Before Midnight (Book 1) (Blood Prince Series) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Blurb

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Epilogue

  Other Books by Jennifer Blackstream

  Preview of ONE BITE, book two in the Blood Prince series

  Preview of UNDER HIS SKIN, a paranormal romance

  About the Author

  Did you find a typo?

  Copyright

  BEFORE MIDNIGHT

  Blood Prince Series: Book One

  "All kinds of things can happen when you don't leave the ball...Before Midnight"

  Loupe always dreamed of getting married. She yearned for a caring husband who would take her away from her servant-like existence at home with her stepmother and two stepsisters, a man who would love her forever. Those dreams ended the day she was bitten by a werewolf. Now she’s a mindless beast on the night of the full moon—a condition that forever prevents her from sharing a marriage bed. Not even the attentions of a handsome and endearingly strong prince can convince her that the life she wants is still possible.

  Etienne is a prince in need of a werewolf. A werewolf himself from birth, Etienne and his family have protected their kingdom with tooth and claw—literally—for thousands of years. Unfortunately, the spell of a well-meaning witch is slowly turning him human. Only the bite of a cursed werewolf, one who was not born with the beast inside, can save him from becoming human. He has no time for anything that will not lead him to a cure for the curse. Not even the beautiful maiden whose gentle nature soothes his soul can take his mind from his goal.

  Love cares little for the best laid plans or the impossible. A grand ball. The stroke of twelve. A magic “slipper.” All kinds of things can happen when you don’t leave the ball…Before Midnight.

  Prologue

  “The werewolf, the vampire, the demon, the angel, and the god. Oh, Blessed Goddess, I have my work cut out for me.”

  Cocooned within the World Tree, Eurydice peered through the knothole that provided a portal into all the worlds the tree passed through. Darkness had fallen, but the full moon cast the entire clearing in a bright whitish-blue glow. It was a crisp spring evening and the air was full of the fragrant perfume of earth and new life.

  They were fast approaching, finally, all five of them together. The Blood Princes. She laid her spectral forehead against the smooth wood of the inside of her tree. It had not been easy getting them all here, luring each of them to step into that magical space around the trunk of the World Tree, the space where all the worlds overlapped. This was the moment she’d been working for, waiting for. They would all finally meet one another. She allowed herself a moment of self-congratulation.

  “What are you doing in my kingdom, vampire?”

  The voice rode the edge of a growl. It vibrated down Eurydice’s spine and she shivered. She lifted her head and stared out the knothole once again.

  The werewolf glared at the vampire, his normally soft grey eyes now the bright gold of his wolf. He stood not more than ten feet from the vampire, naked as the day he was born, giving a look that most men couldn’t have managed fully dressed. Eurydice ran her gaze over the werewolf’s body, noting the lean swell of muscles and bronze skin. She supposed that when one found himself naked after a shift, one would wish to keep his body looking as good as possible.

  The vampire gave the werewolf a slow, appraising look. His clear blue eyes made it clear that he found the werewolf wanting. Long white-blond hair shifted in the wind, catching on the folds of the long black cloak he wore over his shoulders.

  He raised his hands to part his cloak and throw it back over his shoulders, baring a black velvet tunic laced with silver. The silver embroidery outlined a rampant lion and the cut of the tunic complemented the vampire’s lithe form. He had less muscle mass than the werewolf, but Eurydice had seen the vampire in action. Many enemies had fallen at those hands, dead before they knew enough to be afraid. His black boots didn’t offer so much as a creak as he straightened to his full six foot two frame.

  “This is my kingdom, wolf.”

  He raised his left hand to his chin and rested his right arm across his waist, the right hand dangling at his left side. Eurydice narrowed her eyes. There was no doubt in her mind the vampire had a weapon of some kind hidden at his side.

  “Perhaps you’re lost?” the vampire added, his voice lilting in question.

  The werewolf’s eyes widened briefly then narrowed to golden slits. He took a small step forward and opened his mouth, shifting to wolf form just enough to bare a mouthful of sharp teeth. Eurydice held her breath. It was a sign of power as much as aggression. Only an alpha werewolf had such perfect control over his form. The werewolf had already been on edge lately and she sent a quick prayer up to the Goddess that the vampire wouldn’t push him too far. She’d worked too hard for too long to have her plan fall apart now.

  “If he’s lost then I must be lost too, because I’m quite certain this is my kingdom.”

  The werewolf and the vampire both jerked their attention to the sound. Eurydice sagged with relief as the newest arrival broke the tension. He sauntered around the trunk of the tree, the bulk of his over six foot frame giving him a rambling gait. He wore nothing more than a loincloth fashioned out of some sort of leather. A cigarette dangled from his lips, enveloping him in his own personal cloud of blue-grey smoke. His hazel eyes sparkled with mischief, one of them slightly obscured by a rebel lock of brown hair that fell into his face.

