Tattoos and Cupcakes (Amulet of Queens Book 1)

by Everly Taylor

  My mother handed the babe to me and removed the chain from around her neck. She bent over and kissed my head. “She shall be named Selena. Leave the amulet with her and she will remain safe. Remember, my daughter, I created you and I shall always love you. Do not regret what you have done, for on that night you found the salvation for our future.”

  She kissed Selena and placed the amulet around her neck herself. Taking a step back, she looked at me with tears silently rolling down her cheeks, her body slowly crumbling as it turn to dust.

  I cried, I cried for the loss of the woman who had created me so long ago, one that had been there for me and supported me, even through the poorest of decisions. I cried for the miracle of a birth that should have been impossible for someone like me, someone who really did not live. Now I knew what had to be done, it was the only way to honor my mother’s wishes and protect the baby who was brought into a world and a battle she hadn’t asked for.

  I brought her to the orphanage and it was hardest thing I had ever done, even considering the things I had been through before I was turned. I left Selena wrapped in a blanket on the orphanage doorstep, the amulet’s power refreshed by my blood and I knew it would keep her safe from harm. Her fangs had retracted, the amulet knowing to keep her safe by drawing them in.

  Knocking on the door I retreated to the shadows, and watched as a woman came and gathered Selena in her arms. She glanced around to see who had left her but finding no one, she brought her inside to care for her.

  A quiet knock on my own door pulled me out of my thoughts. I straightened and called, “Enter.” Butterflies flitted around in my stomach as the handle turned and the door was pushed open. Aldrich walked through, followed by Damien. I tried hard to remain still as seconds passed and no one entered behind them.

  Slowly, she entered, followed by Adrien, her beauty more than I could have imagined. Her long, burgundy hair hung thick down her back and her bright eyes studied me, their almost purple hue illuminating in the light. The amulet hung around her neck, still pulsing its familiar pull. Having felt that same sensation the many years my mother wore it, it reminded me of her and brought a tinge of sadness. Its pull was waning, instead of strengthening as it had when my mother had worn it, and now it bonded more to Selena than to me.

  Selena studied me as she crossed the room, my heart sinking as no recognition crossed her face. In my current condition it was no surprise, though I wasn’t sure that would have changed had I been in full health since she had not known me her whole life.

  As she stepped in front of me the men gathered around her, it looked like she had their loyalty already. That made me happy, as knowing these men, it meant she must be worth giving it to. It also meant that she would have their protection going forward into the unknown and she may need it.

  “Valentina, I’m assuming?” she questioned.

  “I am. It’s nice to finally meet you, Selena.” I smiled at her, willing myself not to cry, not to try and hug her. In this moment I wanted to be her mother, but needed to be a queen first to save our people, or all of this would be for nothing.

  “I wish I could say the same. I’ve come for answers first, then I’ll decide if it’s been nice to meet you or not.” Watching me, she waited for a response. Holding onto her opinion of me before she had answers was a wise move and whether she realized it or not, she was going to be a great future queen.

  “Please, take a seat, and I’ll try to give you the answers that you’ve come for.” Gesturing to the seats around me, I indicated that they all make themselves comfortable. I studied her as she took her seat and was proud of how strong she seemed, especially considering everything I had been told she had been through. Most people in this situation would have had a much harder time dealing with things, however she was demanding answers and seeking a solution. I just hoped she was ready for those answers.

  “I have thought of this day longer than you have been alive,” I started, not sure where to begin. I had played this conversation over and over again in my head, and no matter how I began, nothing seemed right. So instead I tried for what came from my heart. “I knew you were a miracle the day you were conceived, I shouldn’t have been able to have children, but there was no denying that you were there inside me.” Selena stared at me, unable to say anything as she processed what I had just revealed to her, so I continued.

  “It wasn’t safe to keep you so my mother and I made a plan to bring you to the orphanage. I followed through with our plans after you were born so you would remain unharmed.” I pointed to her chest, indicating the amulet, and I explained, “I left you with that amulet to make sure its power protected you from harm.” I watched as shock flashed across her face when she realized who I was to her, and with that the many questions forming in her head.

  “So why now, why find me now? You haven’t cared about me this entire time, or where I was, why give a damn now?” she asked, angry and hurt. She had every right to be.

  “I’m sick, Selena, and I don’t have much time remaining. I needed to find you because you’re important for the survival of our people.”

  “So you found me because you needed a fucking kidney or something? You didn’t care about getting to know the daughter you left behind, you only wanted me so you could use me?” Selena stared incredulously at me.

  “No Selena, I don’t want your kidney, just a chance to explain. For you to accept who you are, who you are meant to be.” When she remained silent I tried again.

  “You are the only naturally conceived vampire child, born on a night of incredible magic between two incredibly powerful vampires. The power that you hold is untold of, and in the wrong hands could be devastating—” I was interrupted when Selena stood quickly from her chair sliding, it backwards.

  “Is this some sort of fucking joke?” exclaimed Selena, looking between me and the men at her side in disbelief. They remained stoic, knowing I was telling her the truth. She rounded on them. “Are you believing this shit she’s telling me right now?”

