Page 48 of Sold to the Dark Vampire Prince

“Are princes no longer taught to be charming?” She narrowed her eyes.

“I believe the current syllabus puts more of a focus on glowering rakishly.” He set the food on the table.

“A pity.” But she bit back a smile as he pulled out her chair, bending to press a kiss to the spot on her throat where he’d bitten her the night before.

She caught Evan frowning from across the table. When their eyes met, her sister looked away. Dani shook out her napkin with a bit more force than necessary, then stabbed a pancake.

“So, you accompany Prince Alexander everywhere?” Ava asked Henri over a plate of pancakes and eggs.

“Except when I’m getting clocked with a saucepan,” Alex pointed a piece of bacon at her.

Ava giggled.

“You seemed to have survived your two highly trained assassins, Your Highness,” Henri said dryly. “And for the record, I believed the greater threat would come from outside which was why I remained posted in the hall.”

“There’s a citywide lockdown in effect until noon except for essential workers,” Evan said, reading on her phone. “They’re still rounding people up.”

“I heard the wall was breached at one of the military checkpoints,” Henri said. “People were saying wolf shifters were able to get into the city shortly before the riots started. They may have been the ones to detonate the first explosions.”

“On my way home yesterday, I was almost sure I saw a group of shifters,” Dani said quietly. “It was at a distance, but they seemed to be—”

Evan dropped her knife with a clatter, causing everyone to jump. Cinder streaked into the other room in a blur of gray fur.

“Sorry. How clumsy of me.”

She glared across the table at Dani in silent warning.

Alex cleared his throat. “We should get back before we’re missed.”

He and Henri stood, starting to help clear their plates, but Evan waved them off. “That’s probably for the best.”

Dani glared. Clearly, Evan didn’t like Alexander. Message received. But did she have to make this situation harder on her than it had to be? Henri materialized away in a swirl of smoke, giving them a moment to say goodbye alone.

Her heart began to pound, a dull, shaky ache. She’d known this was coming, had known from the first flare of attraction between them, when he’d been Zander, then the prince who’d purchased her, and finally simply Alex, that in no world, would he ever be hers to keep.

And still, every time she watched him walk away from her, knowing this time might very well be the last, it was like a fresh blade stabbing through her heart.

Grabbing Alex’s hand, she dragged him back to her bedroom, closing the door behind them before Evan could see her cry.

“I didn’t mean to cause trouble with your sisters.”

“You didn’t.” She swiped at her eyes, ashamed when hot tears began to fall. “Evan is just being Evan. She’s trying to protect me from getting hurt.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “I hate feeling this way. I don’t want to care about what happens next. We were always supposed to go back to our normal lives. Problem solved. So why does this hurt so much?”

He traced her face. “It is taking everything within me to return to the palace, not because it is the life I want, or would choose, but because I know that if I don’t, the consequences for you, and for all the people I care about, will be devastating.”

“I’m afraid you’re going to walk out that door, and I’m never going to see you again.” She blinked back tears. “Or worse, that I’ll scroll through the media feeds later today only to see a royal engagement announcement.”

“I’m so sorry to have inadvertently hurt you.” He pulled her into his arms, softly tracing the back of her neck. “All I ever intended that night at the auction house was to keep you safe.”

“I know that. And I know what I’m saying is unfair. We agreed anything between us could only ever be temporary. I know we can’t be together. I’m not trying to make this harder on you.”

“You aren’t.” He kissed her very softly, cupping the back of her neck. “Or rather, you are, but I would rather know that I’m not the only one who feels absolutely wretched inside right now. I can’t tell you what happens next. Only that last night, what we shared, was very special to me.” He caressed the mark left by his fangs with the edge of one thumb, and she felt a shiver skate up her spine. “I’m so sorry for a thousand things, but most of all, for hurting you.”

Her heart pounded at the fierce possessiveness and want in his eyes. The invisible link tethering them pulled tighter with every pass of his thumb over the vein at her throat.

So why did it also feel like goodbye?

She had to stop doing this, had to stop waiting for him to text, for him to decide what happened to them. He had never set out to hurt her. She’d simply fallen in love with a fairy tale that could never be hers. This was her fault for daring to hope.