I paced the hallway, up and down, up and down. The restlessness in me was ridiculous. Every feeling inside me right now was ridiculous. I had no idea I could feel like this. Like I wanted to be beside someone every second of every day, like I would do anything, anything, to protect her, like my life didn’t matter, didn’t have any meaning, before I met her.

I felt like I was a fifteen-year-old human again—stupid and easily taken over by hormones.

This was ridiculous.

Stupid and ridic—

The door of her suite opened and I halted. Thea stepped out, wearing another summer dress that showed too much of her smooth, silky skin.

My breath caught.

She glanced at me, a rosy tint rising up her cheeks. “Hi.”

Images from last night flooded my mind, and my body’s temperature went up a million degrees. Stopping kissing her had been hard. Almost impossible. It took all of my control not to slip into her bedroom with her and claim more than her freedom.

I had wanted her like I had never wanted anything else in my entire long life. I still wanted her.

She batted her lashes, the pink in her cheeks increasing. “Everything okay?”

“Everything is great,” I said with a growl. Fast like a cat, I lunged for her. She let out a gasp as I wrapped my hands over her waist and pressed her against the wall. “Everything is perfect.” I leaned into her, slow enough to give her time to object, but not too slow or I might explode with the tension building inside me.

She rose to her tiptoes and pressed her lips on mine. A growl started in my chest, but it died when I closed my mouth over hers.

Her lips were warm and soft and tasted like mint and heaven. I didn’t deserve heaven, never had, but I couldn’t stop now. I needed this heaven; I needed her heaven.

I stepped into her, pinning her to the wall and gluing every inch of my body to hers. She let out a sound that was a mix of a whimper and a moan, a sound that rocked through me, and I almost lost it.

Her scent, her blood rushing, her heart racing, it was too much and too little. I needed more of her, and I needed it right now.

To hell with the hunger that quaked my muscles and demanded a taste of her delicious blood. I wouldn’t succumb to it. Thea was more important than that.

Her stomach growled, a faint sound she probably only felt instead of heard, but with my vampire senses, it had been loud enough. I chuckled against her lips. “Someone is hungry.” I started pulling back, but she only wound her arms around my neck tighter.

“It can wait,” she whispered before deepening the kiss again.

Hell …

I was a goner. I let her take over for a moment. Surprising me, she ran her tongue over my lower lip before sucking it hard. My gut contracted, and I pushed her harder against the wall, until she felt what she was doing to me.

Her gasp turned into a moan as she readjusted her hips, rubbing more of her on me.

Holy hell. My knees wavered and—

Her stomach growled again.

I stepped back, letting go of her. Thea wobbled to the side, as if she were dizzy, but before I could reach for her again, she slapped her hands on the wall behind her and steadied herself.

There was only three feet between us, but the tension, the heavy charge in the air around us, was palpable. Her eyes met mine, and I could swear the hallway would catch on fire any minute now.

Clearing my throat, I straightened my shirt. Then, I offered her my arm. “Come on. Let’s get you some breakfast.”

Thea hooked her hand under my arm and smiled at me. “I could have gone longer without breakfast, you know.”

An urge to spin her around and pin her to the wall again hit me hard, but I pushed it away. I had already had breakfast—more blood than I usually had at this time, just to be safe—but she hadn’t. As a human, she was way more fragile than I was.

Besides, taking her to breakfast gave me a break. It would force me away from her, and this way I could think clearly—something I didn’t have any control over when she was so close.

In the dining room, Thea let go of my arm and took her usual seat at the middle of the table. I fought the pull to take the seat beside her, because I really needed to think straight, and sat at the end of the table.

Her brows furrowed, Thea looked at the food spread in front of her.

“Is there something wrong?”

“No,” she said, her voice tight.

In silence, she ate while I thought, though my eyes were on her the entire time.

