The Transformed Box Set: Books 1, 2, 3, 3.5

by Stacy Claflin

  "Dagur killed her, right?"

  "Yes, but that's not why I took his life, if that's what you're wondering. I killed him centuries later over a completely different matter."

  "Why did Dagur kill her?"

  He was silent, obviously thinking back many centuries. "I can't remember the specifics. Not because I have a poor memory, but because I never got along with them and didn't make it my business to get involved with either of them if I could help it."

  "So that's why you two were never set up to mate?"

  "That was part of it, I suppose. She was also killed so early on. I'm positive that if our parents hadn't been wiped out by that plague, they would have eventually asked us to mate. They really wanted to see our species grow and thrive. They would have been happy to see how many vampires there eventually were. A thousand years ago, there were more vampires than humans. The world wasn't overpopulated like it is today."

  The large, heavy doors opened and a servant held the door open for my father. He smiled when he saw the two of us snuggled together. "Breakfast is being prepared and we need the two of you to be front and center. You'll need to be available to speak with all of the leaders over the next couple of days. Some will be leaving as early as this morning, but others will stay through the weekend. Alexis, you'll need to return to your room to freshen up and pick out a new dress."

  I nodded and sighed, not wanting to get up. I wanted to hear more about the Fyrsturae, and I was also so very comfortable. The energy swirling around through me remained while I sat with Alrekur.

  "Oh, that reminds me," my father said, reaching into his kingly robe. "Your mother wants you to drink this bag of blood."

  NINE

  The next few days went by in a blur as Alrekur and I entertained the leaders. Whatever they wanted, we gave it to them. Some only wanted their questions answered, so we answered them as best as we could. Others wanted to spend time with us, so we played games, feasted, wandered the grounds, and even went hunting depending on whom we were with at the time.

  My mother continued to give me laced blood until the day that the last leader finally returned home. I enjoyed the time that I spent with Alrekur and the guests. Alrekur was very personable and knew how to charm anyone and everyone. By the time each one left, they were thrilled about his return and our future reigning vampiredom forever.

  Many had extended invitations for us to visit, promising us the very best accommodations. We would be able to travel the world. The prospect excited me much more than Alrekur, who had undoubtedly already seen much of the world in his two thousand years of life before. But I couldn't help noticing a sparkle in his eye when he saw how excited I was about traveling to visit the various leaders.

  When the last one had exited the castle, I realized how tired I was. I hadn't slept in three days. That certainly wasn't unheard of for a vampire, but younger vampires do require more sleep.

  "I need to lie down," I told Alrekur.

  His face showed sudden concern. "Are you alright, my love?"

  "I need to rest."

  "Alrekur, take her to her room, please," my mother said. "She needs to sleep. It wasn't wise for us to let her stay awake all of this time. I regret not having her rest. I always forget that at that age, they need at least three hours of sleep a night."

  "Yes, I'll help her to her room. Lean on my arm, Sonnast."

  I looked at him and his face became blurry. He reached out and caught me as I started to fall.

  "I shall carry my Sonnast to her room," he said, lifting me into his arms. The warm electricity ran through me again as he carried me to my wing, giving me enough energy that I could think clearly again.

  When we got to my room, he moved my blankets aside and laid me down gently.

  "Are you comfortable? Is there anything you need?"

  "I think I just need to sleep," I mumbled, about ready to drift off.

  He nodded his beautiful head and pulled the covers over me. "Rest sweetly, my beautiful Sonnast."

  My heavy eyelids closed and I felt him kiss my forehead and run his hand over my hair, pulling some off of my face. I fell asleep and woke up feeling refreshed. The moonlight was shining in my room, giving everything a light glow. My stomach rumbled loudly and I threw the covers off.

  I looked down at my wrinkled dress and remembered spending time with Alrekur and all of the leaders over the last few days. I smiled at the thought of Alrekur and how sweet he'd been. Why had I been so angry with him before?

  I climbed out of bed and went to my closet, finding some comfortable clothes to wear. I pulled my hair back and touched up my makeup. I didn't feel like taking a shower. I was starving for some delicious castle food. I especially wanted dessert; some ice cream would really hit the spot.

  What I would do if I had to return to the human world? They really didn't know how to make good food. Nothing I'd ever eaten there even compared to the food that I was now accustomed to.

  On my way to the dining room, I heard a familiar voice. I stopped in my tracks. Cliff was already in there! I stopped and leaned against the nearest wall as memories of him rushing out of the meeting and yelling at me in his room came flooding back. That was three or four days ago and I hadn't seen him since.

  Was he avoiding me? Had he seen me spending time with Alrekur? Guilt and regret washed over me as the realization of having just spent three days enjoying myself with the one who had killed Tanner and was trying to take me away from Cliff. Why had I allowed myself to enjoy his company? What I had really wanted was to rip out his throat.

  The blood bags my mother had given me! They had a funny taste and an even stranger effect on me. I hadn't even been able to remember why I'd been mad at Alrekur after drinking the blood. Now I could remember everything and I felt sick. I'd just spent three days actually enjoying that murderer's presence! How was that even possible?

