Forever Touched (Touch of Vampire #5)

CHAPTER 31

31

EVERETT

I couldn’t breathe.

Her kiss was destroying me. Tearing apart everything I once was. Everything I’d believed in order to protect myself. To keep me and my family safe.

The person I used to be was unraveling by the second, disintegrating to ash as she poured her entire being into the kiss. A kiss that rocked me to my core, leaving me stunned and shaken.

She didn’t say a word, but she didn’t have to. I felt everything, each emotion more potent than any word she could utter. All I could do was hold on and return the kiss that was drowning me. That was wreaking havoc on my senses. That filled up my heart so completely I thought it would burst.

I had no idea that it could be like this. That I could share a connection with someone so deeply that our emotions were one and the same.

We were one. One being. One heart. One soul.

What she felt in this moment, I felt as well. I didn’t have the courage to tell her before. To even face it. But I did now. I opened up the floodgates of our bond and sent back a deluge of my own emotions. I didn’t even have a name for them all, but I made sure she felt every single one. Everything I’d been feeling from the moment I’d seen her dangling from that silver hoop above the dance floor.

As salt from her tears slid onto my tongue, I cupped her face and gently wiped them away. A sob caught in her throat, but she didn’t pull away. The kiss slowed, each press of our lips a soft caress. We’d stopped dancing, but our emotions continued to dance around each other. Twirling and swaying, coming together again and again until I couldn’t tell them apart.

Her emotions were mine, and mine were hers.

They were one, our hearts and minds wholly in sync.

This was magic. Perfection. Right .

Needing to voice out loud what I felt in every fiber of my being, I broke the kiss to breathe, “I’m in love with you.”

Several gasps filtered around us, but I paid them no heed. Neither did she.

The most beautiful, radiant smile bloomed on her lips, and she whispered back, “I’m in love with you too.”

My heart swelled, and I thought for sure it would explode. I kissed her again, our masks shifting as I rested my forehead against hers. Still trying to catch my breath, I said in hushed tones, “I want you to marry me.”

She huffed a quiet laugh. “Are you asking me or telling me?”

I grinned, so wide that it hurt. “Asking. Definitely asking. I wouldn’t dream of telling you what to do.”

Her smile softened. “Well, in that case—”

“Adalyn, enough of this!” a voice shouted, dispelling the magical moment. “How dare you say such things to the prince.”

Adalyn’s fear spiked through our bond.

It’s not time yet. It’s too soon! she inwardly whimpered, clearly not intending for me to overhear.

Protectiveness surged through me, and I pulled her close before turning to face an angry Madame Faircroft. As she stormed toward us, I threw her a warning look, and she halted several feet away .

“You’re calling her Adalyn now?” I calmly said, making sure to keep my growing rage in check. “Why not Star? That’s what her clients at your nightclub know her by.”

Her eyes widened a fraction, but she recovered remarkably fast. “Star is her stage name, yes. I won’t pretend otherwise. But as a blood whore, she has no business making professions of love to you. It’s a bald-faced lie anyway. I’ll take her off your hands before she can spout any more nonsense. Come, Adalyn. I think you need some fresh air to clear your head.”

When she stepped forward to grab Adalyn, Kade smoothly blocked her path. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

Looking up at the wall of muscle, she sternly ordered, “Step aside, drothen. You don’t have the authority to keep me from collecting my employee.”

As she tried to veer around him, Loch cut her off. “What about a prince?”

“Forgive me, Prince Lochlan,” she said with a quick curtsy. “But Adalyn is my responsibility and is currently making a fool of me. She’s here as a guest and is disrespecting Prince Everett by pretending to—”

“ You are the one pretending, Deloris,” I interrupted, gratified when her mouth snapped shut. “You and about half the people in this room. You’ve been pretending for years, bowing and scraping before the royal family while whispering behind our backs about how much you despise us. Isn’t that right?”

Her only movement was a slight lip quiver, like she was trying really hard not to sneer.

