. Self-serving and obsessed with the war waging outside the Conquered Territories instead of focusing on the people within their borders. He should be protecting innocent Witches of the Light from the likes of Shreesa.
"The fact that you are a prince with castles and guards and money, while I'm forced to sell my...my," my voice quaked, and my head swam, but I forced myself to say the word, "b-blood so my sister and I can survive, is what makes you insufferable."
My words came as sharp as the barbs on Mama's choker, even though I had to fight against the dizziness that word caused.
"Had my father not died in your war, I wouldn't be here. The gold you gave Sera will change her life, and that's all that matters to me." I drew in a steadying breath, then said, "No one put me up to this, but you."
The power of my admission had the shadows around his eyes retreating. It seemed I'd struck a nerve with my vampire companion.
"Now," I said, taking a more conversational tone, "are we going inside? Or are we going to stand out here and bicker like this? With your hand at my throat."
