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Lex
Opal is having her first ultrasound today. She initially refuses to let me come with her to the appointment. I manage to sway her into letting me be there since she has no one else to accompany her. Her brother is in the dungeon of Castle Graystone, and her father is too busy to give her his time for this.
“You’re not the real father,” she insists. “I’m only being gracious by letting you be here.”
“Of course,” I agree to whatever she wants to avoid any conflict. I’m here as a supporting ‘uncle‘ to your child.”
Her blue eyes narrow in annoyance. “You are the uncle.
I blink innocently like a baby deer. “Of course, I am.”
She would probably have cursed me out if the doctor hadn’t started with the ultrasound then. He spreads a clear gel on Opal’s stomach, moving the transducer probe over her skin gently. The image on the monitor looks like a grainy blob, I can barely make out any shape.
“And that’s the head,” Dr. Smythe says, pointing to the gray mass of something. “Would you like to know the sex?”
“Yes,” Opal snaps. “Of course I want to know. Isn’t it too early?”
“No, not at all. It’s a boy,” he replies. “That’s his penis right there.”
I squint and can’t see it. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure, my Lord. Would you like to hear the heartbeat?”
Opal rolls her eyes. “Don’t pay attention to him. He doesn’t matter. Ask me the questions.”
Dr. Smythe only nods genially and asks, “Would you like to hear the heartbeat, Your Highness?”
“Just get on with it.”
The sound of the heartbeat is quiet but steady. A noise that makes my eyes water from emotion. The grainy video makes it hard to see anything but the heartbeat makes everything feel real. There’s a baby in there–my baby.
Opal looks annoyed and smacks my arm. “Don’t fucking cry. You don’t get to be emotional about this.”
I sniff and turn away from her to wipe my eyes. The rest of the appointment goes smoothly. I take Opal back to her room, and she finds a seat on the bed, her legs crossed underneath her. I keep glancing at her stomach underneath her heavy gown. I can’t even see the bulge now.
“Stop looking at me like that,” she demands. “Just because I let you come to the appointment, it doesn’t mean you get to act like this.”
“I can’t help it,” I explain. “The ultrasound just put things into perspective for me.”
“What perspective?” She glares at me. “You’re delusional. You’re never going to be this baby’s father. Over my dead body.”
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This is supposed to be a nice moment. Other people probably get to be emotional and enjoy all this baby stuff. Unfortunately for me, the mother of my unborn child is a raging bitch. Opal can’t let one good thing be genuinely enjoyed for once.
“No matter what, Opal, I’m going to make sure that child isn’t raised by you,” I tell her. “No kid deserves a mother like you.”
I know that I’m right. Opal doesn’t have the capacity to love anyone but herself. She will be a cold, monstrous mother. She will destroy this child, and he will have no chance.
Opal’s eyes flash with hatred. “At least I’m going to be a better mother than that werewolf bitch. Whatever horror is coming out of her should be killed at birth.”
I wince. “Don’t say that.”
The princess snorts. “Everyone thinks it, Lex, even you. We all know that we’re better off with that baby never being born.”
“Shut up.”
I hate this woman. I hate her perfect face and her ugly personality. Velvet wrapped poison. She destroys everything she touches.
“Or what, Lex?” she dares, cocking her head in invitation. “What are you going to do to shut me up? Are you going to kill me?”
I can’t hurt her, especially with the baby growing inside of her. Whether we like it or not, we will forever be entwined through this one thing. As soon as I heard that baby’s heartbeat, I was truly trapped in every way.
“That’s what I thought.” Opal smiles like she’s won. “Now get the fuck out of my room.”
Emory
Kane has to leave Crimson Peak to meet up with his allies. Unfortunately, but not surprising, King Peter has found out about my pregnancy and has been threatening to tell the other vampire kingdoms about it. Kane tells me not to worry and that he is going to get ahead of this before things can become a problem for us. One of Crimson Peak’s oldest allies, Queen Olga of Sardonia, insists the parley be in her kingdom, so Kane is going to be gone for a few days.
He has to leave at sundown so the morning is spent packing up whatever he’ll need for the trip. He will be bringing a few of his men, with Rainer left in charge of the castle in his absence. The pregnancy makes it so that all I can feel is exhaustion even when I hardly do anything, so I sit on Kane’s bed and watch him write letters while his maids pack. He is constantly writing letters and taking phone calls. Ruling a kingdom is a very taxing job, especially when the kingdom is at war.
“What’s Sardonia like?” 1 ask, curious.
“It’s in the highlands, surrounded by mountains and cliffs,” he answers, not looking up from the letter he’s writing. “It’s freezing up there. It snows most of the year.”
“And what’s the queen like?”
“Queen Olga has been ruling since my grandfather’s time. She’s the longest ruling monarch in all of the
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e kingdoms. She’s very wise, and her alliance with us has been helpful more than once.”
“What do you personally think of her?”
He looks up, his expression cautious. “What have you heard?”
I shrug, smiling. “Rainer may have mentioned she gets a little handsy with you.”
He puts down his pen and runs a hand through his dark hair. If he could blush, his pale face might have gone red. “People have said that she had a crush on my grandfather back in the day.”
“And?”
“I resemble my grandfather a lot.”
