Page 115 of Sold to the Dark Vampire Prince

“We’re still working on that,” Sera said reluctantly. “I know you said before your council didn’t want the fae getting involved.”

“Cavalieri has my people. I think we’re already involved.”

“What you’re proposing will violate how many treaties?” Isabella shook her head. “The werewolves will go crazy.”

“Oh please.” Sera made a face. “Cavalieri’s men are an illegal occupying force. Let’s not pretend they have any right to be there in the first place.”

“It’s the only way,” Dani said. “The protests are getting more violent by the day. People are starving. They’re dying, and when they demand this regime do something, their only response is to shut off their heat and water in the dead of winter. If we don’t stop Lara and her father, I’m terrified they’ll destroy the sector and everyone in it out of sheer vindictiveness.”

“Then what?” Isabella countered. “You and what army are going to take on hundreds of Cavalieri’s guards and get Alex out?”

“You could at least try to pretend like you’re on our side.”

“I am on your side. I swear, I never meant for any of this to happen.”

Dani rolled her eyes.

“Our ten-year-old sister said the exact same thing not twenty minutes ago,” Evan growled. “Funny how it sounds a whole lot better coming from a little kid than a grown ass woman.”

“You sold us out.” Sera’s voice was hard. “You’re not a little girl anymore, Isabella. Actions have consequences.”

Isabella glared back at Sera, and Dani was struck in that moment by how very alike the Visconti sisters looked. Same stubborn set to their jaw. Same flash of angry determination in their eyes.

“I didn’t have a choice. You were going to shut down the research that was keeping our father alive.”

“Wake up, Isabella,” Sera scoffed. “This isn’t some cutting-edge discovery that will win you a humanitarian award and save lives. Cavalieri is literally kidnapping people off the streets and holding them as blood slaves to fuel his pharmaceutical profits. How can you be party to that?”

“I didn’t know, okay? I made a mistake. You don’t have to keep being a bitch and rubbing it in my face. I went to Luciano and he told me all their samples had been obtained through volunteers.”

“Gods, you really are so fucking naïve sometimes—”

“Okay, let’s all just take a breath here,” Dani cut in. “Isabella, you said you know how we can get Alex out?”

“Lara is freaking out about the cuffs,” Isabella explained. “She wants the big royal wedding with hundreds of guests in attendance, but she can’t exactly have her groom shackled to the altar, or everyone will know he’s only marrying her under duress. It will be humiliating.”

“You think you can get her to remove the shackles?”

“She knows the fae want their prisoners back.” Isabella turned to Finneas. “If you could convince her to agree to release all the fae hostages she’s holding in exchange for glamouring Alex’s cuffs, it might be a way to get someone close enough to him to break the magic.”

“There’s no guarantee Lara will go for that,” Sera said. “And she has to know we used a fae dagger to free the aberrant prisoners last month. She’ll be suspicious.”

“Maybe, but I still think she’ll agree. She’s a bit desperate at this point. She needs this wedding to go perfectly. Rumor is, she’s had some internal surveying done and people aren’t buying the romance between her and Alex, nor are they enthused about the idea of her as queen. And I know she’s considering it because I already suggested glamouring as a solution.”

“It could work,” Finneas offered mildly. “I could slip Alex the dagger if I can get close enough to him. That wouldn’t be an issue.”

“And if they capture you, too?” Sera countered.

“So concerned for my safety, Serafina?” He raised an eyebrow. “And here I thought you were planning to shove me into the nearest punchbowl.”

“Be serious. It’s… risky. I need to think.”

Isabella snorted. “And your plan to reset the wards and storm a castle defended by two hundred guards isn’t? Admit it, you only hate the idea because I came up with it and you haven’t thought of anything better.”

“Or maybe I hate that you’re such a spoiled brat.”

“Everyone’s under a lot of stress,” Finneas said quietly. “Fighting amongst ourselves isn’t helping.”

“You’ve always had it easy,” Isabella said. “Always the center of attention. Always the one everyone fawned over, the precious crown princess who would one day be queen. You got all the designer dresses, had lavish parties thrown for every one of your birthdays, with every eligible male in the sector there. I was an afterthought, the ugly duckling with her science books, whose family barely knew she existed.”