by Ariel Marie
Why must they say such things?
The hostess’s eyes widened, as she slowly backed away from him. She turned and ran back inside, shouting orders at the security detail that just arrived where Angel was attacked.
“Are you okay?” he asked, glancing down at Angel, finding her large brown eyes locked on him.
Chapter 5
Angel
Angel rubbed her throat, trying to stop the skin from stinging. Jaxon’s rough grip had been so tight, she was sure he was going to rip out her throat. She had hoped to never see him again.
She hoped to never to see any rogue again, ever.
Ten years ago, she had decided to walk home from work. It had been late at night, and she knew she should have called a cab, but money was tight, and she was on a budget. It was a gorgeous night, and she had figured she could make the twenty-minute walk across campus quickly and safely.
That decision had proven to be fatal.
A lone figure had stepped out of the shadows, claiming to be lost, and asked for directions. The last thing she remembered was the pain of something ripping into her throat.
It was Jaxon who found her and helped her. He showed her the ‘ropes’ of being a vampire. She had to drop out of college at the time, with the promise to herself that she would go back later.
She then got herself a small apartment off campus. She didn’t really have any family; she was an only child. Both her parents had died in a car accident at the beginning of her freshman year of college, and she had been alone ever since. Her mother was an only child, and her father’s siblings were older, passing away when Angel was much younger. She had been alone in the world and now, as a vampire, she was even more so in the dangerous, supernatural world.
Angel blinked away the tears that threatened to fall. She stayed near the building as the prince spoke to someone on his cell phone, requesting a pick up. The female vampire held a wickedly large knife in her hand as she stood over Jaxon.
“What did you want with the little vampire?” the female asked, bending down to put her knife in his face. Jaxon didn’t answer. “One thing I can’t stand to see is a male rough up a smaller, defenseless female.”
“It’s none of your fucking business, bitch,” Jaxon spat. Angel’s eyes grew wide as the female backhanded him. Angel watched as Jaxon spat out blood, then he turned back to the female vampire with a hard glare.
“Phaelyn!” Adrian snapped, putting his phone into his back pocket. “They should be here any minute. Let’s leave the interrogation to Khalid.”
“He always gets to have all the fun,” Phaelyn snapped back, kicking Jaxon in the face before she moved away. Angel watched in horror as Jaxon’s body slumped to the ground. Her anxiety began to grow, as she imagined what they were about to do to her.
“Who are you people?” Angel asked, backing up until her back hit the building. Her heart pounded in her chest, at not knowing what was going to happen to her. She quickly took in the alleyway, looking for an escape route, then silently cursed the heels that she was forced to wear for work. She wouldn’t get far in them if she needed to make a run for it.
But she would try. Oh, how she would try—
“It’s okay, little one,” Phaelyn said gently, with a small smile. “We’re not going to hurt you. You’re safe.”
“Angel, this is Phaelyn, and she is a member of the Dark Shadows, and I—”
Angel didn’t wait to hear anymore. She took off running as fast as her four-inch heels would allow her. She heard cursing behind her as she headed toward the opening of the alley. She had almost made it, until two strong arms wrapped themselves around her and whisked her off her feet.
“Ahhh!” she screamed, struggling to get free. She was in full-blown panic mode. She had to get away.
She had heard of the Dark Shadows when she was first turned. Jaxon would tell her that the Shadows policed the city to kill rogues, and any vampires that were turned by rogues. He said that if she ever heard the Shadows were near, she’d better run. Jaxon and the other rogue vampires had ingrained this into her brain. If she wanted to live, she would need to avoid the Dark Shadows.
“What the hell—” Adrian cursed as he dropped her on the ground. She crawled away, tears blinding her as she made it to the other side of the alley.
“Please!” she cried out, kneeling on the ground, trying to make herself a smaller target.
She had been a good vampire. She had never bothered anyone, never attacked or fed from random people. Angel mainly fed from the bagged blood she would pay for from the local blood bank. She would occasionally feed from thugs who would attempt to rob her, though. With her compulsion skill, it wouldn’t hurt them, and she didn’t feel any remorse since they were going to rob her anyway.
“Please don’t kill me,” she whispered.
~Adrian~
What the fuck did she just say? Don’t kill her? Adrian stopped dead in his tracks, and watched in disbelief as Angel huddled against the building, as if she expected him to harm her.
What. The. Fuck?
“Angel, get up.” His voice was gruff as he reached for her. She whimpered and backed away, trying to avoid his touch, which only infuriated him more. What the hell was going on? Why would she think he would kill her?
“Angel, why would you think that I would kill you?” he asked.
“Adrian, is everything all right?” Phaelyn asked as she walked toward them, while dragging Jaxon behind her on the ground. He shrugged his shoulders, unsure of what was going on.
He knelt down beside her. “Angel, I would never hurt you. Why would you think that?”
She turned her big doe eyes toward him, her face marred by mascara-streaked tears. Just looking at her and her tear-stained face tugged at his heart. Adrian wasn’t sure why, but he knew without a doubt that he would never hurt her.
“Because I’m a turned vampire,” she whispered.
