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Alessandra
AS KADE THRUSTED INTO me one last time and then pulled himself out of me, I came down from the high that had just rocked my world. I lay naked on the bed for a few moments as I tried to regain my breath.
Once I stood up, I glanced at myself in the mirror, relieved to see that my hair had managed to hold up through our little rendezvous. I imagined that once I went back downstairs to rejoin our guests, there would be plenty of photos taken and I wanted to look good in them.
Not that my appearance had ever been in question. I was the Allegro princess; I always looked good.
“Sebastian would be so pissed if he knew we did this in his bed, you know,” Kade commented as he began to pull his clothes back on.
A smile touched my lips. “I know. Thrilling, isn’t it?”
“You are one twisted woman. Anyone ever tell you that?”
“Every day, my love.” As I began to pull my gown back on, I peered out the window. I stared down at the courtyard below us, watching as our guests danced and drank to their hearts’ content. Alcohol, mostly, though I did see a few vampires drinking from the necks of their slaves.
As Lorenzo Delrusso drank from the neck of a pretty young brunette in chains, I watched the way the slave tilted her head to the side, giving into his needs fully and completely. From the expression that her face had twisted into, it was safe to say that she was enjoying every second of it.
That was the thing about human slaves. Most of them were unwilling to admit it, but the majority of them actually liked it—craved it, even—just as much as we did.
My stomach growled with my own thirst. I realized that it had been a long time since the last time I’d fed. Well, a long time for me, at least. I had never understood how some vampires could go days between feedings. I needed to feed more often than that—much more often. I could have fed hourly if I let myself, but I knew that I would’ve had no slaves left if I did.
I was trying to decide which of my slaves I was craving the most when Kade spoke again. “Hey, have you taken a look at the sky?”
Glancing up at it, I took it in again. The sky was no longer the same bloody shade of red it usually was. It had been replaced by deep blues, rich purples, and hints of pink.
It reminded me of a human sky.
I’d only ever seen a human sky a few times before, but it was one of the prettiest—and strangest—sights that I had ever laid eyes on.
But we weren’t in the human world, and our sky didn’t look the way the human sky did. So, what had changed?
I turned to Kade, whose gaze was locked on the sky. He was studying it intensely, probably thinking the same thing as me.
“What does it mean when the sky is no longer red?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know for sure, but I’m thinking that it can only mean one thing.”
“And what would that be?” I pressed.
“That the protection spell has been lifted,” he explained as he continued to stare at it for a moment longer. Shaking his head, his blue eyes flicked over to meet mine. “I need to go find someone who knows what the hell is going on.”
Without saying another word, he strode across the room and slipped into the hall, closing the door behind him.
Part of me was annoyed that he thought he could just leave the room so abruptly, without even bidding me a proper farewell. But there was also a part of me that felt relieved, too. I liked to do my drinking in silence, away from everyone else. The last thing I needed was for Kade to be right alongside me while I fed – and feeding was the only thing I wanted to do.
Glancing back down below again, I eyed my slaves for a few moments. I started to question which one of them I wanted to drink from, but who was I kidding? It was Vernelle who I wanted. He was the one who I always wanted.
Perhaps that was why I’d felt so jealous earlier that evening when I’d watched him kissing Julia in the courtyard.
Don’t get me wrong. I loved Kade so much and the logical side of me knew that Vernelle was nothing more than a slave—a human—but... still. Seeing his lips on someone else’s had sent anger racing through my veins.
Vernelle belonged to me. He was mine to kiss, not hers.
Of course, my feelings were entirely without cause. It wasn’t even like it had been a real kiss—the type that was driven by passion or emotions. I had known that all along. I was the one who had told Vernelle to kiss Julia, merely because I’d wanted to prove a point to Sebastian.
I’d wanted him to see that his darling slave wasn’t the perfect little angel he’d seemed to believe she was. I’d wanted him to see that there was another side to that little bitch. I’d wanted him to see her manipulative side.
I knew Sebastian was unable to recognize how manipulative Julia was, but I saw it. I saw how she had somehow managed to convince him that she really was Lila DeHaven. It was quite possibly the most ludicrous lie that I’d ever heard, but he had actually believed it.
But none of that mattered now. My mission had been accomplished. Sebastian had acted on anger. He’d put his feelings for that slave aside just long enough to agree to marry me, and Julia (if that was even her real name) was long gone. She had fled into the woods when our engagement had been announced, and I knew there was no way any human could have possibly survived the famished vampires who lived in those woods.
