Family Secrets (Davenport Manor Book 1)

by Melissa Zaroski

  “NO!” Emma screamed as she took a stance in front of Todd, protecting him.

  Zachariah was unsure of which side to take; he knew what had to be done and it was logical to take Aidan’s side. However, Todd had become a friend and he had never had to turn on someone who trusted him. He wasn’t prepared to go through this again after betraying Daniel’s father. He quickly stepped back and just became the audience to whatever was about to go down.

  Todd sputtered colorful profanities out of fright and had just about had it with the Little Shop of Horrors that the Manor had become. All he saw was an ancient vampire that was burning with rage, ready to kill him and he hadn’t a clue as to why.

  “He’s a living weapon!” Aidan yelled, his voice booming off the walls. “He has to be killed, Emma!”

  Emma was hysterical, pleading with Aidan to back off. Blood tears were pouring down hear face as she cried, begging her maker not to hurt Todd. “Please, Aidan, don’t hurt him!”

  “He could end us all, Emma! I have spent my entire life hunting down the living weapons to make sure they don’t hunt us!” Aidan furiously responded.

  Todd, who was still oblivious, said, “What are you talking about? I’m not hunting any of you!”

  By now, Vivienne, Declan, and Mackenzie had entered the room after they had heard the commotion. Mackenzie, who sided with Aidan, chimed in, “He should at least know what he is before he dies. It’s only right.” She put her hand on Aidan’s shoulder, who was still crouched and ready to attack.

  Emma began to speak to Todd without looking at him; at this moment she didn’t trust Aidan to turn her back on him. “You’re what we call a living weapon,” she began, reaching back to hold his hand. “Living weapons are rare humans, so rare that the only other one I have encountered was Daniel’s father, John. That’s why Aidan killed him.”

  “What does that mean, living weapon?” Todd asked, trying not to panic.

  “The blood of a living weapon is one of the easiest ways to kill us. One drop is all that it would take and we would instantly die. There’s a reason we charm our prey before we feed…because if we can’t charm them, we know their blood will kill us. Most living weapons don’t even know what they are since a majority of humans don’t know we exist. However, once a living weapon is dead, their blood is no longer fatal for us.”

  Todd recalled his conversation with Zachariah that one night when he was explaining that killing a vampire was next to impossible. He remembered him saying that the ancient vampires had tried to eradicate the weapons as they were found. He never thought that the blood of a rare human could kill a vampire.

  “I’m not going to try and kill any of you if that’s what you’re thinking, Aidan,” he said, attempting to reason with him.

  Aidan remained frozen in his stance, not taking his eyes off of Emma, who was glaring back at him with warning. Never had she bared her teeth at him, defied him, and took a stance against him, ready to fight. The adoration she had for her maker was barely an afterthought and every tissue in her body was ready to battle him to protect Todd. The silent stand-off between the two of them made the anxiety in the others heightened, wondering who would make the first move.

  “Are you willing to fight me, Emma? To protect a human?” Aidan growled, keeping his eyes locked on hers.

  Her mind was screaming, No! She knew Todd was now a danger to all of them if he ever turned on them. And the fact that there was no way she could take on Aidan because, due to his age, he was ten times stronger than she was. However, she ignored her inner voice and unconfidently squeaked, “Yes.”

  Aidan slowly rose to stand upright in a non-threatening stance, his glare softening. Emma remained crouched, baring her teeth with a low snarl coming from her chest. The others were on pins and needles wondering what would happen next. Vivienne, Declan, and Zachariah knew that killing Todd would be the smart thing to do to insure their safety, but they found it difficult to agree to kill their friend. Zachariah couldn’t bring himself to agree to that again after carrying the guilt about Daniel’s parents for so long.

  “I admire your bravery,” Aidan finally spoke. Ideas began to swarm in his head, realizing that keeping Todd alive could actually be to their advantage. “Everyone leave,” he said as he motioned toward the door. “Emma, Todd, and I need to have a talk.” He turned to Emma, who was still unable to relax, and said, “I’m of no threat right now, Emma. But, we do have some things to discuss.”

  Mackenzie let out an exasperated huff, surprised that Aidan was reconsidering Todd’s demise. However, she knew her maker better than anybody and realized that he must have had an alternative plan that would benefit him. Aidan had never given a second thought about killing a living weapon, who were always strangers he would find from time to time.

  The others hesitantly exited the room, Zachariah looking back at his maker, worried for her safety. He knew Aidan well enough to know that he was fair and reasonable, but was afraid that he may turn on Emma due to the intense situation they were facing. Emma gave him an affirmative nod, indicating that she trusted that everything would be okay…for now. He closed the door behind him, but the immortal ears in the house could clearly hear through the walls.

  Emma slowly began to stand up straight, slightly relaxing, but remained in front of Todd, guarding him. She feared what Aidan had planned for Todd and had an idea of what it was, knowing that the outcome would probably be unfavorable. As he carefully strolled toward them, Emma continued to keep her arms slightly spread and behind her, ready to shield Todd from an impending attack. Aidan held his hands in front of him in submission and asked her yet again to relax.