“So am I,” Phaelyn said, pushing Adrian to the side. “The Shadows would never hurt the innocent. Trust me.” Phaelyn reached out her hand to help Angel up from the ground.
He watched as Angel’s eyes widened at Phaelyn’s declaration. She stared at Phaelyn’s hand for a brief second before taking it and standing.
“Don’t listen to them, Angel,” Jaxon gasped from the ground, holding his head. “Remember what you witnessed all those years ago.”
“I hope you’ll be this talkative when we get you in the interrogation room,” Adrian growled, just as a black SUV pulled up to the mouth of the alley. Viktor got out of the truck and opened the back door.
“Fuck you Shadow,” Jaxon spat, as Adrian dragged him to the back of the truck, handing him off to Viktor.
He turned back to find Angel standing next to Phaelyn. Her body jerked as Viktor slammed Jaxon into the back of the truck. His chest burned with the thought that he had put fear into her eyes.
“Come on,” he said softly. He walked up to her and held out his hand.
She shook her head vigorously, causing a few tendrils of her hair to whip across her face. His hands ached to remove the strands so he could see her. He moved closer to her, as Phaelyn walked over and jumped into the passenger seat.
“I can’t. I have to go back inside. I probably won’t have a job now,” Angel said, reaching up with a shaking hand to push her hair out of her face.
“Come with us,” he suggested, making sure the harshness was absent from his voice.
He needed to question her as to why she would be so afraid of the Shadows. He could easily tell that she wasn’t a rogue vampire. Rogues didn’t hold down jobs for one. Something, or someone, had led her to believe that the Shadows were the enemy, and he needed to get to the bottom of it.
Nicu and his parents would need to know this too. His parents were very passionate about their people, and would be shocked to learn that there were some vampires out there afraid of them, and everything that they stood for.
The Dark Shadows were the vampire warriors appointed by the v
ampire king himself, to protect the vampire nation, and even humans, against any threat.
“I can’t, Your Grace,” she stated, backing away. She tensed as he gently grabbed her hand. He held onto it, as she tried to tug it away from him.
“Adrian,” he said, running his thumb across her hand. “My name is Adrian.”
“But you’re the vampire prince,” she huffed, as she continued to tug her hand away from him. “It would not be right for me to call you by your birth name. I know I haven’t been a vampire for long, but I do know about the class system.”
“I could care less about the class system.” Adrian swore under his breath and moved closer to her. “Please. Call me Adrian,” he whispered, sensing that she was ready to bolt again. She shook her head again. “Well, at least come with us. We need to question you, and find out why that rogue was after you.”
Chapter 6
Adrian
Adrian couldn’t help but pace the hallway outside the room that Nicu had instructed them to place Angel in. Adrian was livid that Nicu would insist she needed to be put in an interrogation room, like she was a criminal or something.
She was an innocent, not a threat.
He walked into the observation room that was connected to her room, and found Teague and Phaelyn.
He walked up to the one-way glass window, and found Angel seated in the corner of the room, on the floor. She was still dressed in her leather pants and black work shirt. He noticed she was barefoot, finding her heeled boots underneath the table.
“Who is coming to do her interrogation?” he demanded in a low growl. His hands painfully gripped the windowsill. The need to go to her consumed him. He didn’t understand any of these feelings at all. The longer he was around her, the more he felt the need to protect her, kiss her, take her somewhere where he could—
Claim her.
His eyes widened at the thought. Could she be? Could she be the one?
His fated mate?
Holy fuck!
Where did this come from? They hadn’t known each other long at all. He’d only met her twice, and already he knew that his feelings for her weren’t normal. What vampire would get the chance to be with two willing women, but only have eyes for another, think of another, and climax while imaging the other two women were her? He knew that night, that even the two women couldn’t hold a candle to the one he’d wished was with him.
“You all right, brother?” Teague asked.
Adrian jerked his head in a nod, unable to speak. Of course he was. He hadn’t even considered looking for a mate, at least anytime soon. Even with the Vampire Council demanding that he and his siblings mate, and begin producing heirs, he had not considered looking for someone.
The council didn’t care about fated mates. They were demanding that the heirs to the crown mate with pure vampires only, to continue to strengthen their line. He just couldn’t bring himself to mate with just anyone. A fated mate was supposed to be someone that the fates decided was made just for you.
His father, the king, was in the middle of a battle with the council, to reverse their decision of the heirs only being allowed to mate with pure vampires. The king and queen both felt that their children should be able to mate with whomever the fates decided. He thought of his siblings, who were already mated.
Nadira, his sister, was mated to Cooper, the human detective who she turned into a vampire in order to save his life. Toma, his younger brother, was mated to a human, Anika. Teague, the youngest of the male siblings, was recently mated to Bella, a Valkyrie demigoddess.
Each of his mated siblings were head over heels in love with their mates, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. If he had to mate with someone, he would choose whomever fate had in store for him, and if he didn’t know any better, she was currently sitting in the interrogation room.