  “Selena, it’s not a matter of believing, it’s a matter of accepting, what she is telling you is the truth. You are a vampire, we are all vampires,” Adrien said, moving toward her to settle her down.

  She backed away from him, looking at him like he had lost his head. “You expect me to believe this shit? Vampires are like dead and shit, like you know, ‘I vanna suck your blooooodd.’ I’m not like that and neither are any of you. You go into the light, your skin doesn’t sparkle. Shit, you guys eat normal food and everything, I saw you. There is no way you are vampires.” She made fangs with her fingers in front of her face. “I don’t see any little pointy things hanging out of your faces.”

  “Lena, a lot of that stuff is just made up lies. Some of it is based on fact, a lot of it’s just exaggerated truth over the years from scared people telling stories, which stretched the truth because of things that bad vampires have done,” Damien explained.

  “So you expect me to believe there are good vampires and bad vampires now?”

  “You’ve already seen it first hand at your shop,” Damien stated matter-of-factly. “Your own manager suffered a terrible fate at their hands.”

  “For fuck's sake! You’re saying those men were vampires?” She stared at me in disbelief. “Wait, you’re trying to say my manager died because of them?” She tilted her head and looked between Adrien and Damien. Neither of them answered, just waited for her to think it through. The moment she realized the truth in what they were saying it was clear on her face, and she sunk back into the chair behind her. “Oh shit, their teeth, they weren’t teeth were they? And that’s why my shop was destroyed, you weren’t just fighting normal people. They really were vampires.” She sat silent for a minute, thinking about everything.

  “What did they do to her, I mean how…” She trailed off, unable to ask the question.

  “How did she die?” Aldrich finished the question for her softly. Lena nodded her head, tears gently running down her cheeks.


  “They cornered her in the alley behind your shop. It was why we asked you if you were expecting anyone. When you told us your manager was late, we knew it was her,” Damien said.

  “But why? She didn’t do anything to them,” Selena questioned, still in disbelief that they had done this.

  “There doesn’t have to be a reason Lena,” Adrien replied. “This is what separates us from them. They kill without hesitation, without remorse. Their clan even goes so far as to drain corpses when they are brought to them. That’s the purpose of the funeral home, and also the source of the stench around them. Killing a person, or draining a corpse, changes a vampire, and it isn’t for the better like they think it is.”

  “So she died for no reason, other than because they were after me?” Selena pressed, still struck by the loss of her friend.

  “I have no perfect answer for that. Maybe if they hadn’t taken the time with your friend in the alley, we wouldn’t have reached you in time. We might have lost you too,” Adrien said, his eyes filled with emotion.

  “I can’t be content with knowing that my friend was a sacrifice so that I could be rescued,” she argued defiantly.

  “She wasn’t a sacrifice Lena,” Damien countered. “For them she was a means to an end. I’m sorry that it happened that way.”

  “What about her family? How do I tell them?” she inquired, tears shining once again in her eyes.

  “Once you told us who you had been expecting, we told Aldrich what happened. He took care of everything already,” Damien told her. She nodded her head and sat in silence for a few moments.

  “Still, even if they were vampires, that doesn’t mean that I am. Or even that you guys are, shit, you kissed me senseless Damien, and Adrien, you fucked me into oblivion. I think after that I would have known.” She frowned at the two of them, still unwilling to admit that they might be what they were telling her.

  “Selena, the amulet has kept your powers hidden, masked if you will, to keep you safe. Protected from human kind, and those who would want to hurt you and exploit you for your powers. This is the reason you were able to live among humans undetected, and without knowing who or what you were,” I explained, hoping this would help her understand how she had remained unaware of who she was.

  “Which is what again exactly?”

  “You, my daughter, are the future queen of the vampires,” I replied, meeting her violet eyes with my own. In that moment I knew that no matter her hesitation or resistance, I must make this work for our people. She would be our queen one day.

  “Ha! I can hardly keep myself upright, let alone be queen of anything. There is no way I’m a vampire either. I seriously think you have the wrong girl.” Standing, she went to leave, but Damien placed a hand on her arm to stop her.

  “Look Lena, I’m sure you’re the one we searched for. Only a queen can harness the power from the amulet and you have done so on several occasions. In the alley, when you threw me off, that was the first time I noticed it. No one has ever been able to best me physically until that day. There have been several times where you have heard conversations between myself, Adrien, and Aldrich that you should not have heard because we didn’t have them aloud.” Damien looked at me for confirmation that this was a power of the amulet. Indeed it was, but they had not taken the oath with her, so why she was able to hear their thoughts without that direct oath, I was unsure. I nodded my confirmation since I knew it was connected, I just didn’t understand how.

  “You also incinerated a vampire Lena, without using an outside source for a flame. That came from you, from you using the amulet to protect yourself. Only a queen has that power and you harnessed it, untrained, like a pro. You are the daughter we searched for, whether you want to admit it or not,” Damien gently added, seeing that she was still searching for some type of explanation other than what we were giving her.

