It's amazing how much time has gone by, thousands of years, and here I find myself in the exact same place. I used to come to this spring that lies just beyond Valderanna's castle grounds every day after helping my father train the warriors. It was the only place I felt a sense of peace.

Watching the sun's light fade over the calm waters of the spring, I heave a heavy sigh before pushing to my feet. Everyone has been commanded to attend supper.

Wishing I didn't have to, I make my way back toward the castle. There are too many memories held within the castles stone walls. Most of them secrets, most of them involving Kinley.

The past clings to me like vines of thorns tangling around my stilled heart, lungs, and every other organ in me. The thorns dig into me so deep that, with every move I make, they drive further into me as if they are trying to reach the part of me only Kinley has ever touched. It's a pain that makes me want to rip my soul from my body to end this misery.

My life would be much easier if it could just let her go. Instead, my soul holds onto every blush, every stolen glance, every part of her that it grew to love without realizing what was happening.

To love and lose is not better. Not when you are an immortal.

"Where did you run off to?" Serena asks, she and the others waiting outside the royal dining room as it is almost time for supper.

"Fresh air," I answer curtly, my gaze scanning the gathered body of vampires for Kinley.

The Dark Prince ordered her to rest in her chambers upon our arrival. I don't know if she will be joining us. I hope she doesn't because her fear of my kind will only climb if she witnesses what it is like to dine in the company of the Prince.

When the royal dining room doors open, the aromatic scent of human blood burns in my throat and down into my lungs. As we all file in, myrus stand beside each chair, their slit open wrist positioned over the cup they have been charged with filling.

Two young girls stand by the Dark Prince's seat at the head of the table. They aren't just human. They are two of the Prince's other massarra. He has four total. Five if you count Kinley. They keep their heads bowed and hands clasped together in front of them.

The Dark Prince didn't waste any time fetching them. Why would he when their blood will help him regain his strength the quickest?

I stand behind the chair next to Thron. These are the same seats we took long ago.

"I see everyone is here and on time. This pleases me greatly. Have a seat." The Dark Prince enters the room, signaling the blood slaves to leave with a flick of his wrist.

Wrapping their cut wrists with rags they carry to ensure they do not accidentally spill blood on the white linen cloth, the myrus leave.

The massarra to his right offers her wrist to the Prince. Her face scrunches in pain as he bites into it, spilling her crimson over the cup the bears his crest.

The richness of the massarra's free-flowing blood turns the whites of everyone who is gathered around the table black. Her blood smells like honeydew melon. It's sweet by human standards but nowhere near as potent as Kinley's.

Dragging his tongue slowly over the bite mark once his cup is filled, the Dark Prince takes his time healing the wound he inflicted. He wouldn't dare let a drop of one of his massarra's blood be wasted.

Once he has her wound completely healed over, the two massarra take their seats at the two chairs in the corner of the room. They are not permitted to leave the dining room as long as the Dark Prince is here. They must always be present to satisfy his ravenous thirst.

There is no other vampire with a thirst greater than the Dark Prince. His hunger for blood surpasses even my own.

"Ah." The Dark Prince closes his eyes, savoring the sip he took from his cup before he sets it down on the table. "As much as it warms my cold heart to see familiar faces among the new ones, we have much to discuss in the way of preparations."

"Preparations for what?"

Leave it to Kalista to speak out of turn.

The Dark Prince smiles at her, his eyes lighting up with an excitement that is never a good thing. "War, Princess."

"War? But you have been woken? Surely the Norvak will not seek a war against us now." Kalista's question causes the Prince to slap the table as a loud laugh burst from his throat.

"My dear, child. You are as simple-minded as your father. War with the Norvaks." He shakes his head. "The Norvaks will be fighting alongside us in this war. They along with every able-bodied vampire will all come together to help me take back what was lost long ago. This world belongs to me, to us, to the Vampirie. I have seen enough of what the humans have done to our home. It is time for us to rise from the shadows your father put us in and reign over the humans as we were designed to do."

"A war with the humans?" Kalista's shock mirrors that of the surprised faces of Serena and Sabrina. The council members at the table remain expressionless as does Thron.

I knew the Dark Prince would make this move. I didn't think it would be so soon.

"Yes, the humans have lost their way. Now is the time to strike. They think they are invincible, the apex predator of these lands. They could not be more wrong. I have already given orders to start gathering intel for our attack. We will take back what is ours swiftly. Great loss will be sustained for the humans but that is a price we must pay to restore order." He snaps his fingers and the Massarra who has yet to fill his cup gets up.

All this talk of war is making his thirst more pronounced.

After she fills his cup and he heals her wrist, he shoos her away. "War preparations are not what I am here to discuss. We have other things to do before we get to that point such as the crowning ceremony that will be held at the week's end. Most of our kind do not know that Alekos is no longer king. It is time they see the face of their new one. It is here I will also introduce the new pairings that have been made."

I bite hard on my back teeth to keep my mouth shut.

