The Dark Princess (The Balance Series Book 3)

by Janelle Stalder

  Four

  Golden Girls

  I let the screen door slam shut, my backpack slipping from my arms as it dropped to the floor.

  “Blanche!” Mom shouted from the kitchen.

  “Rose!” I called back. My mom and I were convinced we were the Golden Girls stuck in younger bodies, mostly because we acted like old women with our lack of social lives. Of course, the women on that show actually had social lives compared to us.

  “Help!” She said.

  I walked to the back, knowing she likely wasn’t really in trouble. When I entered the kitchen, Mom was lying down in the window seat with our cat, Cat, curled up on her stomach.

  “I have to pee so badly,” she said. “He’s been on me for hours.”

  I chuckled, stopping beside her. “Why don’t you just get up?”

  “And disturb him? No way, he’d never forgive me. You lift him off of me so he blames you.”

  “Gee thanks,” I said, lifting Cat into my arms. He meowed miserably, twisting in my arms so I was forced to put him down. “Why do you always make me the bad guy?”

  Cat walked away, turning to glance back at me with a haughty look.

  “Because I’m bad at being the bad guy,” Mom said from the bathroom. She had run out the second he was off.

  “You let that cat get away with way too much,” I told her, heading to the fridge to get a snack. Cat had been with us my entire life. Mom said he’d just showed up one day and never left. He was even older than I was, and super crotchety at his old age.

  “That’s so much better,” she said, walking back into the kitchen. “How was school?”

  I shrugged, keeping my face away from her. “Uneventful.”

  “Well, I have some news for you.”

  I turned with sandwich making ingredients in hand. From the look on her face, I knew I was going to be making two. “I do too actually.”

  “I thought you just said school was uneventful?”

  “It’s not about school. It’s about this weekend.”

  “So is mine.”

  We faced each other over the island.

  “Mine is about me leaving the house,” she said.

  “So is mine,” I countered, smiling.

  “What? Really?”

  I nodded.

  “Okay, you go first,” she said, sitting on a stool.

  “No, you go. Mine really isn’t that big of a deal.”

  “Are you kidding me? You never go out. This is huge.”

  “Neither do you,” I pointed out.

  She gave me that, just talk, look.

  “Okay, I’m going to a house party tomorrow night with Emily.” I braced myself for her to forbid me from going, but instead she just smiled.

  “Really? Whose house?”

  I grimaced. “Lila.”

  “Lila? I thought you hated her?”

  I shrugged. “I did, but she’s having a party for the entire senior class, so Em wants to go.”

  She nodded, seeming to think it over before saying, “Okay.”

  “Okay? You’re sure? There will be underage drinking, Mom. Never mind the drugs and sex that could be happening all over the place.”

  “I’m sorry, I’m confused, are you going to a house party or an orgy?”

  “Aren’t they one and the same?”

  She tilted her head to the side, watching me closely as I slapped some turkey on rye. “Do you want me to say you can’t go?”

  “What? Why would I want that? That would be so...not cool.”

  She laughed. “Hope, as much as I love that you’re always where I know you’re safe, you’re also a teenage girl who needs to experience some things in life. Maybe avoid the drugs, sex and alcohol, but still go and have fun.”

  “No promises,” I said, sliding her plate over to her. “And what is your news?”

  She frowned. “Feel free to tell me I can’t do it.”

  I laughed around a mouthful, shaking my head at her. “What is it?”

  “My agent called, there’s a television show that wants to interview me...in New York.”

  “No way!” I dropped my sandwich. “Mom! That’s incredible news. You should have totally gone first. Why do you look so hesitant?”

  “I’d have to be gone from tomorrow until Wednesday. It’s a long time to be away, and I’ve never left you here alone.”

  “Mom,” I said, coming around to stand in front of her, placing a hand on either of her shoulders. “I am more than capable of looking after myself. Don’t make me point out the fact that, not only do I cook dinner more often than you, but I also happen to be considerably better at it than you.”

  She scrunched up her nose.

  “Plus, I have Cat here to protect me.”

  A meow seemed to support this, or deny it, who knows?

  “You can’t even drive. What if something happens and you’re stuck here?”

  “What could happen? Nothing ever happens here; we live in the middle of nowhere.”

  She sighed. “It would be a really great opportunity.”

  “Of course, and one that I’m not letting you miss, no matter what you say.”

  “So I should call her back and say I’m in?”

  “If you don’t, I will.”

  She smiled, placing a hand over one of mine, squeezing. “Thanks, Blanche.”

  I pulled her into a hug, laughing. “Anytime, Rose.” We grinned at each other when we broke apart.