“So now she’s crushing on you?” He looks away, all but verbally confirming my thoughts, and that makes me laugh. “How old is she? She has to be ancient.”
“Oldest living monarch,” he points out. “She’s over two centuries old, I think. She won’t answer directly if you ask her about her age.”
“You never ask a woman about her age,” I tell him, remembering my mother teaching me that.
Regardless, Queen Olga is an important ally, and I need her support now more than ever. She’s well- respected by the other vampire kingdoms. Her word holds a lot of sway.”
I sit up straighter, realizing how serious he’s being. “If she doesn’t support you over our baby, that’s going to be bad, isn’t it?”
His fingers drum a quick beat on his desk, conveying his inner nervousness. I’m getting good at reading all his tells. Kane is used to hiding his emotions, any vulnerability, behind a cool mask. I have to pay attention to get a glimpse of his true feelings.
“Queen Olga isn’t irrational. As long as I explain things to her, I’m sure I can keep the alliance with her intact.”
“If that fails, you can show her a little leg.” He crumples up a piece of paper and throws it at me. It bounces harmlessly off my forehead. I giggle and tell him, “I’m joking!”
“I clearly can’t take you with me. You might offend one of the royals with your witty remakrs,” he admonishes with no real heat.
“You can’t take me anywhere.”
He gets up from his chair and walks over to the bed, taking a seat on the foot of the bed so we are at eye level. “I am going to miss you anyway. It’ll only be a few days, but I’ve gotten used to being able to see you every day.”
I grab his hand and squeeze it, his touch mooring me like an anchor in the ocean. “I’m going to miss you
too.”
He leans down and kisses me softly, his tongue lingering in my mouth long enough to make excitement begin to pool between my legs. When he pulls away, I let out a sigh. “While I’m gone, stay close to my mother. She’ll keep the nobles in check. And please have Rainer with you if you have to go outside.”
“I’m going to be fine,” I reassure him. “We are going to be fine.”
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He cups my face in his hands, his blue eyes staring intently as if he’s trying to memorize my face. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Then I tease him, “Please don’t leave me for Queen Olga.”
His dark eyebrows furrow. “She’s old enough to be my grandmother, even my great–grandmother. I have no interest in her. I never have.”
“That doesn’t mean she isn’t crushing on you. And can you really blame her?” I run a hand down his magnificent chest. “You’ve got this insanely attractive kingly thing going on. Hardly anyone can resist
that.”
He rolls his eyes. “You’re ridiculous. I don’t want anyone else but you.”
I’m not ashamed to admit that I melt like ice cream in the summer. He kisses me again and reminds me just how much he wants me.
His hand wander up my side, cupping my breast. I lean into him, moaning as our tongues tangle. The ache between my legs continues to grow as his hands wander across my body. The maids know well enough to leave the room, but a few moments later, just when I’m about to tear his shirt from his body, there’s a sharp knock at the door.
Kane pulls away. “Damn. I have to go.”
I take a deep breath and nod. “I understand.”
Капе
I’ve never had trouble leaving the castle for diplomatic trips. I haven’t delegated the task to other people in the past aside from Rainer as I couldn’t trust anyone else to have my kingdom’s best interest at heart. Most monarchs only want to parley with an equal and not a subordinate, so compromising is easier in person rather than through a messenger. This way has less chances of misunderstanding each other’s intentions.
However, leaving Emory behind for a few days brings a yearning ache that makes me want to stay and cancel my trip. Emory is looking at me with those wanton eyes, and it’s physically painful to have to leave her in my bed. I kiss her forehead, her red eyebrows furrowing as I pull away from her touch. Her arms reach across the bed sheets as I get to my feet.
I take one last look at her face from my position by the door. I’m reminded that she’s only twenty. She’s young, but not naïve, having gone through so much this past few months. She has grown into a woman, an Alpha. People choose to follow her not out of fear but because they believe in her.
I stare at her pretty face and wonder how she can’t see how extraordinary she is before I quietly leave the
room.
The trip to Sardonia is long and arduous. It takes us days to travel up the mountains. We have to abandon our cars at a certain point where the easiest way to travel is on–foot. The higher we go, the colder and thinner the air becomes. We leave deep boot prints in the snow–covered paths.
The ambassador to Sardonia greets us when we reach the top of the mountain. He guides us inside to the city and to the castle carved into the mountain. Castle Whitehall is smaller compared to other castles
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from other kingdoms, but it is the oldest. Legend has it that the first Queen of Sardonia, Anastasiya, started working on the castle after the death of her husband. It took centuries before she finished, her descendants adding to the castle over time.
We enter Castle Whitehall and are led to the throne room. Queen Olga has her back to us as she’s speaking with one of her men. The ambassador announces my name, “Presenting, King Kane of Crimson
Peak.”
“Queen Olga,” I greet her. “You look well.”
Vampires age exceedingly slowly, so while Olga isn’t in the first flushes of youth, she is still an attractive woman with white–blonde hair the color of the now falling outside the window. Lines on her face around her forehead and mouth show her age only slightly. Her eyes are a piercing blue that remind me of frozen
water.
“King Kane.” She smiles. “It’s been far too long.”
Allunces Be Banned
