The Kingdom Journals Complete Series Box Set

by Tricia Copeland

  “Really, that’s all you’re going to give me?”

  “You can walk with me back to school. But it’s something I have to show you. And you can’t tell anyone.” I added the last part, thinking about his friends and Mom.

  I hardly believed I’d decided to show him my abilities. But after feeling the energy coming off him the previous day, if only for a split second, I knew he had powers. It had to be magic that allowed us to project ourselves to each other’s locations.

  “What can I bring tomorrow?” I asked. “I don’t cook, but Elizabeth, my house person, does.”

  “Wait, so you have Orm, who is like a chauffeur slash mentor, and Elizabeth, who cooks for you? How rich are you?”

  “They’re more like grandparents really. My mom works a lot. What about your mom.”

  I wanted the conversation focused on anything but my family arrangement. He told me more about his mother and her job. Before I knew it, we were in front of the school.

  “Thanks for this. I really appreciate it.”

  “Are you kidding? Anytime.”

  “Good, I’ll see you tomorrow.” I smiled at him and spun to the school entrance.

  Thinking I should purchase some flowers to take to his mother, I studied the dreaded double doors of the school building. I listened to the sounds from inside as the bell rang and students started pouring out. Wondering if there was something I could do to prevent a Hannah and Melody coup on my senior year, if it were even true, I decided to focus on being nice. I couldn’t let their attitude affect my behavior.

  Around the building, I found the cheer squad. We changed to warm up before the game and practiced for an hour before putting on our uniforms. Taking our spots on the field, I found Mother, Elizabeth, and Orm dressed in their usual black formal attire: Mother with her business suit, Elizabeth with her turtleneck and skirt, and Orm with his black suit jacket and pants. I waved to them and refocused on my job.

  When we watched the game, I followed Nick’s movements. I cringed with every oncoming tackle, wondering if I could keep myself from jetting onto the field if a bad hit looked imminent. Fortunately, he only took a few hard tackles. Afterwards, Mother, Orm, and Elizabeth met me on the field.

  Mother held up her program. “Is that him?” She pointed to Nick’s picture.

  “Yes. Would you like to meet him?” I crossed my fingers behind my back, praying she said no.

  “That would be nice. We’ll wait for you to change. I arranged for Will to meet us with his car.”

  “Great, right.” I spun on my heels, thinking major humiliation would ensue.

  Jogging to catch up with Sophie, I whispered in her ear. “Mom wants to meet Nick, and Elizabeth and Orm are with her.”

  “Ew. Well, good luck with that. I guess it was bound to happen sometime if you’re going to be dating.”

  In the locker room, I took a cool shower to calm my nerves and changed.

  Sophie and I met up with Hannah and Melody outside. “Hey, guys, do you want to meet my family?”

  “Oh, we never met them.” Melody’s eyes grew wide as she studied their forms. “Who is the big guy in the back?”

  “He’s our driver for tonight.”

  “Hunky, I like it.” Hannah thrusted her shoulders back, highlighting her endowed chest.

  Reaching them, I introduced everyone, and we waited in silence for the guys to finish showering.

  “You have such pretty hair,” Hannah said to Mother.

  “Thank you, dear,” she commented, and the conversation fell off again.

  Seeing guys start to leave the locker room, I waited for Nick’s blond head to appear.

  He approached our group. “Hey.”

  “Great game,” I told him.

  “Thanks.”

  I bobbed my head nervously. “My mom wanted to meet you.”

  “Oh, sure.” He followed me to my family.

  He shook their hands and answered Mother’s questions politely.

  “Okay, dear, have fun tonight. Text if you need me,” Mother said as we finished the conversation.

  “I will, thanks.”

  We rejoined the group, and I realized the party had grown to eight.

  “Are we all going to fit?”

  “I don’t mind sitting on laps,” Hannah said.

  I looked to Will, who rolled his eyes. “Okay, I guess we can go.”

  We followed Will to his vehicle and piled in, with me ending up in the front passenger’s seat. I stole glances at Nick sitting behind me, and he smiled and waved. I hated being nervous, but I guessed there was no way around it.

