3#Awakened by the Vampire Prince (Thorn) (5 page)

There
was a long pause on the other end of the line. “What the fuck, Xavier?” This
was followed by a deep sigh. “You are putting me on the spot here. Take your
female. You are a vampire fucking prince, it’s time to act like one.”

Xavier
sighed. “Didn’t you hear a word I just said? I happen to care greatly about my
female’s feelings and her reputation. She is convinced that her father will die
as a direct result of my overriding York’s claim.”

“Bull-fucking-shit.
If the male dies, it will be from his illness not because you ruined his
daughter’s reputation.”

“Katar
is so much better now that he thinks his beloved daughter is to be mated. He
blamed himself for giving her to us vampires. He will blame himself in the
worst way if she is seen as defective and ridiculed. If I claim her and her
father ends up dying, even if the cause is strictly his illness, she will never
forgive herself. I can’t do that to her.”

“Boo-fucking-hoo,”
Brant growled.

“Put
yourself in my shoes. What if it was Tanya? I know you would do anything for
your female. The last thing you would want would be to see her upset. To blame
herself for the death of a loved one. You don’t just get over something like
that.”

“Tanya
is my mate. It’s different,” Brant’s voice turned icy cold. “Leave her out of
it.”

“You
would’ve felt the same way even before you were mated. I know you would’ve done
anything for her even then. Don’t try and deny it.”

“I
told you to leave her out of it,” he growled.

“Only
because I’m right.” Xavier could hear that he was getting to his brother.

“Fine,”
Brant sighed. “What the fuck do you want?”

“I
told you.” Xavier paused, his eyes locked on York who was standing a few feet
in front of him with an almost desperate look on his face. “Guarantee me that
York can be in the program.”

“I
can’t.”

Xavier
cursed a hard word and York’s face turned a darker shade of red. The male
clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth.

“Calm
the fuck down. The best I can do is to get him into the trials, if he makes it
through, he’s in the program. We have set up parameters to minimize our risk.
There is no bypassing them.”

“What
trials?” Xavier asked. By now York had quit grinding his teeth and had his full
attention on Xavier again. Hope shined in his eyes.

“The
ones in which we plan on testing the males to ensure that they don’t have
bloodlust.”

Xavier
nodded. “Fine. Hold a sec.” He raised his eyebrows in York’s direction.

“What
the fuck?” York growled. “I want in on the program.”

“You
heard Brant, no one bypasses the trials. All you have to do is prove that you
don’t have bloodlust and you’re in. Done fucking deal. That is as much as I can
do. The rest of the warriors will have to fight their way in. Brant explained
that there are limited spots.” Xavier narrowed his eyes on York. “You can count
yourself lucky.”

York
gestured to the phone in Xavier’s hand.

Xavier
put the device to his ear. “York has something to say.”

Brant
growled but didn’t refuse.

York
took the phone. “Good day, my lord.”

There
was a growl on the other end again.

“Thank
you for the opportunity, my lord. What type of trial will I need to pass?”

“You can thank
my brother. If it were up to me, you would fight for the opportunity just like
everybody else.” Xavier heard Brant say through the device.

“In
that case, I’ll be sure to thank Xavier.” York gave a quick shake of the head
and even rolled his eyes as he looked Xavier’s way. “Now about that trial, my lord.”

“Simple,”
Brant growled. “Drink from a human female without going into bloodlust mode and
you are in.”

“That’s
it?” York sounded skeptical.

“Yeah
that’s it. Then you will get to play happy family with your human.”

“Will
I get to choose a female?”

“We’re
still ironing out the details, but yes, ideally couples should be compatible.”
By now Brant was sounding bored.

York
grinned, looking more like he was about to tear something open with his teeth
rather than smiling. “Thank you, my lord.”

“I
told you to thank my brother.”

Still
smiling from ear to ear, York nodded. “Yes, my lord.” He handed the phone back to
Xavier.

“I
don’t think I’ve ever seen York this happy.” Xavier found himself smiling as
well. “He looks terrible. It’s frightening.”

“Go
and get your female. I’m sure you’ll find a way to sort this shit out.”

“I
plan to. On both counts.” Xavier clutched the phone so tightly that he heard
the metal creak and forced himself to release his hold.

“You’ll
owe me for this.”

“Like
fuck.” Xavier chuckled. “You’ll be getting exactly what you wanted in the first
place. Don’t try and turn the shit around.”

“Yeah,
yeah.” Xavier could hear that Brant was smiling. They said their goodbyes and he
ended the call, shoving the phone into his pocket.

“A
human female,” York growled. “I never thought I’d see the day.”

“I’m
glad we managed to work this out.” The thought of York as collateral damage had
not enthused him. He and the male had always gotten along.

“Me
too.” The big male said, his voice deep. “I do not think that the princess
would ever have let me touch her. Not even once we were mated. I think she was
fooling herself into thinking that we could ever be together. So was I for that
matter. I am relieved that this has been resolved.”

“I
don’t think I would ever have let you touch her. Even if you had gone through with
the ceremony… I don’t think I could have allowed it...ever.”

“We’re
in shit if we don’t find a way out of this then. We’d better get back to
Pulamor. Go and speak with Keto. I will dig around to see what I can find. I’m
in with the highborns, I’ll do some careful snooping to try and see if there is
a loophole in the system. I’m sure if we all work together it will work out.”

Xavier
felt his brow crease. “You mating Esral is not an option.”

“Where
is Gideon? Two sets of eyes are better than one.”

Xavier
smiled, he shook his head. “Gideon will be of no use for the next few hours.”

“Where
the hell is…?” York grinned. “Sampling more of the local offerings?”

