by V. Vaughn
“I see,” says Victoria. “And from there, where do you go?”
I shrug. “I’m not sure, but what I think is that, once she’s not so desperate, we move on to training her to feed in a controlled manner.”
The king says, “I think we have a plan.”
Relief washes over me. I have no idea if basic psychology can work, but it’s worth a shot. Even if all it does is buy me time to figure out how to get Lyndsey to Robert.
“My god, it’s going to be like taming the beast within me,” says Lyndsey.
In an attempt to lighten the mood, I say, “And you thought the hulk had it bad.”
Lyndsey grins. “We’re freaks. How did that happen?”
I smile back, amazed but happy she can joke about it, and it makes my fear die down to a manageable level. “I have no idea. The past few months have been beyond bizarre for me.”
“Me too,” says Lyndsey, and I wonder if she regrets ever meeting me.
Victoria smiles at Lyndsey as if they have a secret and then gets up while she says, “I’m going to get to work arranging the first training session tomorrow.” She looks at the king. “Daniel, I could use your help locating livestock.”
“Right. Of course,” he says as he stands up to join her. “Good evening, ladies.”
I look at him. “Good night, King Daniel.”
“Night, Dad. Victoria,” says Lyndsey.
Once the king and Victoria leave, I ask, “Did I do that right? Should I have curtseyed or something?”
Lyndsey shakes her head. “Don’t worry about it. Around other vampires, you need to remember to call me Princess and my dad King, but that’s pretty much it.”
She shifts to sit on the couch with her legs crossed in a yoga pose. “So how’s vampire life going for you? Was that cycle thing insane or what?”
“The worst.” I close my eyes and cringe as I recall the nympho phase. “I said things I can’t ever take back.”
Lyndsey chuckles. “Yeah. I’m sorry, but I tried more than once to get your boyfriend to sleep with me.”
I hold up my hand and look at the floor as my cheeks heat up more with the memory of how I acted toward men. “I totally get it. It was a while before I could look Sebastian or Adly in the eye.”
“Our only saving grace is that everyone does it.”
“I guess,” I say, and I take a sip of my drink and tuck my legs up under me too to get more comfortable. Talking with Lyndsey has made me nostalgic, and I think of my friend Kristi. I ask, “What’s it like being a princess? I imagine vampire royalty isn’t quite the storybook version.”
“Not even close. I—” Lyndsey’s brow knits for a moment, and her voice lowers as she says, “I had to kill someone the other night.”
“Whoa.” I recall Alexander telling me that Lyndsey chopped a guy’s head off with a sword. “I think I heard about it. Alexander called you a badass.”
Lyndsey blows out a breath of air. “I suppose that’s a compliment, but I didn’t have a choice. And it was weird. It was like a side of me that’s always existed in hiding came out.” She shakes her head and leans back to take a swig of her drink. “I’m a little afraid of her and wake up wondering when I became such a stranger to myself.”
“That’s it, isn’t it? It’s like a force within me is running my life, and I can’t seem to get a hold on it.” My vampire side acts in ways I don’t recognize. Like not wanting Alexander or keeping a secret I’m too afraid to share. I frown at Lyndsey. “I have no idea if my plan is going to work.”
Lyndsey nods. “It’s okay. I’m desperate and willing to try your way. You don’t want to know what my trainer, Tadhg, wants to do.”
“Is that the scary-looking dude you were with the other night?”
Lyndsey chuckles. “If you mean the bald guy who looks like he’s an MMA fighter, then yes.”
I grin at her. “I was thinking more along the lines of ex-con, but MMA fighter, I can see too.”
“His idea of teaching me control is to chain me in a dungeon and beat it into me.”
“Nice.”
“So what’s going on with you and Alexander?”
I shrug. I’m not sure if I’m just lonely for a friend or if I know I can trust Lyndsey and the girl code, but I open up to her. “It’s complicated. Before I became a vampire, I was sure we were meant to be together. And when I first changed, I was sure of it too. But now— I think I’m still too freaked out about being a vampire and all that entails to focus on my love life.”
