“Why?” I pressed. “Did someone send you?”
The vampires clamped their mouths closed. I concentrated, tightening the fiery circle around them so that the flames licked their skin.
“Who sent you to kill me?”
They raised their chins in defiance. It seemed they were willing to die for their cause. I’d have to find another way to get the truth out of them.
The truth.
I reached into the bodice of my dress and retrieved the lime I’d hidden there. I reached straight through the flames and shoved the fruit into the muscular vampire’s mouth. He immediately spat it onto the floor. Thankfully he didn’t need to eat it in order for it to work.
“Who sent you?” I demanded again.
“The princess.” His eyes bulged as he realized he’d given up the information.
“Which one?” As far as I knew, there was only one at the gala, but I needed to be sure.
“Louise,” he said.
Princess Louise was more jealous than I realized. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered. She’d hired these goons to get rid of me because she had a crush on Callan? Was she out of her royal mind? I wasn’t even a vampire. How much of an obstacle could I be to her marriage plans?
“What reason did she give?” I asked.
“She doesn’t need a reason,” the thinner vampire said. “She’s the heir to House Peyton. We do as she tells us.”
A spoiled and calculating heir, just what the realm needed.
My pulse quickened at a knock on the door.
Before I could answer, the door cracked open and Callan’s face appeared. He took one look at the two vampires wreathed in flame and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
“So this is why you left in such a hurry. A private party.” He folded his arms. “Really, London. I’m hurt you didn’t invite me.”
I glowered at him. “They were waiting for me when I came back to the room and attacked me. They work for your little friend.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Which little friend is that?”
“Starts with Princess and ends with Louise.”
He whistled. “You’re joking.”
“I wish.”
He started toward the door. “I’ll take care of it.”
I rushed to block his exit. “No, absolutely not.”
He laughed. “You think I’m going to let this go? They could’ve killed you.”
“But they didn’t. Listen, you can’t say anything.” I wasn’t Helen of Troy. No one needed to start a war on my account.
Callan looked at my fingers now encircling his wrist and I released him, slightly embarrassed by the outburst. Touching him like that—the gesture was too familiar. Clearly our flirtatious exchange at the gala had been forgotten, or maybe it had never happened at all. Maybe the lime trees emitted more than a citrus scent and a truthful influence. Maybe they were spelled as well.
His gaze flicked to the two vampires. “What do you think will happen when these guys return to her with their report?”
“She won’t try again. We leave in the morning.”
“If you believe that, you don’t know royal vampires very well.” Callan swaggered toward them with an expression that suggested death and dismemberment. I never wanted to be on the receiving end of that particular face.
“Do you know who I am?”
The vampires’ heads bobbed in unison.
“Good. You will do two things for me,” he said in a voice that demanded nothing short of obedience. “One—you will leave here and never show your face to this woman again. Two—you will tell Princess Louise that your target warded the door to her room and you were unable to carry out the plan. Make it clear the target remains ignorant of the princess’s order. Understood?”
Both vampires nodded.
“Good. Dismissed.”
I released my hold on the flames and they dissipated. The vampires made a beeline for the door.
I waited until they were gone to relax. “What makes you think they’ll obey you over the princess?”
His face hardened. “Experience.” He surveyed the room. “I’m staying here tonight. No arguments. It’s my fault you’re in danger in the first place.”
I opened my mouth to object and his fingers gently brushed across my lips and nudged them closed.
“I said no arguments,” he said, this time with a surprising softness.
“My clothes are in the bathroom. I’ll get changed there.”
“If you insist.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I do.” I turned and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind me with extra flair. The sound of his laughter erupted from the bedroom.
I slipped out of the dress and took solace in the fact that Louise hadn’t been clever enough to poison it. She was young, though. Give the vampire enough time and she’d become a challenging adversary for anyone. Tomorrow I’d return to Britannia City with no plans to set foot in Devon anytime soon and the princess would soon forget all about me. So would the prince for that matter.
I scrubbed the makeup from my face and brushed my teeth. When I emerged from the bathroom, the prince was standing by the window gazing outward at the thickening mist.
“Will you go straight to pack headquarters from the train tomorrow?” he asked.
“I haven’t decided. Depends on whether the return journey is as eventful as our journey to Exeter.”
He cracked a smile. “You do seem to have a penchant for trouble.”
“I’m a knight. It’s part of the package.”
He craned his neck to look at me. “You’re still every bit as beautiful as you were at the gala.”
I glanced at the lime still on the floor where the vampire had spat it out. I shouldn’t have stolen one. Whatever spell it had been treated with was still working its magic on Callan.
“I’m going to bed now.”
He inclined his head. “It’s king-sized.”
I made a sad face. “Ah. Too bad you’re only a prince.”
His fangs gleamed in the candlelight. “You are a mystery, London Hayes. A glorious, alluring mystery.”
“And I shall remain so.” I ducked past him and slipped onto the bed. “Good-night, Your Royal Flirt. Sleep well.”
“Not at all,” he assured me. “I’ll be too busy watching over you.”
I yawned. “I don’t need a stalker. Just go to bed. I’ve taken care of myself this long. I’ll make it one night at Peyton Castle.”
His gaze traveled down the length of me. “No blanket?”
“I’m not cold.” And it would make it easier to defend myself if I had to leap to my feet.
“How can I offer to keep you warm if you aren’t cold?”
“Still flirting,” I said. I plumped the pillow and turned my head to face the opposite direction.
It was the lime. There was no other explanation.
Except the lime inspired truthfulness, not deceit.
“I’m impressed you managed to subdue them both on your own.”
“Years of practice.”
He moved to the other side of the room so that I was facing him again. “Show me.”
I frowned. “Show you what?”
“How you ensnared them. I’d like to see your moves.”
I laughed. “I’m not showing you anything. Good-night, Your Highness.”