The New Queen Rises

by Dawn Gray

  "Hi," I said and went back to what I was doing.

  "Hello," he replied. "How did you sleep last night?"

  "Lousy, thanks for asking," I replied and walked out into the water and looked down at the dirt below. "So, did you come to pester me about last night?"

  "Actually, I just wanted to know if you were okay," he replied quietly, showing a side of him that I rarely saw, and he looked at me as I glanced at him. "So, are you? Okay, I mean?"

  "Yes," I said and splashed around in the water, then shrugged. "No."

  "Which is it?" He asked and crossed his arms.

  "I'm not all right Quinn." I walked out of the water and up to him. I grabbed my shoes and stood just on the other side of him. "I feel like I'm on the verge of a nervous breakdown and I have to meet someone tomorrow night."

  "Who?"

  "Whoever has my son!" I told him.

  "Tell me, what I can do to help you?" He asked me. I looked at him and sighed.

  "You can't do anything. I have to do this on my own." I walked up the ramp away from him and he followed. I turned, looked at him quickly and sighed. "Leave me alone, Quinn."

  "No," he said and crossed his arms again.

  "NO? What do you mean no?" I asked him.

  "My brother asked me to protect you, and that's what I'm going to do," he said softly.

  "If your brother told you to jump off a bridge, would you do that?" I asked him.

  "I'm just doing my job," Quinn said and looked at me in anger.

  "I don't need your protection; I don't need your brother's protection. All I need is my son back," I said and leaned on the railing. "I don't see why the two of you feel the need to protect me all the time."

  "Because Julian loves you; and because I care about you too," Quinn said and sighed, this made me look at him.

  "Oh, please, I don't need this now."

  "What do you want from me, Ash?"

  "I told you what I wanted, to be left alone."

  "Who has him Ash?"

  "You're starting to piss me off," I yelled at him, getting closer to breaking down.

  "Yeah, well ...good, maybe it will knock some sense into your infant mind."

  "Infant? If anyone's an infant, it's you."

  "Ash, I just want to help."

  "If you want to help so badly, get Jack back from my husband. If you want to help me, you can tell David that he's making a huge mistake coming between me and my son." I watched as his facial expression changed as I felt my eyes start to glow and my teeth begin to grow. "If you really want to help me, Quinn, stop this burning feeling in my veins, the anger that is driving me insane, and the fact that I just want to drop dead right here and now."

  I was crying and ranting off the top of my head. I walked up to Quinn and hit him on his chest, then put my hands against him and leaned my forehead on his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly.

  "Shh," he whispered in my ear. "It's going to be okay, Ash. We'll get him back."

  He kissed my cheek and put his head on my shoulder. I felt the strange tingling that flashed through my body as he held me close and then he started kissing my neck, then my cheeks, and he glanced at my eyes as he kissed me on the lips.

  This started the fire, as his kisses became more passionate and my body responded to his, he unbuttoned the sleeveless shirt I wore and slid it down over my shoulders, as we knelt on the deck. I ran my hands through his hair as he kissed the hollow of my neck, then down to my breasts, where my bra exposed them. Slowly, he leaned me back to lay down on the wooden ramp. I grabbed at his shirt, pulling it out of his pants. He rose his body off from mine and unbuttoned the first couple buttons as he continued to kiss me, then I unbuttoned the rest, slipped it over his shoulders, and then pulled it off from him totally.

  Slowly, as he kissed my bare skin and I ran my hands over his hard body, I realized what I was doing. He glanced at me, suddenly, his hair falling in front of his eyes, and looked me deep in my eyes. I reached up and touched his cheek, my eyes filling with tears.

  "I'm sorry, Quinn," I told him softly and he sat up as I struggled to get up and began to button my shirt. "I'm so sorry."

  I turned and walked away quickly, leaving him there, on his knees without a shirt on.

  I sat in my room for most of the day thinking about what I had done, or was about to do. It kept running through my head, and of all the things I thought about, I could only say one thing; that I had let this happen. I knew how I was around Quinn, yet I was constantly alone with him. Then I decided to do the only thing I could.

