by Mandi Casey
Great. Morris didn’t hold pack meetings unless something big was going down.
“What’s going on, Blake?” I was sick of hearing about the vampire and werewolf war, but I assumed it had something to do with that.
“The Mobile, Alabama, pack is on their way up to Kenosha. That means trouble for our pack. My father is furious they think they can interfere with our business, but he needs to hold a meeting to direct everyone on how their visit is going to be handled.” Blake’s brow cinched in the center while his jaw tightened. His body language made it more than clear he didn’t care much for the idea of having other wolves in his territory.
Blake put his warm palm on my thigh. My entire leg tingled from his touch. I stood from the couch to put some distance between us. When he reached for my hand, I stepped away just in time. “Blake, I’ll go to the meeting. Do you want to pick me up after work tomorrow? I’ll be at Aunt Judith’s.”
He stood, hooking his thumbs through the belt loops in the front of his jeans. “Sydney, what is the matter with you?”
Anger started to grow despite my body wanting nothing more than to have him have his way with me in the back storeroom. Visions of our naked bodies moving in rhythm with each other flashed across my mind causing a heated flush to race through my entire body. He was pissing me off. Heck, I was pissing myself off. Blake stood right in front me. I was well aware he was willing to participate in any carnal pleasures I may have in mind, but my brain screamed how much of a bad idea that would be.
“Nothing’s wrong with me, Blake. I’ve been thinking we need to cool it on being all touchy feely, that’s all.” Before he could argue, I put my hands up. “Listen, we both have a lot going on right now. I think we both need to focus on getting rid of the Mobile pack members as quickly as political correctness will allow. When everything’s back to being hunky-dory, well, then we can work on having a relationship, but not until then.”
Blake’s fist slammed on the glass countertop. The sound from the glass splitting pierced the room. My anger spiked, tamping down the desire. No one was allowed to damage anything in my grandmother’s store, least of all a temperamental werewolf.
“You need to leave before you break anything else,” I said through clenched teeth as I strode past him to stand in the middle of the store.
“Sydney, I’m sorry, I’ll replace the glass.” Blake took a few long strides to stand close to me, too close.
I refused to budge from my position as I pointed to the front door. “Now.”
Taking a deep breath, Blake focused on letting it out in a slow, even exhale. I knew what he was doing. He was trying to calm his wolf. I’d seen him do it often enough while arguing with his father. It took conscious effort to tuck the wolf back inside him so he didn’t do something he’d regret, so I stood patiently while he got a grip on himself.
Opening his eyes, I could see they were back to their warm brown hue. I let out a sigh of relief, not realizing how tense it made me that he was on the verge of losing control.
I was grateful for his strength, hoping he was over the threat of breaking something else.
In a slow motion, as not to frighten me, Blake leaned toward me, putting a warm hand on each side of my face. After placing a feather-light kiss on my lips, he said, “Sydney, again, I’m sorry I lose control sometimes. I know you haven’t accepted it yet, but you are my true life-mate. That’s why controlling my emotions around you isn’t easy. I love you that whole-heartedly.”
“Maybe that’s reason enough for us not to be around each other, at least not for a while.” I didn’t want to say it, but maybe that would be best for both of us. My heart sank as a tortured expression contorted Blake’s face while his anger began to rise again.
“Sydney, no. The answer to that is no. It wouldn’t be better for either one of us. I can’t allow that to happen. What are you doing after work?”
I knew he wouldn’t hurt me on purpose, but it did cross my mind that I wasn’t really sure how far he was willing to go to make me agree to be his life-mate. I knew without any doubt he believed I was the one.
“Okay, maybe that came out wrong. I don’t want to not be friends with you, Blake. I just don’t know how to handle all this sometimes. I didn’t mean to hurt you by saying that. Tonight I have plans with the princess, so I’ll be at the palace for some good ol’-fashioned girl time.” I waited for Blake to erupt with more anger about me hanging out with the vamps. He didn’t.
“Just be careful. The royals drink human blood just like the rest of the vampires do.” Blake’s tone remained neutral.
I was relieved we didn’t have yet another shouting match. For someone I wasn’t technically dating, we sure fought often enough.
I took his hand in mine, giving him a gentle, reassuring squeeze. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry. I appreciate that you didn’t go all ape on me when I told you my plans. What are you going to be doing?”
Blake took my other palm in his to turn me so we faced each other, hand-in-hand. “I’m going hunting tonight. My father needs the rogues flushed out. That’s what I intend to do. I don’t want those Mobile wolves coming here getting even a whiff that my father doesn’t have everything under control. The sooner they leave Kenosha, the better.”
A smirk sat on his generous lips. All at once, things started to make sense. “You’re not mad that I’ll be with the vampires because you’d rather me be with them than hunting the rogues with you, is that it?”
The smirk turned into a full, toothy grin on his handsome face. “Well, my dear, you had already made plans with the princess. Who would I be to try interfering with your girl fun?”
My mouth fell open with the realization. “Were you going to ask me to go along with you?” I doubted very much he ever intended on having me accompany him on the hunt, the fink.
