“What?” I stared at her with wide eyes, running a hand through my hair. “You’ve got to be kidding me. No way.”

“I can assure you that I’m not ‘kidding you,’” she said. “I’m completely serious.”

“I was turned into a vampire against my will,” I reminded her. “And now you want me to marry against my will? Like I said—no way. I’m drawing the line with this request.”

“What do you have against marriage?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I said. “I have nothing against marriage—once I’ve fallen in love and decided I’m ready for it.”

“You’re a prince, my son,” she said, brushing her finger across my cheek. It took all of my willpower not to flinch away. “Princes don’t always have the luxury of marrying for love.”

“If you’re so desperate for a wedding around here, why don’t you get married?” I threw at her. “You’ve been around for a few centuries. Surely you know someone you would want to wed?”

She glanced down at her hands, sadness crossing over her eyes—a rare moment of emotion for Laila. “There’s only one person in the world I would marry, and that person is gone,” she said softly. Then she yanked her head back up, her eyes hard and stubborn, all traces of sadness gone. “Besides, I am an original vampire. I am the queen of this kingdom. It is you who will be stronger with a match—not I. And I have the perfect match planned for you.”

“Really?” I tried my best to sound bored, although my heart leapt into my throat with panic. “And who’s that?”

“Camelia.”

“What?” I backed up, horror rushing through my body. “No. Hell no. I’m not marrying that witch.”

“Why not?” Laila asked. “Camelia proposed the idea herself, and I think it’s a wonderful match. After all, you know that Camelia is a distant relative of mine—a descendant of my sister who was killed by the Nephilim. She has the bloodline to become a vampire princess—and she’s willing to turn. I don’t understand what the problem is.”

“Centuries of being alive, and you don’t understand what the problem is?” I glared at her, figuring she must be joking. But she watched me, waiting for me to continue, so I did. “The problem is that I don’t love her.”

“Love.” Laila scrunched her nose. “Highly overrated, if you ask me. True love is rare, and only comes around once in a lifetime, if even. Then once you find it, it has the power to break you. It’s not worth the heartache. Trust me on that.”

I shook my head, unwilling to believe her. I’d always thought that someday, I would meet the love of my life. Get married. Have children. The whole nine yards.

Of course, as a vampire, children were impossible. Unless I decided to turn someone and become their sire, which wasn’t quite the same, and besides, I wouldn’t wish this life as a monster on anyone.

But love was possible as a vampire. Many of the vampires I’d seen around the palace had chosen mates. They seemed happy together. They seemed in love.

“Good thing I’m immortal, then,” I said, matching her smirk with my own. “With a longer life, I’ll have much better odds at finding love. Don’t you think?”

“Such hope.” Laila sighed and ran her hand through her hair. “I’m so used to talking to immortals who look young, that sometimes I forget you actually are the age you appear. But when you’re immortal, even if you find love, it will only destroy you in the end. I wouldn’t wish that pain on anyone. But…” she continued. “I do have another proposal for you.”

I resisted rolling my eyes. Because of course there was something else Laila wanted.

“And what’s that?” I asked, since she was going to tell me if I asked or not.

“If you refuse to accept Camelia, then I’ll provide you one year to find an alternate bride,” she said. “You can choose from the vampire princesses in any of the other five kingdoms.”

“Only from the other five?” I asked. “Not from the Vale?”

“This match will strengthen our alliance with one of the other kingdoms.” Laila watched me, her head tilted in curiosity. “Now, do you have any more questions?”

“A few,” I said. “Starting with—why are you so eager to have me marry within a year? As you said, we’re immortal. Why the rush?”

“Good question.” She nodded. “I haven’t spoken to anyone except a handful of guards about this issue, so I expect you’ll remain quiet about it, but the wolves are starting to resist our control. Just last week, one managed to cross the border of the Vale and feasted on an old woman who lived in the outskirts of the village.”

“Isn’t that against the treaty with them?” I asked.