  “Sit, both of you,” he ordered as he took a seat at the end of the couch.

  They both silently obliged with Emma seated in the middle and angling her body toward Aidan. Never in her immortal life had she felt so defiant against him, she didn’t think it was possible.

  “Emma, you truly love this human, don’t you?” Aidan questioned with a fascinated curiosity.

  “I do,” Emma answered steadily, filled with warning.

  “And Todd, you love her as well? Knowing that she is the most dangerous predatory species on Earth?”

  “I don’t see her as a dangerous predator and yes, I do love her,” Todd answered with confidence as he took her hand.

  After over a thousand years of walking the Earth, Aidan had plenty of practice reading humans’ body language. He could see that Todd felt a unity with Emma, even though they no longer of the same species. He took a moment to examine the two of them, eyeing them somewhat suspiciously as he didn’t understand how they could care for each other the way that they did.

  “We’re going to put your devotion to the test, my friend,” he said to Todd menacingly.

  “We?” Emma asked sarcastically.

  “We,” he sternly replied. “I have never allowed a living weapon to continue living, however I have never been faced with a situation quite like this. I do believe this can be used to our advantage.” He leaned back into the couch, spreading his arms across the back and the side and resting his ankle on top of his knee.

  Emma’s suspicions were confirmed, she knew exactly what Aidan was up to. “Go on,” she urged.

  “I have never heard of a vampire/living weapon romance in all my years. Emma, you have your very own living weapon that I’m sure will not turn on you. I think it would be essential for us…for you…to have that kind of power.” Aidan explained, his eyes sparkling with supremacy. “Only one vampire in the history of time has had their own weapon, this is a rare occurrence.

  “And how can I trust that you won’t hunt him down and kill him once he goes home?” Emma asked.

  “Home?” Aidan mockingly laughed. “He is home. He will have to live here from now on.”

  Todd sputtered out questions, completely surprised with Aidan’s response. While he had no qualms about living in such a magnificent place, it would be difficult for him to permanently leave London as he
had never considered that before. He also wondered just what this arrangement would entail, how different his life would be, and for how long.

  “It would be for the rest of your life,” Aidan said.

  “And if I don’t?”

  “Then, I will kill you. You have to realize that we are not the only vampires that know what you are. Even if I allowed you to return to London unharmed, who’s to say that one of the other vampires wouldn’t take you out? Or that they would tell another and word would spread? I’m not the only hunter out there. Then, of course, you have to consider that one of them might not kill you, but overtake you and keep you in their own possession…like my own maker once did.”

  “How did that work out for him?” Todd questioned.

  “Let’s just say that I wasn’t King until my maker died…” Aidan responded with a raised eyebrow.

  “King?” Todd asked and looked to Emma.

  “Yeah, Aidan, I only gave him need-to-know information. He didn’t know you were a King,” she said through clenched teeth. She turned to Todd and said, “Remember how I told you that the King of Europe was ancient? Well, Aidan is who I was talking about.”

  Todd’s eyes widened in both surprise and fear. Not only was he dealing with a bossy, ancient vampire, but an ancient vampire who happened to be extremely powerful within their world.

  “I remember you said that the rest of the Kings and Queens were all offspring of the King of Europe…” Todd said skeptically.

  Aidan chuckled, completely amused by Todd’s lack of knowledge about the situation he was in. He knew so much, yet so little.

  “Why are you laughing?” Todd asked him with a cold glare.

  “You are privileged to be sitting in the same room as us, Todd,” Aidan bellowed, spreading his arms wide, still laughing. “And yet, you have no clue how fortunate you are, especially that you are a living weapon and still breathing at this point.” Aidan manically turned serious, “I don’t leave a living weapon still standing for more than a second. You have no idea the kind of romantic luck you have…falling for her, of all vampires.”

  “What are you getting at, Aidan?” Todd asked, becoming impatient.

  “I never told him, Aidan,” Emma said quietly.

  “Told me what?” He asked, turning toward her.

  “You will be very well protected here, Todd. All the guards around the property are immortals…they work for me,” she replied.

  “Work for you?” Aidan said in mock surprise. “More like they serve their Queen.”

  Emma became fidgety, nervous because she withheld a big piece of information about herself from Todd yet again. She never thought she would have to tell him just how powerful she was.

  “Queen?” Todd said in barely a whisper.

  Emma sat up straight, proudly affirming her title, “I’m the Vampire Queen of North America. Zachariah is my second-in-command…the Prince. I have held this title since 1816. Aidan turned me for the sole purpose of creating a Queen for the region.”

  Todd rubbed his face and shook his head. He groaned into his hands, “Oh my gosh, what in the fuck did I get myself into?”

  Aidan stood up from the couch and said, “I’ll leave you to discuss the arrangements. It sounds like the others are preparing drinks and I’m feeling a bit parched…” He gave Emma a slight, regal bow and left the room.

  Chapter 17

  Emma took a moment to let Todd gather his thoughts as she knew his mind was running wild. Life as he knew it was about to change.

  He finally spoke with urgency, “Tell me everything now, I deserve to know.”