Blake brought our hands up over my head to wrap them around his neck, letting his hands fall. I felt his warm palms on my back as he began to caress the sore muscles still decorated with purple-black bruises. “Sydney, you can’t blame me for wanting to keep you safe, but since you already have other plans there’s nothing to be done about it.”
I put my forehead on his chest. It amazed me how much better I felt, inside and out, when we touched. If it weren’t for the impending doom of the world we would cause if we officially became an item, I’d already have jumped at the chance of being Blake’s life-mate. We both cherished each other, but fate had dealt us a cruel hand. A serious relationship just wasn’t in the cards for us.
Too much was at stake.
Blake left after promising he’d text me when he finished hunting for the night.
After work, I drove, following the instructions Princess Katrina, Kat, had left on my voicemail on how to get to the vampire palace. The winding road coursing along Lake Michigan was barely lit. The houses lining the lakeside of the street were overly large, bordering on ostentatious. The mega-mansions were spaced quite far away from each other. I cracked the window to cool the air off in the car because the heater ran full-blast, as did the seat heaters.
The palace itself was hidden underground, but the entrance was just as Kat said it would be. Golden gates loomed before me, as did the guards monitoring who went in and out. I pulled my Jetta up to the first set of gates—there were two—and rolled down my window. I knew what was coming next. Cringing inside, I didn’t look forward to it.
The vampire guard stood by the gate, then he was suddenly at my window. I hadn’t seen him move, he was that fast. Kieran once described the vampires the king kept in his employ to protect the royal family. They were faster and stronger than the ordinary run-of-the-mill vampires. I personally didn’t think any of the vampires were ordinary, given their extraordinary capabilities, but the royal guards were given the king’s blood on a regular basis. His ancient blood made them extra strong. They were so
fast they traveled from place to place without being detected, if they so chose.
“Miss, stick out your finger, please.” The guard held out a meter, similar to those I’d seen diabetics using to test their blood sugar.
Tentatively, I poked my finger out the window and closed my eyes. When nothing happened, I opened one eye. What was he waiting for?
A small beep sounded from the machine. The guard appraised the menu. Scrolling down using a jagged tipped fingernail, he stuck a white tablet into the slot on the side. Then without further ado, he jabbed my index finger with his sharp dagger he kept at his belt. Pain seared up my arm as he grabbed my finger. He turned it sideways, touching the half of the tablet that stuck out from the machine. Handing me a tissue, he continued to stare at the menu.
“Geez, you could give a girl some warning before attacking her with your handy dagger.” I wasn’t happy about being stabbed in the finger. I was sure he didn’t have to cut so deep to get a tiny drop of blood.
The guard didn’t acknowledge my whining until the machine gave another beep. “Selected, you may proceed up to the next gate.”
He strolled back to his guardhouse doing something I couldn’t see to make the huge gates open as they groaned with the motion. Once the gates were clear, I drove to the next set of gates.
Kat warned me about the blood donation I’d have to give to prove my identity, but she didn’t mention what the guard at the second set of gates would have in store for me. I wasn’t about to let anyone else stab me in the finger. If they needed blood, I was sure I’d be able to squeeze open the gash already throbbing on my finger from the last guard.
Pulling up alongside the guardhouse of the second gate, I was surprised to see that it was not manned by another vampire, but a demon. He looked like a human male, but the gills on his neck gave his true nature away.
I rolled down my window again to see what sort of weird test I’d have to go through for this guard. The fish demon, or whatever demon caste he was from, didn’t utter a word. Holding out his hand, which had see-through webbing between claw-tipped fingers, he closed his eyes.
Without warning, my conscious thoughts were no longer mine to control. The back of my skull leaned against the headrest of the car seat and a warm buzzing whirled around inside my brain. I had no control over what the demon was doing. Unlike dealing with the Judge Damas, I couldn’t control this guy’s mind-melding, or whatever he was doing.
With a white flash against my lidded eyes, the demon withdrew from my mind. “Sorry for the intrusion, Miss, but I have to read the intentions of all palace visitors, by order of the king. You’re clear to proceed.”
Just like that, the fish demon expected me to go on my merry way. I wanted answers first. “Hey, excuse me? You just jump right into people’s heads thinking that’s okay? Who do you think you are?”
The fish demon looked insulted for being spoken to in such a manner, but that was his problem. “I’m the king’s demon of the deep. I guard the second gate to the vampire royal palace.”
The fish demon’s tone told me he thought that was explanation enough. Bubbles began forming from the gills on his neck. He must be getting worked up into a lather. That made two of us.
“So you think it’s okay to invade people’s minds?” The demons I’d run into so far thought they were beyond repercussions. They just went around doing whatever the heck they wanted, not caring who was affected by their lack of consciences.
I was getting pretty dang sick of the lot of them.
Sauntering over to my window, the demon leaned an arm on the frame of the car so I’d have to tilt my head up to look into his eyes. There was a thin film covering them. I took in a deep breath. To my surprise, he didn’t smell fishy, despite his having many fish-like features.