~Angel~
She didn’t know how much longer they were going to make her wait in this room, but it was starting to drive her crazy. Phaelyn, and Prince Adrian, promised her that she would be unharmed, but some of the other shadow warriors didn’t look as if they would be keeping those promises. The one named Viktor scared the shit out of her. He had a menacing look to him, so she kept her eyes averted, away from him.
The room she was currently in was small, windowless, and had nothing on the walls, except for a large mirror, which she was sure was one of those one-way mirrors. She had watched enough cop drama shows in her human life to recognize one when she saw it.
Her skin crawled, just thinking of the person that may be on the other side of it, watching her. She hadn’t seen Prince Adrian since they were separated, when he had helped Viktor carry a struggling Jaxon into the building.
She was confused by her feelings for the prince, and everything that she was taught about the Dark Shadows. It was hard to separate everything that she had learned during her ten years as a vampire, and her heart.
One minute she was jealous, wanting to snatch him up and drag him to a dark corner to have her wicked way with him. The next, she wanted to run far, far away from him.
It had been Jaxon and his friends who had helped her. The first year after her attack, she was as weak as a newborn calf. It was like learning to do everything all over again. She had been sensitive to light, and she had to learn to feed by drinking blood. She learned the hard way that she could no longer consume human food.
She cringed, remembering the vomiting she experienced when she would sneak and try to eat human food. Vampire’s stomachs were not made for digesting food. They had even taught her survival skills, but she knew staying with the rogues would be no good.
Life as a vampire at first, didn’t seem as if it would be so bad. But as time passed, her eyes were opened to the dark world of vampirism.
Every week or so, it would seemed as though they would discuss how another one of the rogues were killed. The life of a rogue vampire was one of darkness and danger, and she knew instantly it was not meant for her.
Angel was introduced to some of the darkest vampires around, all rogues. Some of them didn’t have control over themselves, unable to form conscious thoughts, and were consumed by what she was told was the bloodlust. She had stayed far away from them.
It was five years ago that she broke away from them, running away from Jaxon and his rogues. The rogue leader began experimenting on the newly turned vampires. Jaxon knew that their way of life wasn’t meant for her. She wanted to salvage what little of her old life she could.
Being a vampire changed everything. What she had now wasn’t much, but it was something, and far away from the dangerous life of a rogue.
The door opened, and the sounds of high heels clicking across the floor filled the air. Her curiosity got the best of her, and she glanced up to see who had entered the room.
A woman, who looked to be in her mid-forties, had dark brown hair with blonde highlights, pulled up into a sophisticated bun. Her power blue suit accented her ice blue eyes, ones that reminded her of Adrian’s eyes. She gulped as she realized who she was, as she gazed upon her with a gentle smile.
The vampire queen.
“Your Majesty,” Angel exclaimed, jumping up from the floor.
She looked down at her clothes, and cringed at what she must look like. She certainly wasn’t dressed to meet the queen. She hesitated, not knowing whether she should bow, curtsey, or kneel, when meeting vampire royalty.
Alin Olaru, the vampire queen, stood with a curious look in her eyes as she assessed Angel. “It’s all right, you don’t need to do anything, my child,” the queen said, motioning to the chair at the table. “Please, my dear, have a seat.”
“I’m sorry, Your Grace,” she apologized as she sat in the chair, then watched the queen sit down across the table from her.
“No need to apologize, or be so formal,” the queen said, waving her hand. “So, since you know who I am, my dear, please tell me your name.”
“My name is Angel Sanz, Your Grace,” she answered nervously.
Why would the vampire queen come and question her personally? She must really be in a shitload of trouble. She racked her brain, trying to figure out what she possibly could have done to warrant being questioned by the queen herself. She had led a quiet life as a vampire, and kept to herself as much as possible.
“How long have you been a vampire?” The queen was gentle with her question. Angel began to relax, but just slightly. She was confused by the question, but figured she might as well answer honestly.
“About ten years,” she informed, hesitantly.
“What happened to you?” Angel looked at the queen for a moment. Why would she want to know her story? She was just a lowly turned vampire. There was nothing interesting about her story.
“My story isn’t that interesting.” Angel started, shaking her head. She kept her eyes on her hands, unsure of what else to do. She didn’t want to bore the queen with her sordid story.
“Let me be the judge of that,” the queen countered, sitting back in her chair with a small smile. She nodded, urging Angel to go on.
Angel told the story of losing her parents at a young age, trying to follow in her dreams of completing college, and that fateful night when she was attacked, turned, and left for dead.
“Is that how you met the rogue vampire from tonight?” the queen asked quietly. Angel nodded. “What has your relationship been with him?”
“I haven’t seen him in five years,” Angel admitted. “Tonight was the first time I’d seen him since I ran.” The door opened, and an older vampire dressed in a suit came through the door, carrying a tray.
“Refreshments,” the queen announced. “Thank you, Watson.”
“My pleasure, Your Grace,” the older vampire said with a bow, then made a quick exit from the room.
“Please excuse my rude children for not offering you something to drink. You are looking a little pale.” She poured the dark red liquid into a cup, and Angel licked her lips. She hadn’t realized that it had been so long since she had last fed. She was famished.
