Unraveling Selena by Marisa Maichel (best ereader for comics TXT) 📖

The idea to write my own song had been Sarah’s. Clapping ensued after I was finished. I pulled Sarah to me, to a few gasps and deep breaths.

“This is Sarah,” Father said. “She will soon be your princess as soon as they can set a wedding date.”

Sarah’s eyes widened, and she looked horrified at me. I kissed her hair, whispering for her to relax, he was only saying that out of protocol, which was a lie, and I think she could sense that.

An Italian vampire couple came up to us first.

“Principessa,” said the woman, curtseying.

“Prince,” said the man, bowing.

So it continued for a few minutes as classical music played and we were greeted by hundreds of people, mostly vampires and a few curious humans.

“Princess,” said a blond woman wearing a frilly pink dress.

“I’ve always wanted to marry a prince,” Sarah said to me after that. “Most girls only dream about it. I get to actually do it.”

“A lot of girls dream about having a vampire for a boyfriend or a girlfriend,” I said. “Very few get to have one.”

“Sarah,” Louis said, “It’s almost time for your song. Better get ready.”

She gulped, then took up a different guitar. I felt my eyes widen. When she began playing “Riptide” by Vance Joy, my newly beating heart stopped. I had no idea she could play guitar. And here she was, incredible at it. Oh, sure, she made a few mistakes, mostly very minor ones, but she kept going until the song was finished.

And then her heart started beating faster. She put the guitar down as the audience clapped, and half-run to the balcony. I took off after her. She was throwing up in the rose bushes, much to the disgust of Toby, who looked shocked and horrified.

“Sarah? What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Just some meat I ate- “

“Don’t lie to me, Sarah,” I said warningly.

“Okay, it was nerves. I was afraid. Most of them eat humans.”

“Not humans, but their blood.”

“They’ve all killed humans.”

“Most of them have. What’s wrong? You weren’t like this last year.”

“I didn’t sing in front of hundreds of people last year! I’m sorry…” She sat on the bench and started crying. I sat beside her.

“Hey, baby, it’s okay,” I said, taking her close. “Toby, go get my father. I want a word with him.”

“No!” Sarah shrieked.

“Sarah, we cannot fix the problem if we don’t-“

“I don’t know why I’m crying this much! I shouldn’t be crying right now. There really is no reason for it…”

“Stop that right now,” I ordered. “Toby, get my mother and sister. And Sabine, if you can find her. I need to speak with Father.”

“What’s going on?” Kieran asked, coming onto the balcony. I was surprised to see him. He was at the wedding, but I didn’t expect him to come to the ball.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” Mother asked, sitting on Sarah’s other side.

“I’m just overwhelmed,” she said. “I don’t know how I feel right now. I’m scared because of all the people, but I’m also nervous about how they saw me, and to hear that I’m a princess now…”

My eyes darkened. I was about to commit patricide. And I would have, if Kieran and Toby hadn’t been holding me back a millisecond later. Kieran had my right arm, and Toby had my left arm.

“Where’s your boyfriend, son?” Alexander said teasingly. His eyes narrowed at the sight of me trying to attack my father and of Sarah in Mother’s arms.

“Let me at him,” I snapped. “I will fucking murder him!”

“Who?!” Alexander demanded.

“Mordecai,” Kieran said. “He caused Sarah undue stress, and now Reese is angry at him. Hold on, I’m getting a call from Kellan.”

“What’s going on?” Father asked, finally coming out. I bared and snapped my fangs at him, scaring Sarah further, Mother hissed at me, baring her own white fangs, which had grown in seconds.

“You!” I hissed. “You stressed Sarah out, and now she’s upset! I won’t ever forgive you, ever!”

“She told me she was okay with doing it!” Father shouted back. “I don’t know why she’s getting upset now!”

“It was the pressure,” Toby croaked. He clutched at his throat.

“Ah, no speaking, Toby,” Mother chided him. He nodded.

“It was a misunderstanding,” Sarah said. “I’m sorry I freaked out. But I’m okay now.”

“No, you’re not,” I said.

“Go to your room and rest,” Mother said.

“I’m sorry, Mordecai and Reese,” Sarah said, tears falling down her cheeks. “I didn’t expect this. I thought it would be like last year.”

Father sighed. “I should have been honest with you, Sarah. That was my folly, and I apologize. You do not have to go back out there for the next song. I will just have Reese finish his songs.”

Sarah stood up and threw her arms around my father. His eyes widened, then he relaxed and hugged her back. My stomach twisted in anger and jealousy. I still wanted to kill him.

“Can I go to bed in an hour?” Sarah asked.

“Of course, you don’t need to ask,” Father told her. “You can go to bed right now if you want. You and your sister are a part of our family now. You are like a daughter to me.”

Her eyes widened like his, then she stood up on her toes and kissed his chin. His eyes widened again, then he bent down and kissed her cheek.

“Come, let’s get you cleaned up,” Mother said, taking Sarah by the hand.

Father and I made eye contact, and I growled at him.

“Stop it, Reese,” he said firmly. “It was just a hug and a kiss. I really do only see her as a daughter.”

I was still furious when I went to the food setting and filled a glass with B positive. It was all his fault. His fault that she had gotten upset. I nearly choked when a vampire tapped me on the shoulder.

“Hello,” he said. “I don’t believe we’ve met. You’re Prince Reese, right?”

“I am,” I said, taking his hand. I briefly admired his shoulder length curly blond locks and bright green eyes. He reminded me of Reid Lockhart, who had blond hair and one blue eye and one green eye.

“My name is Viktor Babin,” he said. I coughed again.