“Isn’t that right? ” I roared. She flinched, along with several others in my line of sight. My eyes connected with my father’s, and he gave me an encouraging nod. Leaving Adalyn in my family’s protective circle, I strode toward the nearest nobleman and ripped off his mask. “ What about you, Lord Farley? Have you been pretending?”

His face turned ashen as I openly challenged him to defy me. When he submissively dropped his gaze, I whirled toward my next target.

“What about you, Councilman Singh?” His mask hit the ground with a clatter. “Do you secretly wish to depose the royal family? To kill us?”

“N-no, Your Majesty. Never .” He sank to his knees before me and lowered his head.

Clenching my teeth, I slowly made my way around the room, confronting every face I came upon. Some of the faces couldn’t hide their guilt. Their loathing . My father had been right. Many in his court were secretly discontent. Each time I revealed a new face, I wrestled with my surprise. I’d known most of these males for decades and thought they’d been loyal to the crown.

How had this happened? How had we not noticed sooner?

“I’m disappointed. I’m disappointed in all of you,” I said, tossing another mask to the ground. “You’re privileged enough to have the ear of the king, yet you secretly complain behind his back like cowards .”

“King Ambrose has barely spoken to us in six years,” a voice behind me said. I pivoted to face Viscount Le Blanc, and he paled. But when a few more voices around the room grumbled their agreement, he stood taller and added, “I’ve heard rumors that something happened to him. That he’s been weakened, both in mind and body.”

Before I could speak for my father, he blurred past me to confront the male himself. “Would you like to test that theory, old friend? ” he purred, casually reaching out to brush invisible lint from Le Blanc’s suit. “You’ve known me for almost two centuries and have personally seen me execute subjects for less accusations. Perhaps you’d like to serve as my latest example? ”

As Le Blanc tensed, so did I, prepared to intervene if he attacked. Despite the unflappable confidence my father exuded, he had been weakened. A pactum gone awry had stolen much of his power from him, and although he was still stronger than most Venturi, a fight would reveal what we’d carefully kept hidden for six years now.

That King Ambrose was no longer the most powerful vampire in his kingdom.

But if I intervened on his behalf, there would be no undoing the damage. The vampires in this room were the strongest of our kind. They’d immediately sense their king’s weakness and seek to flush it out. To eradicate it. Despite our fancy clothes and diplomatic words, we were animals at our core. Predators whose instincts were to prey on the weak.

They wouldn’t hesitate to savagely rip their king to shreds if they knew just how far he’d fallen. And as Viscount Le Blanc continued to stare at my father, I realized with dread that he had no intention of backing down. The longer he held the king’s gaze, the more confident he grew. And the more confident he grew, the more the others took note, seeing far more than I wanted them to.

There was only one thing I could do. One thing that would ensure my father got out of this situation unscathed.

The fear and doubt I’d harbored for years vanished as I stepped forward to protect him, speaking loudly for all to hear, “If you wish to challenge the king, then you’ll have to challenge me . King Ambrose has abdicated the throne, and I, Prince Everett D’angelo, will become this kingdom’s newest ruler.”

Shock rippled through the crowd, including mine. That didn’t stop me from taking another step and drawing Le Blanc’s gaze to me. At the menacing look I gave him, some of his confidence faded. I continued to hold eye contact until he clenched his jaw and finally looked away.

“Anyone else?” I said, slowly searching the faces around me. “Anyone else want to challenge the king? ”

My father passed by me, pausing to clasp my shoulder and murmur, “I always knew you could do it.”

I stood taller, bolstered by his confidence in me. Confidence I hadn’t allowed myself to feel until a small, albeit courageous, witch had danced into my life. I returned to her side and drew her close as I faced the crowd again, noting how restless it had become. Not everyone was happy with my surprise announcement. In fact, many of them looked downright livid.

I was losing them. If I didn’t find a way to turn things around soon, someone was going to step out of line. And when that happened, I wouldn’t hesitate to protect my family. Even if I had to fight every last Venturi in this room, I would keep them from hurting those I loved.