  I sighed. What was I supposed to do now? I couldn't recall having seen Cliff during that time, but if he'd caught even a glimpse of me, then he undoubtedly thought that I didn't care about him in the slightest. He would hate me for sure now. Although, if I went in there now, he would at least be forced to act civil around me with others in the room.

  Taking a deep breath, I stood tall and braced myself to walk into the dining hall to face the love of my life who wanted nothing to do with me. I focused on the ice cream that I was going to eat so that I wouldn't appear unsettled when I entered the room.

  I walked down the rest of the hallway and through the elegant doors. I saw Cliff at a table with his parents and several other vampires. There was no place left at their table, not that I would be welcome anyway. He looked up and we made eye contact for a brief moment as anger flashed over his face. He looked away and continued talking to the beautiful vampire sitting across from him.

  Pain shot through my heart as I sat at a different table, alone. This felt more like high school than a royal castle full of ancient vampires. A servant rushed to me and apologized for not holding the chair for me. I nodded without a word, choking back tears, suddenly no longer hungry. But I was in the dining hall, so I had to eat something or I would look ridiculous. The servant brought a plate and silverware for me while a couple of others put platters of food on the table.

  Trying to ignore the conversation at Cliff's table, I took small helpings of the delicious smelling food and started eating without even tasting it.

  "Clifford," Francine said loudly, not that she was capable of speaking softly. There was nothing sweet or delicate about her. "Have you thought any more about that errand we discussed earlier?"

  "Yes, Mother," he replied. "I know you had asked me to take a week, but I've been thinking about it." He paused to take a bite. I ached to hear what he was going to say next. "It seems to me that I could do a much better job if I actually took two weeks. What do you think?"

  I felt like he had slapped me in the face. He was making it clear to me, and everyone else in the room, that he was not only going to take the ridiculou
s errands that his mother wanted him to do—to keep him away from me—but instead of taking less time than she wanted, now he was going to take more. He was trying to hurt me, and it was working like a charm.

  Out the corner of my eye, I could see Francine smirking. I could see the glee in her eyes now that he wanted nothing to do with me. Maybe she could even see how wounded I felt and was taking a particular joy in that as well.

  "You're wise beyond your years, my son," she told him. "I couldn't agree more. Two weeks would allow you to do a much better job with the task. You could even bring Stelena with you if she would like to go. Her family is going to be visiting with us for at least a month. Would you like to go with Clifford, Stelena?"

  "I would have to ask my parents' permission first, Mrs. Montgomery," said the beautiful vampire sitting across from Cliff. "Thank you for asking. I would love to go with Clifford."

  "Oh, darling. I don't see how they could have a problem with you attending him. He's the most high ranking, available vampire bachelor in the world."

  It felt as though a knife had stabbed me at the mention of Cliff being available. It took all of my self-control not to fly at Francine and rip the heart out of her chest. My stomach lurched and I knew that I was going to throw up. I had to get to the nearest bathroom before I humiliated myself in front of Cliff and the others.

  Setting my fork down on the plate, I ran out of the room so fast that they probably didn't even see me. I decided to go to my room to retch there; it was far enough away that none of them, even with their vampire hearing, would be able to hear me. I barely made it to my bathroom before I lost everything that I had just eaten.

  I went back to bed and refused to get up. After a couple of days, my parents came to my room to try to get me up, but I refused, seeing no reason to.

  "Daughter," my mother said, showing irritation, "there are other things that you need think about besides yourself and the Montgomery boy. I don't know how much longer they're even going to be here in the castle. It's only a matter of time before Alrekur gets rid of them. If he realizes that you have real feelings for Clifford, he may just kill them all. You're better off letting him go. If you really love him, give him that much so that he doesn't killed."

  "If Alrekur doesn't want them here, then why are they even still here?" I countered.

  My mother sighed and looked at my father for help.

  "We need for you to get up and begin your training," my father said. "You know what Francine is plotting against us. That's probably the intent behind the latest errand that she's sent Cliff and Stelena on."

  I felt like I'd been stabbed again when he used those two names together. I buried my face in my pillow, not wanting to hear the rest of what he had to say.

  "Child, you need to get up," my mother ordered.

  I ignored her, hoping they'd go away and leave me alone for another couple of days.

  "It's important that you get started, Alexis," my father said. "You're the Sonnast, and our kind needs you."

  Sitting up, I looked at both of them. "No."

  "No?" my mother gasped. "You can't tell us no."

  "I just did," I said, lying back down.

  "Daughter," my father said, sighing. "You are the princess and we need you to act like it."

  "You sent me to be raised by humans; don't be surprised that I'm acting like one," I snapped. "I've been acting like the princess ever since I've been with you. As many lies as I've found out about, I've still acted like the princess no matter how much I didn't want to. Especially those three days with Alrekur and the world leaders. What was that blood laced with anyway, Mother?"

  My mother looked at me without speaking.

  "Perhaps we can give you another day to rest," my father said. "I'm sure that it's a rather large change to move from the human world to that of vampire royalty. It's not something that we've ever had to do ourselves, so we can't understand what you're going through. Do you think another day will help you work through what's bothering you?"