“Did you say your last name is Babin?” I asked.

“Yes. Marina was my stepmother for ten years, before she divorced my father. That makes us stepbrothers. My brother, Taran, is around here somewhere.”

“Forgive me, I did not recognize you,” I said.

“How could you? You’re more famous than I am, and my father is a well-known scientist and technology advisor. He helped Japan with the first robot project.”

“How interesting,” I said, studying him. He had thin rosy lips, a small nose, and high cheekbones. Those cheekbones reminded me of Glen Crow, and my heart was on high alert.

“Hello, boys,” Mother said, interjecting. “I see you’ve met. Reese, this is my ex-stepson, Viktor. Viktor, this is my son Reese.”

Did you invite him? I asked her.

Yes, I did. And my ex-husband and his other son. They wanted to extend their good wishes for me and your stepfather.

“Where’s Sarah?” I asked.

“She is reapplying her makeup in the bathroom. She will likely want some time alone, so try not to badger her.”

“You’re speaking about the new princess?” Viktor asked. “Congratulations on finding your mate, Reese. Not all are as lucky as you.” He sounded bitter.

“How is Thomas?” Mother asked Viktor.

“Father forbid me from seeing him,” Viktor said sourly. “He says he’s a bad influence on me.”

“I’m sorry, but I must agree with your father,” Mother said. “He was leading you down a dark path.”

“Oh, you’re gay?” I said to Viktor.

“Yes,” he said, drawing out the word. “Is that a problem?”

“Not at all. I’m bi, myself. My other potential soulmate is a guy, another vampire. But he’s found his true soulmate, and I’ve found mine.”

Viktor seemed to brighten at this. “Is he here tonight?”

“He might be. His name’s Evan Byrd, and his soulmate’s name is Reid Lockhart. Reid is blond with unusual eyes, and Evan has brown hair and green eyes, so they’re a beautiful couple.”

“Your eyes are unusual,” he broke in. Then he winced. “Sorry.”

“Not at all. I know my eyes are unusual; it’s a family trait. My father, uncle, and grandfather all have yellow eyes as well. My cousin has baby blues, and he uses that to his advantage. Mother once told me that unusual eyes can be beautiful, and that’s true for Reid’s eyes. He has one green eye and one blue eye.”

“Really?” Viktor said.

“Your eyes are especially beautiful, even if they are unusual,” Mother said. “Well, I must make sure that Sarah’s okay. See you gentlemen later.”

There was an awkward pause. Then Viktor spoke up. “They have cameras here. They had cameras at the wedding, too.”

“They like to film every event,” I said. “They’ve been filming this event and all our weddings since cameras were invented. There is a photo taken in 1897 of my uncle Soren drinking O positive.”

More silence and awkwardness.

“Well, I think I see my brother,” Viktor said. “It was nice meeting you, Reese!”

I mingled some more, talked to my cousins Raquieca, Rebeka, and Rainess. All blond, all Norse, and all attitude. I spoke with my aunts, Elsa and Gudrun, two of the wives of my grandfather’s dead brothers.

“When do you plan to marry her?” asked Aunt Elsa.

“I was hoping sometime next year, maybe next winter,” I replied. I knew that my aunts wished that I’d marry another vampire, possible Raquieca or Rainess. I would personally rather eat spiders than marry Raquieca or Rainess, even though Rainess is actually really nice.

Or marry Rosita Bleedfellows. I glared as the tall blond woman approached me, wearing a silvery sheath dress with a slit in the skirt and sky-high open-toed stilettos. Her long straight platinum hair glistened, her blue eyes twinkling with malice. Her lips were as red as ever, and her skin as pale as snow.

“I’ve just been chatting with your girlfriend,” she said. “Quite a prize, she is.”

“What did you say to her?!” I was horrified.

“Only that she was lucky to have you. What hips, though! I’d rather die than have hips like those, or stretch marks, or scars.”

“Hey, Sarah has the best hips I’ve ever seen and-“ I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw Uncle Soren, who was glaring at Rosita.

“Rosita, your quarrel is with me, not my nephew or his girlfriend,” he said. “If you’ve harmed Sarah, I will kill you personally.”

“An excellent point,” Rosita said. “Another point to bring up with the Council.”

My uncle’s eyes widened even more.

“You crazy bitch!” Louis pinned her against the wall. “Leave us the fuck alone! What makes you think you can harass us? We’ve got a hundred times more money, a bigger title, and hundreds of guards, servants, and soldiers. My father actually fought in battle during World War II. We have all killed hundreds, except for Reese. What makes you think you can pull one over us?”

Rosita pulled a small black piece of equipment out of her ear. Louis’ eyes widened, and so did Uncle Soren’s. Louis cursed again.

“I shall bring this up with the Council,” said Rosita. “And you will all pay for what you’ve done to me.”

“I have to go see Sarah,” I said.

“Selena is with her,” Sabine said, coming up. “She and I were there too when that crazy lady talked to Sarah. They’re in the girls’ room.”

“Take a deep breath,” Uncle Soren said, turning me to face him. “Focus on me. The sound of my voice, the color of my eyes, the size of my nose. Anything. Take more deep breaths and relax. We’ll get her. You don’t need to worry.”

“But what if I- “

“Don’t. Don’t do anything.”

I shrugged him off and went to find Sarah.

I heard her harsh breathing in the bathroom. I walked in, seeing her in the corner.

“No boys allowed,” Selena snapped.

“I’m her mate,” I insisted. “Sarah, baby, what did that bitch say to you?”

“She said…she said…”

“She said that you were hers,” Selena said. “She that you and her had an affair and that you were still hers.”

“It’s not