Lyndsey takes her time swallowing a mouthful of her drink. “That makes sense. You can’t give your heart when you’re still trying to figure out who you are.” She chuckles. “It’s like we’re having a midlife crisis early.”
“Right?” I laugh too. I think about how sexy Des is, and since I know he was Lyndsey’s fighting trainer, I ask, “What about you? Is Des available? Because he’s beyond hot.”
“He sure is, but he trails after Victoria like a lost puppy. And she loves it.”
“I bet. She’s got to be one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen. Such an interesting look,” I say.
“I agree. She’s my father’s personal assistant and one of the kindest souls I’ve ever met too.”
“That’s good. I suppose you have to surround yourself with those you can trust.”
“I do. I’m learning that being a princess comes with a lot of responsibilities.” Lyndsey studies me for a moment and then asks, “You can’t be Kitty any longer, so are you still working for the Harts?”
“Kind of. I’ve been organizing Sebastian’s schedule and doing errands for him and Alexander since they had to give their housekeeper a vacation to keep me from feeding on her. But now they don’t really need me. Plus—” I think about how Sebastian was in love with me even though I chose his brother. It can’t be fun for him to watch, even though I’m sure we’ve moved past it. “Things have changed, and I’m not sure I should keep working for them.”
“I’m happy to hear that.” I frown at her, and she quickly adds, “I mean for me. Take some time to think this over, because I know it might feel weird, but I need an assistant.” She shakes her head. “It’s more than that.” Lyndsey’s blue eyes nearly pierce me as she leans forward and gazes at me intently. “I need someone I can trust completely. Someone who’ll help keep me grounded, who always has my back and gets me. I know we’re not that close, Maggie. But I feel like we could be.”
I imagine what it must be like to have so much power in a world you barely understand and wonder if I’m even qualified. “Don’t you think you might want someone who knows what’s going on? I am great with organization, but I haven’t got much of a clue about how this vampire thing works.”
She waves her hand. “There’s plenty of vampires around to help me with that. No. You tried to save my life, Maggie, and mistakenly turned me so I’d realize my destiny. We’re linked somehow.”
She leans back and takes a sip of her drink as I let her words roll around my mind. I recall that meeting her at the coffee shop and her invitation to hang out with her friends set everything in motion. I say, “It does feel as if we met for a reason.”
Lyndsey says, “We come from the same era, and I think we could both use each other as we navigate this underground world we were thrust into.”
She’s got a point. Talking to Lyndsey is so easy, and it would be nice to see her every day. Besides, living in a castle on an island? Talk about amazing digs. And I bet I’d go everywhere the princess does. The next best thing to being royalty. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that was attractive, so I smile at her. “Okay. Let’s see if this whole bloodlust-taming thing works, and we can talk.”
“Really?” Lyndsey breaks into a big grin. “Oh my god, thank you.”
“I haven’t said yes yet.”
“I know. But you should be easy to convince.” She pops up from the couch. “C’mon. Let me give you the grand tour. This place is amazing.”
Chapter 4
Maggie
I’d be a fool to say no to Lyndsey’s offer to be her assistant. Living in this castle would be like a dream come true. Not only is it an amazing place to stay, but I think I’ll be presented with a lot more opportunities for my new life here than I would at the Harts’. We’re up on the floor where her living quarters are located, and she takes me down the hall from her suite. She pushes a door, and it creaks open before we step into a room that looks as if it hasn’t changed in a century.
“Wow,” I say. We’re in a sitting room with a sofa, two chairs, a coffee table, and a desk in the corner. Bookshelves line one wall all the way to the ceiling. The wallpaper is cream, and I walk over to touch the dark-pink scrolls on it. They’re soft on my fingers like velvet and the same shade as the heavy drapes. Rings scrape over the metal curtain rod when Lyndsey yanks the drapes open to reveal a breathtaking view of the valley in the moonlight.
