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Erik couldn’t sleep. His mind was too full of Mina to do anything but stare at the ceiling as she rested her head on his chest. She’d given him her blood. She’d willingly bonded herself to him for life, and unprotected, her mind had opened to him. It showed him her every fear, every hope, and dream.
He saw her doubts about being queen, her confusion given the things her father taught her, but most of all he saw the love she had for him. It was honest and true, and just as powerful as his love for her.
Running his fingers through her hair, he turned his lips to her forehead, sending a silent prayer of thanks to her goddesses and his own. Mina was a light in his life that he would protect for the rest of his life.
As he broke contact with her forehead, she snuggled closer to him. “Mmm, Erik.”
“Shhh, go back to sleep,” he whispered, holding her tighter.
“We never went back to the party,” she mumbled, leaning back to meet his eye.
“It’s okay. Lucy will have ensured it went ahead as planned, and the guests were taken care of,” he said, brushing his fingers over her cheek.
“How did they know about my dream?” She asked, clutching the blanket, pulling it between them.
“I don’t know, but I will find out,” he said. “And when I do, we’ll both get the answers we need, but for now—”
A heavy pounding rang out from the other side of his bedroom door. Erik lifted his head, and frowned as he sat up tilting his body to shield her as the door opened and Aria came charging in with a silver stake in her hand.
“Have you lost your mind?” Erik snarled as Mina asked, huddling behind him. “Who said you could enter my bed chamber?”
Aria’s eyes scanned the bed, and what little color she had in her sallow face disappeared as she took in the sight of her princess beside him.
She backed up and shook her head. “I knew it…I knew there had to be something going on.”
“Ari, get out!” Mina hissed through her teeth.
The handmaid’s eyes flashed. “You’re not yourself princess, and it is my duty to free you from this monster’s spell, by any means—”
Mina shot out of the bed, snatching his shirt from the ground. She slipped it over her head and marched across the room. She stepped up to her friend’s side and slapped her hard across the face.
All Erik could do was sit there and watch.
“How dare you,” Mina snarled. “I am the Crown Princess of Distova. I have been trained to detect enchantments and defend against them since I first learned to walk. To even suggest that I would fall prey to some kind of spell is ludicrous and insulting.”
Aria laughed, and violently wiped tears from her cheeks with the back of one hand. “So, you’re telling me, that you’re in herewillinglywhoring yourself out to a vampire?”
Erik growled, and got out of the bed, moving faster than either of them would see to slip his pants back on. The pain on Mina’s face sent a pang through his body that was quickly overwhelmed by a burning rage he hadn’t felt in centuries.
He shot to her side, and stood tall, looming over the girl. “Get out.”
Aria jumped, and her hand swung up to strike out with her silver stake, and he caught her by the wrist. A loud growl ripped from his chest, and he shoved his way between them. “You are a guest in my kingdom, Madame, and it is only because of your history with the Princess that I do not eviscerate you right here and now. So, I suggest you return to your room, and pack your things before I change my mind.”
Mina put a warm hand on his shoulder but made no move to correct him.
Erik released Aria’s hand and she backed her way to the door. “Your father will be heartbroken to know what’s become of his daughter.”
Mina stepped out from behind him holding her head high. “Leave Aria, go back to Distova. Live your life as you wish, and I will live mine.”
At the door Aria sighed just as she disappeared from sight. “This isn’t over, Mina. Not by a long shot, and you know it.”
Erik clenched his hands into tight fists, but the moment the door closed and he heard the vile woman’s footsteps retreat down the hall, he exhaled.
“I’m sorry, Mina, but I cannot have someone like that in my home. If you’d like I can set her up at one of the Estate houses outside the city, and arrange for you to visit with her, but I cannot—”
“No,” Mina said, looking up at him with a soft sad smile. “It’s okay. Aria has always been very close minded about things. As much as I want to show her what I’ve seen on this side of the mountains and make her understand, she won’t hear it.”