  “Who are you?” the vampire demanded, the command in his voice slightly tempered by curiosity. He didn’t drop his hand from his side. Eurydice was betting the weapon was a blade.

  “What are you?” the werewolf added, his nose wrinkling as he sniffed the air.

  “Prince Adonis of Nysa ,” the stranger said. He swept into a low, yet mocking bow. He grinned at the werewolf. “Demon. Incubus, to be precise.”

  Eurydice smiled at his complete nonchalance. Adonis had always been easy-going. On the surface at least.

  “What fresh Hell is this?”

  The three men whipped around as a fourth man appeared from nowhere. Eurydice sighed. If ever there’d been a solution to levity, it was Prince Patricio. The most tormented of the princes appeared out of the sky, gliding gently down until his bare feet touched the forest floor. A mop of windblown blond hair brushed the top of bright blue eyes. Attractive features, but completely overshadowed by the glory of the giant white feathery wings towering over his back.

  “An angel,” the demon guessed, jabbing toward the newcomer with his cigarette. “Am I right?”

  The angel shot the demon a withering glare. He turned his attention to the other two. At an even seven feet tall, he had to look down. “Please tell me you aren’t demons as well?”

  “Vampire,” the vampire offered, smiling enough to flash fangs for emphasis.

  The werewolf crossed his arms. His golden eyes assessed each of the other men in turn. Finally he sighed and dropped his arms. “Werewolf.”

  “Well what a merry band we make,” the demon joked. He gestured around at the gathering. “A werewolf, a vampire, an angel, and a demon. Now all we need is a—”

  “God?”

  All four men tensed, searching for the source of the disembodied voice. The branches of the tree rustled. It tickled and Eurydi
ce fought not to giggle as a fifth man dropped down to the ground. Her smile remained as she observed the oldest prince. Slowly, the god straightened. Short black hair and drowning black eyes stared from a lean face with no lines to give away his age. He wore a simple black shirt and snug-fitting black pants underneath a plain grey tunic. He would have been hard to see hidden in the branches even if the others had been looking.

  “Forgive my eavesdropping, but I thought I heard you introduce yourself as Adonis of Nysa?”

  The demon inclined his head. “Well met.”

  The man nodded. “I am Prince Saamal of the Kingdom of Mu.”

  The vampire raised his eyebrows looking at the other men with renewed interest shining in his eyes. “Prince Kirill of Dacia.”

  The werewolf frowned. “Prince Etienne of Sanguenay.”

  The angel sighed. “Prince Patricio of Meropis.”

  “Ah,” Prince Saamal said softly. “We are all princes then.”

  “Yes, but this is my kingdom,” Prince Etienne insisted. He gestured behind him. “I can see the towers of my castle from here.”

  “And I would offer that I can also see my castle from here,” Prince Saamal said calmly.

  The god looked to the angel. Prince Patricio bowed an affirmative. Prince Adonis grinned. “Can we all see our respective kingdoms from here? I don’t see yours only mine. Can anyone else see more than one?”

  They shook their heads.

  “There we are,” Prince Saamal said, nodding once.

  “If this is indeed some sort of magical shift in reality, and we are all standing in some sort of…overlapping space,” Prince Etienne said slowly. He turned to the vampire and bowed slightly. “I apologize for my rudeness. I was wrong to accuse you of trespassing. I would not have reacted so aggressively if I had possessed all the facts.”

  “A wolf with manners?” The vampire’s eyes widened slightly. “This is a magical place.”

  Prince Etienne bared his teeth, his golden eyes beginning to glow. Eurydice pressed her lips together. Prince Kirill was going to be difficult. Before Prince Etienne could respond, the vampire turned to Prince Saamal. “Did I hear you insinuate earlier that you are a…god?”

  Prince Saamal lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. “Yes,” he said simply.

  The vampire’s eyes grew distant, as if his mind was wandering ahead to various possibilities. Eurydice didn’t have to read his mind to know the vampire was filing that information away to see if he could take advantage of it later. The vampire prince was always looking for ways to build his power, and meeting a god would not go unnoticed.

  “Fascinating. If I may ask, how did you come to be here?” he pressed.

  Another half-shrug. “I am here because I am meant to be here.”

  “That is not an answer,” Prince Etienne pointed out, his eyes losing their glow. Eurydice smiled to see the soft grey of his eyes again. As interesting as it was to see a wolf’s hungry golden eyes in that chiseled face, she preferred the cloudy grey. It made the werewolf prince look…happier.

  The god shrugged again.

  “If you keep shrugging like that, I’m going to start looking for strings and a puppeteer.” The demon blew out a puff of smoke, the tendrils curling around his face and framing the wicked gleam in his eyes. Adonis was definitely the bad boy of the group—an impressive feat considering the company. Still, Eurydice could see he had a heart of gold…even if it was a bit tarnished. The demon turned to the angel. “What brought you here?”

  The angel’s wings rustled as he contemplated the demon. Eurydice didn’t know which was going to present the bigger problem, the bad blood between the vampire and the werewolf, or the old blood between the demon and the angel.

