Royals and Realms (Vampires of Crescent Cape Book 4)

by L. Danvers

  “Thanks,” I said. I slid into the seat across from Aiden. Victoria and Charlotte were there, too.

  Julian sat down beside me, taking a couple of plates Ben had set out in the center of the table and piling on the impressive spread of breakfast food. He slid one of the plates in front of me. The pancakes smelled incredible. I added a dab of butter on top and drizzled some Aunt Jemima’s syrup over them before digging in.

  “How’d you sleep last night?” Ben called out from his position in front of the stove as he cracked another egg.

  “Fine,” I replied.

  Julian gave me a sideways glance, knowing there was nothing fine about it. We had hardly slept at all. How could we with everything going on?

  But I stood by my polite answer.

  Charlotte sipped from her orange juice and set down her glass. Tucking a lock of blonde hair behind her ear, she said, “I still can’t believe everything’s gone.” She frowned.

  “The structure’s still there,” Aiden pointed out. He placed his hand on top of hers. “Things are replaceable. You aren’t.”

  She revealed a sliver of a grin. “You have to say that. You’re my brother.”

  “No, I don’t. Take Xander, for instance. Totally replaceable.”

  Charlotte giggled. “Don’t make me laugh, Aiden. I’m upset.”

  Aiden nodded, understanding. “Look, we can’t do anything to change what happened. Yes, our stuff is gone. But we all made it out of there without being discovered. All we can do is try to make the best of the situation.”

  Julian cleared his throat. “Speaking of such,” he said, propping his elbows on the table, “Danielle and I were talking last night. Given the situation, we’re thinking it might be best for you and Victoria to distance yourselves from us.”

  Their faces fell in unison. Aiden held his palm to his chest as if Julian’s words had wounded him. “Why?”

  Ben came up behind us, awkwardly shoveling eggs on our plates while trying to stay out of this particular conversation.

  I took that as my cue to jump in. “This isn’t your world anymore. You’re a human again, which means that you have the chance to build a good life for yourself. For both of you. And if you are associated with us and we’re discovered...”

  Victoria gave a small nod. At least she understood what we were trying to say. But I could see how Aiden could take it the wrong way.

  “We’re not going to abandon you.”

  “Didn’t you try to dagger Danielle yesterday?” Charlotte quipped.

  “Charlotte—” he said, cheeks reddening.

  “What?” She stabbed her pancakes with her fork and stuffed them into her mouth. She was glaring at me now. I took it that she still wasn’t happy with me for helping to burn her home and her memories.

  Aiden ran his fingers through his hair, which looked messier than I’d ever seen it. He hadn’t showered yet, and he clearly hadn’t slept well, either. The bags under his eyes were taking on a purple hue. He no longer looked regal, like the vampire prince he had once been. He looked human. Frail, even. “So, first, I give up my home. And now, I’m expected to give up my family?”

  Julian took a swig of juice and slammed the glass on the table. “Don’t you get it? We’re trying to protect you.”

  Ben pulled out a chair and joined us.

  “What do you think, Uncle Ben?” Aiden asked.

  He thought it over while chewing on a piece of bacon. I’d never seen anyone take that long to chew. The bacon wasn’t even that rubbery.

  Aiden dipped his head. “Please. I’d like your opinion.”

  Ben shrugged. “I can’t make any decisions for you. Personally, I’m not going anywhere. All of you are welcome to stay with me for as long as you’d like. My home is your home.” Aiden started to smile, but it wavered as soon as Ben continued his train of thought. “But if I were in your shoes, I’d do what Julian says. Even if there’s no risk to you or Victoria if you stay, you owe it to yourselves to start over—even if only for a while. You’ve lived practically forever, Aiden, but you’ve never truly lived. Does that make sense?”

  Victoria placed her hand on Aiden’s knee. “He does have a point. It doesn’t have to be a permanent thing. But it would be nice to spend some time together away from all of this. Don’t you think?”

