Chapter 16

The words were quiet.They didn’t need to be anything else.The room erupted in approving murmurs. Several guests raised their goblets, pleased that their proposal had been accepted so easily.

I stood perfectly still.I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. My fingers were shaking so badly that the tray rattled against the goblets, and I had to grip its edges to keep everything from falling.

He had agreed.Just like that.The man who had caught me when I nearly collapsed had no problem agreeing to make the games more brutal. He was willing to let the next group of contestants suffer even worse deaths, and he had said it as casually as if he were approving a change to the dinner menu.

I wanted to throw the tray at the wall.

I wanted to ask him how he could sit there and listen to them discuss torture without showing the slightest concern.

Most of all, I wanted to understand why he had looked at me before accepting their proposal.

Was he reminding me that he had the power to decide what happened to me?

Or was he simply making sure I understood that my survival meant nothing to him?

“There’s another matter we should discuss,” Lady Margaret said.

I forced myself to focus on the table.She set down her goblet and turned toward Vladimir.

“Some of the elite have been rather curious about your decision to bring home a human from the games.”

Vladimir’s expression remained unchanged.

“Have they?”

“Oh, yes. You can imagine their surprise. The prince has always been particular about his possessions, but taking a slave home is unusual enough. Taking one as your personal prize is even more so.”

A few guests exchanged looks.

Lady Margaret continued, apparently enjoying the attention.“And then there’s her name.”

My stomach tightened.

“Veronica Night,” she said, drawing out the last two words. “It’s an interesting name, isn’t it?”

The room seemed to grow smaller.

I kept my head bowed, but I could feel the attention shifting toward me. One of the servants beside me stiffened. I didn’t dare look at her.

Lady Margaret leaned back in her chair.

“Some of the elite aren’t particularly pleased with your choice. They believe you’ve made an unnecessary statement by keeping her alive. Naturally, they would like to know why.”

Vladimir’s face changed.

It was subtle, but I saw it.

The slight amusement that had been there when the guests discussed the games disappeared. His jaw tightened, and the atmosphere around the table seemed to shift with him.

“Are you speaking on their behalf, Lady Margaret?”

She smiled. “I’m only repeating what I’ve heard.”

“Then you’ve repeated enough.”

Her smile faltered.

Vladimir leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on her.

“What I do with my prize is no one’s business. If any of them have a problem with my decision, they can bring it to me personally.”

Nobody laughed this time.

Lady Margaret held his gaze for a moment before giving a small, nervous chuckle.

“Of course, Your Highness. I didn’t mean to suggest otherwise.”

She lifted her goblet and took a long sip.

The dark red liquid left a stain on her lips.

Blood, I assumed.

She wiped her mouth with a napkin and turned to another guest as though the conversation had never happened.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about what she had said.

Some of the elite weren’t happy that Vladimir had brought me home. Not just because I was human, but because of my name.

I had heard the guards discussing it in the dungeon. I knew they had wondered whether my surname was connected to an old bloodline of vampire hunters, but I still had no proof that the connection was real.

Now Lady Margaret had brought it up in front of the prince himself.

And Vladimir had reacted differently than he had to the discussion about the games.

He hadn’t looked amused.He hadn’t dismissed her casually.He had made it clear that nobody was permitted to question his decision.I couldn’t tell whether he was protecting me or protecting his right to keep me.

Neither possibility comforted me.

The meeting continued, but I barely heard the rest of it. I served the remaining drinks, replaced empty plates, and collected dishes while the guests discussed hunting grounds, arrangements, and the coming season.

Every approving laugh made my anger grow.

I thought about the contestants who would enter those games next season, believing they had a chance to win the prize money. They wouldn’t know that the rules had changed. They wouldn’t know that the people running the games had decided their deaths should become more painful.

And Vladimir had agreed to it.

I was so angry that I could barely feel my hands.

When the guests finally began to leave, I placed the last empty goblet on the tray and stepped away from the table.

Nobody stopped me.

I walked out through the double doors, moving faster with every step until I was no longer in the receiving room.

The moment I reached the corridor, I stopped.

My breathing was too fast.

I pressed a hand against the wall and tried to calm myself, but the anger kept building inside me. I could still hear Vladimir’s voice in my head.

Give the people what they want.

I wanted to scream.

I wanted to turn around, march back into that room, and demand to know how he could agree to something so cruel.

But I knew what would happen if I did.

I was a human slave in a castle full of vampires. He was the prince, and I was the woman he had claimed during the hunting games. I had already attacked him once and survived only because he had decided to spare me.

I couldn’t afford another reckless decision.

That didn’t make me any less furious.

I stopped beside one of the windows and bent my head.

My chest rose and fell too quickly. I pressed both hands against the cool stone ledge, trying to steady myself.

I didn’t know how long I stood there.

Eventually, the worst of the anger began to settle, leaving me exhausted and shaken. I stared at the floor, concentrating on my breathing, determined not to let anyone see me lose control.

Then a shadow fell across the stones in front of me.

I went still.I didn’t need to look up.I knew who it was.

The air around me seemed to change, and I felt the familiar chill of his presence before he even touched me.

“Look at me.”

I couldn’t bring myself to obey.

A cold finger slipped beneath my chin. He lifted my face slowly until I had no choice but to meet his eyes.

Vladimir stood close enough that I could see the faint golden flecks surrounding his pupils. His expression gave nothing away, but his gaze held mine with an intensity that made it difficult to think.

I tried to turn my head.

I couldn’t.

“Veronica.”

My name sounded different when he said it like that. Not like a warning or an accusation. More like an order I had no choice but to follow.

“Look at me.”

I was already looking at him.

His thumb rested lightly against my chin. His skin was cold, yet I felt a strange warmth spreading through my face, followed by a sensation I couldn’t explain.

The anger was still there, somewhere inside me, but it suddenly felt distant.

My thoughts grew quiet.

I knew I should step away. I knew I should pull his hand from my face and demand to know why he had agreed to let innocent people die.Yet my body refused to move.

Vladimir’s golden eyes held mine.“Stop fighting it.”

I didn’t understand what he meant.

Then he spoke again.“Breathe.”

I drew in a breath.It happened so naturally that I barely noticed it at first. My lungs filled, and the tightness in my chest eased.

“Again.”

I breathed in once more.

The frantic pounding of my heart began to slow. My shoulders relaxed, and the tension that had been building in my body loosened as though someone had reached inside me and turned down the volume of every thought.

I stared at him, frightened by how quickly I had obeyed.

I hadn’t decided to calm down.I hadn’t chosen to follow his instructions.I had simply done it.

“Good,” he murmured.

The word sent a strange shiver through me.

I tried to move my hand, but my fingers remained pressed against the stone ledge. It was as though my body had become disconnected from my thoughts, leaving me aware of everything without being able to act on any of it.

What was he doing to me?

Vladimir watched my face, his expression unreadable.

For one terrifying moment, I felt as though he could reach into my mind and rearrange whatever he wanted.

Then his thumb moved away from my chin.

The strange sensation broke.

I stumbled back a step, catching myself against the wall.

My heart began to race again, but this time it wasn’t anger making it pound.

It was fear.

I stared at him, struggling to understand what had just happened.

He lowered his hand.“Better?”

I couldn’t answer.

He watched me for another moment, those golden eyes giving nothing away before walking away