  “Look at us,” she said, sitting up taller. “Going out and being all social and stuff.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll go back to being boring hermits next weekend.”

  She raised her sandwich in cheers. “Deal.”

  Vivian shut the car off and stared up at the building in front of her.

  “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she whispered, wiping her sweaty palms on her jeans. No matter how hard she had tried to bolster her confidence on the way here, she couldn’t seem to actually get out of the car now that she was.

  Her eyes trailed up the skyscraper, going to the windows way at the top. The penthouse. Where she had loved and lost, where she had lived and died, and then lived again. So much had happened up there, she wasn’t sure how she would react stepping back into that world.

  Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly. “You can do this, Vivian. You are older and wiser, and your daughter needs you to do this.” She took another breath and got out of the car. And stayed there.

  Every muscle in her body froze. It had been over seventeen years since she’d come face to face with Hope’s father, Caleb Banks.

  The love of her life.

  The mate to her soul. The one who set fire to something deep within her, so inescapable and all-encompassing. The one who was currently the highest demon in their hierarchy. The devil. Satan. Lucifer. Whatever you wanted to call him, Caleb was now it.

  Because he had killed the one before him. His father. For her.

  And she’d left him.

  Broken hearted from losing her parents and the future she had envisioned for them, and pregnant with their child, she had walked away and never looked back.

  Never saw him again. Never called. Over the years she knew he had been watching, keeping tabs and making sure they were safe. She knew Caleb, there was no way he wouldn’t have done all that. He’d sent money and presents on her birthday, always keeping his distance, because that’s what Vivian had wanted.

  As far as Hope knew, her father was dead. A lie that had always tasted foul on Vivian’s tongue. One that she’d always felt necessary. Yet, despite that, Vivian had also secretly kept tabs on Caleb. It’s how she knew he’d be here. In the same condo where he had killed his father and become the Dark Lord that he was.

  Although he hadn’t continued the image of a high-power defense attorney that his father had before him, he had become an extremely successful business man instead. Some said he was ruthless, som
e a crook, but every rumour she’d heard of him had painted a man that no one wanted to mess with.

  What the regular public didn’t know was it wasn’t just “business he controlled”. It was matters she couldn’t even comprehend, even if she tried. She’d never learned just what he would have to do in his position. She had just left. Too afraid to see him become something else, something she couldn’t live with - something like his father. The man who had tormented, tortured, raped, and then killed her. Who had killed her parents. The man who still to this day haunted her dreams.

  “How long are you going to stand out here?”

  She jumped, turning to find Collin Banks leaning against her car behind her. She put a hand against her racing heart, wondering how long he’d been there.

  “I...uh...” she didn’t know what to say. If it had been up to her, she probably would have stood outside for a couple more hours before finally mustering the courage to go in there.

  He smiled gently at her, pushing off the car to stand relaxed in front of her, his hands in his pockets. Collin Banks hadn’t changed a bit. Where Caleb was all dark hair and piercing blue eyes, eyes his daughter had inherited, Collin was lighter, friendlier looking. His face was rounder, his hair a dark brown, swept into a stylish disarray, grey eyes that always seemed to be laughing at her.

  Unlike his brothers, Collin’s power lay in life, not death. While he remained loyal to Caleb, Vivian knew he did not relish death and mayhem like his family. If it hadn’t been for Collin, Vivian wouldn’t be alive to be standing there before him.

  “You look good, Vi,” he said.

  Her cheeks heated as she tucked a stray hair behind her ears. “Thanks,” she said. She hadn’t even thought about what she might look like now to them...to him. Had she changed much in Caleb’s eyes? She was older now, but much of her had remained the same. The years kind, or her mating to Caleb helping to keep her as she was. She knew that was a distinct possibility, something she had learned from Caleb’s mother, Catherine. The only Banks she was still in regular contact with. She loved their mother, as did Hope, but even Catherine knew not to talk about Caleb to her.

  What if Caleb didn’t find her attractive anymore? She pushed that thought away, telling herself she didn’t - shouldn’t - care what he thought.

  “So, are you going to go in, or stand out here all night?”

  She bit her lip, looking back at the building and then the setting sun. She really did need to get this over with. She had a load to pack and get ready for tomorrow, and she’d told Hope she wouldn’t be long.

  Looking back at Collin, she pulled on her shirt, straightening up. “I’m ready,” she said.

  He chuckled. “You sure? You look like you’re about to be sick.”

  She was. “I’m fine,” she assured him.

  He jerked his head toward the entrance. “Come on, I’ll take you up so you don’t have to wait.”

  “Thanks, Collin,” she said, following behind him. They walked in silence, her heart pounding in her ears the closer they got. As they entered, her steps almost faltered, but she forced herself to keep going.

