Last night, Thea stayed with me for hours. We didn’t speak. We barely even looked at each other. But for the first time since I had started this ritual hundreds of years ago, I hadn’t wanted to be alone.

Close to dawn, we returned to my quarters, and I walked her to her bedroom. I stared at her door for a long while, wondering why I felt such a pull toward her, a pull that tugged deep in my chest, a pull that I couldn’t understand.

And now, as the sun set, I was once more staring at her closed door and resisting that pull.

What the hell was happening to me?

I heard her rising from bed and shuffling around her bedroom. Ashamed of my weakness, I scurried to the dining room, where I found my usual bottle and glass of blood.

I downed half the bottle in two seconds.

The moment her bedroom door opened, her scent reached my nose. I guzzled the rest of the bottle. I would have preferred waiting for her to have breakfast together, but I knew she didn’t like seeing me drinking blood.

More importantly, I needed to make sure I was in control of my instincts before she got too close.

“Good evening,” she said, taking her usual seat at the center of the table.

Desperately, I tried not to stare at her. At how the dark orange and purple rays of the sunset streaming through the window illuminated her fair skin and gave her a smooth, sun-kissed glow. At how the beautiful dark blue dress emphasized the light gray of her eyes, hugged her curves, and showed off her long legs. At how the vein in her neck popped when she glanced at me, and how much it called to me.

“Morning,” I forced out.

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Are you okay?”

I cleared my throat. “Of course.”

Thomas came in with Thea’s breakfast, but to my surprise, she didn’t touch it. Instead, she returned her gaze to me. “It has been ten days. The mourning period is over.”

I nodded. “Yes. We’ll decide on a new leader today.”

She cocked her head to the side. “Do you think you’ll win?”

“I’m not sure. To be honest, I would rather not. However, if it’s Alex or me, then I’ll accept the position.”

“I hope you win,” she said, her words ringing true.

Pride filled my chest, and I cleared my throat. “Please, don’t roam the castle for the next couple of hours.” The meeting was sure to be tense and difficult. Depending on the results, the other vampires could go crazy and start a rebellion. I didn’t want Thea or Thomas out of my protected quarters if that were the case.

She looked disappointed, but said, “I won’t.”

“Good,” was all I said before marching out of my quarters.

While walking to the council room, I pushed all thought of Thea and the duel out of my mind. I needed to focus on this meeting and nothing else right now—no beautiful Thea, no intoxicating scent, no brilliant hair, no long neck, no wonderful legs.

Groaning, I closed my eyes and focused.

Focus.

The moment I stepped into the council room and saw all the princes in their throne-like chairs and a few of their men standing behind them, I was game. I took my seat with Lewis and Tank already standing behind it. All the while, Alex shot me nasty glances while whispering with Ralf and Eden.

A low growl rose in my chest.

Alex smiled at me.

My hands balled into fists.

Sarki strolled into the room. As she had so many times, she stood beside the bigger chair in the middle of the half circle. Ceremoniously, she stared at the chair, a hand over the dark red velvet back.

She inhaled sharply, and then turned to us. “The mourning period is over,” she said, her voice loud and sure. “It’s time to choose a new leader.”

“What about Alex and Drake’s duel?” Dorian asked. He seemed too eager to see us fight.

Sarki turned cold eyes to him. “We have more important matters to attend to right now. We’ll talk about the duel later.”

“But—”

Sarki snarled. “We’ll start with the choosing of a new leader,” she barked, interrupting whatever Alex was trying to say.

The room went silent for a heartbeat.

“Did Lord Reynard leave a will?” Cain asked.

“Unfortunately, no,” Sarki said. “Because of that, our rules state the princes need to vote.” She glanced to Prince Aston first. “Who do you nominate to be our next lord?”

“Alex,” he said, no doubt in his voice.

A cold chill ran down my spine.

Sarki continued, going from prince to prince. After much discussion and deadly stares among the princes, Nolan, Dorian, and Patrick voted for Alex; Phelps, Albert, Gray, and Cain voted for me. Of course, Alex voted for himself and as much as it disgusted me, I voted for myself too.

Five votes for Alex, five votes for me.

“It’s a tie,” Albert said. “It’s up to you, Sarki. You’ll be the deciding vote.”

Her dark eyes glanced from Alex to me. She took a long inhale and finally said, “To be honest, I think we shouldn’t choose a new leader before we find Lord Reynard’s murderer.”

All the princes started talking at once, some indignant about her suggestion, some approving of it.

Finally, I said, “I agree with Sarki.” I turned my steely stare to Alex. “What if we end up voting for the killer? We wouldn’t want that.”

Alex’s lips stretched in a malicious grin. “We sure don’t want that.” He smiled at Sarki. “I agree with you, Sarki. We should find the killer and deal with him before naming a new lord.”

“Then, we should start the questioning right away,” Sarki suggested.

Alex slouched in his seat, looking pleased. “If I might, I name Prince Drake to be the first one questioned.”

I burned a hole in his head with my eyes while he grinned at me.

“Prince Drake?” Sarki asked. I turned my gaze to her. “Can we start?”

I relaxed my shoulders. “Sure. I have nothing to hide.”

Sarki stood beside Lord Reynard’s chair the entire time the princes questioned me.

“Where were you at the time of the murder?”

What kind of question was that? “In the ballroom with everyone else.”