I had to find a way to prove I was innocent. If I was charged, I would be executed, and then Thea and Thomas would be taken as blood slaves by other vampires. No doubt Alex would claim Thea.

Rage swept over me, and I closed my hands into tight fists.

That couldn’t happen.

But if it came to that, then I should have a plan B. I needed to find a way of taking Thea and Thomas away from the palace in case I was killed. But how?

I heard the shuffling outside the door two seconds before a knock sounded loud and clear.

Her eyes wide, Thea straightened in her chair.

“It’s okay,” I assured her, standing up. “It’s only Holden, one of my guards.”

Thomas beat me to the door. He took a sealed envelope from Holden, then delivered it to me.

Thomas helped clear Thea’s breakfast while I opened the letter and read it. A quick note from Gray, asking me to meet him in his quarters.

I approached Thea, who was watching from the steps before the dining room. “I have to go out for a bit,” I told her. I glanced at Thomas, who was across the room. “Things aren’t going well around the castle, so, please, you two stay inside today.”

“Yes, my prince,” Thomas said with a slight bow of his head. I had already told him over a hundred times to stop calling me that and bowing to me, but he kept doing it.

Thea’s brows knotted. “Are you okay?”

A soft smile tugged at my lips and pride bloomed in my chest at the worry in her voice. “I think so. I’m going talk to another prince. As far as I know, he’s on my side.”

“Be careful,” she whispered.

I leaned into her and pressed my lips in her forehead. “Always.” More now than ever.

Without another glance or words, I dashed out of my chambers, probably faster than Thea’s and Thomas’ eyes could follow.

I hated leaving her, but it was probably for the best. I needed some fresh air, even if it was visiting another corner of the castle where her sweet scent wasn’t filling every square inch.

The guards in front of Gray’s chambers saw me approaching and opened the front door for me. They lowered their heads when I walked by them and stepped inside.

Prince Gray and Prince Phelps were seated on the long, black leather sofa in the center of the living room. Unlike my place, the other princes liked to follow the castle’s decoration—dark walls, dark floors, dark furniture, with black and deep red predominating over browns and dark gray.

“Prince Drake, take a seat,” Gray said.

Reluctantly, I sat down in a heavy armchair across from the sofa. “What is this about?”

“Since we’re on your side,” Phelps started, “we felt the need to tell you Prince Alex has been active since the interrogations last night. He has been going from prince to prince, trying to get them all on his side.”

I gritted my teeth. Of course he was. “What else do you know?”

“Not much,” Gray said. “He approached us, told us some lies about you, and Lord Reynard, and your new pet.” A waved of anger rolled in my stomach. Thea was not my pet. I wasn’t sure what she was yet, but she definitely meant a lot. “He’s even spreading rumors to lower-ranking vampires, in the hopes that it’ll cause paranoia in everyone in the castle.”

“He’s doing whatever he can to incriminate you,” Phelps added.

“Hell,” I muttered, running a hand through my hair.

“Besides all that,” Gray said, “we just received a report from one of our informants that some witch covens are on the move. They are agitated. We think they know we’re uncentered now that Lord Reynard is gone, and we haven’t chosen a new lord yet. They might take advantage of that and attack.”

“Which will lead to a full out war,” Phelps said.

I grunted under my breath. Witches were vile, petty beings. They took advantage of every situation they could, and these witches wouldn’t be any different. We all knew the stories of witches taking over powerful vampire covens and werewolves packs all over the world—and all they had to do was wait for the right opportunity.

“We need to find the real killer and fast,” I said, the wheels in my head turning in rapid succession. “And then we need to elect a new leader.”

“Exactly,” Gray said. “The longer we wait, the more chances the witches will have to strike.”

Holy hell … “If Alex isn’t playing fair, then we shouldn’t either,” I said. “We can’t wait until everything crumbles to dust. We need to act now.”

Phelps let out a long breath. “Do you have any ideas?”

I groaned, feeling hopeless. “Not one.”