6_The name’s Charming. Prince Charming.
6
Her scream filled the garden until Kamilla clapped a hand over her mouth. She stared at Viktor who was abnormally transforming before her eyes.
He was kneeling now, sitting back on his haunches. The horrific grimace of pain that had scared her slowly disappeared, allowing his beauty to resurface. His mouth fell open, sharp fangs glinting in the moonlight.
Kamilla reached a trembling hand toward him but snatched it back when his head snapped forward, throwing his
hair over his face.
She shrunk away. “What the fuck’s happening? What’s happing?” Kamilla whispered frantically to herself. Had she done this? Was it because she’d hit his head so hard?
Oh, no.
Had she broken the Vampire King?
“Kamilla?”
Kamilla looked up. “Damon!”
Damon appeared in the dark garden with a frown. “What in the devil are you-” His gaze fell on Viktor. Kamilla saw Damon’s eyes widen and with a muttered curse, he stalked over to her, effectively blocking her view of Viktor.
Kamilla was puzzled. She pointed a hand at Viktor who was still kneeling, his dark hair covering his face. “Your
king su–suddenly-”
“Don’t worry about him,” Damon said. His voice was cold and hard, demanding no arguments. “He’ll be okay. I need you to look into my eyes.”
Kamilla frowned. “Why?” Her heart thumped. He wanted to hypnotize her. With a gasp, Kamilla squeezed her eyes tightly shut. “No! I won’t let you hypnotize me! Over my dead body!”
She heard Damon sigh and when it sounded like he’d moved away, Kamilla peeked an eye open. She saw him crouching before Viktor. Damon slowly reached a hand out, but he hadn’t even made it halfway when Viktor suddenly shot up off the ground, flinging his hair off his face.
Kamilla clapped a hand over her mouth, stunned. What the hell was wrong with him?
Damon quickly stood.
“Viktor-”
“Hello, my good man. Good to see you once more,” said Viktor.
Kamilla frowned. What the hell was that? Why did Viktor suddenly sound like an English Duke?
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- The name’s Charming. Prince Charming.
Damon made a sound of frustration and ran a hand through his hair.
“W–what’s… what’s going on?” Kamilla asked quietly.
Oh, no. What had she done to their king? The Vampires would kill her as revenge, they’d probably serve her up as a sacrifice to some evil deity!
At her question, Viktor spun around and focused his attention entirely on Kamilla.
She gasped.
This man’s eyes. Kamilla squinted up at him as he took slow steps toward her. When he stood right before her, a smile more charming than any she’d ever seen spread across his face.
“What’s a beautiful woman doing sitting in the dirt?” he asked. Kamilla watched as the man extended a hand.
“Please. Allow me to be of assistance.”
“Oh. My. God,” Kamilla whispered.
It wasn’t him. It wasn’t Viktor. This man who had Viktor’s face and body, was not Viktor, King of Onyx.
It was the look in his eyes. If Kamilla had not looked into his eyes she would never have known the difference, but his eyes, they were not Viktor’s.
That cheerful, sparkling blue, filled with a confident charm… nope. Not Viktor. His blue eyes were either a frigid, ice–cold stab through the heart or they were burning sapphire blue in passion.
When she didn’t put her hand in his, the man reached around her arms and hoisted Kamilla to her feet, all with his charming smile.
She squeaked in fright, looking around them. What would she do? The king was having some kind of bizarre vampire mental breakdown and it was all her fault!
Damon suddenly reappeared and Kamilla sighed in relief.
“We must leave now, before anyone sees this,” he said.
Kamilla’s hands trembled and she held them together, pleading. “Please, I’m sorry! I don’t know what’s happened to him, it was never my intention!”
“A lady in distress,” said Viktor in a gallant voice. Kamilla looked at him with wide eyes. Before she knew what was happening, he’d swept her into his arms. “Fear not, my lady. I’ll protect you.”
She squeaked. “What?!”
Damon sighed and drew closer to them. In a short instant, the garden disappeared before them, the cold wave surrounded them, a swirl of darkness.
Kamilla blinked. They were back at the castle, in Viktor’s chambers. And she was still in Viktor’s arms.
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6 The name’s Charming. Prince Charming.
With a gasp, she broke out of his hold.
He smiled at her. “Allow me to introduce myself. The name is Charming. Prince Charming.” Kamilla watched in disbelief as he bowed like the perfect English Lord.
“P–Prince what?” Was he serious?! Prince Charming as in the fairy tale hero?!.
The doors opened and Damon strode in before he shut them behind him. Kamilla didn’t have time to consider that he’d actually used the doors or how he ended up outside the room in the first place. She rushed over to him.
