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“Surely, no one recognized her,” I said fearfully. “Nor would anyone in their right mind believe the Prince of Pleasure capable of such emotions and loyalty to one female. Least of all, a witch.”
Silas shook his head as he finished gathering his intel on Trystan’s Court. “You are deluded if you think that your flamboyant persona will be enough to thwart the rumors. Especially not to Trystan. Don’t forget, the French bastard knows you better than most in the city.” Silas braced his hand on the doorknob but kept it closed. “Trystan saw your interaction with Jade at Bite last night and suspected, but now he knows you’re enchanted with her. And he will use that knowledge to end you. He will tell your father, Alexei.”
If Trystan rivaled the backstabbing deviousness of Brutus, then my father could only be compared to Nero, a vicious tyrant incapable of any emotion other than rage. And Alistair Vasyliev loathed nothing more than witches.
“He won’t get the chance to undermine me,” I snarled, pushing past Silas. “I’ll chase him to Boston and recover the staff, humiliate him in front ofhisCourt, ensuring he never dares speak about Jade to my father if he values his life.”
Silas followed on my heels, muttering orders to vampires lingering in the hallway until we were alone in my bedroom.
“No. Absolutely not, Alexei.Iwill go to Boston,” he said, pulling the suitcase out of my grasp. “You can’t leave your Court without someone alerting your father. Alistair will punish you for breaking your exile and then killmefor allowing you to run away from your duty.”
“As you said, I know Trystan better than most,” I countered. “He’ll have hidden the staff within his Court and wait until the Wild Hunt to expose me. All the vampire elites in my father’s castle in Slovenia, dressed in their finery, before they unleash their bloodlust and depravity on unsuspecting mortals? It would be the perfect opportunity for a scandalous reveal. But if I get to him first, we can salvage this.”
“Not likely.” Silas laughed. “Trystan’s hatred of you goes beyond his usual petty feuds. If he stole it, it won’t be lying around somewhere you can easily recover it.”
Silas was right. After our last battle together, waged against the witches in Oslo, I knew Trystan would never forgive my double-crossing decision to abscond from the fight, sickened with my father and his allies’ desire to wipe out witches from the map. He would do anything to avenge that betrayal. Scouring the Boston Court for the staff would be an impossible endeavor without a spirit witch who could trace the dark magick within.
“And Jade?” Silas continued, oblivious to my thoughts. “What will you do about her? If Alistair discovers who she is to you—”
“He won’t,” I vowed, coming back to the present.
My fangs lengthened violently at the thought of my father anywhere near Jade.
“I know how to locate the staff,” I murmured, retrieving a second suitcase from my closet before Silas could thwart me. “And it doesn’t involve breaking a single vampiric law or finding myself buried in the family dungeons.”
“You can’t break your exile!”
“My father would not fault me for taking my role as prince seriously,” I reasoned both to myself and Silas. “I must do whatever it takes to prevent weakness from spreading. If anyone discovers someone has broken into my vault, it would look bad on daddy dearest.”
Silas shook his head, his fingers clenching as if to stop himself from strangling me. “Your father would tell you to remain with your Court and send me to do your dirty work. How will you explain your excursion to him?”
“Because I’m the one who understands the talismans and what makes them tick. Let me deal with my father.” I exhaled through my nose. “You work out the details. Contact Henry Thompson to let him know I will need a place to stay.”
A snarl broke free from his lips, his eyes glowing crimson. “I fucking knew it.”?
I raised a brow, impressed at my casual ability to break the warrior’s iron-clad nerves.
“Why would you need to stay with Henry?” he bit out through his teeth. “He lives outside Salem, at least an hour away from Boston.” He shook his head in swift denial. “No, Alexei.”
“Don’t forget your role here, Silas,” I cautioned as I refilled my glass. “I value you above anyone else in my Court, and I would surely have crashed and burned without you, but no one will stop me from returning the staff back to my vault and protecting Jade Belle from anyone who would harm her.”
His eyes narrowed to slits. “How will Jade fit into this ridiculous plan of yours?”
“I’ll convince her to come with me. Once she realizes what is at stake and that she is the only witch capable of locating the staff, she will be all too willing to recover the talisman. After, she’ll return to New Orleans, none the wiser to my father and his hatred.”
“Lie to yourself, but not to me, Alexei.” Silas pushed my chest, but I could see his weakening resolve. “Your obsession with the witch grows every night you fight your instincts. How will you sustain yourself while you are gone? Just because our Court offers alternatives to blood drinking doesn’t mean the others will. Or what about Seraphina? Your betrothal—”
“I’ve got it under control,” I cut him off, molars grinding at the mention of the vampire female my father intended me to marry.
He shook his head. “I can’t stop you from ruining your life, Alexei. Just make sure you do nothing to get your witch killed. Not only would it destroy you, but it would shatter any semblance of unity we’ve built in New Orleans. The Coven would destroy you and any vampire who ever dares set foot on their soil again.”
He stalked away, leaving me to seethe alone.
No harm would come to Jade. I repeated the promise in my mind, imparting every ounce of determination in my blackened heart to bind it into the fabric of my soul.
The following evening, I would find Jade and convince her to come with me for the staff. Once freed from the constraints of her grandmother and her Coven, I would shower her with the attention and care she had denied herself for so long. Nothing would stop me from assuaging her fears and showing her exactly how much I treasured her above all others.
Perhaps this turn of events acted as a blessing in disguise. A strike of fate to urge Jade and me together. In Salem, I would prove to both Jade and myself that I could be a male worthy of someone like her. I would rid myself of Trystan and atone for my shameful past by freeing the talismans from vampires and stopping my father once and for all.