  “It’s nice to see you,” Collin said, glancing back at her.

  She smiled up at him, knowing he was being sincere. He didn’t blame her for leaving, didn’t hold it against her. She’d spoken to him on the phone a handful of times over the years, and he’d only ever been polite and accommodating.

  “It’s nice to see you too,” she admitted.

  He brought her to the elevator that would take them all the way to the top floor, inserting his key to grant them access. Vivian watched the numbers climb as they stood side by side in silence, knowing that once the doors opened, they would be right in the front foyer of their home.

  “You don’t need to be nervous,” he said softly, leaning sideways so his shoulder brushed hers.

  She laughed once. “Easy for you to say.”

  The elevator dinged, the doors swooshing open to reveal the luxurious interior of the penthouse. Vivian stepped out, looking back at Collin. “Aren’t you coming?”

  He smiled, a look in his eyes she couldn’t read. “I’m afraid not. I have things to take care of. But don’t be afraid, he would never do anything to hurt you.”

  She bristled, instinctively. “I know that.”

  His smile widened. “Good night, Vivian. I hope to see you again soon.”

  The doors shut, leaving her standing there alone, her reflection staring back at her in the brass. “I wouldn’t count on it,” she muttered.

  Walking slowly, she headed down the hall toward the sitting room, feeling him there. She swallowed, unsure how to process the fact that she could still sense him, feel him in some part of her, as though there were a tangible string connecting the two of the them. When she reached the sitting area, she stopped just inside the room, her eyes eating him up while his back was to her.

  “Where the fuck have you been, Collin? You were supposed to be back an hour ago,” he said, his head down as he read papers he held in his hands.

  She wanted to smile at that, knowing Collin had totally played her by saying he needed to do something. Why am I not surprised? She thought. Nerves didn’t permit her to actually lift the corners of her mouth though, her anxiety so high, she wasn’t sure if she would be able to stand much longer. Her hand shot out to brace herself against the wingback chair beside her, just to be safe.

  The silence must have finally registered with him. Vivian watched has the hand holding his papers suddenly clenched, crumpling the sides, every muscle in his back tensing. Slowly, he lifted his head to stare straight ahead, still not turning to look at her.

  Could he sense it was her standing there? Vivian wondered. She held her breath as he maneuvered slowly, turning, blues eyes meeting hers.

  She tried a smile. “Hey.”

  Cillian stepped outside, lighting the smoke he held between his lips. He wasn’t addicted to the tobacco stick the way mortals were, but he found it sometimes made him appear more human to them. Plus, it wasn’t as though they could kill him.

  The doorman gave him a slight wave. He nodded back, turning away to check the sun. It was almost night. He’d head out shortly. Surprisingly, he’d been able to sleep a solid six hours, which was a lot for him. He felt rejuvenated, ready to get some work done. But first things first.

  Looking back at the condominium, he debated going back in and up to the penthouse. Since he was here so often, he’d ended up getting one of the smaller, one bedroom units on the sixteenth floor. It wasn’t much, mostly a place to crash when he was in the mortal world, but it suited him fine. It wasn’t as nice as his place in Erebus, but it was good enough for a quick sleep here and there.

  “Where are you off to?”

  Cillian turned to see Collin coming through the doors.

  “Just going to my babysitting duties,” he said, barely able to contain the resentment in those words. “Is your brother up there?”

  Collin nodded. “He’s busy though.”

  Enough said. Cillian would just talk to him later. Taking another pull, he started toward the parking lot. It wouldn’t be smart if he just disappeared in front of the mortals. He normally would have flown and just kept a glamour around him so no one could see, but he felt rested enough to just use his shifting abilities. If he hadn’t slept, it would have drained him.

  “How long will you be at Vivian’s?”

  Cillian shrugged, Collin walking alongside him. “I was just going to check in for a bit.”

  As soon as he saw she was fine, he was gone. He had other things he could be doing with his time other than watching over Hope French.

  “She’s alone right now, so stay there until Vivian gets back.”

  Cillian turned his head to look at him, a slight pang of unease in his chest at the thought of her being there by herself. His skin suddenly itched to get going. “How do you know that?”

  A small smile played on the
other man’s lips as he stared ahead at the setting sun. “Because her mother is upstairs with Caleb as we speak.”

  Cillian stopped walking, looking back at the building. “Really?” In all the years he’d kept watch over the girls for Caleb, checking in here and there while he did other work, Vivian had never come here. He had never even overheard her say a word about Caleb, other than shouting at the woods on rare occasions as if she’d known someone was there watching her on his behalf.