by Amy Patrick
“The Crimson throne is yours now—at least until Imogen wakes and we find out if she’s still a vampire. If she isn’t, then someone has to rule.”
“Well, it won’t be me. I don’t know anything about leading people.”
“Look, Imogen’s incapacitated. Sadie is dead. The world outside is a mess. This place is in an uproar—rumors flying everywhere about what really happened during the feast and why no one’s seen Imogen. Kannon and I gave the Bloodbound orders to keep the peace, but it won’t last long without leadership. Our people need a queen, and you’re perfect for the job.”
“No—” I tried to protest.
He cut me off. “Yes. You learned diplomacy at Sadie’s feet, and you’re Imogen’s child. You clearly inherited her power—or did you not notice your own strength the other night when you stood up to her? Besides, you’re the only one who has the pheromone thing necessary to lead a hive.”
Everything he said was true. It was also terrifying.
“I... can’t think about it right now, not until Shane wakes up and I know if he’s a vampire or not. And until I know whether the cure will work for him.”
Reece didn’t like that answer. “I should have let the stupid human die. What kind of idiot makes sure the competition stays around?” he muttered as he turned and left the room, clearly sulking.
I was disappointed in his attitude toward the human race, but then he had saved my friend’s life. Based on his parting remark, he was misreading my concern for Shane’s well-being as something more than friendship.
After Shane woke and I was sure he’d be okay, I’d have to go find Reece and straighten things out with him.
The door opened again, and I thought I’d get the chance sooner than expected, but it wasn’t Reece standing in the doorway. It was a young female vampire. She was lovely, with smooth brown skin and a short, curvy build.
“Hi,” she said shyly. “Are you Abigail?”
“Yes. Hi. Can I help you?” I darted my eyes over at Shane’s helpless form, suddenly feeling protective.
The young woman’s gaze went to him, too, and there was a rush of blood to her face. Her eyes filled with tears.
“Wow,” she breathed. “It really is him.” Stepping farther into the room she said, “I’m an old friend of Shane’s. One of my friends is friends with Ellie, who’s a nurse here at the clinic. My name is Marjorie.”
A fluttery feeling of euphoria lifted my stomach. “You’re Marjorie?”
“You’ve heard of me?” she asked with a growing smile. “Did Shane... did he mention me?”
I returned her smile. “Yes. He spoke of you when we were traveling here together from California. He said you were once very important to each other. Would you like to see him?”
“Oh, yes. That would be wonderful.”
I gestured for her to come closer, and she hurried across the room to Shane’s bedside. She gazed down at him with such obvious affection and concern I wished he were awake to see it.
“Do you live here at the Bastion?” I asked her after a few minutes.
She turned to me as if just remembering there was another person in the room. “Yes. I came here about a year ago after breaking up with my boyfriend—not Shane—the guy I dated after him. Actually, I went looking for Shane before I came here. His house had been sold, and no one knew where his family had moved.”
She blushed again. “We dated in high school, but his parents disapproved. I guess I wanted to see him again and see how he felt now that we were both older and more independent. But I couldn’t find him...”
Her eyes went back to the sleeping guy. “When I heard my friend talking about Ellie’s human patient from California, and that he was bitten by an Arch Vampire, and that his name was Shane Eastwood, I dropped everything and literally ran here.”
She turned to me, hugging her own ribcage tightly. “Do you think he’ll wake up?”
I stood and placed a comforting hand on her arm. “I believe he will. And when he does, I think you two will have a lot to talk about. He never got over you, you know.”
Her eyes glistened again, and she seemed to swallow back a lump in her throat. “I never got over him either. He was the love of my life. Do you think... will he be sad to be a vampire when he wakes up?”
“I’m not sure yet,” I said. “If he is, we have a possible cure for him. It could reverse the transformation.”
But now I wasn’t so sure he’d even want to take it. Once he was reunited with Marjorie, Shane might want to stay a vampire so he could be with her eternally.
Things were certainly not turning out the way I’d expected them too.
“Could I...” Marjorie started, faltered, then spoke again. “Would it be okay if I sat with him? Just for a little while? I know you’re close, but, well it would be amazing to be here when he wakes up.”
I gestured toward the chair where I’d spent so many hours thinking the same thing. “Please. You’re welcome to stay as long as you like. I have a feeling when he opens his eyes, it’s your face he’d rather see.”
And now that Shane was no longer alone, now that there was someone else to watch over him who truly cared about him, I decided to take Reece’s advice and get some rest. I left the clinic and walked to my chambers, thinking.
As for the other thing he’d said—about me addressing my “subjects” and ruling the Bastion in Imogen’s place, I wasn’t sure what to think. Or to do.
If only Sadie were here.
She’d definitely know what to do. She could take over and lead the vampire race, or at least teach me how to.
As it was, I had nothing but some iffy pheromones, a few vampire preparedness classes, and a year working an entry-level job at the Vampire-Human Coalition.
I wasn’t even that great of a vampire. How could I be the queen of all of them?
27
Willing Consort
Abbi
After a long bath, I fell into my bed in the guest suite, mentally and physically exhausted.