  He blew his cheeks out and then swallowed the air. “Maybe.”

  Just then, Grace strolled inside the kitchen, rubbing her temples. She took the last seat, and Julian passed her a plate. “Thanks.”

  She’d hardly gotten a word out before Xander joined us, too. Finding it a bit odd that they were joining us at the same time, I gave her a quizzical look, but she abruptly shook her head. I breathed a sigh of relief. I could not imagine those two together.

  Xander came up behind where Julian and I were sitting and reached over us to assemble his plate. He carried his pile of food over to the kitchen counter and popped some blueberries in his mouth. “Thanks for saving me a seat, by the way.”

  “Sorry,” Ben said. “I don’t usually have this many people here at one time.”

  “I think what Xander’s trying to say,” Aiden jumped in, “is thank you for letting us stay with you.”

  Xander used his fork to cut off a chunk of a pancake. “So. What’d I miss?”

  Julian straightened. “We were discussing the possibility of Aiden and Victoria taking some time to get away from all of this,” he said with a wave of his hand.

  “Cool.” Xander nodded, not having a dog in the fight. “So, Aiden, what’s it like being human again?”

  Aiden rubbed his eyes. “Exhausting.”

  “See,” Xander said, waving his fork around, “that’s why I have no interest in being mortal.”

  I cocked my head to the side. “But I’m a hybrid, and I still get tired.”

  “Yeah,” Xander retorted. “But you bounce right back. Look at Aiden. He looks like a freaking zombie.”

  I leaned over and whispered in Julian’s ear. “Please tell me zombies aren’t real, too.”

  He shook his head. “No, no. Don’t be absurd.”

  I wasn’t sure why zombies would be absurd in a world where faeries and dragons existed, but whatever.

  I rested my chin on my hand. I tried not to stare, but I couldn’t help but notice the look in Victoria’s eyes. Maybe it was women’s intuition, but I didn’t think she had any interest in being part of the seemingly never-ending supernatural drama anymore. And I didn’t blame her one bit. The poor woman was awakened from an eternal sleep all so that she could be a pawn in Reed Carlisle’s twisted game. A game she’d never wanted to play.

  “What do you think, Grace?” Julian asked.

  “About zombies?”

  “No, I mean about Aiden and Victoria.”

  She smirked. “I don’t think they care what I think.”

  Aiden gave her a somber look. “If you don’t mind, I would like to hear your opinion. You always seem to keep a level head about things.”

  Grace folded her arms across her chest. “I say that if you have a chance to leave all of this behind and be happy, take it. Someone should be happy around here. Might as well be you.”

  Danielle

  A few hours had passed since breakfast. Aiden and Victoria had decided to go for a walk and discuss their future, leaving the rest of us alone with our thoughts.

  I had watched Grace during breakfast and noticed that she seemed sassier than usual. And even now, something was off. I could feel it. I wondered if she was upset with me for asking for her help starting the fire yesterday—correction: for assuming she would help without even asking her first.

  Maybe she hadn’t realized how bad things would get and she was upset that she had been dragged into it.

  But what confused me even more was that I kept catching Xander stealing glances from her. Like he knew something I didn’t and was debating bringing it up. Not wanting to upset her more, though, I refrained from saying anything.

  We watche
d the news for an hour or more. There wasn’t much to report. The contents of the castle were turned to ash, but most of the structure still stood. No new evidence of who it belonged to had surfaced, which came as a relief. Some of the commentators even speculated that the castle had long been abandoned—after all, it was more than a thousand years old. Still, no one could wrap their heads around an entire stretch of land remaining hidden from the world, only to appear without warning. And a massive fire starting soon after.

  Maybe we’d luck out and would be able to resume life as normal—whatever that looked like.

  I sighed, adjusting the hem of my shirt.

  My shirt... my only shirt. It was covered in ash and dust thanks to the events of the day before. I’d shaken it off as much as I could, but it was still dirty.

  I glanced Julian’s way. “Hey, do you think Grace and I could go pick up some new clothes?”

