“So why don’t you take it up with me, Princess?” he whispers smoothly. “I’m interested and very….willing.” Oh, wow…and very brazen. My breath caught in my throat and my eyes flicker up over Æmilius’s shoulder to encounter a pair of glacier blue eyes staring coldly back from across the room.
He doesn’t smell like Darius. His touch doesn’t burn me with passion like Darius’s touch does.
It’s strange that the two cousins look so much alike yet I don’t feel the pull towards Æmilius that I feel for Darius. In my eyes, no one is as attractive or as captivating as my mate.
Æmilius pulls back and I tear my gaze away from my furious mate’s eyes to look into his cousin’s dark brown ones. There are gold flecks right in the center of those brown irises. Those eyes seem familiar, yet I couldn’t put a finger on it. All in all, he is indeed a very good looking man.
Suddenly my mate is standing right beside his cousin. We stop dancing and I take a step back, pulling my hand out of Æmilius’s hold. Side by side I can see the resemblance and the difference. They look like two beautiful Nordic Gods. Both are blonds. Both look as cold as ice as they stare at each other like mortal enemies.
“Æmilius,” says Darius. His firm lips curl up into a tight smile while his eyes remain icy cold.
“Cousin,” says Æmilius stiffly before his face transforms in a blink of an eye. The hostility suddenly vanished. A charming smile graces his lips. His eyes light up with delight and friendliness. “Your Highness,” he says without missing a beat, giving Caspian a little bow of his head. That’s when I notice Caspian’s presence next to me.
“I was just telling Princess Persephone what a fascinating woman she is. You’re a lucky man to have such a beautiful, captivating mate, Your Highness,” he says to Caspian.
“Yes, indeed I am,” answers Caspian with an equally charming smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “Now if only other men know how to keep their hands to themselves.”
“I agree, Your Highness,” replies Æmilius smoothly as if he didn’t just offer himself as a substitute for his cousin to cheat on Caspian just a few minutes ago.
“Thank you for the dance, Princess.” He shifts his eyes to me briefly with a little hint of a smile that holds some sort of a promise before he retreats.
I don’t think that the look and that smile go unnoticed by my mate or Caspian.
“What did he say to you?” demands Caspian stiffly as soon as Æmilius is gone. My mate seems to be speechless in his fury.
His eyes darkened considerably while his nostrils are flaring.
“He…he..he says that..uh, everybody knows that I’m not your erasthai,” I admit.
“Anything else?” hisses my mate quietly but fiercely.
I gulp as I struggle to think. I don’t think telling my mate that his cousin just propositioned me is a good idea. He’d flipped for sure.
“I said, anything else?” he asks me. I stare at my furious mate’s eyes with a blank look on my face. What? I’m still thinking.
“Persephone…” he says warningly.
I shift my gaze to Caspian and he stares right back at me waiting for my answer as well. He’s no help at all.
I look down at my golden gown, smoothing my fingers over the fabric before I mutter, “He thinks that Darius and I are attracted to each other. What if somebody else noticed…” My eyes widen and I stare up at the two men in front of me. “You think Queen Sophia noticed and already figured it out?” I whisper to them urgently. “Guys! I can’t be in the dungeon. You can’t let them keep me down there for years and years and years. I don’t want to be a prune!”
They’re both staring at me speechless, I think. I take the opportunity before they recover to pull on Caspian’s arm.
“You’ve got to dance with me. We can’t let them be suspicious.
We can’t let them figure it out.”
I leave my mate staring after us with Caspian in tow. I know I can’t avoid Darius’s questions forever but I just want to survive this event. He can kill his cousin in his own free time afterward.
I’m actually quite surprised that Darius managed to go this long without ripping anybody’s head off, especially with me dressed this way. It must have taken a lot of discipline and strength on his part to be able to control his lycan half and overcome his own possessiveness to be able to do this. I am not taking any chances by telling him about Æmilius right now, though.
“So what else did Æmilius Ivanov say to you?” asks Caspian quietly in my ear as we spin around slowly on the dance floor.
I pull back and about to scowl at him before I remember that I have to act like a devoted mate. I smile at him lovingly and tell him, “See this face? I am actually frowning at you on the inside.”