At the reminder of what I’d just confessed to Adalyn, I glanced down at her. She was visibly trembling, her brow beaded with sweat as she vacantly stared at the crowd.

Alarmed, I quickly said through our bond, You okay?

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, still staring at the crowd. “I have to. I have to. I’m so very sorry.”

The crowd grew even more restless, whispering amongst each other, throwing more and more scathing looks my way. Not just at me, but at the rest of my family. At Adalyn .

My patience snapped.

“Do you know the real reason why you’re all here today?” I thundered, letting my anger boil over. “Because of her .” I gestured at Adalyn, who was growing paler and paler by the second. “This woman is proof of why this kingdom needs to change. She’s been abused by vampires since the day we were liberated from the curse. If not for her, I wouldn’t have realized how corrupt this kingdom still is. I’ve made some terrible choices in my lifetime, but over this past week, I’m sickened by what I’ve seen vampires do to those they consider inferior or weaker than them. We’re predators, but we don’t have to act like monsters .”

“You killed your brother! You’re a monster,” someone from the crowd shouted.

“Troy lost himself!” I shouted back, allowing emotion to fill my voice. “He didn’t just betray his family the day he unleashed the rogues on the world. He betrayed our entire race by recklessly exposing us. If he’d been successful, we’d all be dead right now. I should have seen how lost he’d become and stopped him sooner, but I was lost too. For most of my life, I’ve allowed myself to do monstrous things, believing I was justified in doing so. But those actions cost me. They cost us all . For that, I deeply apologize. I’ve set a poor example, and I’ve foolishly put this kingdom in danger more than once.”

Slowly exhaling, I continued more calmly, “But my father has always sought to protect this kingdom from the rest of the world, and the recent changes he’s made are only meant to protect it more. World domination isn’t the answer, and neither is enslaving those we consider weak . As your future king, I won’t stand back and allow this kingdom to fall into darkness again. We are better than that. We can peacefully coexist with the rest of the world.”

I looked down at Adalyn again. “To prove it, my first act as king will be to marry this woman. Many of you saw her as an object, as something to conquer and control. She is none of those things. Fate has chosen this courageous witch to be my soulmate, and I in turn have chosen her to be my wife. To be our future queen .”

Shouts of outrage erupted from the crowd. Not exactly the reaction I was hoping for, but I wasn’t all that surprised either. I’d just proposed something that had never happened before. We’d never had a queen, the laws stating that only a Venturi female could fill that role. But we’d already changed so many of the kingdom’s rules in the name of progress. What was one more?

If I was to be this kingdom’s king, then I desperately needed a strong queen by my side. I didn’t care that she was a witch who’d once been a blood whore to my people. I only cared that it was her .

Adalyn didn’t even flinch at the growing hostility surrounding us. Her lips silently moved, the bright golden hue of her eyes dulling as they glazed over.

“It’s time, baby girl,” I spoke to her over the shouting and reached up to touch her chin. She flinched this time, her glazed eyes flaring wide.

“No. No, please, no. It can’t be time. I’m not ready!”

At how terrified she sounded, worry filled me. Something was wrong, but I didn’t have time to figure out what.

“Look at me,” I gently encouraged her, tipping her chin up. As those glazed eyes met mine, I slipped off my mask. “It’s time for them to see who you really are, Adalyn. It’s time for them to see what I see.”

“Oh, Everett,” she sobbed, violently trembling as she reached up to undo her own mask. “I’m so sorry.”

I smiled softly as she bravely revealed her face to the crowd for the very first time. Tears tracked down her smooth cheeks, and I gently wiped them away.

“It’s going to be okay, Adalyn,” I said. “We’re going to release you from your debt and pactum now. You’ll finally be free. I won’t let them hurt—”

“Everett, watch out!”

Loch’s roar filled my ears just as Adalyn whipped her arm forward, clutching what looked like a silver knife in her hand.

A knife headed directly for my heart.