Twenty-year-old Claire must deceive a vampire prince to infiltrate the monarchy and discover their secrets while resisting her desire for him.
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Nothing in my life has ever been easy. Including the mission my family has sent me on.
My sister and...
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Retrouver (verb) to find, to regain, to meet up
A severe-looking woman stood framed in the doorway, holding a writhing Seraphina by the root of her hair.
My heart leapt into my throat at the sight of her.
"Look what I found snooping around," the woman said teasingly.
She dragged my sister inside the dimly lit room, and an angry scream tore from my throat.
"Let her go!"
Before I could think better of it, I snatched a candelabra from a nearby table and ran at the woman, intent on doing as much damage as I could, but was held back by Bastien, whose arm caught me around the waist and pulled me back against his chest.
"Not so fast, Claire."
I tried to twist out of his grip, but it was useless. He plucked the weapon out of my grip, setting it back on the table like I was an errant child.
"This is my assistant, Natalia," Bastien explained against my ear. His voice low. "You'd do well not to try and attack her again. Especially when I'm not around to stop you. Understand?"
I didn't say anything. I was too angry, and I certainly wasn't going to promise not to hurt this woman who had captured Sera.
Natalia wore her long black hair in a ponytail at the top of her head and was dressed in breeches and a shirt like a man might wear, except they were perfectly tailored for her lithe body.
Despite the glasses perched on her little nose and the red welt on her cheek, I could tell by looking at her that she was a vampire by the way she moved.
"Do you know this woman?" Bastien asked. Again, the purr of his voice against my ear sent a thrill down my spine.
A thrill I easily pushed aside because, right now, the only thing I could focus on was freeing my sister.
"Yes. Of course. She-she's my everything," I said, tears burning in my eyes as the woman yanked Seraphina closer, and she stumbled forward. "Stop hurting her!"
The woman called Natalia snorted. Her red lips quirked in a frown. "Does my everything have a name? Something you call her in polite company."
My own lips pulled into a tight line. "If only there was polite company around."
I shouldn't have said that. Mama would be disappointed. I was supposed to be acting soft and sweet. Docile, even, to earn their trust. That was the point of the mission. But it was hard to act sweet when a vampire had ahold of my sister's hair.
"Watch your tongue, my lady," Natalia said, giving a sharp tug on Sera's hair that made her yelp.
"Stop!" I cried. Desperate to do whatever it took to get Bastien's assistant to let my sister go. "Her name is Sera Donadieu. And she's my little sister."
