“Quite right,” Demelza agreed.
Zane snorted. “Doesn’t stop you boning shifters though, eh?”
A few wolves sniggered, but Demelza sniffed loudly and ignored Zane.
“Later diary entries reveal that Ysabella and Radimir had formed a romantic attachment. The vampire, who was Rasmus Dvorak’s younger brother and second in line to the vampire throne, was not much older than Ysabella, and from what we know of him, he lacked moral fiber and routinely seduced females—and males—of all species.”
“So Ysabella got pumped and dumped?” Demelza’s friends all laughed at the mage’s gross comment. Even Dunton smiled for a microsecond before resuming his tale.
I ground my teeth while trying hard not to show any kind of reaction.
“The vampire king met with Ramona Du Boix one evening in late October. He claimed his son was Ysabella’s soul-bonded mate and they were destined to be together.”
A few witches oohed, probably caught up in the romance of a soul-bond, even though the lot of them disparaged my soul-bond connections on the regular.
“Did they live happily ever after, like inTwilight, sir?”
Kenji rolled his eyes.
“What part ofBlood Warsdon’t they understand? Stupid witches.”
“If you care to listen, I’ll tell you.” Dunton tapped a key on his laptop and an image of a very imposing vampire came to life on the whiteboard. The resemblance between this male and my mate was unmistakable.
“King Leo Dvorak was widely considered a rational male, but he didn’t take kindly to Ramona Du Boix’s insistence that his son’s relationship with her younger sister should not be allowed to continue. The meeting between the coven and the vampires ended badly, withthreats made on both sides. Despite deteriorating relations between the coven and the clan, nothing happened for many more weeks.”
Dunton tapped his keyboard again, and a new painting of a sobbing witch popped up.
“Ysabella Du Boix. One of our doomed lovers. The witch and her vampire lover continued meeting in secret, against her sister’s orders. Things came to a head when Ramona discovered her poor, sweet, innocent sister was with child. She accused the young vampire prince of taking advantage of her sister, a claim he denied.”
I shivered, knowing in my bones where this story was going. Rasmus had told me vampires rarely produced offspring, so the royals must have thought a half-vampire baby was a goddess-granted blessing.
“Leo Dvorak entreated Ramona to let the couple wed, but the coven head was adamant their bloodline must be kept pure to ensure the magic flourished. Radimir tried to steal Ysabella away, but the witches were waiting for him. They captured and staked the young vampire and then locked Ysabella up.” I gasped in horror. This was way worse than I expected, and from the look of revulsion on Glynda’s face, she agreed.
Demelza laughed. “Serves the bloodsucker right.”
Violence was not in my nature, but it took all my powers of self-control not to turn the bitch into a pile of smoldering rags like the sea witch.
“Calm down, my pet,” Zane whispered, squeezing my hand. “She’ll get what she deserves soon enough.”
I blinked away tears and sniffed. Maverick reached out to me down the bond, asking if I was alright, but fearing what he might do if I said no, I quickly reassured him I was fine.
“When the vampire king heard the witches had killed his son, he declared war on the covens, and this is how the Blood Wars began.” An animated image of people running from murderous vampires came to life on the whiteboard. Gruesome depictions of vampires tearing witches apart with their bare hands, severed limbs, and more filled the board. It took a lot of effort not to vomit.
“Radimir’s older brother, Crown Prince Rasmus, hunted down every member of the Du Boix coven who’d been a part of his brother’s demise. He slew every sympathizer and many innocents too.” Dunton shuddered dramatically. “These were dark days indeed.”
“How do you know he murdered innocents?” I refused to sit here in silence while Dunton painted my mate as a psychotic mass-murderer.
“Because there are multiple accounts from the time describing scenes of mutilation, dismemberment, and worse.”
“All written by witches and mages.”Kenji huffed and resumed his personal grooming.
“What happened to Ysabella?” a shifter asked.
“Ramona’s diary entries stopped when she died at Rasmus Dvorak’s hands, so we don’t know Ysabella’s fate. However, some accounts say she escaped and made a new life for herself in Europe. Others claim she died, along with her baby, murdered by angry vampires out for revenge.” That made no sense. Why would the vampires kill Ysabella when she’d done nothing wrong?
I scoffed loudly, much to Dunton’s irritation.
“Something to add, Miss Blackstone?”
