Vampires aged much more slowly than humans. While Victoria was eighty-one years old, she was the equivalent of an eighteen-year-old human. Sorin was just over four hundred years old, yet he looked to be in his mid-twenties, with pale hair and eyes as blue as hers. He was taller than Aden by almost a foot and packed with more muscle than any football star.
“Sister,” he said, bowing his head in tribute. “I also heard you were dating the insane human king, but I did not believe it until this moment. And do you really think he could harm me?”
Her first thought: He remembers. Her second: Have I ever been so happy? Her third: There is going to be trouble. Her last: He remembers!
“Do not anger him,” she said, pleased by the evenness of her voice. No matter what happened, no matter what was said, she had to remain emotionally distanced. If there was one thing Riley had taught her during their many self-defense training sessions, it was that emotions ruined perspective and rationality. “Your beast will not like it and will punish you for it.”
A muscle began to tick under Sorin’s eye. Interesting. He must have experienced his beast’s displeasure already.
Sorin’s gaze left her to rake Aden up and down. “You do not look like a vampire king.”
“Thank you,” Aden replied with a nod of his head. Good. He was back in the throne room and out of his head.
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
A pause. A sigh from Aden. “I’m to tell you that what you’re planning will not end well.”
Victoria’s stomach rolled.
“And exactly what am I planning?” Sorin asked, unconcerned.
“Why spoil the surprise for everyone?”
“Very well. Let’s not. Let’s just get started.” With that, Sorin advanced, reaching up and clutching the hilts of the blades peeking above his shoulders. Metal whistled against leather, then the silver tips were gleaming in the light of the chandelier.
Aden stood as still as a statue until the wolves erupted in a chorus of growls and snarls. He held up his hand for silence. They obeyed, but their bodies remained taut, the hair on their backs standing on end. And though he didn’t order any of the vampires to fight, though he shouted for them to return to their formation, several of them rushed forward, closing in on her brother.
She knew why they did so. Their beasts. Chompers was going crazy inside her head, banging against her temples with enough force to hurt, wanting out, wanting to stand guard over Aden. Every bit of her strength was required to keep him inside, to keep her own feet in place as his failure to escape drove him to try and control her body.
She watched, shaking, as Sorin spun—and there went someone’s internal organs. He spun again—and there went a head. He went low, and a leg separated at the knee, each piece falling in a different direction. Gruesome, but all Victoria could think was how good the spurting blood looked. Not just to Chompers, who finally stopped fighting her as he focused on the substance he so craved, but to her. And if it looked good to her…
She glanced over at Aden. He was licking his lips, and his eyes were electric, crackling with lightning. Was he entranced? If so, there would be no saving him.
Sorin stopped just in front of Aden, who continued to watch the blood. He was. He was entranced.
I should have forced him to eat before coming here. Now he might dive for one of those puddles. Might lie there and lap up every drop, leaving his body vulnerable to attack.
“Get the bodies out of here,” she shouted, fearing Aden’s ability to raise the dead would kick in, and the walking corpses would attack.
Vampire soldiers rushed to obey her.
“Aren’t you frightened?” her brother demanded. The tips of his swords were pointed toward the floor, blood dripping down, down, down, sliding so perfectly. She had only to crouch and stick out her tongue, and the flavor would explode through her mouth.
What are you doing? Trembling, she directed her attention to the boys. They were still nose to nose. She must have squeezed Aden’s hand with every bit of her strength because she’d cut off circulation in her own fingers. They were tingling. Relax, just relax.
Aden cleared his throat, somehow pulled himself out of the entrancement as only an older, practiced vampire could, and straightened. “Frightened? Of you?”
Sorin grinned slowly. “Of death.”
“Why would I be? I’m already dead.”
That gave her brother pause, wiping away his amusement. “You were told wrong, were you not? So far, this has been very good for me.”
“I never said this wouldn’t end well for you.”
A confused shake of that pale head. “You, then?”
“No.”
“Then why—never mind.” Sorin met Victoria’s gaze. Eight. “Is he always this cryptic?”
The fact that her brother was speaking directly to her again thrilled her, and she couldn’t deny it. In fact, she was so thrilled she couldn’t think up an intelligent reply. She could only stand there, staring at him, open-mouthed and sputtering like a fool.
“Just say what you have to say,” Aden commanded, “so that we can get started.”
Get started? With what? Fear replaced her pleasure.
Sorin sucked in a breath. “Very well, then. I came to tell you that your allies are dead. I killed them.”
“Killed them? When Aden only just took the throne?” she gasped out. Finally. Words.
An impish shrug. “I’ve been knocking them off for the past decade, striking at Vlad every chance I could.”
Father had never told her Sorin had turned on their clan. You’re shocked by that? He’d never told her anything. “I don’t understand,” Victoria said. “Why would you do such a thing?”
She was ignored.
“I know your secret,” her brother said to Aden.
“I know you do,” he replied evenly.
So frustrating. What secret?
“His strength grows daily, you know. He will return one day soon. He will attack.”
His. Sorin knew Vlad still lived. No one else knew, but if they found out… They won’t connect the dots, she assured herself before she could work up a good panic. For all they knew, Aden and Sorin were discussing Dmitri. Or someone else, someone they didn’t know. Yes, that worked. Please, yes.
“I know that, too,” Aden said. “I also know you want to be king. You want to be the one to destroy him when he reappears. You’re willing to challenge me to get what you want. Even to the detriment of the clan.”
“Insane yet clever. You are correct, Aden the Beast Tamer.”
“No.” Victoria shook her head violently. “Maybe we can talk this out. Maybe we can compromise.” Vampire battles of this magnitude were bloody and sadistic, and she couldn’t bear the thought of either of them hurt…or worse. And after witnessing Sorin’s skill, she wasn’t sure even Aden’s ability could save him.
Aden knew it, too. Hadn’t he predicted this wouldn’t end well? And yet still he said, “I accept your challenge, Sorin the Vicious. We fight for the crown at sunset tomorrow.”
THIRTEEN
“WHY DID YOU GIVE HIM so long to prepare?”
Aden sat on the lid of the toilet in Victoria’s private bathroom, hungry, so hungry, tired and unsure. Had he done the right thing?
He’d soon find out.
He held clippers in one hand and a small trash bin in the other. He passed the first to Victoria and set the second on the floor between his feet before he replied. “I gave myself so long to prepare.”
“Oh.”
She was paler than usual and shaky rather than sturdy. Agitated, even. He understood. He did. Aden had threatened her brother. Was going to fight her brother. She was probably confused, upset and unsure.