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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Sentir (verb) to taste; to smell; to feel
An hour had passed, and my temper had cooled, but my intentions hadn't changed. I had to kill Bastien. If Mama had heard what Shreesa said about the relics, he'd already be a corpse.
The light gone from his eyes. His body limp.
Some strange feeling soured my stomach at the thought of seeing his lifeless form, and I wondered if it was because of the bond between us.
My blood now lived in his veins, and perhaps a tiny part of me didn't want him to die.
But it was a small part.
There were a million reasons why I had to follow through with this plan.
I'd been told we'd be leaving for Chateau Rose at dusk, and I was finishing packing my trunk when a knock at the door had me turning around. My breath catching in my chest.
I knew it was him. I could feel his presence on the other side of the door.
Surely, he'd come to yell at me for not listening to him, the self-righteous vampire.
I bid him enter, and Bastien slipped inside the room and closed the door, leaving us alone.
I lifted my chin and forced myself to look at him.
It was hard to hate something so beautiful. So perfectly put together. With soft lips that could speak such pretty words. Lips that I swore I'd tasted, if only in a dream.
But he wasn't just a pretty package. Bastien could snuff out a life like he was blowing out a candle. He was a killer, a wolf, and I was the soft prey to sink his teeth in.
I trembled where I stood, filled with such hate and such desire. One I understood, and the other burning against my will.
We simply stared at each other. The air charged with unspoken words.
Just say something, I commanded him inside my head. Yell. Rage. Raise a hand. Fuel my hatred with your vicious nature.
But he said nothing. And by Diana's light, I wanted to scream.
I didn't want to pretend to be entranced by him anymore. I wanted to hurl accusations at him and make him answer for being on their side. Treating the dark witches with so much care but never doing the same for us.
But I didn't. I kept my words behind my teeth. Unable to set aside the pretense that I was nothing more than a simple orphan girl who wanted a chance to better her life.
Bastien stalked across the room, and I braced myself for what he might do. He was a vampire prince, and I'd disobeyed him.
I welcomed the violence and the harsh words. I was no stranger to disdain.