  After dinner in the house with Lauren, Michael and David, I watched Quinn walk out to the stonewall, just outside the dining hall, and sip a vodka on the rocks. I excused myself and walked out towards him. We hadn't spoken since earlier and I felt odd just walking up to him. I slid my hands in the front pocket of my jeans and stepped up beside him as he looked out over the lawn and the ocean.

  "Hi," I said softly. He looked at me then back out at the lawn.

  "Hi," he replied quietly.

  "Quinn, I ..." I said then stopped. He stood straight and looked at me. "I think we need to talk."

  "We did talk earlier and look what happened."

  "Yeah, well, that's what we need to talk about," I said and took a deep breath. "I don't think we should be alone together anymore."

  "That's probably a good idea," he replied. "But, why?"

  "What?"

  "Is it because of Julian or is it because of me?"

  "Quinn, I love Julian, with all my heart," I told him and sat up on the wall. "You know that."

  "How?"

  "How what?" I asked again. "You're not making any sense."

  "How can you love him when you haven't seen him for eight years? How can you be sure that it's him you love and not the idea of disobeying your parents by being with him?" He questioned and looked at me with confusion. "Sure, you haven't seen each other in eight years, but have you made love to him, has he shown you that type of love, that kind of total intimacy?”

  "I have loved him since we first met. We are connected and we're meant to be together," I told him, reassuring myself in the process. "And, just because we haven't had sex doesn't mean that he doesn't love me just the same."

  "Yeah, well, if you were so meant to be with him, Ash, what the hell were you doing with me earlier?" He questioned.

  "I can't explain it, Quinn," I replied and rubbed my forehead. "I don't want to hurt Julian, but I don't want to hurt you, either."

  "Do you love me?" He turned and looked out at the grass again, then glanced at me. I looked at him, quite shocked and at a complete loss for words. "Don't lie to me, either. I know what I felt out there."

  "I love you, yes, but like a brother," I told him. He stood and leaned in close to my face, and stared me in my eyes. He looked at my lips then back at me.

  "You don't do what you and I did earlier with a brother," he said and walked away. I sat there on the wall and looked at my feet.

  About an hour later, as it started to get dark, Lauren came out looking for me. She found me up near the two large trees that grew out in the yard, about fifty feet from the wall that I had been leaning on. She touched my shoulder and I looked at her quickly.

  "I should have never come here," I told her and broke a twig in my hand. I looked at her and the two of us began to walk around the grounds. "I should have just handled this on my own."

  "Why, what happened?" Lauren asked. I shook my head, thinking about how fascinated she had been with Quinn the night before. I tried to think of a reason not to tell her, but she had the right to know.

  "Quinn happened," I replied and she looked at me quickly. "When we're together, we kind of have this chemistry between us that can either irritate us both or start a chain of events that could jeopardize my future with Julian.”

  "You didn't sleep with him, did you?" Lauren asked.

  "No, but I'm sure it would have ended up that way if I let it continue," I said
and looked at her. "I'm sorry, Lauren, I'm an awful friend. If it makes you feel better, he and I promised to not be alone again."

  "It’s okay, Ash, it's not like we were married or something. I mean, I just meet the guy," Lauren said, but I could feel the betrayal in her heart.

  "I just wish Julian would return so that I can get some of this off my chest. I need to have him close to me. I'm so confused." I sighed and rubbed my eyes. Lauren put her arm around my shoulder and we walked in silence for a while longer.

  That night, I tossed and turned in bed. I knew I had gotten some sleep, but I wasn't sure how much. Softly, I heard the sound of my name and I opened my eyes. Julian walked into my bedroom, dressed in the suit he was wearing for his meeting, and he sat on the edge of the bed. I smiled at him and reached up to touch him. He leaned into my touch and then kissed me passionately on the lips.