It was a pity, really. I had wanted to be the one to kill her, to torture the girl for all of the trouble her very existence in Deadwood had caused me. I may not have gotten that opportunity, but I knew that I couldn’t allow myself to lose sight of what was really important.
Julia was dead, which meant that part of Sebastian’s heart had broken. And that meant I was one step closer to completely destroying him.
Speaking of Sebastian, where was he? He’d gone into the woods to chase after Julia. It was obvious he hadn’t been able to save her in time or else he would have come back by now, but he hadn’t. I figured he was probably wallowing somewhere, trying not to drown in his own tears. The very thought warmed my heart with delight.
At that moment, I heard the sound of the door click open behind me. Assuming that it was Kade who had entered the room, I wondered out loud, “Where is your brother, anyway?”
“Which one?” Sebastian’s familiar voice answered.
I glanced over at him, surprised. Then a smile hit my lips as a realization hit.
If he had entered the room just moments earlier, he would have found me and Kade making love in his bed.
It was such an exhilarating feeling to nearly be caught in the act.
“Kade,” I lied. “I haven’t seen him all night.”
Sebastian shrugged. Without saying a word, he walked across his bedroom and grabbed something from his dresser drawer.
The hint of metal gleamed from across the room.
“What is that?” I motioned to the object that he held in his hand.
He didn’t look at me as he stuffed it in his pocket. “It’s a dagger.”
“Sebastian, why would you possibly need a dagger right now?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him. “Is there someone who you’re planning to kill?”
An idea dawned on me. I knew Julia’s death was bound to affect him, but he wouldn’t actually kill himself because she was gone... would he?
“I need to be prepared for anything right now,” he explained as he continued to avoid my gaze. He began to make his way for the door, but I beat him to it.
As I stood in front of the door to block him from leaving, I glanced up into his eyes. “Sebastian, please tell me what’s going on.”
He shook his head. “I can’t tell you. Not right now.”
“But I’m your fiancée,” I reminded him. “Don’t I have the right to know?”
He glanced down at me, a look of hesitancy in his clear blue eyes. “My Aunt Caroline is on her way here right now. She’s claiming that the island and throne belong to her.”
“But how is that even possible?” A knot began to tighten in my stomach. I didn’t like the sounds of this. If what he was saying was true... if his aunt really was fighting for the throne... Well, it would have jeopardized everything Kade and I had been planning. It would have threatened my place as the next Stark Queen.
“I don’t know. She’s on her way here right now, apparently with proof that the throne belongs to her. She plans to give us forty-eight hours to evacuate the palace,” Sebastian replied.
“And if we don’t evacuate?” I questioned.
“If we don’t evacuate, it looks like we’re going to war, which you and I both know my coven isn’t ready for.” He shook his head frustratedly. “Now would you please move out of my way? I need to go warn my brothers of what’s going on. Just to prepare them.”
“Okay, but I do have one question for you before you go,” I told him.
“Can’t this wait? My aunt should be arriving at any moment.”
“No. I’m sorry. It’s just important that I know right now,” I explained.
As he stared into my face, Sebastian sighed. “What is it, Alessandra?”
I met his gaze evenly. “Did Julia die in those woods?”
A dark look clouded his eyes before they darted away from mine. “She’s dead.”
“Good. That means there’s one less thing for us to worry about, then.” Smiling up at him, I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him.
As he kissed me back, his lips were full of reluctance. It felt like he didn’t want to kiss me back at all.
I quickly broke away from him, moving away from the door and allowing him to leave the room.
He didn’t say another word as he moved past me and slipped out into the hallway. I leaned against the door as the anger began to set in.
Sebastian had lied to me.
He had claimed she was dead, but how could that be when he had kissed her? He could have denied it all he wanted, but I knew otherwise.
I could smell her on his skin; I could taste her on his lips.
Did he really think he could keep this a secret from me? And why would he care to protect some girl—some human slave girl—from me?
Because he loved her. That much was clear. I reminded myself, yet again, that he hadn’t found it in him to love me, but somehow his blackened heart had allowed him to fall in love with a manipulative human girl like that one.
Well, that was okay. It had all worked out for the best, really. Now I would get to kill Julia exactly the way I had wanted to all along.
But not until I put her through total Hell first.