“Uh, Damon, I’m sorry, but I think he’s really, really broken! I didn’t hit him that hard, but now he thinks he’s prince charming and, oh, my God-”
“Relax, you didn’t do this,” Damon cut her off.
She blinked at him in puzzlement. “No, you don’t understand, I hit his head with my elbow. Like four times!”
Damon gave her a look. “I’m afraid to ask why.”
“He was going to hang me from Witcher’s for going with Rogan! I was-”
“Rogan? You were with Rogan?” Damon’s eyes narrowed.
Kamilla swallowed her words. He didn’t need to know that she’d been trying to escape, did he? That would only
make him keep a closer eye on her which would make it make more difficult to escape. Right, she’d better keep
her mouth shut.
“Anyway, that’s not important!” she glanced at Charming who was watching them with interest. “What we need to
find out is what on earth is wrong with him!”
“Don’t worry about him,” Damon said. “I’ll deal with this.”
Kamilla frowned. Why didn’t Damon seem to be as worried as she thought he surely should have been? His king
was calling himself Prince Charming, for goodness sake!
When Damon made to walk around her, Kamilla stepped into his path. He looked at her and Kamilla crossed her arms, unperturbed by his impatience. “Say, Damon. Is there something you’re not telling me?”
Damon crossed his own arms. “Only what you don’t need to know.”
Kamilla raised a brow. “That so? Okay. Well, off I go to tell the whole kingdom that their King’s gone bonkers.”
She skipped merrily towards the door but halted when in a flash, Damon blocked her path.
“Woah! How did you move so fast?”
“Stop right there. You cannot tell anyone about this. It won’t be good for Viktor.”
Kamilla put her hands on her hips. “Then tell me what’s happened to him. Earlier you said I didn’t cause it. What did then? What’s wrong with him?”
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6 The name’s Charming. Prince Charming.
“Excuse me?”
They both turned to look at Charming who was smiling in a way so unlike Viktor, it made Kamilla stare. It was like looking at a different person.
“Might you know where my stallion is? Can’t remember where I left him. It’s been a while since I woke up, you
see.”
Kamilla blinked.
“In a minute, Charming,” said Damon with a sigh.
Kamilla turned to him. “Charming? You actually call him that?”
“It’s his name!” hissed Damon. He closed his eyes for a second, when he opened them, Kamilla saw that he was calmer. “Kamilla, that man… he’s not Viktor.”
Kamilla had had similar suspicions, but now that Damon had said it, she just couldn’t understand.
“How come? It makes no sense. Is he…?” She glanced at Charming with a gasp. “Did he get possessed?!”
Damon made a face. “Of course not. Well… not exactly.”
“What happened then?”
Keeping an eye on Charming who was strolling around the large chamber, Damon wondered if he could tell Kamilla. If he could trust her. She was looking for any way to escape Onyx. She’d even been with Rogan.
Rogan.
That bastard had done enough in the past hundred years to earn him an execution. Damon hated that Rogan had lived for long enough after the previous king’s murder to now threaten Viktor’s life. If this matter became known to Rogan, Viktor’s throne would be destroyed. Damon couldn’t let that happen. He had to protect Viktor with his
life.
His eyes returned to Kamilla.
No. He couldn’t tell her about Viktor’s weakness.
“Go on,” she urged.
“I can’t trust you.”
Kamilla huffed. “Of course you can! Aren’t I the vampire king’s bride and all that?!”
“You don’t want to be! You don’t have Viktor’s best interest at heart, which makes you an enemy.”
His words were bold, no sweetness to conceal their sharpness. Kamilla sighed. Well, he was right.
“Okay, how about this: tell me what’s wrong with him and I swear, I will tell nobody. I swear it.”
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6__ The name’s Charming. Prince Charming.
Damon’s eyes narrowed. “If you expose the secret, do you agree that you give up all protection of your mother’s life?”
Kamilla’s jaw fell open. Wasn’t that a little too harsh?! Swallowing the fear in her throat, she sighed. “Fine. I… I agree.”
Damon carefully studied her face and then gave a slow nod. “Okay.”
She crossed her arms, waiting. When an arm slipped around her shoulders, Kamilla gasped.
Charming appeared at her right, mouth curved in a dazzling smile. He had such perfect teeth, Kamilla noticed. His eyes twinkled cheerfully. She stared. Wow, he was seriously different from Viktor. She had to know what made him
like this.
“Charming is…” Damon began, looking at Charming with saddened eyes. Kamilla also looked at Charming, in interest. “…he is…”
She sighed.
“What is he?!”
“He’s Viktor’s second personality!”