She says, “I wish we were able to see the ocean, but I suppose the hills do keep curious boaters away.” She pulls the drapes shut again before she walks over and brushes her hand along bookshelves. “You can choose whatever you want to read from the library I showed you, and of course, we have Internet if you want e-books.”
Lyndsey opens another door to bring us into the bedroom. While she opens the drapes in here, I turn to look at the four-poster bed, which has a comforter and pillows so plush I want to nestle into them. The room also has a love seat and vanity. Lyndsey leads me to one of two other doors, and we walk into a spacious closest with another love seat. “This is where you would have had a maid dress you.” She grins at me. “Sorry, but you’ll have to dress yourself.”
I chuckle and wander over to the bathroom. I see the claw-foot tub Victoria raves about and a modern shower as well. “Come check this out,” calls Lyndsey, and I return to the bedroom to find she’s still in the dressing room. I walk over and notice she’s opened a section of the wall like a door. She smiles at me. “It’s a secret staircase, and I’m on the other side.”
“Cool,” I say as I follow her out to a small landing, where I see the door that goes to her suite. There’s a small window that’s set deep into the castle wall in what I think is an attempt to look decorative from the outside, but it allows enough light in to see the stone steps that spiral down as they would in a lighthouse. “This is kind of creepy but in an exciting way. Do you know where it goes?”
“To a hallway on the floor below, the music room on the main floor, and a closed-off section of the basement. But we should see about opening the basement room up so we have multiple ways to escape to our rooms.”
I laugh, and the sound echoes off the walls. “I’m really hoping we don’t ever need to escape.”
“I don’t know. Imagine a really boring party and you want to get away unnoticed. This passageway could come in quite handy.” She begins to descend the stairs, and I follow.
I flash to a vision of stuffy old vampires who want to tell us about the old days. “Okay. I can see that.”
When we get to the next landing, Lyndsey stops us, and we listen for activity. When she’s determined nobody is around, she pushes the door open for me to see an empty hallway, then we proceed down to the next level. This time, Lyndsey and I enter the music room, where we walk through and return to the study.
“So,” says Lyndsey as she freshens our drinks, “not only would you live in the suite next to mine, but I’m sure there are more secret passageways for us to discover. Tempted?”
“Definitely.” I take my glass and let the tart flavor of champagne fill my mouth. “What does a princess do?”
“Good question. In a nutshell, I help my father rule over the kingdom. Which involves going to fancy parties, showing everyone I’m badass—” Lyndsey’s expression darkens. “And I guess making serious decisions about who gets to live or die based on their crimes.”
“So you’d need me to take care of things like organizing your social calendar, getting you where you need to be on time and looking the way you should, and being by your side for whatever needs arise.”
“You know more about it than I do.” Lyndsey grins. “Say yes.”
I shake my head at her as I laugh. “Okay. Yes.”
“Say yes to what?” asks Des as he steps into the study.
“I just convinced Maggie to be my assistant.”
“Excellent,” says Des as he walks over to the bar. “This calls for a drink. Can I get you ladies anything?” Ice clinks as he drops some in a glass.
“We’re good,” says Lyndsey. “Did you hear about Maggie’s plan to cure me?”
“I did.” Des takes a sip of his drink and lets out a small noise of appreciation. “It’s not going to take all night, so I was thinking.” He offers me a brilliant smile that I imagine wins him pretty much anything he wants. “We could start training tomorrow too, Maggie.”
I think about Alexander wanting to teach me to fight and let out a sigh. While deciding to be Lyndsey’s assistant is a good choice for me, pulling away from Alexander further by training with Des might be too much. “Let me talk to Alexander first.”
“Lynds,” he says, “ever teach the guy you were dating to surf?”
“No way. That’s a recipe for breaking up.”
Des grins at me. “See?”
“I get it. You really don’t think Alexander should teach me to fight. But I’d still like to have a discussion with him about it before I decide. You know. Respect for the other person and all that.”
“She’s got a point,” says Lyndsey.
