I knew Jacen was lying the moment he said he didn’t care about the human girl, but the way his face dropped when I announced her death only further affirmed it.

He cared about her.

Which was exactly why I had to make sure he thought he had no chance of ever seeing her again.

“The girl was a thief.” I made my way to the center of the room, taking notice of the way all eyes were on me. “Why do you think the guards were sent to bring her to the dungeons in the first place?”

“She wasn’t a thief,” he said. “You don’t even know her.”

“And you do?” I raised an eyebrow. “She stole from the vampires. She stole food that wasn’t permitted for humans—candies, cheese, meats—and gave them to her co-workers at the Tavern.”

“A human stole from the vampires?” Jacen balked. “Impossible.”

“If you don’t believe me, you can ask the workers at the Tavern yourself,” I continued. “It didn’t take long for us to get them to turn her in. The blood slaves have no loyalty—the sooner you learn that, the better. They would do anything to save themselves and their families, even if it means turning in a friend. She’s dead,” I repeated, wanting to rub it in further. “And now she’ll never be able to steal from the vampires again.”

“I don’t believe you.” He narrowed his eyes and rushed at me, but the guards stopped him before he could get close. He fought their hold, but even a vampire prince wasn’t strong enough to free himself from five guards—especially when his emotions were getting the best of him. “Show her to me.”

I smiled, because of course I’d already planned for this.

“Bring the body here,” I told Daniel. “It’s in cell thirty-one.”

Daniel whizzed out of the room, and Jacen stared at me, his eyes dark.

“If you killed her…” he started, clenching his fists to his sides.

“Then what?” I asked. “I did nothing out of line. The girl stole from vampires and has been punished for her crimes. She’ll be an example to the blood slaves about what happens when our rules are broken. They need a good example every now and then to make sure they remember their place.”

No one spoke as we waited for Daniel to return. And with his vampire speed, it didn’t take long for him to come back, hauling Annika’s body behind him and dropping it on the ground.

Her skin was paler than ever, her blood drained dry. Not a drop of it had been left behind.

I crossed my arms and stared at my work, proud of myself for flawlessly putting this into play. Because after hearing of Annika and Jacen’s escape from the guards, I’d gone to the Tavern myself to investigate. There, I’d met a girl who claimed to be one of Annika’s closest friends—Tanya, I believe was her name—and had her brought to the dungeons for questioning. She had no memories of Jacen—she’d either never met him or he’d compelled her to forget him—but she did confess about Annika’s stealing vampire food and sharing it with the humans who worked at that dingy human bar.

I’d originally intended to release her back into the village to show her some gratitude for coming clean about her friend. But then I’d seen the way Jacen and Annika had looked at each other in the mountains. He cared about the mousey human blood slave. I didn’t understand why, but he wasn’t going to stop fighting for her no matter what.

Unless he thought she was dead.

So, while Annika had been passed out in her cell, I’d taken a strand of her hair. Transformation potions were my specialty, so it hadn’t taken long to brew. And of course, getting Tanya to drink it had been easy. The girl had barely been given any food or drink since arriving in the dungeons, and she’d downed the first thing placed in front of her—the potion.

Her body had transformed into Annika’s in minutes.

All I’d needed to do from there was call a vampire guard into the cell and instruct him to drain her dry. The guards were rarely given blood straight from the vein—that was a luxury typically reserved for the royals and nobles—so he’d been more than happy to oblige.

All of this had been done before Annika had awoken from her sedative.

I’d cast a spell around her cell to make it appear empty, and to block all sound coming in and out of it. No one knew she was there. No one except me, of course. And she wouldn’t be there for long, since we were leaving for the Crystal Cavern at dawn.

As for that pesky blood oath she’d insisted upon making… she wouldn’t be in my hair for much longer if she ended up dead. Which was exactly what I planned on having happen—after she brought me Geneva’s sapphire ring and was turned into a vampire.

Nothing in our oath prevented me from killing her after she was turned.

Jacen stared at the body, saying nothing.

I watched him curiously. I thought he’d cared about the girl, but he was betraying no emotion. As if she meant nothing to him.

“Well?” I crossed my arms, focused only on him. “Do you believe me now?”

His eyes flicked up to meet mine, and they were so empty that I nearly took a step back. For the first time since he’d turned, I saw in him the true makings of a vampire prince.

The vampire prince who would someday be mine.

“Take her away,” he said, his voice hard and strong.

No one moved a muscle. The guards glanced around, appearing as taken aback by his reaction as I felt.

“Did you not hear me?” He eyes darkened, and he glared at the guards. “I am your prince—you answer to me. And I am commanding you to take her away!”

The body was out of the room in seconds.

“Have her strung up in the village square for the next twelve hours,” I told the guards who remained. “As an example to everyone there about what happens to those who break our rules. Once the twelve hours are up, feed her to the wolves.”

I couldn’t help smiling at how perfectly this had panned out. The transformation spell would only last for three days—then the corpse would revert back to its true appearance—but the wolves would ensure that nothing remained.

No one would ever know the truth.

“This amuses you,” Jacen observed, his gaze still locked on mine.

“And it seems to not affect you,” I countered.

“Like you said, the girl was only a blood slave.” His voice was so cold that it brought goosebumps to my arms. “She was pretty, but my attraction to her was only physical. After getting bored with her—which I’m sure wouldn’t have taken long—I likely would have drained her dry myself.”

I raised an eyebrow. “So why go to the trouble to help her escape?” I asked.

“It seemed like an amusing challenge.” He shrugged. “An adventure. Can you blame me, after being confined in this palace for nearly a year? I needed a little fun.”

“I suppose not,” I said, matching his indifference. I wasn’t sure if I believed him or not, but I would play this game with him—for now. “So, let’s all be glad that justice has been served. We cannot have rebels in our midst. I helped you, Jacen. Not just you, but all the vampires in the kingdom. I hope you don’t forget it when it’s time for you to choose a bride.”

“Trust me, I won’t,” he said, and then he turned to face Laila.

The vampire queen stood near the window, where she’d been watching this entire scene play out. If any of it fazed her, she didn’t let it show.

“Put out a call for the eligible princesses from the six kingdoms to come to the palace at once,” he told her. “I will meet them, and we will enact your idea of creating a show of the whole event. Because soon, I will choose one of them to join my side as a future princess of the Vale.”