Victorija couldn’t believe her ears. Her own protégée was plotting against her?

“Yes, I do. I will give you anything.”

Treacherous little fuck.

“Are you sure this will go well?” Drasas continued. “She is a born vampire, too strong for me.”

Always will be, you gutter trash.

“Believe me, you will soon have more power than Victorija can dream of. Then you will take her head and burn her heart to dust,” Anka said.

Drasas had been sleeping on the street, sickly, starving, and with no hope when Victorija met her. How could she?

“What shall we do with Daisy MacDougall once Victorija is dead?”

“Kill her.”

That remark made her snarl. Daisy might be a human with delusions of grandeur, but she was her Daisy, and her Brassard, and she would make sure she kept Daisy alive, if only for Angele’s sake. But Victorija wanted to live. There had to be some way to break this bond. There was always a way. She had to think.

As Victorija walked, she thought, I gave Drasas everything.

She followed her instinct to get out of the castle and go for a ride. She approached the stable block and saw one of her stablehands brushing down her favourite horse, Angel.

The lad was seventeen and had worked in the castle stables since he was a young boy. His father was her dresser, and they were two of the humans that she could be accused of being fond of and were off limits to her vampires.

“Jacque, I’d like to take Angel out for a ride.”

“Yes, Principe, I’ll get her ready for you.”

As she was waiting for her horse to be saddled, she saw Drasas running out the door to meet her. Victorija stood a little straighter and tried to appear as well as possible. “Drasas?”

“Principe, Leo said you had fed from Daisy. How are you feeling?”

“Excellent, Drasas. I think after a few more days, I will be back to full strength, the born vampire that I always was.”

Drasas looked uneasy. “Wonderful, Principe. I was thinking, since you’re feeling better, why don’t we have one of those grand balls we used to have? We could invite Anka and her witches, toast our new alliance?”

Although she had already overheard Drasas’s plans, hearing it now whilst looking her right in the eye cut even deeper. She forced a smile and said, “What a wonderful idea, Drasas. Set it up.”

“Yes, Principe.”

When Drasas walked away, Victorija said, “Oh, Duca?”

Drasas turned around. “Yes?”

“I will pay you back for your loyalty to me as Duca. Where would I be without you?”

Drasas looked slightly unsure but then walked away.

Once she was out of earshot, Victorija said to Jacque, “Stick around. I want to talk to you when I get back.”

Plans were already formulating in Victorija’s brain. They were giving her much needed energy, and the adrenaline was helping with the blood sickness.