Twenty-year-old Claire must deceive a vampire prince to infiltrate the monarchy and discover their secrets while resisting her desire for him.
---
Nothing in my life has ever been easy. Including the mission my family has sent me on.
My sister and...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Dormir (verb) to sleep
Everything inside the bathhouse was black.
The walls.
The candles floating above the rectangular pool.
The glassy black stone tiles decorating the ceiling and floor.
Even the towels laid out beside the steaming surface of the water.
All of it as black as a twisted soul.
The fine hairs on my arms rose as I took it all in, which was difficult because the candlelight provided barely enough light to see.
I didn't need magick to know this bathhouse was powered by demonic energy. The unsettling presence of dark magick hung thick in the air. Thicker than the scents of this place, which were unfamiliar and strange to me. The sweet aroma not unpleasant, but I didn't want to breathe too deeply for fear of what it might do to me.
It was unnaturally warm inside, and I knew no wood stove was powerful enough to maintain this temperature and heat the pool. This was the work of a demonic relic. One I very badly wanted to find and smash to pieces, but I felt...sluggish. The heat weighing on my eyelids.
I couldn't endure the sleeping draught's effects much longer. Not in this place.
I found the vampire seated on a small chair, removing his boots and socks.
He glanced up at me as I approached, and I stilled. Something had changed between us. I wasn't sure what, but after our argument outside, there was a shift in energy.
Not that I thought any better of him because I didn't. He was still insufferable.
His lips were pulled into a tight line, and his jaw set. Clearly, he was still angry. But it didn't make him any less striking.
No, not at all.
His deep, musical voice echoed in the small space. "Yes?"
I cleared my throat. "I'd like to do our feeding before I bathe," I said. Maintaining my calm despite the lightheadedness threatening to consume me. I had to be stronger than some stupid fear. "Should we get started?" I asked, glancing around for a good spot and finding none.
Bastien rose from the seat, barefoot, and slowly padded over to me.
He stood out among the darkness of the bathhouse, with his white shirt and straw-colored hair, and at the exact same time, blended in. Like he belonged in dimly lit places. Cast in shadows.
Removing the tie that had held back his blond hair, he let the chin-length strands fall loose around his face.
My throat ran dry as I watched his thick muscles flexing through his shirt.
"I need a moment to compose myself," the vampire said. "And I think you do, too."
I forced calm into my voice even though I was mentally screaming. It had to be now. "How many moments?"
