“Camelia.” Laila closed her laptop, pushed it aside, and laced her hands together on top of her desk. “I heard you wanted to discuss something with me in private?”

“Yes.” I nodded. “I want to talk to you about Jacen.”

“What about him?” She leaned back in her chair, raising an eyebrow.

“He’s getting better and better at controlling his bloodlust each day.” I stood calm and steady, making sure not to twist my hands together or do anything else that might give away the anxiety catapulting through my veins. “Technically, he could even leave the palace, since he’s able to be around humans without attacking them.”

“I agree that he’s able to leave the palace,” Laila said. “But he’s a prince—and a powerful one, at that. If he wanted to leave the palace walls, it’s up to him to trust himself and seize the opportunity.”

“So you’re testing him?” I smirked, since it was so like Laila to do such a thing.

“I’m testing everyone,” she said. “All the time. Never forget that.”

“I won’t,” I promised, using every ounce of willpower to keep the irritation from my tone. As long as Laila lived, this was her kingdom, and I had to play by her rules.

For now.

“Anyway,” she continued. “Is that all you wanted to tell me? That you think Jacen is ready to have freedom to roam outside the palace?”

“No,” I stuttered, and then I cleared my throat, composing myself. If I wanted Laila to consider my request, I had to be as royal as possible. “I’m here because I agree that Jacen has the potential to be a powerful vampire prince. But I believe he’ll be stronger with an equally powerful woman by his side.”

Laila tilted her head and smiled in a way that made me think she already knew what was coming. “What are you proposing?” she asked.

“I would like to be betrothed to Jacen,” I said. “With the two of us united as prince and princess of the Vale, the kingdom will become stronger than ever.”

Laila was quiet for a few seconds, and I resisted the urge to fidget. She was sizing me up—I knew it. I had to prove that I was the proper match for Jacen.

After all, if Laila declared our betrothal, he would have no choice but to accept me—to learn to love me.

Given time, he would learn to love me. I would make sure of it.

“The two of you would be a strong pair,” Laila finally said, and with that admission, I could finally breathe again. “But you do realize what a union between the two of you would mean?”

“Are you referring to the fact that I would need to become a vampire?” I asked.

“Yes.” She nodded. “And, like all witches who become vampires, once the transformation is complete you will lose your ability to perform magic.”

“I’m aware,” I told her. “But while I’ll lose my magic, I’ll become immortal and gain the strength of a vampire. It’s a trade I’m happy to make. It's a trade I want to make.”

“You’ve given this much thought,” she stated, and I nodded, since I had. “I agree that you would take well to being a vampire. I would even change you myself.”

“Thank you, my queen,” I said, lowering myself into a curtsy. “That would be the greatest honor. I would be forever in your debt.”

She held a hand up, stopping me. “But there is a condition.”

“What kind of condition?” I faltered.

“You know as well as I that witches—especially witches with powers like yours—are rare,” she said.

I nodded again, since this was common knowledge. Centuries after the original vampires had come into existence, they’d become such a plague upon humanity that the angels in Heaven had come down to Earth to give birth to a new race of creatures—the Nephilim. Or hunters, as our kind preferred to call them. The purpose of the Nephilim had been to protect humanity by ridding the world of vampires. They’d killed Laila’s sister—one of the seven original vampires—and the six remaining originals had fled to the different continents. With the help of a few witches, they’d gone into hiding, to the locations that had later become the six vampire kingdoms. Vampires either joined the kingdoms, or were killed by hunters. Rogue vampires rarely lasted long in the wild before being hunted down and killed.

Then, a few decades ago, the most powerful witch in the world had been born—Geneva. It was rumored that there was no spell she couldn’t do—that she could grant any wish desired. As what usually happens to those with great power, she was revered, but also feared. When the Nephilim had gotten word of her powers, they’d changed their mission from not just hunting vampires, but to hunting witches as well.

The majority of the witch population had been slain in the years that followed.

It had looked like the Nephilim were going to win. But the six vampire kingdoms and the witches had banded together, even bringing the wolves to their side. In the Great War that had followed, the three supernatural races managed to work together and rid the world of the Nephilim forever.

But like most wars, there had been many casualties. That was why not many witches remained today.

It was why I was so valuable to the Vale.

“You will need to find a suitable witch to replace you,” Laila said.

“Do you have anyone in mind?” I asked. “I’m sure if I approached them, they would be thrilled to have the job.”

“I do.” Laila twirled a strand of hair around her finger, her eyes slanted with mischief. “As I’m sure you know, the wolves have been becoming… less and less cooperative as of late. Just last week, one of them broke through the boundary and had that old lady for lunch.”

“That wolf was killed for her actions,” I reminded Laila. “The treaty has existed for centuries. The wolves know their place.”

“They did,” Laila said. “But they’ve been getting restless. This land was originally theirs, and now that we’ve turned it into a thriving kingdom, they’re jealous. They want it back. I suspect it won’t be long until the problem escalates into something we won’t be able to hide from the public any longer.”

“And you need a witch to keep them in control,” I said, since wolves tended to respect witches more than vampires. Likely because both witches and wolves were natural creatures, whereas vampires were created by a spell.

“Not just any witch,” Laila said. “I want Geneva.”

“Geneva?” I repeated, my eyes wide. “But that… that’s impossible.”

“It’s not impossible,” Laila said. “Just highly difficult. And I would hope that you—as someone who claims to be worthy of being betrothed to Jacen—is up to the task.”

I watched her, dumbfounded, waiting for her to say that this was some kind of joke.

She just stared at me, waiting.

I couldn’t believe this.

Because Geneva had survived the Great War—her powers had been hugely helpful in winning. But after a few years, she’d grown restless. She’d wanted to do more with her powers. And she’d become convinced that she could perfect the immortality spell—the spell the original vampires had performed on themselves when they were witches. The spell that had gone wrong and made them dependent on the blood of humans for the rest of their immortal lives.

She was going to perform the spell on herself.

The witches wouldn’t hear of it. Geneva was powerful, yes, but what if the spell went wrong? What if it resulted in something worse than vampires? Or what if it made her more powerful than she already was?

It was far too risky.

And so, the witches had banded together. They’d used their powers to lock Geneva’s spirit inside a powerful stone. A sapphire ring. Then they’d hidden the ring in place that no human could find, and that couldn’t be accessed by any magical creature that existed on Earth. It was called the Crystal Cavern, and many other magical objects that posed too much of a threat to the lives of all creatures on Earth had been stowed there as well. Throughout the years, some darker witches had tried to lead humans there to fetch the objects, but all of the humans had ended up dead.

“The Crystal Cavern doesn’t allow supernaturals inside,” I reminded Laila. “And it kills the humans who enter.”

“There has to be a loophole,” Laila said, tapping her pen on her desk. “I was a witch once. If there’s one thing I know about spells, it’s that there’s always a loophole.”

“Perhaps if we found an exceptionally strong human,” I suggested. “They might be able to fight whatever’s guarding the objects inside the cavern and retrieve the ring.”

“That sounds like a good plan.” Laila nodded. “Although you will be the one in charge of finding the human—not me. I trust this is something you can handle?”

“Yes.” I swallowed, wishing I could feel as confident as I sounded.

“Excellent.” Laila smiled and placed her hands on her desk. “Now, be on your way. And the next time you come to me, I hope it’s to re-introduce me to my old friend Geneva.”