She gathered her sisters as backup and headed outside, careful not to shiver at the sudden drop in temperature.
“I don’t want to meet him,” Lauren said firmly. “I’m only going so I can murder him if he threatens you.” Tall, slender and as blond as Sorin, she wore a skintight black leather halter top and pants. Barbed wire circled both of her wrists. She’d been training to be a warrior her entire life, and she’d killed more witches and fae than the leader of Vlad’s army had. The fact that she was female had kept her from advancing up the ranks. “He had decades to convince Vlad to let us talk to him, years to visit, and he didn’t.”
“You should probably shut up now,” Stephanie said after popping a bubble. Shorter than either Lauren or Victoria, she had long blond hair and moss-green eyes. Rather than traditional vampire garb, she wore a blue tank top and a black micro-mini. The length of her hair was braided and twisted into tiny buns all over her head. “You’re only showing your dumb side.”
“Dumb side! I don’t have a dumb side, and you know it.”
“Ha! I’ve met pet rocks who were smarter than you.”
“Do you want me to murder you, too? Because I will!”
They loved each other, but they also loved to snipe at each other.
Victoria was envious. These two had always possessed the courage to be who and what they wanted to be. But then again, Lauren had been favored by Vlad, and Stephanie’s mother had been the favorite of all his wives. He’d gone easy on both of them. Victoria had not been favored, and her mother had been the most despised, so she’d always borne the brunt of his rage.
She’d tried to please him, as well as her mother, but they’d admired such different traits that, in the end, she hadn’t pleased either of them. Vlad had wanted a fearless soldier who threw herself into every battle; her mother had wanted a sweet-tempered, fun-loving brat. She was neither.
As she made her way through the trees, she endured the bitter cold, savored the scent of the coming storm. The sky was darkening, the clouds growing thick and black. Hadn’t taken long to learn Oklahoma weather could change in the blink of an eye.
Footsteps just ahead, branches slapping together. She and her sisters halted just as her brother’s men stepped forward, forming a circle around them. They were camouflaged so well, she had to stare and stare hard to see them.
Sorin moved from the center of them. “Sisters,” he said with a nod.
With a whoop, Stephanie ran to him. She threw herself in his arms. He caught her, twirling her around. Envy returned, nearly swallowing Victoria whole. The pair had spent time together, that much was obvious. They knew each other, were comfortable with each other, perhaps even loved each other.
Why hadn’t Sorin wanted to spend time with Victoria?
“What are you doing, you cow?” Lauren snarled at the youngest princess. “Get back here before he double-crosses you and you’re watching your head roll away from your body.” Stephanie smirked. Still snuggling in Sorin’s arms, she said, “I’m not the one who failed to visit our brother in secret. And who are you calling a cow, you whale? Have you seen your ass in those pants?” A mocking shudder raked her. “Actually, forget the question. Everyone’s seen your ass in those pants.”
“Everyone’s about to see your blood sprayed all over the trees.”
Perhaps Victoria should have come out here on her own. “Lauren, you’re gorgeous,” she said, holding out her arms to keep the two sniping females apart, just in case they decided to leap at each other and slap fight. Yes, they’d done it before, and it was humiliating for everyone. “Stephanie, you’re beautiful, too. Now, can I speak with my brother? Please?”
Sorin kissed Stephanie’s temple before setting her down. He motioned behind the group with a wave of his hand. “Sit. All of you.” So formal now. So polite.
“Sit wh-ere. Oh.” Victoria spun around, expecting to see only the brittle leaves and twigs she’d passed. Instead, she found four perfect tree stumps, two facing the other two. Exactly how distracted had she been?
Victoria eased onto the one closest to her. Sorin claimed the one across from her, and Stephanie claimed the one at his side, forcing Lauren to take the one facing her.
All but one of Sorin’s men had disappeared, but she knew they were nearby, watching, listening, protecting. Then one of them stepped from the shadows, proving her suspicions, holding a tray of blood-filled goblets.
Victoria accepted one and sipped. The blood was warm, rich and sweet. Not as sweet as Aden’s, but Chompers practically whimpered with relief.
“I’m surprised you came,” Sorin said, looking right at her.
She had so much to say to him, so much to ask. “Why did you never visit us?” was the first thing to escape her mouth. The question echoed, and she blushed, gulping down the rest of the blood to hide her face for a few precious seconds. She should have chosen to kick things off another way. Not accusing him of neglect right from the beginning and putting him on the defensive.
Amused rather than offended, he said, “I didn’t think you wished to risk Father’s wrath.” Getting comfortable, he removed the swords from his back and propped them against the side of his seat. “Was I wrong?”
Shoulders slumping, she set her empty goblet on the ground. “I could have risked his wrath to see you, so I suppose I must share the blame.”
Lauren rolled her eyes. “You’re always so quick to take the blame or forgive when you can’t. Well, I would have risked it, you backline reject, but still you didn’t try to meet with me. And let me tell you something else. If you despised Vlad half as much as you claimed, you would have. So guess what? You’re all talk and I’ll hate you forever for that. In fact, I might even decide to rip your throat out before I— No way! Is that blade curved?” She dropped her still-full goblet, blood spilling in the dirt, and pushed from her stump.
In the next blink, she was crouching in front of his weapons, studying them, running her fingers along the blades, oohing and aahing. “Can I have one? Or both? Please!”
He handled her jump from hatred to gimme-now-now-now with ease. “You may have both when I’m done with the human king.”
The sickness Victoria had experienced in her bathroom, just before shaving Aden’s head, returned full force.
“Awesome. Thanks.” Lauren dragged one of the blades back to her seat to continue her study.
Sorin peered at Victoria with eyes so similar to her own that she could have been drowning in her reflection. “And you? What would you have of me? My surrender to the human?”
He’s not so human anymore.
Stephanie raised her free hand high in the air. “Me, me. I know. Pick me!”
“You asked me to come, and I did,” Victoria said. “Why did you ask me? To offer your surrender to the human?”
She expected the comment to enrage him. Had he been Vlad, it would have. Instead, he surprised her once again by grinning. “I see Father did not beat the fire out of you as I’d assumed.”
Vlad had certainly tried. “Well?” she prompted.
Sorin shrugged one of those wide shoulders. “I heard your Aden’s summons, and I came to remove him from the throne. I can tell you have great affection for him. I have also heard the reports. But we have become a joke among the races. Soon those races will swarm and attack us, hoping to destroy the vampires at long last.”
“How have we become a joke? He defeated the witches and the fae—in one night! Tell me the last time you did that. Or Father. You can’t,” she added before he could reply. “You’re simply making excuses because you desire the crown for yourself.”
He gave another shrug, unashamed and unabashed. “Very well. I do. That crown is my right. My birthright. The human seems nice enough—for food—but that’s all he is, Victoria. Food.”