Page 51 of Sold to the Dark Vampire Prince

“You are the heir. This has been decided. The ball where you are to choose a bride has been announced. It is going forward, and you are marrying Lara.”

“You decided.” Alex wiped the blood from his mouth. “Not me. I never wanted any of this.”

“If I have to destroy your sanguine whore to get her out of your head, I will. Think carefully before you force my hand.”

“She’s nothing to me,” he said coolly. “This isn’t about her. It’s about me having no choice in my future. I don’t want to be heir. And I certainly don’t want to marry Lara. I’d rather abdicate. Dante or Isabella can take my place.”

“You are not stepping aside.” His father motioned to the guards. “Take him to the dungeons. A week down there should get these fool ideas out of his head.”

The guards were considerably gentler on their way down the cold, dank staircase that led to the dungeons, even apologizing when Alex tripped on an uneven stair.

“Sorry about that, Your Highness. Snuck up on us.”

“It’s quite all right,” he managed through gritted teeth.

He knew the king was loathed by most of the guards and servants. But they all had families they feared for, too. No one could risk word getting back that they’d defied his orders. Not when it would mean reassignment to the front lines, fighting in shifter territory where the casualty rates were much higher.

“Is Henri okay?” he asked quietly. “Please. If he was hurt because I chose to sneak out—”

“He’s just up ahead. Looks about the same as you, but no permanent damage, I expect.” The guard paused. “I tried to go easy on you, but His Majesty made us—"

“I know my father,” Alexander assured him. “None of this is your fault.”

Henri sat up when the cell door clanged closed behind him. “You’ve looked better, Your Highness.”

“I expect I have.”

Alexander stretched out on the cot and grimaced. Every breath felt like drawing fire into his lungs. But all vampires healed quickly. The bruises would fade by nightfall.

Over the next few hours, he tried to rest, but every time he closed his eyes, all he could picture was Dani’s terrified face. Dani pushing her sisters behind her as vampire guards broke down her door. Dani’s broken body lying on the floor of her bedroom, the place where just hours ago, they’d shared such tender intimacies, her last thoughts of why he hadn’t come for her—

He swallowed past the lump in his throat. They’d taken his phone. He had no way to warn her. He could only pray that somehow they wouldn’t find her.

It was all but impossible to judge the passage of time in the dungeons, but he would have guessed it was close to nightfall when someone finally unlocked Henri’s cell, then his.

“I have orders to take you to dinner, Your Highness.”

“Of course. I’ll just go up to my room and change.”

The guard cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Apologies, Your Highness, but the king asked that I bring you there directly.”

Ah, so it was to be a bit of theatre, then.

Alexander smiled down at the guard. He was young, with a smattering of freckles across his nose. “What’s your name?”

“Um, Thierry, sire.”

“Well, Thierry. I guess we mustn’t keep my father waiting.”

The formal dining hall had been set with large floral displays of poinsettias, white roses and purple irises. The servants stood against the walls, ready to bring out the soup course.

The king glowered from the head of the table, being simpered upon by his two young assistants. Alex could never keep them straight. Both had their heads so far up his father’s ass that they never managed to say anything that didn’t bore him to tears. One had a rather horsey laugh that Serafina loved to imitate. The other, Garrett, was obsessed with garlic as a curative for all manner of vampiric ailments, to the point they were forever trading spots at functions to avoid getting stuck seated beside him and his rancid breath.

Dante’s gaze raked over him as he took a seat at the opposite side of the table, no doubt assessing for unseen injuries.

Alex froze when he saw Sera seated beside him.

“Yes, your sister finally decided to end her little tantrum and grace us with her presence again,” his father said dryly. “Hopefully she won’t break anything this time.”