  His eyes brightened, seeming happy to discuss anything but our new predicament. “Absolutely. I guess we all need to pick up some necessities if we’re going to try to blend in.”

  I smiled. “You can join us if you’d like.”

  “No, no,” he said, sensing that I preferred to spend time with my friend. “You two go on along. The rest of us can head out this afternoon.”

  I nodded, taking the cash he was offering me. I spun around. “Grace,” I said, waving the money in the air. “Care to join me on a shopping spree?”

  “Sure,” she said flatly, but then there was that signature sparkle in her eye. “But only if we get to have a dressing room montage.”

  Ben’s brows crawled together. “A what?”

  “You know,” Grace said, “like in the movies when girls go shopping and get to try on crazy, nonsensical outfits before leaving with a practical wardrobe.”

  He feigned understanding. “Ahh, yes. How could I forget?”

  I stood, kissed Julian on the forehead and jerked my head toward the door. Grace followed close behind.

  The door latched behind us, and I breathed in the fresh, dewy air.

  Grace swept her hair over her shoulder, lifting her head toward the sun. “I can’t believe we’re going shopping. Danielle, this is literally the most normal thing I’ve done in years.”

  I laughed, knowing exactly what she meant. Granted, I had enjoyed some brief time away from Crescent Cape with Julian... but that was only because I was on the run, trying to keep a safe distance from Xander while he was under Reed’s control. I’d hardly call that normal.

  We strolled in the direction of downtown Quarter Square. It wasn’t a long walk, and some fresh air would do us some good anyway. I gave Grace a sidelong look, noticing that there was a heaviness about her—the same doom-and-gloom look she’d had all morning. I hated to press her about it. But I couldn’t ignore the fact that something was wrong.

  I cupped the back of my neck. “Are you upset with me?”

  Grace’s eyes widened, and her mouth fell open. “What? No. What gave you that idea?”

  “You seem off today. And I realized that I didn’t give you much of a choice last night when I volunteered for you to help me with—” I swept the area, making sure no one was around. I lowered my voice and added, “—you know.”

  “Oh? That? No, I’m not upset at all. You made the right call.”

  “Then what’s going on?” I asked, walking slower now.

  Grace hesitated for a second before explaining, “I talked to my brother last night.”

  “You did? What’d he say?”

  She shook her head. “He saw the news. He called Xander’s phone to check in and make sure I was okay. I talked to him for a bit and he told me... Look, I don’t think you’ll be surprised to know that my dad’s the one who brought the boundary down.” I swallowed hard. I had assumed as much, but I hadn’t dared to say anything about it. I didn’t want to upset Grace by talking about her father any more than I had to. “Anyway,” she continued, “Nick is under the impression that more boundaries may be going down soon. He said Reed has lots of allies, and he and Phoebe had been scheming together for a long time.”

  “Did Reed tell him more boundaries would be coming down?”

  Grace shrugged. “No, I don’t think so. I think he was just putting the pieces together for me.”

  “Is there something else?”

  She hugged her arms around herself. “Reed caught Nick talking to me. He threatened the Blood Heirs and Julian. He basically told me I should ditch them unless I wanted to end up dead.”

  “He threatened you? I knew he was demented, but you’re his daughter.”

  “His daughter he gave up. And demented is an understatement. He’s dangerous, Danielle. Who knows what else he’s capable of?”

  I shook my head, not wanting to put more thought into it. Him coming after Julian and his siblings didn’t shock me—he was the one who had revealed Crescent Cape, after all. I doubted he hadn’t wanted the vampires and Julian to fall along with the kingdom. Thankfully, they had anonymity on their side. Grace and I had seen to that.

  A gentle breeze swept past us, making the perfectly manicured grass along the sidewalk rustle. I ran my fingers through my dark hair, burying my nails into my scalp. This was bad. One boundary falling—okay, maybe the media buzz would fizzle out in time... but if more kingdoms were exposed, more questions would be raised. Without a doubt, it would get harder and harder for supernaturals to keep a low profile.