“What did you do when the lights went out?”

“I was holding a wounded human girl and guiding her friend out of the ballroom.”

“Why did you want to leave?”

“Because one of the girls was badly hurt.”

“What happened to her?”

“She died.”

“You killed her?”

“No. She died from the injuries she received during the party, caused by another vampire.”

“Do you know who turned off the lights?”

Hell … “No.”

“Do you have reason to believe anyone here would want Lord Reynard dead?”

I glanced to Alex as I answered, “Yes.”

“And who is that?”

“Prince Alex.”

“Elaborate.”

“He has had eyes on Lord Reynard’s power for centuries now.”

Alex chuckled. “He’s saying that because I had my eyes on his pet during the ball.”

Red tinted my vision.

“Is that right? Are you accusing Prince Alex because of your blood slave?”

“No!” My voice rose. “Alex and I have never seen eye to eye. Lord Reynard and I had a significant relationship and Alex was jealous.”

Alex scoffed. “Jealous? Are you five years old?”

“It’s the truth,” I said through gritted teeth. “For years you’ve been trying to steal my missions and my glory. Each time I succeeded, you would play it down, saying you could have done better, or citing some success to try to dilute my victories. When I failed, you stomped all over it, telling Lord Reynard how wrong he was in making me a prince.”

He glared at me. “I still think he was wrong.”

“Thankfully, it wasn’t your decision.”

Alex started to rise from his chair, but Sarki shot him a glare. “Control your temper, Prince Alex.”

Growling, Alex sat back down, but his body was tense and his gaze screamed murder. Why couldn’t the others see he was Reynard’s killer? It was written all over his face, all over his actions.

“Everyone here knows your story, Prince Drake,” Nolan said as a matter of fact. “You have every reason to hate Lord Reynard.”

My nostrils flared.

I had hated the man in the beginning. I had wanted to kill him, to skin him alive, to tie him down in the sunlight and watch him burn, but that had been a long time ago. With time, Lord Reynard proved he wasn’t as bad as I wanted him to be and he won me over. Thinking of the past still hurt, but now, I was able to separate those two parts of my life—there was a before and an after being a vampire, and they both were different.

“If that was the case, then why didn’t I do it centuries ago? Why wait until now?”

The princes exchanged glances as if trying to come up with a good answer for that. There was none.

“Perhaps you were biding your time,” Alex suggested. “You wanted to gain his trust before you took his life.”

“If I were that petty, then I would have killed him with the lights turned on so he could see my face while I did it. And again, I won his trust long ago. If I had considered killing Lord Reynard, I wouldn’t have waited until now.”

“What about your new blood slave, the one that survived?” Aston asked, taking me by surprise.

Why were we talking about her again? She had nothing to do with this. “What about her?”

“Why did you claim her?”

“I fail to see the connection between this question and Lord Reynard’s death,” I said, controlling my voice so my anger and frustration wouldn’t show. Though I bet they could see how angry and frustrated I was by the clench of my fists and the tick in my jaw.

“Lord Reynard never favored humans,” Dorian said. “In all my centuries with him, I haven’t seen him claim any human blood slaves for himself, and yet, these last two makes how many? Six or seven blood slaves you claimed and took to your quarters?”

I sucked in a sharp breath.

Seven. It made seven. But it was the first time I had taken two young women—and if I was being honest to myself, I only took Judy in because of Thea. Before them, I had taken Thomas because I couldn’t stand there and watch an eight-year-old die. As for the other four … most had been in the same situation as Thomas. Young boys who reminded me of myself. Only one had been an older woman who resembled my mother. I took her in, and after losing her fear of me, she had treated me like her son—a luxury I didn’t deserve.

“Lord Reynard didn’t take blood slaves. I did. I still fail to see the connection between that and his murder.”

“You’re a human lover,” Aston said. “You prefer humans to your own kind.”

“That’s …” I didn’t know what to say.

“That is the truth and you know it,” Nolan added.

“If it came between a human and a vampire, you would save the human,” Dorian said.

“Perhaps Lord Reynard seemed interested in one of your pets, and you wouldn’t stand for it,” Aston suggest.

“That’s absurd!” Gray defended me.

“No, that’s the most accurate thing I heard all night,” Alex said, a smug grin across his face.

“Did Lord Reynard show interest in your new pet?” Dorian asked. “What’s her name?”

“Thea Harrington,” Alex said.

I clenched my fist before I used them to squeeze Alex’s throat until his neck broke.

“Did Lord Reynard show any interest in Thea that night?” Dorian asked again.

“No!” I almost shouted, losing my patience. “He didn’t come close to her that night, and even if he had showed interest in her, I know he would have backed off after I asked him.” I glared at Alex. “Unlike others.”

“We might need to question her,” Cain suggested. What the hell? He had voted for me, and now he was stabbing me in the back?

My blood boiled. I stood and barked, “The hell you will! She’ll stay in my quarters, and none of you will ever get near her again.”

The room went silent for a moment, and then it burst into a swarm of harsh words and whispers. The princes talked among themselves, deciding my future.

My insides tensed, because no matter what had happened, I knew the outcome I would have to face here.

Prince Aston rose to his feet and said, “Prince Drake, your questioning is over for now.” He paused. “After hearing your answers, we’ve concluded you’re a suspect in Lord Reynard’s death.”