  “So after all this time, why the concern now? I could have lived my whole life never knowing any of this and been perfectly fine.”

  “I’m dying, Selena. The amulet’s power comes with a price, as does all magic. It asks for our blood and in return, protects our clan and gives us our power. Since you have had the amulet with you your whole life, the amulet has provided you with all of its power. The blood that it demands has slowly diminished. The blood that I once supplied is almost gone for good, and once it is, I will be also.

  “There are several rival clans that wish to take control of what we have built here. However, one of the most ruthless ones have recently found out about my weakening health, the amulet, and you. They will stop at nothing to get ahold of it, and use you to bring about whatever their plan is to take over this clan and more.” I hope she understands what I am saying, there is much more at stake here than just my life.

  “What do you mean you’re dying?” she asks, studying me again, this time seeming to take in how sick I looked. I knew the longer this conversation went on, the further I was deteriorating. It had been awhile since I had fed, and sitting was draining me faster than I would have liked.

  “As vampires, we are turned from life to death, and in that death given immortality. To maintain that immortality we must drink blood, and the life from that allows us to remain strong and healthy. As a queen we are the same, turned from life to death and given immortality as any other vampire, however it is a bit different as we are also connected to the magic of the amulet. That magic provides the queens of our clan extra power and magic to protect our people. If, as a queen, I do not deliver the blood it demands, then I will perish, and since you have once supplied the blood to the amulet, so will you.” I looked around the room as the three men jumped up and began arguing at once about how they didn’t know that, I should have warned them. It appeared they had come to care for her a great deal more than I had anticipated.

  Holding up my hand I urged them to quiet down so Selena could continue with her questions. They did as I asked and took their seats again, not looking happy that they couldn’t have their own answers.

  “What the hell do you mean perish?” Selena asks, staring at me in disbelief.

  “When you were just a babe still inside me, I bled on the amulet. Your blood mixed with mine since I was carrying you. We bled on it together and it reacted to that, accepting you as the new queen, even unborn. As such, you are now connected to the amulet in the same way any queen would be and so must pay the price as well.”

  “There’s no fucking way. I don’t drink blood, I don’t give blood, and I sure as hell don’t turn into a fucking bat.”

  Aldrich snorted next to her. “We don’t turn into bats.” He laughed again, then continued, “We can do plenty of other stuff though, princess.” Winking at her, he chuckled again.

  “I’m not a fucking vampire. I’m sorry, but there’s no way.” She sounded a little less sure of herself now.

  “Think about it Lena, the men in the store, why else would they be there? They were trying to take you and the amulet. What about all the times you felt something a little different from the amulet? Something not wrong, but something off, like it was trying to tell you something or protect you?” Adrien took her hands as he spoke quietly to her, gently, but still giving her the facts.

  Selena looked down at their joined hands. She appeared to be accepting that what we were telling her was the truth, even if she didn’t want to believe it. “So what do you need me for?” Lifting her chin in determination, she turned back to me. Whether she would admit it or not, she was more my daughter in that moment than she would ever realize.

  “Unless the amulet receives more blood I will die, I need you to help me restore the amulet to protect our people.” I watched as her face fell at what I was asking her to do.

  “Will it work with just one?” Her question surprised me, I was expecting her to outright reject the idea rather than further try to find answers. I should learn to not underestimate her strength.

  “I am not sure what you mean.”

  “It’s your amulet af
ter all, I’ll give it back to you, but I’m not bleeding on that thing. Can you do your whole magic thing and get better by doing it by yourself?” she reasoned.

  “Temporarily I can use only my blood, but it’s connected to you now as well. Eventually just my blood will not be enough.”

  “Well, it’s just going to have to be isn’t it? I’m still not convinced this whole thing isn’t one giant nightmare and I’m going to wake up with Sam pounding on my door telling me I overslept for work.” She slipped the amulet off her neck and into my hands. “Do your thing, and I hope you get better.” Selena turned to leave and I reached out to grab her hand.

  “Please stay, I want you to stay for a little longer,” I pleaded with her. I didn’t want to force her to do something she didn’t want to do, but at the same time I didn’t want her to leave just yet.

  “I’m not bleeding on that thing, Valentina.” She met my gaze evenly, daring me to contradict her.

  “I know, I’m not asking you to. I’m only asking you to stay while I do this, and then maybe we can talk for a little after, when I’m feeling more myself. It’s been so long.” I wanted more than anything to sit and talk to her. To know about her life, how it had been for her growing up. I wanted to explain more to her about who she was, where she had come from, I could only hope that she would give me that opportunity.

  Slowly she nodded her assent and removed her hand from mine, backing away again. I knew she didn’t trust me, but I had given her no reason to either.

  Taking a deep breath I prepared myself for what was about to happen. I had seen the amulet accept blood before, however, even though I told Selena that it would be okay, I didn’t know how it would react to accepting just mine now that it may demand both of ours. More so, I wasn’t sure what effect this would have on Selena witnessing what I was about to do.