  She nodded, “Yes, you do. I want to start by telling you how sorry I am. By pursuing you I have ruined all chances for you to live a normal, human life. I’m so sorry for that and hope you’ll be able to forgive me.”

  “You don’t need to apologize, neither of us knew that I was this living weapon thing. I don’t blame you entirely. But, I don’t want to be kept in the dark anymore, either. Since I’m apparently going to be living here under your protection, I think I deserve to know the truth.”

  “I’ll start with Aidan’s story…his maker was the very first vampire to ever exist and he ruled over all vampires. Back then they didn’t have kings and queens; he was it. Word had spread that there were rare humans whose blood would kill a vampire and over time, vampires realized their only defense against them was that they couldn’t charm them. That’s why we charm someone before we feed on them.

  “Since that was the only way to kill us without a battle, Aidan’s maker became power-hungry and wanted to have a living weapon of her own. She found one and held the living weapon captive for several years, using him to kill vampires who posed a threat to her. She was brutal, vicious, and had little regard for human life and tried to teach Aidan her way of living. But, even though he was a warrior in his human life, he couldn’t stand her ruthlessness. She killed whomever she wanted…old, young, men, women, and even children. It sickened him. We don’t need to kill our victims to survive, we just need to drink some of their blood and his maker knew that. She was pure evil and enjoyed the pain she caused to humankind. Unfortunately for Aidan and all vampires, she was the top dog and no one was about to ruffle her feathers.

  “In 1810, Aidan grew tired of her ways after spending over a thousand years watching her cause so much pain and misery to the human race. However, she trusted him since he was her very first offspring…he is the second oldest vampire of all time. With cooperation from her living weapon she was holding captive, he took a small amount of the weapon’s blood and combined it into a glass of untainted blood. He promised the weapon freedom as long as he never spoke of their secret and as far as I know, they both kept their word.”

  “So, what happened to Aidan’s maker? Did he get her to drink the blood?” Todd asked, completely immersed into the story.

  Emma nodded, “Like I said, Aidan’s maker completely trusted him. So, when he presented a glass of blood to her and had one for himself, she thought nothing of it, and drank. That was the end of her. Aidan doesn’t speak much about it because, no matter how disgusted he was by her behavior, she was still his maker and he was devoted to her.

  “After her ultimate death, Aidan assumed the position of King of all vampires since he was next in line as an heir, per se. However, he had his hands full and had set out to change the way vampires behaved. He alone couldn’t control the amount of rogues that walked the Earth and was in need of help in his authority. For the next several years he scoured every country, every continent, looking for vampires to bring on as his back-up, but none were suitable to his liking. He ultimately decided to create his own offspring, to train us the way he wanted, to rank with him as vampire royalty. I was the first; he liked my free spirit and the fact that I was an adult, yet had no husband or children to leave behind. He stayed here for a year, teaching me how to be a vampire, his rules, and ultimately introduced me to the world as the Queen of North America. I may carry a lot of guilt over the things I have done in my past and sadness from losing my human life…but, Aidan was right when he made me. I was born to be a vampire.”

  Emma blinked her eyes and returned to the present time after visiting the past.

  “So, Aidan isn’t as bad as I thought he was?” Todd asked.

  With a soft smile she replied, “No, he’s not, he’s actually quite good compared to others. He does have a dose of humanity in him, but in the end, he is still a vampire and a bit old fashioned.”

  “I have to tell you thank you…for defending for me tonight. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that you protect me and not vice-versa. I’m not good at being a damsel in distress,” he laughed.

  “You’re welcome, love. I couldn’t let anything happen to you and I will always protect you. I have mastered the art of defense over the years, it’s what I live for.”

  “So, what happens now? What does all this mean for me?” Todd knew that it was going to be so much more than just being und
er protection at the Manor. He was well aware that if it came down to it, he would be used as a weapon against other vampires.

  “Well, we’ll prepare everything for you to move in, cover the government legalities and such,” she replied as she tried to think of the things they would need to do to get him officially moved quickly. “I can send a few of my guards to go to London and bring your things.”

  “What about family and friends? Will I be able to have visitors?”

  “Of course! But, you just can’t tell them the reason why you’re here. You can just tell them that we fell in love and I asked you to move in, I suppose.”

  Todd paused and gazed at her, since he couldn’t be charmed into falling out of love with her. “And what about us?” He quietly asked.

  She touched his face, “We’ll cross that bridge when we have to. You just have to understand something…I am not human. I don’t have the same morals as humans do and it is not in my nature to be monogamous, if you’re picking up what I’m putting down…”

  “I am,” he answered. He knew that jealous times were ahead of him, that she would be with someone else and there would be nothing he could do about it. He blankly stared at the floor and said, “I’ll always love you, though.”

  She ran her fingers through his wavy, messy hair and turned his head to look back at her. Her seductive eyes invited him back to her as a lover, not as a captive. She leaned in and gently kissed his warm lips, a welcome contrast from her cold ones. “Me, too. And I think we need to push all this living weapon talk aside for now and finish what we started earlier.”

  He pulled her onto him, straddling his lap, and kissed her hard. “I couldn’t agree more,” he breathed, grabbing onto her hips. “Just one thing…”