Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Luc

Luc POV

"She escaped AGAIN?"

Luc hurled an eighteenth-century china shepherdess at the stone fireplace. The pretty figurine shattered in a thousand little pieces.

He hated to do that to one of his collectibles, but brutalizing the servants was less accepted than in the past. No one could ever accuse his parents of being progressive or modern, but they'd given him an earful when he tortured Louis for information.

Queen Katia and King Aleksandr Lyunov had clucked their tongues at him. "We do not mistreat our servants," his mother, Raina, told him.

Luc raked his hand through his black hair. "And what else was I supposed to do after your precious baby, Dimitri, disobeyed you and disrespected our family?"

King Aleksandr, silver-haired with golden eyes, gripped Luc's shirt front and hoisted him high in the air with vampire strength. Even at seven hundred years old. King Aleksandr had incredible physical prowess. "He's still your brother, and we still want him back."

Luc snorted. "When even Irina can't lure the little weasel out of his lair, you know he's uncontrollable. You let him take his sweet time--"

Katia's blood-red lips thinned. "What do you expect from Lammas? They're weak. I never thought she was a good match, even to seal an alliance. Just what did you tell the little witch to do?"

Luc chose his words with care. "Just to go talk to him, and see what kind of spell this Wilberforce girl has put on him. Apparently, she's bewitched him, but good."

She must be the lay of the century, he thought. Of several centuries. Why else would his little brother risk family honor, staking, and his parents' wrath? Maybe Ariana had enticed his brother long before that night in his parents' castle.

King Aleksandr gripped his encrypted iPhone. Specially encrypted. No one outside of vamp kingdoms knew the old vampire tongue. "My spies say that they can't lure him out of the villa. And the people in the city always seem to unmask whoever I send after him. I'll say one thing for Dimitri ... he commands loyalty."

Luc gritted his teeth so hard his fangs ached. "Yes. It's that 'poor little rich vampire prince' act he put on."

"But he's charming," Queen Katia noted, with a pointed look.

Yes. Charming little Dimitri. Everyone's favorite. And the family disgrace, in Luc's eyes. The closet rebel. How else did one explain throwing away centuries of tradition and royal honor?

Dimitri got to rebel. He didn't have the weight of succession on him, the future responsibilities of ruling Merak. He could laugh and enchant and bamboozle, and get an easy ride. He had that luxury.

Luc's mother dug her perfectly manicured nails into the flesh of his arm. "I hate it when you look like that. Disapproving," she said with a pout. "He's your little brother."

"Oh really. And here I thought someone switched him at birth."

She sucked air through her teeth. "He's just a little misguided. It's this human woman. I know how these things work. Human women will do whatever they have to in order to save themselves. They look so innocent and 'respectable,' but they'll trade their virtue in a heartbeat. It's the way of the world. What we need to do is betroth him to someone else. Someone he, and we, can't object to."

Mirabel stormed into the room. "Why can't you just leave him alone? All of you?"

Luc rolled his eyes at his quixotic baby sister. "Well, well. The other rebel of the family deigns to put in an appearance."

Red-lipped Mirabel crossed her arms. "I'm the bastard of the family. What do you expect?"

Queen Katia covered her eyes with her hand. "This whole British soap opera script you're playing out is mildly amusing, Mirabel."

Dressed in cutoff jeans and a halter top, Mirabel looked more like a cute coed than a vampire princess. "You didn't see the girl, Mother. She was terrified."

"Of course she was. She didn't know the honor she's been given," Katia replied.

King Aleksandr looped an arm around his wife. "An honor for the ages. Our entire palace has celebrated this ritual, shrouded in mystery and tradition, for centuries. Everyone is in shock. This has never happened before!"

Queen Katia kissed his hand. "We'll set it right, my love. We'll drag this foolish girl back. Do you have a plan, Luc?"

He always had plans. "Yes, I do. I have people ... highly skilled, discreet, powerful. They'll eat for the right moment, then breach Dimitri's hidey-hole."

"Villa," King Aleksandr corrected. "A fortress."

"It won't matter," Luc murmured. "My associates will get in as easily as serpents slithering through cracks."

Except the Rostovs had botched the job. It was a real clanger, as the Brits would say.

Returning to the present moment of destruction with shattered figurines littering the floor, Luc summoned a servant to clean up the mess. He left the second floor parlor and took a walk through the magnificent medieval palace.

He called Irina on the cell phone and spoke quietly. "How did you let them slip through your fingers? Did you throw a jealous hissy fit?"

The silence spoke volumes.

"She's so ... human," Irina stated, her voice dripping with contempt. "Pretty, in that American corn-fed farmer's daughter way. But so human."

"You were supposed to lure him, not alienate him."

The sound of laughter and music in a restaurant piqued his interest. "Are you still in the city near Dimitri's invincible fortress?"

"Outskirts. I wouldn't dare go near the downtown. The Rostovs ... well, they lack self-control."

Elder Gods. If his parents ever found out that he used the Rostovs to bludgeon Dimitri into surrendering, and worse, that he failed spectacularly, he'd be the one with a stake through his heart. Carefree Mirabel might take over, as the next eldest.

He lowered his voice. "Are they all dead?"

"Most. Your brother has prisoners."

"Sh*t."

He raked a hand through his usual impeccably styled hair.

"How in the world could you let him take prisoners? No, don't tell me. You went to the villa, marched up to the door like some melodrama ..."

Her voice was calm and slow, as if explaining something to a toddler. "Luc, I couldn't get in any other way. He vampire-proofed the building. Besides ... I'm not acrobatic. I couldn't just climb in through a window like some common thief."

He scowled. "If my brother has prisoners, he probably knows everything. The minute he tells my parents, I'm staked. Sprinkle me with garlic. This is a disaster. We have to do something."

"No argument here," she purred. "I think we've gone about this all wrong."

"Explain."

He could hear the wheels turning in her mind. "We just make it very uncomfortable for him to keep his little human toy. Maybe create 'the Curse of Trenholm.' It's not a Gothic novel ... it's an ancient curse I just invented. Unless this human princess is found and sacrificed, our people will suffer a terrible fate."

A grin spread across his face, lighting up his eyes. "I like it."

"Social media should help. Especially the vampire apps," she purred. "Like that human horror movie, 'The Blair Witch Project.' People almost thought it was real."

"Naturally--humans wouldn't know a real vampire until it bit them in their necks. I love your idea. I can program a deepfake. I'm actually skilled at that." He'd learned programming out of boredom and become quite adept.

She smiled. "I'll spread the word here. Trust me, you'll have your blood sacrifice and I'll have my prince very soon."

"I love you."

Elder Gods, how did that come out so sappy?

She cooed, "Oh, Luc, you've always been so good to me. You're the best brother-in-law ever."

"I love you ... like my future sister," he said, blushing hotter than the setting sun.

What was wrong with him?

CREATORS' THOUGHTS
AmandaMadden

I just had to spotlight our second FL and Luc's feelings for her. He's always loved her, but his parents wanted Dimitri to marry her, probably to make him more ruthless.

Creation is hard, cheer me up!

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