"Pairings?" Kalista's voice heightens in her nervousness. I can sense her gaze has moved to me but mine stays locked on the Dark Prince.

"I made your father a promise, Princess, that I would take you as my next mate. It's all he's ever wanted for you, a seat at the throne. I will grant him his dying wish." The Prince grabs Kalista's hand as she is seated next to him and kisses it. "Don't worry, love. I will wait to claim you as mine until after your Awakening."

My father's tight jaw tells me he isn't pleased with the pairing. He wanted Kalista for me, to keep me away from Kinley.

He doesn't need to pair me off for that. Kinley's hate for me will do that for him. I relax my clench fists when cold liquid begins spilling forth from the puncture my nails dug into my palms.

"You said pairings?" Sabrina speaks up, Kalista too stunned to form words at hearing her fate has been tied to the Prince.

"I have decided to reward the Norvak bloodline. They sought what any true subjects of mine would want—liberation. Alekos was a poor ruler. While he did do as was planned long ago, he failed in many other areas that I cannot overlook. As I recently learned that Tristan has taken one of the Norvak's sons, it is only fair I offer them a female from the Darkos bloodline as payment for their loss. Kerrien Novak had his choice of you or Serena. He chose Serena as she is more suited to his taste."

I am about to lunge from my chair and take my chances with the Prince when the dining room doors open, the sight of Kinley wearing a dress with flowing silks and sheer fabrics halting me. She nervously keeps her head down as she follows...

"Marianna?" Her former caretakers name falls from my lips. I didn't think she survived the war.

"Tristan." She tips her head in my direction, acknowledging me while she continues to lead Kinley over to the Prince.

I can tell Kinley isn't comfortable in her new attire. The backline of it plunges so deep it stops less than an inch away from her rear. The sheer fabric fastened to the shoulders of the dress flows down her backside and drags the floor three feet behind her.

The Dark Prince always did love to put her in intricate gowns. It was a way for another to know upon sight who she was and that she is forbidden to them.

"It still fits." The Prince stands, meeting Kinley before she can make it to his seat at the head of the table. He grabs her hands and pulls them out to her sides as he steps back to regard her. "How lucky am I to have created such a stunning creature. You are truly one of a kind. Your god made your flesh but I breathed life back into it," he boasts proudly.

"I have good news. The other surprise I promised you has already arrived." The Prince gives a command and the door that is on the other end of the dining room opens revealing a male vampire who is bound in chains.

Kinley's heart rate spikes immediately, her eyes widening in terror. She covers her mouth as tears gather along her lower lashes.

"I take it you recognize him then."

"That's the... the demon with the angel's face who killed my parents."

"Well, not your real parents as they died over five thousand years ago. However, I understand he caused you a great deal of pain. Because I am a generous ruler, his death is my gift to you. You see, Kinley, he broke the rules when he bit you." The Dark Prince puts his arm around Kinley's shoulder as he speaks into her ear.

"His bloodline's only job was to keep track of you and, if they did, they would be rewarded handsomely," he continues, whispering so that their conversation is construed as an intimate one the rest of us are privy to. "He was the first to fail at that job. He spent centuries looking for you and when he found you again, your sweet, sweet, blood apparently drove him mad. Not to mention he was probably disgruntled as he had been told he would no longer be needed or receive payments for his service as he lost you."

"What do you mean his bloodline's only job was to watch after her? Kinley was stolen before the war." Venom saturates my every word with a potency that has my blood running into near sub-freezing temperatures.

"Are you really that naïve beast to think I would allow someone to steal Kinley?" The Dark Prince's hissing laughter grates on my willpower to stay seated. In under a tenth of a second, I have him slammed up against the wall, his feet dangling in the air as I keep him pinned to it.

"We started a war to get her back," I growl, pressing my forearm into his throat, very aware that if he wanted to he could send me crashing to my knees at any moment.

"You started a war to get her back." He pokes his finger into my chest. "I started a war to spill enough blood that the god of the humans' white army could never step foot onto the soil of this planet again. Kinley was never missing. Though you did come close to finding her that day before the blast of light came down. Luckily, Thron was there to stop you."

"Nothing you say is adding up. An angel had Kinley that day. If she was being looked after how do you explain that." I let the Prince drop to his feet on the floor, keeping my arm barred across his chest and him pushed up against the wall so he knows I mean business.

His eyes glint with amusement at my frustration and anger. "You have no idea the lengths I have gone to protect Kinley. The angels wanted nothing more than to take her from us. When the war broke out, they came after her. The child you thought was Kinley was one of the decoys I used. The blanket was Kinley's. Her scent would have been all over it. The real baby Kinley was just a mile away from you, a snug little cherub being looked after by the human caretakers I compelled to watch out for her to throw off the angels and you."

Before I can rip out the Dark Prince's damn throat, I find myself being pulled back and Thron between us.