  “I was looking out over the water and I noticed a star beginning to glow more brightly than its brothers,” Patricio answered finally. “It shone a light down on a small island just off the coast where my castle…” He stopped, a look of pain lighting his eyes. “I followed the star,” he finished.

  “And you?” the demon asked the werewolf.

  “I was in the forest and I caught the scent of heavy magic, heavier than it should have been,” Prince Etienne answered. He frowned. “I just followed it to this tree.”

  “Ah, you were in wolf form then. That explains the lack of clothes.”

  Etienne raised an eyebrow and stared deliberately at Adonis’ loincloth. “You aren’t so overdressed yourself.”

  The demon thrust his cigarette at the werewolf. “Exactly.”

  A soft chuckle rolled out from the god. Etienne snorted. “So, what about you then? How did you come to be here?”

  The demon’s grin grew so wide it nearly split his face. “I followed a couple of randy dryads.” He furrowed his brow and glanced around him. “You don’t look a thing like them, though.” He shrugged. “Must have lost them.”

  “Typical incubus,” the angel muttered. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll find another hole to put your dick in.”

  Eurydice’s eyebrows met her hairline. Strong language for Prince Patricio.

  The demon smirked. “Here’s hoping.”

  A muscle twitched in the angel’s jaw. Eurydice eyed the incubus again. Prince Adonis seemed to bring out the angel’s temper. Anything to get him to stop sulking, she thought wistfully. She stifled a sigh. Prince Patricio was a good man, but he was painfully sullen.

  “Well, that just leaves you.” Prince Etienne turned to look at the vampire.

  The werewolf’s voice pulled her mind away from thoughts of the sulking angel. Prince Kirill remained silent, staring around at each of the men in turn. He looked up at the tree, then behind him toward something apparently only he could see. Eurydice raised an incorporeal eyebrow. Kirill was the schemer. She knew he had information, but would he share it? Kirill had always believed knowledge was power and he didn’t share power with anyone. Well, she amended, not yet.

  Kirill straightened as if coming to a decision and addressed the group. “I discovered a scroll. It gave the location of this tree.”

  The other princes waited, but he didn’t offer anything else. The werewolf growled. “Well, what did the scroll say about the tree?”

  The vampire tilted his head as if debating on how much to share. The demon reached up and grabbed a branch. The god raised an eyebrow as the incubus started doing pull-ups. The angel scowled and shifted his weight to lean a little farther away. The vampire stared at the incubus as if he’d grown a second head. He pointed at the branch the demon was using as exercise equipment. Eurydice clapped her hands. He was pointing with the hand that had been going for the dagger. It was official, her incubus could distract anyone.

  “This tree is rumored to be the World Tree.”

  The werewolf’s jaw dropped. “You mean that this is the tree that passes through worlds? The one that goes from the underworld to the heavens and all the places in between?”

  “Yes.” The vampire furrowed his brows as the incubus continued his pull-ups, seemingly unaffected by the reputation of the tree.

  The werewolf turned to the god. “You said you’re here because you were meant to be here. Why?”

  Prince Saamal started to shrug, then glanced at the incubus. Prince Adonis grinned and looked up, pretending to search the sky. The corner of the god’s mouth quirked. “I do not know why. I do not see the future, I merely sense when forces are working toward a goal. I felt my place was here and so here I am.”

  The werewolf shoved his hand through his hair, frustration clear in the clench of his jaw. “So you have no idea what brought us all here or what we’re supposed to do now?”

  The god stepped toward the tree, drawing a small dagger as he did so. The blade gleamed black in the moonlight. A surge of energy raised the hairs on the arms of Eurydice’s ghostly spirit form. The blade was obsidian. And old.

  “Not exactly,” the god murmured. “I don’t know who brought us here.” He lifted the blade to his palm and drew it over his flesh in one shar
p, smooth motion. Blood welled up and filled his hand. “But I know what to do.”

  The scent of copper filled the air and the vampire’s eyes dilated, his lips parting slightly. His fangs slid farther from their sheaths, gleaming white in the rays of the moon. A glow lit the werewolf’s eyes and his nose twitched. The angel rubbed his arms uncomfortably and looked away. The demon raised his eyebrows.

  They all watched silently as the god placed his bloody palm to the tree. Eurydice held her breath. Waiting.

  A ripple of electricity rolled through the clearing. Eurydice swirled around the heart of her tree. The rush of energy was thick and gloriously vibrant. She could feel her tree drinking in the blood, waking up, just barely, from its long slumber. Darting back to her knot, she refocused her attention on the princes. Prince Saamal closed his eyes. A look of peace came over his face and Eurydice smiled.

  The vampire’s gaze sharpened. He drew a fang over his palm. He stepped forward and repeated the god’s motion, placing his hand against the tree. Without a word, the werewolf bit his own hand and followed suit.