  He took off his coat as he kissed me and began to unbutton his shirt as we lay back down on the bed. I helped him with the rest and watched as he threw it off the bed. He pulled at my nightgown up until it was over my head and on the floor, then I watched him look over my naked body. Slowly, he touched my skin with his fingers, tracing my body as a painter would, from the top of my head, down to the bottom of my feet and back up my inner leg. He looked at me then, as he knelt between my legs, and kissed his way up, from the ankle of my right leg, to my mid-section, where he lingered for a bit, giving me goose bumps and feelings that I had never quite felt before. He kissed my navel and my breasts, stopping to pay close attention to my hard nipples, and then he kissed me on the lips as he skillfully slipped out of his dress pants and laid his naked body against mine. He stroked my cheek and ran his fingers over my lips as we slowly made love.

  However, as the morning light began to brighten the room and I fell back into a deep sleep, something felt very funny to me. It was such a feeling that I only slept for about a half an hour before I jumped up, got dressed again and ran upstairs to Julian's bedroom. I knocked on the door and opened it slowly. I looked at his bed, which hadn't even been slept in. I went in his closet and looked for his suitcase, but it wasn't there.

  Feeling quite confused, I shut the door and ran down stairs to the parlor where Michael sat reading the newspaper. He looked at me as I stood in front of him, in my nightgown, and he folded the paper on his lap.

  "What can I do for you this fine morning?" He asked and put up a finger before I could answer. "Wait, let me guess. Aliens took your clothes and left you with this sexy little thing and you're wondering where Edith is with the laundry?"

  "No," I said and watched him think again.

  "You used all of your good clothes to make a bonfire last night and this was the only thing that you saved?" He asked again. I shook my head. "You're auditioning for a sex scene in a porno movie?"

  "You're just disgusting," I told him. "Look, is Julian here? I mean, where is he hiding? I know I saw him last night."

  "You're hallucinating, love. Julian won't be back until tonight around eleven," Michael said and smiled.

  "But, he just spent the night in my room," I told him and pointed to the stairway.

  "Did you get his envelope?" Michael asked. I nodded. "So what was in it?"

  "Just some cash if I wanted to buy some things," I said and wrapped my arms around myself. "Are you sure he's not home?" Michael nodded.

  I walked back upstairs and got dressed for the day. Things were starting to become weird. When I walked down into the sitting room and looked up everyone seemed to be there, except Julian. Quinn and Lauren were talking, she waved at me, but he didn't even look up. Michael was still reading his newspaper and David was staring at me.

  "I'm going to town, does anyone want anything?" I asked. Everyone shook his or her heads and I looked at David, and then gestured to the outside. "Well, good-bye then. I'll be home later."

  I stood by my car, in the coolness of the garage and waited for David to walk out. He did so, inconspicuously, and then walked over to me. He put his hands in his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, then put it in my hand.

  "Tonight, at 10:00 p.m., meet me here and I'll take you to where Jack wants to meet you," David said and looked me in the eyes. I stared back at him hard and nodded. "Come alone, bring none of the others with you and tell none of them where you are going."

  With that, he turned and walked away from me. I looked at the white folded piece of paper that he had handed me and I sighed. When I looked up to grab my keys off the car, I saw Quinn standing at the doorway.

  "Quinn," I said taking in a deep breath; he wore his tan duster and had his hands tucked in the pockets. I barely noticed as he stepped closer to me and stood on the other side of the car. "I thought we talked about this."

  "So, where's he taking you?" Quinn asked, avoiding my words.

  "Nowhere," I replied and unlocked the car.

  "I can just follow him if you don't want to tell me."

  "You will get my son killed, or me Quinn. So don't even think about it," I told him. Quinn nodded, and looked around.

  "Julian will be back tonight. Are you going to tell him about us?"

  "There is no ‘us’ Quinn," I told him and opened the car door. "Stay away from David. Don't follow him and don't follow me. If I see you anywhere near wherever it is that I'm going I won't come back in the morning. Understand?"