The Prince just stares at me, looking unimpressed and says,
“See this face? I actually don’t care. Wait, actually I’d rather you frown. You look very scary like that, Beany bean.”
Ughh!!! I wish I could smack him again with my shoe. “Oh, how lovely! I love all the sweet loving words coming out of your mouth, my sweet lamb chop,” I tell him, giving him a wider smile this time.
“Stop scaring me and tell me what else did he say to you?”
“Ughh..okay.” I give up. I sigh and lean in closer so that nobody can be listening in to our conversation. “He said mated lycans cheat on each other all the time here,” I tell him.
He raises an eyebrow but doesn’t seem surprised at all. “And?”
“And he offered to have an affair with me since he looks a lot like his cousin.”
“The bastard! You are not going to cheat on me,” hisses the Prince.
I almost hit him on the back of his head this time. I stop myself just in time. I use the hand that I raise up to hit him to smooth the collar of his tuxedo instead. Great, now he forgot that I’m not really mated to him.
“That would be cheating on Darius, you genius,” I whisper in his ear. “Not on you!”
“Oh, right…I knew that. I was just staying in character,” he says. “You are not going to cheat on Darius. Most lycans who are not mated to their erasthais don’t really care when their mates cheat, as long as they’re being discreet. You and Darius are different. Goddess knows what destruction Darius is going to cause if you did.”
Gah! Didn’t I know that already?
You know how people say that serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer, Paul John Knowles, or Ted Bundy were charming and enigmatic? Paul John Knowles was said to be “breathtakingly gorgeous”. Well, Robert Vitsin, the man who was responsible for the death of so many people, including Darius’s comrades and mates is all of those things. I don’t know how old he really is, but he looks like he’s in his late twenties or early thirties.
His grey eyes are sharp and cunning. His straight dark hair is fashionably styled. He is good looking, charming, and
charismatic but he makes my skin crawl…or maybe because I already knew what he is capable of. He’s a cold-blooded killer.
The fact that he’s Polina’s father, the woman that Darius tried to mark as his mate a few months back isn’t helping either.
Right now his glittering calculating eyes are looking at me with creepy interest. Not like Æmilius, but rather as in “if I cut her up, how many boxes do I need to load her in?” kind of
interest….or maybe that’s just all in my head.
A lot of people approached us tonight, but I notice my mate and my friends moving a lot closer as soon Robert Vitsin present himself in front of me.
“It’s an honor for me to meet you and to be here Your
Highness,” he says. “To be able to congratulate you on your mating and also your upcoming coronation tonight in person.”
“Thank you,” I reply, keeping my eyes on him even though I want so much to look around and see how close my mate and my pack members are to me right at this moment. It’s not that I’m scared of this man…well, maybe I am. A little bit. Like I said, he gives me the creep.
In my head, I calculate my moves if he tries anything. I’ll knee him in the junk. Yeah, definitely, knee in the junk.
“I’m sure we’ll have the pleasure to meet again,
Princess…soon.” His shrewd gaze never wavers from watching me. I feel like squirming. I hate the vibes coming off of this man. I don’t know what he’d do if he knew what I’m imagining doing to his junk in my head right now.
“I hope not, Vitsin. I’m sure her mate would hate to have strange men seeing her without him,” replies Darius who suddenly appears beside me. His tone is playful and he flashes the man a smile as if to soften the blow of his cutting words.
Knowing Darius, he never bothers to soften anything. His smile looks more like a dueling challenge, baring all his straight white teeth and his sharp canines.
“Yes, I would definitely hate that,” answers Caspian on my other side. “Whatever business you have, you could deal with my people.” He draws me closer to his side not even bothering to hide his disdain.
“Your Highness.” Robert Vitsin’s lips stretch into a thin smile.
Something flashes in his eyes, but he lowers his head in a show of respect. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing great things under your ruling.”
Robert Vitsin steps back, gives us another little bow and leaves.
That tiny smile never leaves his lips.
“Snake,” snaps Genesis under her breath. Suddenly I realize my whole pack standing behind me. All of them are eyeing Robert Vitsin’s retreating back warily.
“Never let your guard down,” says Lazarus. “The King will be making an announcement very shortly.”
My heart sinks to the bottom of my expensive shoes.
