Chapter 17 Chapter 17
LENORE
My brows snapped together at what the first prince just said. “What?”
I couldn’t have heard that right. What did he mean none of the representatives would be leaving here alive?
The prince rested his elbows on the arms of the chair. He’d changed out of the clothes he’d been wearing when he threw me off a roof and was now wearing a fitted black shirt which hugged his chest in a way that made me swallow. As he cracked his knuckles, my gaze drifted down his forearms, tracing the taut veins that ran beneath his skin.
...Wait. What the hell is wrong with me?
He’d just told me all of the representatives would be dying in Eyrosa, and my breath was tight for a whole other reason. And I especially shouldn’t be ogling someone who’d thrown me off a fucking roof.
“He’s meeting with the representatives right now to tell them he’s holding a tournament for the werewolf crown,” the prince said, snapping me out of my thoughts, and I frowned again.
“A tournament?”
“A fight to the death. He’ll tell them the winner’s family will be the new werewolf royalty, but there won’t be any winners in this tournament.”
I blinked rapidly, as if that would help me process this better. The council back home had suspected the King had nefarious plans behind his olive branch, and now the prince had revealed their suspicions were correct, but I was seriously confused.
Why would the King plan this? What was the reason behind wanting all the pack representatives dead? Did he want to start another war? …Was the prince even telling the truth?
I narrowed my eyes at the man next to me, trying to figure out if he was lying, but I couldn’t read him. For some reason though, a significant part of me believed him.
“I don’t understand,” I said slowly. “Why?”
A muscle in the prince’s jaw twitched and when he sighed, averting his gaze, I thought he was done answering my questions.
“...Do you know how vampires become stronger?” he said a moment later and my brows raised slightly before I nodded.
It was through essence. Vampires had the ability to drain other supernatural creatures of their essence, which was the magic that made them what they were, and the victim—if not already dead—always died in the process.
“My father wants my brother to become stronger, so he’s holding the tournament for him. He’s going to drain the essence of all the representatives.”
I couldn’t believe it. I mean, I could, but what the hell?! The King was going to end the lives of over a hundred people just to give his son a power boost? What was wrong with this family?!
I dropped my gaze to my hands in my laps and took slow, steady breaths to fight off what felt like an incoming panic attack. I’d almost died twice in the three days I’d been here—courtesy of the man next to me—but now there was a third one heading for me. And I didn’t think I’d be able to avoid it.
“Hey—”
“Can I leave?” I asked, fear evident in my voice, as I held my trembling hands. “Can I leave the city?”
“...Not without my father’s permission or death,” he answered. “The invitation he sent to your pack wasn’t just to help you find Eyrosa; it also won’t let you leave without his say so. None of the representatives will be able to step out of Eyrosa.”
“Oh my God.” The words burst out of me the same time my tears did.
“Hey, hey, hey.”
The next thing I knew, the first prince was next to me and he was cupping my face, staring at me like I was everything. Once again, his intense gaze sent sparks of electricity across my face, and my heart skipped a beat.
“I’m not going to let anyone hurt you,” he said intently, and though I believed him for some reason, my tears didn’t stop.
“So you’re the only one who gets to do it?”
He’d tried to kill me. Twice. His father had gifted me to him. I was practically at his mercy.
He stiffened at my words and he opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but pressed his lips together instead. When he still didn’t speak after several moments or let his hands fall from my face, I spoke.
“What do you want with me, Your Highness?”
He blinked at me, then brushed my tears away with his thumbs, and warmth fluttered in my stomach. “I’m not going to hurt you, Lenore. Not ever again.”
He got to his feet, taking his warmth away when his hands left my face.
“I’m sorry,” he added. “For throwing you off the roof. And for before.”
Before? The kiss?
“You strangled me,” I reminded him and he shifted from one foot to the other.
“That’s what I meant by before.” He reached out, taking the ends of my hair in his hand before watching it slip out of his hands. “Get some rest.”
I’d lost my phone. I must have dropped sometime between when I ran into the first prince last night and when he threw me off the roof, and it only dawned on me now, as the maids were bringing my bags out of the closet, that I hadn’t spoken to anyone from home in almost twelve hours.
Seeing as the last thing I’d told William last night was that the King had given me to the first prince, they had to be out of their mind with worry.
I should ask to use someone’s phone.
“Lenore!” a familiar voice called the moment I walked out of the room and I glanced over my shoulder. Cate was halfway down the hall with two girls I didn’t recognize—I assumed they were also pack representatives—and she had a worried expression on her face as she hurried over.
I plastered a smile on my face while she grabbed my hand. “Hi Cate.”
“Where were you? I was so worried. You weren’t in your room and all your stuff was still here…” she trailed off as the maids carrying my bags walked out of the room and I pressed my lips together. She furrowed her brows. “Are you leaving?”
“No, I’m just… moving to another room.”
I was moving to the first prince’s palace.
After he left me in the room last night—I hadn’t seen him since then—Fabien came by to break things down. The first prince hadn’t asked the King to gift me to him; the King had done it to punish my father for sending me as the pack representative instead of Cameron. He was also the one who gave the order for me to be moved to the first prince’s palace and if I refused to, he might have me killed before the tournament even started. If I cooperated though, I’d be exempt from the tournament.
I didn’t have much of a choice.
“Then why did you skip the announcement,” a voice cut in and I glanced to my left to see the girls Cate had been standing with were now right next to us. The person spoke again, revealing herself as the girl with the bob cut. “Did you already know what the diplomatic gathering was about?”
I tipped my head to the side and she narrowed her eyes at me. It was clear that her anger wasn’t really aimed at me—it was directed at my father’s pack.
“I found out last night.”
“Is that so?”
I heaved a sigh and removed my hand from Cate’s. “I’ll see you around Cate,” I muttered before following the maids.
I knew it was wrong to not tell them that the tournament for the werewolf crown wasn’t even the true purpose of the gathering, but I was in survival mode right now. The last thing I wanted was to draw the King’s attention any more than I already had while I was trapped in a place he dominated.
As I walked away, an uncomfortable weight settled in my chest. I might have escaped the tournament but I had a feeling trouble wasn’t done with me yet.