  With that, I got in my car and started it up. Quinn stared at me as I pulled out of the garage then drove away from him.

  I drove out to the Block Island Ferry and took it across to the Island itself. I rented a small scooter, rode out to the furthest point of the island, and just sat there. I was confused and afraid. Last night was so real to me, I felt every ounce of him near me, but he hadn't really been there. I thought of the time that he left me eight years ago, when he told me all I had to do was to think of him and he would come to me. Was it possible that was what he did and it was just a dream?

  I shook my head and closed my eyes. This was going to be a long day and I wasn't sure if I was ready for it to begin.

  I ate lunch on the island then headed back for the house. All the way there, I tried not to think about anything, but things from the past started to pop into my head. The time that Julian and Quinn argued down in the tunnels about me and how he wasn't supposed to feel the way he did, the words that Quinn said about how I was important to them, but Julian replied that I was important to Victor.

  Why would I be so important to a man that I had never met, then again, why was I bringing it up now? After all, it had been eight years.

  Night came quickly and I snuck out of the mansion without anyone noticing, while they were eating dinner, and I drove out to Bluff's Point, where I was to meet David. He stood next to a dark limousine and waited for me to park my car and lock it up. I, again, was dressed in all black, like the night before, but my leather jacket had been traded in for a knee-length black coat.

  I walked up to David and looked him over, and then I looked at the driver of the car who held a door open for me. I walked by and slid in the car.

  "You're alone, I presume," David said and sat across from me.

  "Traveling in style, now-a-days, moved up in the world, huh?" I said and rubbed the velvet lined interior of this darkened car. "I'm alone, but, can I ask you a question, though?"

  "Why not?" David smiled at me.

  "Why are you on this end of the stick?" I asked him. He shook his head. "You don't understand? Well, let’s see if I can explain it to you. You're dealing with a man who disappeared after the birth of his son, then came back and stole him from me. To me this seems like the losing side. The bad guys never win David, you know that."

  "Well, let's just say that I don't quite see eye to eye with Julian's little prophecy about bringing peace to vampires and mortals. Unity and all that stuff. I happen to like my life of sneaking around in the shadows to get my dinner." David evilly smiled at me. "With the Prince out of the way, and Julian’s little power trip obliterated, the world won't
change and we will all stay happy."

  "Whether it's Jack or someone else, if it's meant to happen David, it will happen," I replied. He laughed at me and then pushed a button on the side panel. The floor opened and a large panel of glass slid out then up and blocked me in my seat. I looked at David then knocked on the glass. "What are you doing?"

  "It's for your protection, but it's safe," he said to me as the compartment started to fill up with gas. I coughed and choked on the fumes and my world suddenly started to go black. I looked at David one last time as he waved to me, and then I was out.

  When I came to, a few hours later, the limo was parked and the motor was off. I pounded on the door, which was answered by a large man. He pulled me out of the car and stood me next to it. David looked over at me from where he stood talking to three others.

  "Ah, you've finally woken up," he said. I smiled at him and looked around. In the far distant corner of my eye, I spotted an old castle in the mist of reconstruction. I know I had seen this somewhere before but I couldn't place where. As I surveyed the land, taking in all I could, David hit me squarely on the cheek and I looked at him. "Good, now you're paying attention. Gentlemen."

  Two men grabbed me, one on each arm and started to escort me, quite roughly, up a long stairway made out of logs tucked into the ground. It was a bit of a climb but as we rounded the corner, I could see the castle clearly and I could see most of the river that ran right by this place.

  When I stopped looking around, and looked straight ahead, I watched as my husband, dressed in black like the rest of us were, stepped out from the trees with two other bodyguards. He walked up to me and touched my cheek. I turned my head and looked away from him.

  "Ashley, how I've longed to see your face," he smiled and grabbed my chin. "To bad it's on such bad terms."

  "Where's my son, Jack?" I asked him.

  "All in due course, my love." He stood back with his guards and smiled at me. "Tell me, why I should give him back?"