  At the arcade, Will pulled up to the entrance. “I will wait for your call to pick you up. I believe your mother said you had an eleven o’clock curfew.”

  “Okay, so maybe ten thirty?”

  “Yes, call me if you need me sooner.”

  I shut the door and joined our crowd. Inside, I saw the restaurant littered with red Uni High shirts. Milling through the crowd, we found the hostess and requested a table.

  “You played well. Do you feel good about the game?” I asked Nick as we waited.

  “Yeah, I mean, we won. Not by as much as I’d like, but we won.”

  “Are you okay? Seems like you took some pretty good hits.”

  “A couple.” Nick rubbed his shoulder.

  They seated us at a huge round table, and I chose a seat between Nick and Sophie. I made a mental note to study Hannah and Melody’s behavior. They were focused on the two guys beside them, and I relaxed onto the back of the booth. The waitress brought the menus, and Sophie turned to me.

  “Can you eat anything?”

  I flipped the menu over, scanning the choices. “The carrot sticks.”

  “You can only eat the carrot sticks here?” Nick asked. “We could go somewhere else, get you something better to eat.”

  “It’s okay. I’m used to it. No big deal.”

  When I gave my order to the waitress, Hannah and Melody looked to each other and rolled their eyes. Did they think my allergies were a scam? If so, I could show them what being sick looked like. Wondering where my flash of anger came from, I retrieved my calming balm from my bag.

  “That smells good. Can I have some?” Sophie asked.

  “Alena is like addicted to that stuff. Let me smell.” Melody held out her hand, and I passed the vial to her.

  “What is it?” She took a whiff.

  “It’s like cedarwood, mandarin, and lavender oils. My grandfather made it.”

  “Of course.” She closed the cap and passed it to Hannah. “It’s all natural.”

  “You can buy them too.”

  “I’m sure.” Hannah wrinkled up her nose as she sniffed the bottle.

  “Hey, great game guys.” Sophie diverted the conversation.

  Nick and his friends started reviewing some of their plays, and Hannah huffed.

  “We don’t want to talk football.”

  “Well, switch and sit by Melody,” Andy said.

  Hannah shrugged and switched seats with him. The rest of the meal flowed seamlessly, although the carrots were limp and soft. Even so, thinking I might pass out, I forced several down.

  “You okay?” Nick picked up my nearly full basket of carrots.

  “Yeah, I ate before the game anyway.”

  We finished dinner and moved to the arcade. The hum of the machines picked at my ears, and I had to really focus to keep up with the dialogue. Tugging at my sleeve, Nick led me to a golf game, and we waited for our turn.

  “You play this before?”

  “Nope. I’ve never been to an arcade.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding!” He laughed.

  We both started naming things we’d never done. Mine were all related to destinations with lots of people: amusement parks, fairs, zoos. His were outdoor activities and traveling to anywhere but Hawaii.

  “See, you’re not that odd,” he joked as we stepped up to the game.

  I took the club from him and loo
ked to the screen. Unfortunately, I swung like I would have on a real golf course, and my virtual ball went sailing into the woods. As much as I tried, I couldn’t get it to stay on the green.

  “Here.” He stood behind me and wrapped his arms around mine. Feeling the heat between us, I focused on shutting my capillaries and veins in my hands and arms and slowing my heart rate. It was uncomfortable, and my body felt chilly, but Nick’s warm hands encircled mine as he demonstrated how I should swing slowly and gently.

  “I don’t get this.” I laughed. “If it’s not like real, why do it?”

  “Yeah, I have no clue.” He chuckled and backed away.

  “Here, you do it.” I handed him the club.

  “I’ve played a lot so…” He swung, and the ball landed in the middle of the green.

  “Ugh.”

  “Let’s try something else.” He grabbed my hand. “Wow, that’s warm.” I studied our joined hands, and I again shut off the blood to my fingers.

  “I was sitting on it.”

  “Oh.” He found an open air hockey table. I concentrated on missing the puck to let him win the first game, and then I won by a couple of points the second. Next, we played a game where you threw balls up a ramp into a target. Again, he showed me his form by wrapping his arms around me, and I pulled my blood into my core.