“Selected, I know exactly who you are. You know who I am bound to protect. Don’t think for one second I wouldn’t ‘invade your mind,’ as you put it, again if I thought you bore any threat to the royals inside the palace. It is my duty to make sure your intentions are pure.” The water demon stood straight. Taking a step away from the car, he held an arm out in front of him. “You may proceed.”
As I shifted my attention to the front of my car, I realized that sometime during our conversation, the water demon had opened the gates. After rolling my eyes at him to prove to both of us that he didn’t scare me one bit, I urged my car forward.
Metal groaning sounded behind my car. A loud clank signaled the second set of gates closing in behind me. I should have called Kat to cancel once I found out what Blake was going to be doing while I hung out at the palace. Damn him. I couldn’t believe how happy he was when I told him I wouldn’t be able to go rogue hunting with him.
My headlights flashed across another set of gates, but those were already open. Catching a flash of white, I saw an arm waving me forward. As I approached I recognized Princess Kat’s smiling face as she jogged toward my car as I parked in one of the designated visitor spots.
The car door was opened before I could pull the handle myself. Kat’s arm bolted in, grabbing my hand to help me out. She twirled me around while we laughed with girly glee. The princess must not have any better of a social life in the friend department than I had.
“Sydney, I’m so glad you decided to come. We’re going to have so much fun!” The princess continued to dance in the night air, flinging her hands skyward as her knee-high sundress twirled about.
A male voice broke us from our dancing on the pavement. “Princess, I promised the king you wouldn’t be outside for long. Come, let’s get you back inside the palace walls.”
The princess stopped dancing with an irritated abruptness. She stomped over to the man who spoke, putting her finger close to his aristocratic nose. “Torque, you promised you wouldn’t interfere with my fun tonight. You know how important this is to me.” The princess’ voice calmed, becoming somber, like a switch had been flipped.
The man put his arm around the princess’ shoulders, holding her against him. “Don’t worry, princess, you and Sydney can do whatever you want, as long as you’re inside the palace. Now, let’s get you inside before the king has me beheaded.”
The man didn’t laugh at his joke, so it was possible what he said wasn’t meant to be funny. The king was serious in providing security. Even Kieran wasn’t as obsessed with protecting the Elders during the Blood Rites Ball as the king was in insisting the royals stay put inside the fortress he built to protect his family.
Kat held out her hand, which I took in my own to show whomever this Torque guy was that I supported the princess’ argument about her freedom. “Torque’s right. Uncle Alexander would have a cow if he found out I was outside of the palace. He’s a stickler when it comes to rules.” She winked at me, not letting her escort see. From her mischievous grin, the princess appeared to have fun with testing the lines of those rules.
Torque followed us inside the underground palace. The great hall was bustling with activity as we passed by. Vampires and human servants were busy carrying laundry, piles of crystal dishes, and floral arrangements. From all the bustle, it appeared the palace was getting ready for a big event.
“Kat, what’s going on?” I asked while we continued strolling through the great hall. I peered upward. I was in instant awe.
The chandelier hanging from the second-story ceiling was in a word, magnificent. There had to have been at least ten thousand twinkling crystals arranged in a downward spiral. The light fixture expanded the length of the entire upper story.
The princess appeared surprised by my question at first. Realizing what I meant, she said, “Oh, them? That’s normal for the palace. The king likes the place to be spotless.”
Kat put her arm up, gesturing me forward. “Come on, I changed the plans a little. I thought something more exciting than movies and popcorn would be much more entertain
ing.”
I didn’t realize how nervous I was being in the vampire’s royal palace until she’d said that. Stopping in my tracks, I felt the blood drain from my face. I was sure I looked as pale as the vampires did on any given day.
Kat and Torque stopped short when they noticed I was no longer following. Kat grabbed her stomach. Seeing her bent over, I saw her shoulders shake and a surge of anger spiked swamped my body. She was laughing at me.
“Sydney, don’t worry, you are so funny. I haven’t had such a good laugh in a really long time. You are a hoot.”
The vampire princess wore a smile the size of her face as she let out a few more giggles at my expense.
My feet didn’t move from where they were planted. I wasn’t budging until I got an explanation of the evening’s plans.
Kat’s tennis shoes squeaked on the gold-colored marble floor with each step she took toward me. She hooked her arm in mine. “Sydney, would you like to accompany me and my body guard to a training session?”
“Training session? What kind of training do you have to do?” The vampire princess seemed genuine. I didn’t want to be insulting, but I didn’t want to be the stupid girl in the horror movie who strolled her way right into the bad guy’s trap.
She pulled me along with her guard while she explained. “Since there’s not all that much to do in the palace, and Uncle Alex doesn’t let me get out very often, Torque trains me in the arts of battle. Have you ever scaled a climber’s wall? We have a three-story, multi-dimensional one down in the sparring room.” A glint of excitement shown in her eyes which were brown, not red.
“No, I’ve never done any climbing. That’s sounds like great fun.” I relaxed as we made our way down three flights of stairs, which seemed odd to me considering the palace’s first floor was already underground. I wondered how far beneath the surface the structure went.