  We reached the end of the street and turned the corner, getting closer into town. Grace’s eyes widened when she spotted a gas station across the street. “I know the money is meant for clothes, but I could really go for a slushie.” She flashed me a devious look.

  “Only if we can get some beef jerky, too.”

  “Teriyaki flavored?”

  “Obviously.”

  “Ooh,” Grace said, practically skipping now. “What about Skittles?”

  “Okay, okay. Skittles, too. But that’s it. We can’t return to Ben’s with an armful of snacks but no clothes.”

  She chuckled at that.

  When the image of a walking person flashed on the pedestrian signal, we crossed the road and marched inside, the glass door chiming as we entered. The guy at the counter looked up at us over the rims of his thick-framed glasses and then proceeded to surf the channels on the little TV to his left.

  First up: slushies. We grabbed some medium-sized clear cups and filled them until they were practically overflowing. Grace went for the blue raspberry flavor. A good choice, but I preferred Coke with a splash of cherry.

  As we sipped, we perused the aisles until we found the snacks and took them to the counter. The skin at the base of my neck prickled when I realized the clerk was watching the news. I swallowed down that dry feeling in my throat and pushed the items toward him. Grace’s gaze weighed heavily on me as she watched me pay him.

  There was no reason to be worried, I reminded myself. This guy had no reason to suspect me of being connected to the story.

  He counted my change and handed it to me. “It’ll be a second on the receipt. Machine’s been acting up all day.”

  “That’s alright.”

  He jerked his head toward the TV. “This is crazy, right? I’ve lived here my whole life and never had any idea that place existed.”

  “Yeah,” I said with a nervous laugh. “Totally crazy.”

  To my relief, the printer spit out the receipt. I quickly took it from him, and Grace and I headed out the door. As soon as we were outside, I released a breath.

  “Everything’s fine,” Grace said. “We’re two girls out for a stroll who stopped to grab a snack. Right?”

  I nodded, feeling slightly better now that we were out of there. “Right.”

  She took a long slurp from her slushie and smiled, revealing her now blue-tinted teeth. I couldn’t help but chuckle. I supposed to some, it may be difficult to understand how we could go from talking about the crazy-intense drama of our lives to slurping slushies in a matter of minutes
. But as important as it was to talk about our feelings and work through all the emotional turmoil we were going through, sometimes we had to compartmentalize it all in order to get through it.

  Now was not the time to fall apart.

  If anything, it was the time to summon up every ounce of inner strength we had. We were going to need a heck of a lot of it to get through the coming days and months.

  With that, Grace offered me a handful of Skittles. I shared some of my beef jerky with her, too. And we kept the conversation light as we made our way into downtown Quarter Square.

  GRACE PLANTED HER HANDS on her hips, shifting her weight to see how the dark jeans hugged her hips. “What do you think?” she said, still watching herself in the floor-length mirror of the boutique. “Do these look okay?”

  “They look great.”

  She frowned, not convinced. “Why don’t you look around, too? It’s going to take me a while to try all of this on.”

  I forced a grin and slipped out of the dressing room area, letting out a sigh. I’d expected to have more fun picking out clothes, but I was surprised by how intimidated I felt. Styles had changed so drastically since the last time I went shopping with my mom. I didn’t know where to begin.

  My fingers trailed along the fabric of colorful shirts hanging on a rack toward the left of the room. I had no idea what style suited me best. I didn’t even know if I had a particular style. For so many years, I’d worn the drab outfits supplied to the blood slaves. And then when I was brought to the castle, I was provided with clothes fit for a princess. They were nice enough, but that style didn’t suit my current situation. I was certainly nobody’s princess. And anyway, the kingdom was in ruins.

  I scanned the room, pursing my lips.

  Hearing footsteps coming up behind me, I turned around, expecting to see Grace coming to my rescue. But instead, I found the owner sporting a welcoming smile. “Can I help you find something?”