  After a few more games, we found Sophie and David playing virtual baseball.

  “You okay? You look pale,” Sophie commented as I sat on the stool beside her.

  “Sure.” I felt my arm and realized I’d forgotten to release the blood back into my hands. Looking around the room, the lights blurred into each other.

  “You okay?” Nick’s face appeared before me, and he took my hand. “Hey, your hands are like super hot.” He put his palm to my forehead. “Whoa, you’re burning up?”

  “I’m fine. I’m usually warm.” Suddenly the hum of the machines was too much. “I’m going to get some air.” I forced my legs to engage.

  “Want me to come?” Nick asked.

  “No, I need a minute.” I walked towards the exit.

  Ganby appeared in front of me. “Hey, it’s zombie cheerleader. You’re looking particularly ashen tonight. Is this your date look?”

  Taking a deep breath, I glared at him. “Leave me alone, Ganby.” I shoved past him, knocking my shoulder to his bicep.

  “Whoa.”

  I looked back to see him holding his arm. You deserve that bruise, I thought as my temples pounded. Digging my nails into my palms, I pushed the exit doors open and took a huge breath of night air. The scent of fried food hung all around me, and I flexed my fingers, considering whether to go back and pelt Ganby.

  “Madam.” Will appeared in front of me. “You seem on edge. Do you need to go?”

  “Yes. No. Leave me alone.”

  “Why don’t you let me drive you home?”

  “I don’t want to go home.” I jumped away to avoid his hand reaching for my arm. “I need air. I’m going to take a walk.”

  “But, miss…”

  Lifting my arm straight up to the sky, I cloaked myself and walked away.

  “Miss? Where’d you go? Damn.” I heard him behind me.

  I looked back to see him pull his phone from his jacket pocket.

  Within thirty seconds, my phone rang. “Dear, what’s wrong? Where are you going?”

  “I need to be alone.”

  “Why what happened?”

  “Stupid teenage stuff.”

  “Come home. We can talk about it.”

  “I’m sorry, Mother. I need some space. I’ll be home by eleven.”

  Weaving through the near empty sidewalks, my pulse slowed and breathing evened out. Still my muscles held taunt. With the adrenaline wearing off, I shivered. I needed food. My people will understand, I thought. I opened the map application on my phone. Fahim’s bookstore sat four blocks away, and I turned in the direction of his building.

  Outside, I hesitated. He’d told me to only enter when he was there. I sensed a decent crowd of vampires in the back room, but no witches. Finding the front doors locked, I walked around to the alley. Shedding my invisibility shield and cloaking my magic, I pounded on the door with my fist. When it opened, a male vampire of at least six foot six stood in the doorway.

  “You’re in the wrong place.” He swung the door closed.

  I shoved my foot into the frame before it connected. “Please. I’m in the right place.”

  He opened the door and sniffed the air between us. “Maybe, maybe not. This is a pretty rough crowd, and you are a slight half vamp.”

  “Maybe, but I need”—I glanced at the stars, thinking of how to word my angst—“to be with my own kind. I was this close to offing someone at an arcade.” I held my fingers a centimeter apart in front of his face.

  Aaron appeared behind the bouncer. “Who’s there, Cedric?” Then, Aaron’s eyes landed on me. “Oh, Alena. Didn’t Fahim warn you not come when he wasn’t around?”

  “Yes. But please.”

  “She is feeling extra murdery tonight,” Cedric said.

  “Okay, well, perhaps for a bit.” Aaron waved me into the dark space.

  I followed him down a hall paneled with dark wood. Entering the main room, the dim light bounced off the smoke hanging in the air.

  “This is everyone.” He waved to the crowd.

  As I followed him to the bar, eyes fixed on me momentarily and then drifted back to their previous subjects. Taking a stool, I placed my palms on the soft wood of the counter. They twitched, and I tucked them under my legs, scanning the room. The musky smell of vampire hormones filled the space, and my nose crinkled in protest.