I’d barely settled under the covers when there was a knock at the door. I almost didn’t answer but thought better of it. It might be something about Shane—or Imogen.
When I opened the door, Reece stood on the other side.
“Hi.”
He’d calmed down since the last time I saw him, and it looked like he’d just showered. Instead of his Bloodbound uniform he wore jeans and a dark t-shirt. His dark hair was still damp, and he smelled like cedar and soap.
“Hi. Is everything okay?” I asked.
“I don’t know how to answer that, since it kind of depends on you. Could I come in?”
Once inside my room, Reece shifted from foot to foot, looking around and clearing his throat.
“What’s going on?” I prompted.
His gaze finally met mine. “I came to apologize. I’ve been horrible the past few days.”
“They’ve been difficult for all of us,” I started, already forgiving him.
He held up a hand. “Let me finish please. I’m sorry for what I said back there in the clinic. I don’t hate the whole human race, and I don’t want... Shane to die.”
It looked like it pained him to say Shane’s name, but I gave him points for effort.
“And I’m sorry for taking the decision out of your hands back in the Grand Dome,” he said. “He’s your friend. I should have let you have the final word on the matter.”
“It’s okay.” I meant it. Reece had obviously been thinking with a clearer head than I had during the horrific feast.
“You were right. If you’d left it up to me, Shane would be dead now,” I admitted. “At least this way he still has a chance at life. And you were only trying to help.”
Reece’s face crinkled. “Yeah... see, I have something to confess. I was only helping myself. I didn’t want you to ‘mourn him always.’ Shane came between us enough while he was alive—I wasn’t going to let him do it in death.”
“Oh.”
�
��I’m selfish when it comes to you,” Reece confessed. “Everything I do—everything I’ve done since I came here was about the chance to be with you. I joined the Bloodbound so I could be with you when you took over for Imogen someday.”
He took me in his arms and stroked his fingers down my cheek as if my skin was the softest silk and he couldn’t resist touching it.
“That ‘someday’ is almost here. You’re going to be queen, Abbi. And I’ll be your willing consort—as often as I get the chance.” He took a deep breath and steeled his jaw. “The only problem is I’m not sure how I’m going to share you with the other Bloodbound.”
“I don’t want any of them,” I told him. “I don’t want anyone but you—ever.”
Reece smiled, wide and genuine and with enough warmth to melt even the iciest pocket of resentment I’d been hanging on to.
“I was hoping you’d say that. It’s impossible, of course, but I like hearing you say it anyway.”
He sank a big hand into my hair and cradled the back of my head, guiding my mouth to his.
I made a half-hearted attempt to pull away. “Maybe we shouldn’t...”
“Shut up and kiss me,” Reece growled, continuing his sweet assault on my mouth and backing me toward the nearby bed.
As we tumbled onto it, I pulled my mouth away again—though I really didn’t want to. His kisses were like the richest dessert and the most addictive drug rolled into one. “Are you sure we should—”
“Yes.”
Reece yanked his shirt over his head then started working on the buttons of my pj top. “I love you, Abbi. I may not be your last, but by God I’m going to be your first. You’re going to be my first and only—and I plan to make sure you’ll think only of me, even when those other drones come calling.”
I wanted to protest that there would be no other “drones,” that even if Imogen died or abdicated her rule, I had no intention of taking her place—on the Crimson throne or in the queen’s royal bedchamber.
But I didn’t say any of it. All I could manage was a breathless, “yes.” And then my mouth, and the rest of me, were quite busy for the next several hours.
Rolling onto his back, Reece pulled me against him, tucking me between his arm and chest.
I wrapped my arm around him and held him close, not wanting the intimate contact to end. Ever. It had been one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. And possibly the stupidest thing I’d ever done.
“We just committed treason,” I said, torn between awe and terror.
He pressed his cheek against the top of my head and gave a happy laugh. “No one in the history of time has ever been more thrilled about committing treason than I am. Even if Imogen wakes up a vampire and has me beheaded for it, I still won’t be sorry. That was worth it.”
I slapped at his bare chest. “Don’t say that. Don’t even joke about it. I can’t bear the thought of anything bad happening to you.”
He held me tighter. “All the bad has already happened. Now it’s time for the good stuff. You’re going to be an amazing queen.”
“Reece... I’ve told you—I’m not going to be queen of the Crimson Court. This doesn’t change anything. I still can’t fill Imogen’s shoes. And I could never live up to Sadie. I’m not enough. I can’t do it.”
“You don’t have to do it on your own—I’m here. The Bloodbound are here, and they’ll listen to me and Kannon. But you do have to try.”
“Do I? I’ve been thinking... if the cure ends up working on Imogen... we could take it, too. We could be human again.”
28
Can’t Go Back
Reece
A tremor went through my whole body. I could hardly believe my ears.
“You don’t mean that. You’re just scared. Either that or my amazing lovemaking skills scrambled that pretty head of yours. You’re not thinking straight.”
“I am. And I do mean it, Reece. I’m a terrible vampire. I’m too... soft.”