“It is,” she said. “But the wolves are multiplying quickly, and I believe it won’t be long until they rebel and try to take our land. So we have two options. The first is to go out into the world and find more humans to turn so that we have more vampire soldiers. But that could get messy, since it’s unpredictable how new vampires will react to the bloodlust.”

I nodded, remembering an event that had happened recently—a newly turned vampire who had been brought into the palace. She’d been so distraught about what she was, and so unable to handle the bloodlust, that she’d rammed a silver stake straight into her heart.

I didn’t know an exact percentage of how many newly turned vampires lost their minds to the change, but it happened more often than not.

Most humans couldn’t handle being turned into a monster.

“So you want to strengthen an alliance so we can work together to fight the wolves,” I realized. “Put them back into their place so they’re no longer a threat.”

“Smart boy,” she said. “I knew there was a reason why I turned you.”

“It makes sense,” I said, since it did. “But why me? Why not Stephenie?” I asked, referring to the vampire “sister” I still barely knew. She was too interested in jet setting with her friends or leading on her latest boy-toy to pay a newly turned prince any attention.

“According to our traditions, if Stephenie marries a vampire prince from another kingdom, she’ll move there to live with them,” Laila explained. “However, if you marry, your bride will come here, and her kingdom—whichever one she’s from—will have a more vested interest in assisting us with our wolf problem, since they’ll want her to live in peace and safety.”

From a political standpoint, it made sense. An alliance with another kingdom would keep the Vale protected.

But none of that changed the dread I felt at the possibility of marrying someone—being partners with them for an eternity—if I didn’t love them.

“Don’t look so glum,” Laila said. “Think of this as a wonderful opportunity! After all, I could have simply commanded you to wed Camelia, and that would be that. But I care about you, Jacen. I turned you. You’re like a son to me. Which is why I’m giving you this choice. And the vampire princesses from the other kingdom are some of the strongest, most intelligent, and beautiful women in the entire world. I would think you would be excited for this chance to meet them.”

“Meet them?” I raised an eyebrow at her insinuation. “I’m going to be able to leave the Vale?”

“No, no, no.” She shook her head. “You won’t be going anywhere. After all, you’re the prince. You’re the one they’ll be desperate to meet. So they’ll be coming to you. All of them at once. We’ll make a celebration of it. It’ll be the perfect distraction from the growing threat of the wolves. An event like this is exactly what this kingdom needs to boost morale. So, what do you think? The thought of a group of beautiful princesses vying for your heart must hold some appeal, does it not?”

“It sounds like a twisted harem.” I scowled. “Or a reality television show.”

“A show.” Her eyes lit up, her mouth opening in excitement. “What a wonderful idea! We’ll treat it as a show. Everyone always loves a good show. We’ll introduce all of the candidates—the princesses—and interview you all publicly about your dates and thoughts about each other. Perhaps elimination rounds as well? I’ve seen that done on many of those cheesy television shows that humans love so much.” Her eyes went far off, and I could tell her mind was whirling with ideas. “I’ll figure it all out,” she said. “It’ll be such fun.”

“Right.” I gave her a half smile, my tone dripping with sarcasm. “Sounds like a blast.”

“That’s hardly the right attitude to have.” She pouted. “I’m giving you a wonderful opportunity to find love—like you wanted. You should be thanking me.”

“And if I don’t fall in love with any of the princesses?” I asked. “What then?”

“I don’t advise going into it with that attitude,” she said. “You’ll be choosing from the best of the best. Any vampire in the world would kill for this opportunity.”

“And I would gladly trade spots with them, if they so desired,” I said.

“That’s not possible.” She laughed, her pure joy making me want to cringe. “And remember, if none of the princesses are up to your standards, there’s always Camelia. I would happily bless a union with her, if you so desired.”

With that, she gave me one final smile, swept herself grandly off my bed, and left the room—leaving me feeling more trapped than ever.