93

The first thing Dove notices is an uncomfortable ache in her throat, pulsing and prompting her to swallow. However, after trying once, she finds that she can’t, cringing at the burning sensation that follows shortly. Other than that, she feels fine.

With her eyes closed still, she tries pinpointing where she is. For starters, in a bed – thank the gods. And in her own judging by the scent of the blanket and pillow. Knowing that she’s in her room, she tries recalling the last memory she has. She was in a forest, running from something. There was snow and hot springs in caves and…

The next moment, Dove’s eyes snap open and she bolts upright. “Where’s Jacques?” Her chest tightens with panic when she can’t remember what happened after the forest. Did Jacques make it out? Did he escape the Dwellers? Is he alive?

Not knowing the answers to those questions, and with the healer nowhere in sight, nearly has her scurrying out of bed to go look for him.

But a pair of hands hold her back, gently pushing back down while someone speaks softly to calm her racing heart. “There, there. Deep breaths, my little Dove.”

Despite her panic, Dove’s eyes cut upwards, locking with her mother’s loving gaze. For a second, she calms down, feeling her mother’s vampiric powers take effect, soothing her and easing her mind.

Elle hides her relief behind a motherly smile, brushing her daughter’s hair aside and tugging the blanket up to her shoulders. Once Dove is tucked in once more, the queen leans down and presses a kiss to her forehead.

She hasn’t left Dove’s side once throughout the night. Whether her daughter survived the Dweller attack thanks to Jacques’ blood or not, she would be there no matter the outcome. She’s eternally grateful that it turned out for the best, however, that Dove consumed just enough vampire blood to pull through. There’d be no telling what she’d do if her daughter…didn’t make it.

“My throat…” Dove croaks, swallowing painfully against the burning lump. “…it hurts.”

“I know, love.” Elle turns to retrieve a glass from the tray on the nightstand and holds it towards her daughter with an unreadable look on her face.

Dove regards the glass with blank eyes – or rather its contents. A thick, dark red liquid that smells like copper. She can taste it by just its scent.

Blood.

Her eyes shift from the glass to her mother, swimming with confusion. “Why blood? What does that mean?” However, a flash of what happened at the hot springs circle her memory. One with her straddling Jacques while helping herself to his blood. Dove’s stomach drops. “Mom, what happened?”

Elle battles against the tears welling in her eyes. What’s done is done, all that matters now is that Dove survived regardless of the ‘how’. “Let’s just say that if you didn’t have vampire blood in your system, we would’ve lost you, little Dove.”

“Am I a vampire now?” The princess absentmindedly touches her throat, as though she’d feel the pulsing sensation in her fingertips.

Her mother only holds out the glass again, a silent reply for ‘Why don’t you find out yourself?’

Dove eyes it for a moment before hesitantly wrapping her hand around the crystal base. Bringing it to her lips, the coppery scent drifts through her nose and awakens something dark and primal within her.

Feeling the last of her resolve slip, the princess tilts back her head and drinks, sighing blissfully as the blood soothes the ache in her throat. Gone is the burning and pulsing, and before she knows it, she’s been regenerated.

Dove feels like a completely different person. She feels strong, awake, and the world around her had come alive with her senses. She could see the tinies spec of dust on the mirror on the other side of the room, the thin lace of cobwebs in the darkest corner of the ceiling, and even the marbly texture of her mother’s immortal skin.

Elle smiles at her daughter’s awestruck expression. “Better?”

The princess nods, carefully placing the glass back on the nightstand. A strange giddiness settles in her chest. She’s a vampire! Jacques’ blood turned her and…

Just like that, her joy vanishes. “Where’s Jacques?” Her eyes meet her mother’s anxiously, desperately needing an answer. However, her mother’s silence is indication enough, thus stirring panic in her stomach once more. “Mom, where is he?”

Elle releases a slow breath, keeping her voice soft and even when she replies, “He’s in the dungeon, love.”

Dove’s eyes widen. “What?”

“Your father was beside himself when he found about what happened – Jacques taking you away and…” She trails off, the awkwardness on her face hinting at what she wanted to say: …and making love to you. “Finding out that Jacques fed you his blood was the last straw. Your father lost his temper.”

“No, please, Mom.” Dove panics, grabbing both Elle’s hands with hers. “Don’t let Father hurt Jacques. It was me who convinced him to run away. It was all me. I…wanted him to be my first. I wanted to consume his blood because…I want to be with him forever. I…I love him.”

The moment she confesses her feelings, the room is drowned in pure silence. Elle’s eyes grew when those words sank in, suddenly hit with the realization. “You love Jacques?”

Dove nods rapidly. “I do. And I know it’s not what you or Father want, but I can’t marry Rubin. Even if he’d still want me as a vampire, I can’t. Rubin doesn’t make me happy. I just can’t envision a future with him, not like I do with Jacques.” She inhales, her breath and lips trembling. “When I first tastes his blood, it was like I could see our future together. It happened so quickly, I’m not even certain if it happened at all.”

It is as if a light ignited in Elle’s eyes when she realizes what truly transpires between her daughter and the healer. Like history repeating itself, Dove had found her mate, just like Lorcan did that night at the Centurial Ball.

At that moment, Elle knew the wedding was a mistake. Under no circumstances was Dove getting married to Rubin when she’s found her mate. “I need to speak to your father.” In a flash, she is on her feet and marching towards the door.

Dove panics, jumping to the conclusion that her mother would inform her father of everything she said, thus imploring him to decide on a punishment for Jacques. “No, Mom, please. Don’t tell Father. Please, he’ll hurt Jacques. He’ll…he’ll kill him.”

However, Elle pauses to fix her daughter with a pointing look, restoring a fracture of hope. “No, he won’t.” She smiles. “I’m going to convince him to call off the wedding.”