“You’re not soft,” I argued, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze. “You’re compassionate. You’re one of the strongest people I’ve ever known... and I live with dozens of huge vampire males. You can be compassionate and strong, you know.”
She turned her face up to me, her lower lip trembling and her eyes filling, making their color resemble the periwinkles that grew in the meadows where she used to love hiking at night.
“What if I’m not smart enough? I never even graduated from high school.”
“You graduated from the school of experience—and your experiences are far beyond what most people could ever dream of. You love learning, right? You can keep learning. You’ll just be doing it on the job. If you ask me, you were born for this.”
“I was born to be an Amish farm wife,” she countered.
“And yet even then, back when I first met you, I could tell you’d never be satisfied with that. You wanted more, remember? What happened to that girl who wanted a life of excitement and adventure?”
She shrugged and snuggled deeper against me, sounding exhausted. “Maybe too much has happened to her. Maybe she wants to be normal again... to not be a monster.”
“You can be a vampire without being a monster. Wasn’t that the whole purpose of the VHC—to prove that to people? You’ve proven it. You proved it the night of the feast, and you’ve been proving it every day you’ve lived in this existence. You are an example to every vampire out there that it’s possible.”
“Oh gosh, now you’re really making me feel like a fraud. No one should look at me for an example of how to live their life.”
“If not you, then who? I was mad at you for running into the Grand Dome to try to save Shane with no concern for your own safety, but I have to admit one of the many reasons I love you is that you do put others before yourself. That’s the best example anyone can set, the willingness to sacrifice yourself for others. That’s how I know you’ll be a great queen, better than Imogen ever was or ever could be. The people here need you. The ones on the outside that were left behind when Sadie died need you.”
I paused a beat. “I need you.”
Abbi rubbed my chest. “I need you, too, Reece. I don’t want to give you up.”
She lifted her head, and her words poured out faster and faster. “That’s why we both have to take the cure. You could have the life you wanted before all this happened. You could finish your college basketball career, go to law school...”
I stopped her. “Abbi... the life I wanted doesn’t exist anymore. Not with what I know now. Not with the way things are going in the world. You know how bad things are. The vampire race needs an advocate. They need leadership and protection.”
A new light came into her eyes. “Larkin could produce more of the formula—everyone could be cured.”
“Even if it’s possible for all vampires to be cured, many of them wouldn’t want to be,” I argued. “A lot of them can’t go back to their human lives. I can’t go back. I have no one to go back to.”
“You’d have me.”
“And what about everyone else?” I asked. “Some of our people turned so long ago all their human friends and family are dead now. Some would lose their jobs if they were human again. Some of them would lose more—a mate, a community. Some had incurable diseases before turning. Becoming human again would kill them. What about Kannon? He was a quadriplegic. A human life isn’t the end all be all, you know.”
She shook her head. “I know. It wasn’t perfect, but it was... easier.”
“I didn’t take you for someone who takes the easy way out. And easier isn’t always better. Remember that night under the crimson moon? I said I wanted ‘greatness?’”
I stroked her hair back from her face and gave a self-deprecating chuckle. “I felt kind of stupid about it later, and I admit when I believed your life was in danger from Imogen, all I cared about was keeping you alive. But I can see that vision again. That’s what I want for you, for all of us. You would be a great queen, Abbi.”
&nb
sp; She shook her head in obvious disbelief. “The words ‘queen’ and ‘Abbi’ don’t even belong in the same sentence.”
“We’ll call you Queen Abigail, then,” I joked. I leaned my forehead against hers so our eyes were level. “You’ve grown, you’ve learned. You’ve gotten stronger. You may not feel it, but I see it in you.”
“You’re only saying that because you love me.”
I chuckled. “I do. But I also believe in you. What will it take to make you believe in yourself?”
“I don’t know. I do believe in us,” she whispered, sounding desperate. “Come with me.”
“Stay,” I whispered back.
“I’m not sure if I can.”
There were tears in her eyes. My heart swelled almost painfully. Pulling Abbi back down to my chest, I pressed a kiss to her hair.
Though she was wrapped in my arms, I felt like she was slipping away from me. She was so convinced she couldn’t be the leader the vampire people needed.
The last time she was this certain of something she’d left for California—and left me behind. A sharp spike of fear pierced my heart.
How could I ever live without her? I wanted her more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life. I loved her.
For a moment I tried to envision doing what Abbi wanted—taking the cure and going back to being human. I was sure it was the wrong thing. The citizens of the Bastion needed protection and leadership. They needed a queen.
Trying to fill in and be their king wasn’t an option. I might have been an Arch Vampire and Imogen’s child, but as a male, I lacked the queen bee pheromones necessary to hold a hive together.
But how could I leave the people here—and the entire vampire species—defenseless?
I couldn’t.
If the cure worked, and Abbi decided to take it and leave the vampire people behind, I’d have no other choice but to stay and try to lead them.
There was a sharp rapping on the door. Abbi slipped from the bed, grabbing her clothes and dressing quickly before answering. She opened the door a crack. On the other side stood one of the clinic staff members.