“Why do you want to train me so badly anyway?” I ask.
“Because it keeps him at the castle, where he can run into Victoria every day,” says Lyndsey. Des grabs an ice cube from his drink and tosses it at her. She catches it easily in the palm of her hand. “Honestly, you two just need to get on with it already.” She pops the ice cube into her mouth, and it crunches between her teeth when she chews.
“She’s not ready to rush into anything. You know how she is.”
“Victoria needs you to woo her, Des,” says Lyndsey. “And instead, you’re chasing after the new girls.”
“Enough about my love life. The sun will be up soon, and you two should go rest up for the big event.”
Lyndsey explained earlier that the castle runs its usual hours during the night since there isn’t a reason to adhere to a human schedule on the island.
Lyndsey reaches her arms above her head to stretch. “He’s right, Maggie.”
The two of us make our way up to our rooms, and once the door to my new room is shut, I decide to run a bath and process what I agreed to. I find floral-scented bath salts, and the aroma of jasmine floats in the room as hot water fills the tub. Being Lyndsey’s assistant has me excited. After my stint as Kitty Kane and what I’ve been doing for Sebastian the last few weeks, I think I’ve got the skills to do the job well.
I strip off my clothes and step into the steaming tub, and when I sit, I let the heat relax me. I do think the Harts will be happy for me working for the princess, but I need to make sure they know how much I appreciate them and give them the courtesy of asking if it’s okay to leave them. Water splashes as I lift up and grab my jeans to pull out my phone. I sit back down and call Alexander. Unfortunately, I get his voicemail and have to leave a message for him to call me back. So I set the phone down and close my eyes to let my mind wander.
I envision myself in a beaded gown. It’s green, of course, so that my eyes sparkle like jewels. A red carpet is rolled out, and Lyndsey and I walk down it toward a large castle. When we get inside, our fur wraps are taken from our shoulders and—
My phone rings and jolts me from my daydream. I pick it up to talk to Alexander. “Thanks for calling back so soon.”
“How do you like the castle? Pretty amazing, right?”
“It really is. I got the tour tonight. Did you know there are secret passageways? It’s so cool.”
Alexander chuckles. “Good. We can sneak off a
nd make out in one at the next party.”
I smile and say, “I came up with an approach for training Lyndsey.” I go on to explain what we’re going to do.
Alexander says, “Would you like me to come help? Or to be there for moral support?”
The familiar rush of love for him fills me, and I hold on to it tightly with the hope that whatever is keeping me from being with Alexander is fading. “Would you? It would be really great to have you here.” And I’d much rather discuss my job as Lyndsey’s assistant with him face-to-face before I tell Sebastian.
“Of course. I’ll be there before you get up.”
“Thank you, Alexander.”
“Maggie?”
“Yes?”
“I love you, and don’t worry about tomorrow. You’re going to be great.”
I smile as my insides get all gooey from his words. A rush of desperate hope makes me think everything will eventually be okay. “I-I love you too.”
Chapter 5
Maggie
I lean against the stone wall in a basement hallway and close my eyes as I try to erase the memories of today. When they came up with the term shredder for what Lyndsey is, they couldn’t have been more on the money. Victoria had some rodents that kill family pets brought in, and it was not pretty.
Alexander comes out of the room where we were training Lyndsey, and concern clouds his face. “Are you okay?”
He rubs my arms, and I let out a sigh. “Yeah.” I gaze up at him. “We’re truly horrible creatures, aren’t we?”
“Maggie. No. The evil is inside of us, but we can learn to control it.”
Lyndsey in her bloodlust rage flashes in my mind, and I think part of why I’m so upset is because I acted the same way the first time I fed. But I managed to gain control, even if it was with Robert’s help. And if Lyndsey is going to live with herself, I’ve got to do everything in my power to help her do the same.
“You’re right,” I say. “I’m just disappointed that this isn’t working. It’s apparent I don’t have the powers you and Sebastian thought I did.”
