Vicious Prince (Royal Elite #5) by Rina Kent

Since I was a special kid from a special family, Mum and Dad said I didn’t get to act like the others in public, so we always had our costume parties at home with only Dad and Lars as the audience.

It was fine with me. I didn’t want anyone to find Mum beautiful and decide to take her away like in the novels with half-naked men that Mum hid from me. I took a peek once, but I didn’t understand much except that Mum read them a lot when she stayed in bed all day.

That year, the Halloween celebration was cancelled — or rather, our private Halloween was.

Dad said he was taking Mum to a party. I begged him not to go, and if he had to, to please take me with him.

“No,” he snapped. “You’ll stay here and that’s final, Ronan.”

“But I want to go with you.” I tugged on my Dracula cape and stomped my foot.

“Ronan, mon chou.” Mum crouched in front of me and patted my cape. “Your uncle Eduard will come and take you to a party. You like parties, don’t you?”

“I like the parties with you more.”

Tears shone in her eyes. “Mon ange.”

“Come on, Charlotte.” Dad glared at me. “Stop being a brat, Ronan.”

“Don’t be harsh on him, mon amour.” She ran her soft fingers over my hair. “Be a good boy for Mummy and I promise we’ll have all the parties you want.”

“Charlotte.” Dad grabbed her by the arm and took her.

Just like that.

I remember running after them to the door before Dad snapped at me one more time to stay inside. Mum got into the car with tears in her eyes. She was still wearing her princess dress and her skin was pale. I thought she wasn’t supposed to wear costumes outside.

Then I was sitting on the sofa, sipping from the juice Lars prepared for me and deciding maybe I hated Halloween after all.

Or maybe I hated Halloween when Mum and Dad weren’t in it.

Or maybe I hated Dad because he ruined our costume party and took Mum to another party for grown-ups.

That was when Uncle Eduard came. He was drunk; I could tell by the shrill laughter and the way he smelled like ‘John’s cheap liquor’, as Lars called it.

He was wearing a green suit and had a clown mask in his hand. When he approached me, he slurred. “Happy Halloween, little nephew. Look at you all scary.”

“I’m Dracula today.” I puffed out my chest.

“Ooh, I’m scared. Come on, I’m already late.” He extended his hand to me, and I took it.

Uncle Eduard didn’t come by often. Dad always yelled at him and called him useless and said he spent a lot of his money. Besides, Uncle Eduard always looked like a clown, even without the mask. He has a nose that’s nothing like Dad’s and mine. Mum calls them beautiful. She’s never called Uncle Ed’s nose beautiful.

Lars intercepted us at the entrance and stopped to look Uncle Eduard up and down then smiled at me. “Would you rather go to bed early, Ronan?”

“No. I want to show off my costume.”

“You heard the kid, Lars. Get out of the fucking way.”

“Language, sir.”

“Oh, fuck you and your sir, Lars.” Uncle Ed dragged me behind him, loosening his tie. “Even the fucking servant thinks he can tell me what to do. You’ll see, Edric. You’ll fucking see.”

“Mum says those are bad words,” I whispered.

“They are, aren’t they? Charlotte is such a good woman, so, so good. Edric always got good things. Even his wife and son belong in a museum.” He smiled at me, but it was fake. Even at that age, I knew there was something wrong with that smile.

Uncle Eduard ushered me into a van. I thought it was cool at the time. It was as big as a bus and there were lights and we had a screen between us and the driver. The windows were tinted like in Dad’s car so I could see the people but the people couldn’t see me.

How cool is that? I thought.

I must’ve spent so long staring at the lights because Uncle Ed asked me if I liked them. I said yes. He was drinking from a blue sparkling bottle.

“What is that, Uncle?”

“This, my dear nephew, is how I remain sane despite all the shit your dad puts me through.” He loosened his tie again. “Fucking Australia. He’s basically sending me to exile.”

“What does exile mean?” I sat on the bench across from Uncle, my feet dangling in the air.

“It means your father hates me.”

“He said he doesn’t. He only wants you to do better.”

“Fuck it. You sound like him even this young.”

“Where are we going, Uncle?”

“My friend’s party. Everyone will be wearing costumes like you.” He abandoned his chair and offered me the sparkling drink. “You want to try it?”

“Is it alcohol?”

“No, it’s juice. Sparkling juice.” Uncle Ed grinned. “It makes you stronger so you can protect your mother. Don’t you want to protect your mother?”

“Of course I do.” I puffed up my chest and took the drink. Mum and Dad said I shouldn’t take anything from strangers, but this wasn’t a stranger; it was Uncle Ed.

The first sip made my face scrunch up. “Eww, it tastes bad.”

“You’re a coward then.” Uncle shook his head.