  I glared at them. "You want me to work through being betrayed by my parents and being rejected by the love of my life in one day?" I exclaimed. I almost laughed.

  "We'll come back in about a day to see how you're doing," my father said. "Do you need anything? You look like you could use something to eat."

  "I'm not taking any blood from you two," I said, glaring at them.

  My father looked at me with sympathetic eyes. "I'll have a servant bring you some food. If it's laced with anything at all, you have my permission to stay in bed as long as you wish."

  My mother looked at him like he was crazy.

  "I think that we need to build trust with her again. We can't blame her for being upset with us after everything that we've laid on her since her return. We made the choice to let humans raise her. We can't expect that she's going act like a child of vampire royalty right away. She's actually done very well up until this point, wouldn't you agree?"

  "I suppose you're right, Geoffrey."

  "Why don't you call him Frey?" I muttered.

  My mother glared at me and was in my face in an instant. "Daughter, you may be under stress due to recent events, and we may give you a little bit of time to pull yourself together, but you will respect us. Do you understand me?"

  My eyes widened and I nodded.

  She moved back to my father's side as quickly as she'd left.

  "We'll have some food brought in for you," my father said. "Is there anything in particular that you would like?"

  "Ice cream sounds good."

  "Okay. We'll have it sent up right away."

  I nodded and they left the room. When the food arrived, I ate the ice cream but could only pick at the food. It looked delicious, but the smell of it only made me feel nauseated again. I put it outside my door, but not before my stomach lurched and I barely made it to the bathroom again.

  A little while later, the servant who had brought the food, came with a glass of blood and left it on my nightstand. I lay in bed staring at the glass. The scent didn't upset my stomach like the food had. In fact, it smelled good and after a few minutes, my mouth watered.

  I rolled over and tried to ignore the glass, but my mind kept returning to it and my mouth wouldn't stop watering. When I could feel my fangs preparing to extend, I grabbed the glass and drank it down quickly. They'd even warmed it up for me so that it was nearly the temperature of a human body. I savored the taste, which was actually close to the taste of fresh-from-the-source blood.

  About a day later, my father returned alone. "Are you feeling better, my child?"

  I shook my head. "I'm going to need more time to deal with everything."

  "Did you eat the food that I had sent to your room?"

  "I drank the blood."

  "At least that's something. We're going to be leaving with Alrekur tonight and I'm not sure how long we'll be gone. We're traveling to Africa to where he says he hid Halldor. It may take a couple of weeks and it would be nice if you would be ready to start acting like the princess that you are by then. I've sent for Brooke, and Mattie is in the process of being cleaned up as we speak. I have a feeling that they will be able to help you more than your mother and I at this point."

  My eyes lit up despite myself. It would be such a treat to see them again.

  He smiled. "I'm glad that pleases you, my daughter. I want you to know that we never intended to hurt you. I understand why you feel the way that you do. You think that we shouldn't have sent you to live with the humans in the first place. Perhaps we did act rashly by starting our search for Alrekur when you were so young. I hope that you'll be able to find it in yourself to forgive us. Maybe someday you'll even understand."

  "I doubt that I'll ever understand."

  He leaned down and gave me a kiss on the forehead. "We love you, my child. More than you know. We'll see you in a couple of weeks," he said, and then disappeared.

  I started to cheer up. Not only would I see Brooke and Mattie again soon, but my paren
ts and Alrekur would be gone from the castle for a couple of weeks. Maybe I would be able to kick this funk after all. I closed my eyes and fell into a restful sleep.

  When I awoke, I saw Brooke at the other end of the room, facing away from me and ironing some clothes. A smile spread across my face. I'd missed her so much. I climbed out of bed soundlessly and ran to her, wrapping my arms around her in a big hug.

  She gasped in surprise and turned around when I let go.

  "Alexis!" she exclaimed. "You're awake! It's so good to see you." She was smiling and gave me hug of her own.

  "I missed you so much! How are you?"

  She looked me up and down. "Better than you, apparently. You look like you've entered another hibernation."

  I looked away. "You could say that. Do you know anything about what's been going on?"

  "Everyone is saying that Alrekur Vidarsson has been awakened and that your parents are working with him to bring the rest of the Fyrsturae back from their graves."

  "Is that all that they're saying?"

  She gave me a sad look. "Is it true that you're supposed to rule with Alrekur?"

  "Want to sit down so we can talk?" I asked.

  She nodded and sat on the sofa.

  I sat down next to her and sighed before telling her the whole story, everything from awakening Alrekur to Cliff hating me. I left out the parts about Alrekur kissing me and my drinking his blood, which had brought me to a state of ecstasy. I didn't want to talk about the fact that I couldn't deny there was something there between us. I didn't even want to think about it.

  "He actually killed Tanner? I'm so sorry, Alexis. I know how much he meant to you."

  I frowned. "Thanks. But he went to a lot of trouble to hide the body, so it's not completely over. He must be able to be awakened."

  Brooke nodded, but I could tell that she knew what small chance there actually was of anyone finding his body in order to remove the stake.

  "So Cliff won't have anything to do with you because of this? Is he trying to protect himself so that Alrekur doesn't kill him too?"