My father's eyes slit into daggers. "Do not overstep your place. We all have a part to play and you did yours. So the Prince used your blinding rage to his advantage. It is no different than you using your position to take liberties with this massarra. An act that easily could have ended with your head being taken off. Instead, the Prince allowed you to live because you are my son and his mate gave her power over to you. The only person you should be upset with is yourself for allowing a human to bewitch you with her innocence."

My attention gets pulled to the sound of a sword being pulled out of a sheath.

"Wait!" Kinley rushes forward, halting the soldier from lopping off the head of the vampire who killed her "parents". One of her hands goes over her chest as if it is going to help keep the pieces of her broken heart from falling out. "I...I want him to suffer like he made them suffer." Kinley bites back the tears attempting to spill down her cheeks.

The Dark Prince erupts in laughter and in a flash is beside Kinley framing her face delicately. "This is why you are my favorite. You are always full of surprises. How would you like him to suffer? I can make it last hours or years. You tell me what it is you want and I will make sure it happens." He tilts her face up to him and presses a kiss to each of her tear-filled eyes.

"Tristan. Stop." My father's yell vaguely reaches me as a black swirling energy wells around me. The mixture of blood and venom a perfect marriage in my mouth as rage climbs in me and, with it, the black energy sphere around me grows larger.

It's happening to me again, just like it did that day on the battlefield. It isn't smoke. It's the power inside these veins of mine. It is being pulled out of me as I harness it and turn it into a black energy mass of destruction and death.

I can feel the Prince trying to exert his control over me to get me to stop, but he can't get through the energy wall that is surrounding me to reach the half of me he can control.

The black energy sparks with bolts of high-powered electricity. The panic in the room rises. The energy being drawn out of me collapses, slamming back into me with a force that almost sweeps me off my feet. My narrowed gaze stays locked on the Dark Prince, his hands positioned to tear Kinley's head clean off her shoulders.

"My, my, aren't you still possessive? I forgot how easily you are triggered when it comes to her. I also see you are gaining your strength much quicker than I would have liked. I hope you know I don't want to do this, but you leave me no choice. You will learn to submit to me, Tristan, even if I have to use a different kind of force to make you obey."

Kinley drops to the ground, wailing in pain as the Dark Prince begins to crush the bones in her shoulder. "Do you know the great thing about Kinley's curse? It's that she won't remember this moment. You will. You will have to live with her cries knowing you caused them." He releases Kinley, her arm hanging limply at her side as tears spill down her face.

I want to tap into that power that started to come out of me and kill him. If I did, Kinley would be killed. She'd explode right before my eyes.

"Marianna, escort Kinley back to her chambers and tend to her shoulder. I will stop by to check on her a little later."

Marianna comes to Kinley's side and kneels. "Come, child. Let's get you mended and tucked in for the night. It has been a long day and your ailing body could use some rests."

"No," the Dark Prince says to me when I take a step to follow them. "You will stay here."

"She won't drink the blood if you offer it to her," I argue through clenched teeth.

"Then that is her choice to make."

"She doesn't know any better. She isn't used to any of this." I push down the energy trying to resurface in my fury.

"You should have thought about that before you decided to try and kill me for being nice to her. Your temper is truly the worst quality about you. If I could, I would lock you in a cage like the beast you are. However, you are useful to me in many ways. It's why I tolerate your blatant disrespect for my orders."

"Why did the angels want Kinley? What could they possibly want with an immortal human?" I attempt to redirect myself, hoping I can calm myself before I do something that will hurt those who don't deserve it.

"How is it that you think I raised Kinley from the dead, hm? The dark arts alone would not permit me to raise a child of the humans' god. I had to have an angel to do that. Celestial beings can gift their hearts to a human to prolong their life should it be cut short. Kinley's life was cut short."

"The angel sacrificed in order to perform the ritual. She's inside Kinley?" A high pitch ringing erupts in my head, my struggle to comprehend the information the Prince of Darkness has unveiled tangled in with the deeds of my past.

"It's a simple task really. The human gets to live out their life. They die. The angel gets their heart back, except Kinley will never die. An angel's soul resides in their heart. That means one is trapped inside Kinley. Two souls. One body. That is why Kinley's blood is so sweet. She has white magic that lives within her."

The reason I can't find the Kinley who fell in love with me is because the light being inside of her won't allow it. Angels are natural enemies of our kind. There is no way she would allow Kinley to become mine if she could help it.

"What about the curse? Why does she keep being reborn if the angel's white magic is what is keeping her alive?"

"Angels usually go dormant to let the human live out their life normally. Nevertheless, the one in Kinley is a nasty little bitch who keeps letting her power consume Kinley just to spite me," the Dark Prince seethes bitterly.

"How do we get her out?" A sliver of hope dwells in me. I need to fix this before I lose Kinley again.

Angels can whisper in humans' minds much in the way demons can. They can't compel them like we do, but they can guide humans, steering them away from darkness and toward the light.

The Prince shrugs. "There is a way, but Kinley won't be alive at the end of it."