Xavier
nodded. “You can leave a message for him. Tell him to meet up with you once he
is done so that you can bring him up to speed.”

York
agreed with a quick jerk of the head.

****

Xavier
stared at the closed door for a full minute before knocking on it. He really
hoped that things would go according to plan…not that he had much of a plan.
Keto was a colossal dick but surely the male was not so uncaring that Xavier
wouldn’t be able to get through to him?

He
knocked.
Two hard raps.

The
door opened and he was greeted by a cool stare. It astounded him that he had
ever found this female remotely attractive. Calculating eyes, a pouting, sulky
mouth and a lilt to her chin that spoke of arrogance in the first degree. “What
do you want?” She asked coldly. “My offer is so off the table.”

Xavier
couldn’t help but to roll his eyes. “I wouldn’t touch you if you were the last
female on this planet and I was about to fucking die from blue ball syndrome.”
He kept his voice low, not wanting to start this meeting off on the wrong foot.

He
didn’t think it was possible, but her pout grew. “You are a male, you would
beg.”

He
choked out a laugh. “You’re funny. Never.” He growled the last a bit too
harshly it seemed, because her eyes widened and she took a step back.

Good.
Unfortunately, she wouldn’t get the true picture. As in, he was being deadly
serious. Females like this one could not comprehend that a male wasn’t
interested. They just didn’t buy it no matter how many times you told them. “As
riveting as this conversation is”—he faked a yawn—“I need to speak with Keto.”

With
a quick glance behind her, she shook her head. “He’s busy.” She put her hands
on her hips as if to signal that she had some type of authority.

“Bullshit.
Call him. Do it now.” He was done being polite. Tap dancing around this female
that seemed to enjoy taunting Esral. She was some piece of work.

Cheri
cocked her head to the side. “No.” Her eyes were wide. They sparkled
with…enjoyment. This was one big fucking joke to her. The problem was, he
wasn’t laughing.

Xavier
grabbed her by the hips trying to touch her as little as possible. He actually
felt himself grimace with the contact. With a quick turn, he deposited her
outside before striding into the chamber and through the side door straight to Keto’s
office.

The
elf rose quickly from behind his desk. “What the fuck?” He mumbled as Xavier
entered.

“He
forced his way in,” Cheri shrieked from behind him. “Touched me with his filthy
bloodsucker hands.”

Not
even bothering to turn, he kept his eyes focused on Keto. “I told your female that
I’m not interested in her. Not in the least. She seems to have a hearing
problem.”

Cheri
gasped. “That’s rubbish, Keto, he tried to seduce me a few days ago.”

Keto’s
expression changed to one of confusion. “Can somebody please tell me what the
fuck is going on? Why are you here?” He looked Xavier head on. “And what the
fuck are you talking about?” Then, he looked past Xavier to where Cheri was
standing.

“Nothing,”
she said. “Never mind.” Cheri didn’t sound happy. “It was a misunderstanding.”

“I
thought so.” Keto folded his arms across his chest. “Can I help you with
something?” Eyes made from polar ice shifted their attention to him.

“I
need to discuss something with you.” Xavier tried to keep his voice down. “In
private.” He spoke over his shoulder towards where Cheri would be standing.

Cheri
gave an irritated snort and even moved into the room to stand next to Keto, a self-satisfied
smirk on her face.

“Anything
you have to say to me you can say in front of my future mate.” It was as if
Keto was trying to piss him off on purpose. The male put his arm around the
female, pulling her against his side. The smug look on her face only
intensified.

This
female was trouble with a capital fucking T.

“I
would rather not.” Xavier tried to take the more polite route even though it pissed
him off having to do it.

“Just
say what you have to say. I am acting in my father’s place and have more things
to take care of than there are hours in the fucking day.” He gestured to the
slim line laptop on his desk which was surrounded by stacks of papers.

Xavier
folded his arms. “It’s something that concerns Esral, your sister. A private
matter that she would not wish to have broadcasted.” He pointedly looked at
Cheri who actually smiled looking every bit the sly bitch she was.

“Esral
will soon be Cheri’s sister.” Keto removed some nonexistent lint from his robe,
looking distinctly bored. “My female only wants to help Esral.”

How
fucking stupid was this male?

“Listen
up.” Xavier felt his chest rumble with the start of a low growl. “Esral is your
fucking little sister.
Yours
to protect and defend. This needs to be
between you and me and these four walls. Am I making myself clear?” His hands
had curled into fists at his sides and so help him, he was going to hit this
male if he didn’t cooperate.

Thank
fuck Keto gave a quick nod of the head. He looked pissed about it though.
Releasing Cheri, he gave her a tap on the butt. “Don’t you have a lot to
prepare for the ceremony?”

She
shook her head, looking like she’d just been slapped. “You’re not going to let
him push you around in your own home, in your own territory for blooming sakes
are you?”

Keto
sighed. “Please, Cheri, just do as I say.”

“Fine,”
she huffed. Xavier was sure he heard her mutter, “Pussy fucking prince,” under
her breath as she closed the door. It was too soft for Keto to have heard. The
funny thing was, he wasn’t sure whether she was talking about him or Keto,
although he suspected the latter. The female was a piece of work.

“I
really don’t have time for this. Please can we make it quick.” His brows were
raised.

Xavier
had to suppress a growl. “Do you care anything for your sister?”

The
male narrowed his eyes. “Of course I do. I don’t see what that has to do with
anything.”

“She
loves me,” Xavier blurted. There was no other way to put it.

Keto’s
eyes narrowed right after his jaw dropped.

“I
love her too…very much.” His voice was thick with emotion, which even in this
situation still coursed through him as he thought about her soft blue eyes and
her incredible smile.