  “That nose cringing reaction right there is the one you should be having about now.” Aaron pointed at me. “But seeing as how you look as if you could use a stiff drink, I’ll pour you a glass. What’ll you have?”

  “You have any red wine?” I peered at the bottles on the shelf behind him.

  “Red wine it is.” He popped the cork from a bottle and picked up a glass, filling it nearly to the top.

  After a few gulps, my blood pressure dropped, and the humming in my ears stopped. “Thank you.”

  “You finish your glass and be moving on, okay?” He turned to help another vampire who had plopped down a seat away from me.

  Dimitri appeared beside me. “You look like you could use more than a glass of red wine.”

  “This is fine.” I lifted the glass and took another long sip.

  “What’s ailing you?”

  As my ears picked up bits of conversation from around the room, I realized my bully problems were probably insignificant. In the far corner, a gentleman stuffed a raw steak into his mouth, repeating the words blood and meat over and over. In the center, a man sat sharpening a knife on a stone. Closest to me, I heard the phrase stupid vamp hypocrisy as a man slung a thick dark liquid down his throat. But Ganby’s image appeared in my mind, and his words echoed in my head: zombie cheerleader, ashen.

  “Yep. Glassy eyed, drooling,” Dimitri said.

  I slammed my hand on the bar. “I am not drooling. I’m hungry. I haven’t eaten since lunch.”

  “Here. This’ll fix you up.” He handed me a glass of dark liquid.

  “What is it?” I sniffed the mixture, and the smell of iron, honey, chocolate, and steak almost overwhelmed me.

  “We’ll figure out how strong your vamp genes are.”

  “What are you doing?” Aaron snatched the drink from my hand. “Fahim will have your head.”

  “Look at her. She’s clearly hurting. Nothing going to stop that faster than a little juice.”

  Barely registering their words, and drawn to the smell emanating from glass, I jumped the counter and landed in front of them. Taking the glass from Aaron, I downed the liquid in one gulp.

  “See, she wanted it,” Dimitri said.

  A surge of energy coursed through my body and every nerve tingled in response. “What was that?”

  “
What was that?” Dimitri laughed. “Such a newbie.” He rolled his eyes and walked away.

  I spun to face Aaron. “I’m serious. That was like the best feeling I’ve ever had, the best thing I ever tasted. I feel so amazing right now.”

  “Yeah, Fahim picked a good vampire to train up.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Look, sweetie.” He poured some more of the liquid from a large cast and held it up to the light above the bar. Red color blared through the glass, and I thought I might be sick. Dashing from the room, I let the cool outside air clear my senses.

  Aaron was beside me in a second. “You figure it out?”

  “That was blood? Human blood?”

  “We are vampires.”

  “Where does it come from? Fahim said he didn’t drink blood.” I doubled over, supporting my hands on my knees.

  “Fahim doesn’t, but many vampires do. Where do you think it comes from? People.”

  “But where do you get it? Isn’t it forbidden to feed off humans? That’s what the books Fahim gave me said.”

  “I don’t ask tons of questions. A guy brings it here, I pay him, and my customers are happy. You feel better, right?” Aaron leaned down so we were eye to eye.

  “Yeah.” My hand went to my neck. “That is disgusting. It is horrible that I liked that. I hadn’t eaten since lunch except for these wilted carrots at this arcade and then this … you don’t want to hear my teenage drama.”

  “It’s okay, keep going.” He tossed his wipe rag over his shoulder.

  “I was trying this thing I learned, to keep my skin cool—”

  “Yep, classic.” He nodded.

  “Anyway, there’s this bully who keeps teasing me about my pale skin and calling me a zombie cheerleader. It was too much.”

  His eyes got big. “Is the guy still alive?”

  “I shoved my shoulder into his bicep. He’ll have a bruise.”

  “Maybe he’ll stop. Try to avoid him.”

  “I don’t want to hurt him.” My phone dinged, and I pulled it from my pocket. Ten thirty, the alarm read.

  “I have to go.” I turned and jogged down the alley without even thinking of saying goodbye.

  “See ya next time.” I heard his voice behind me.

  I loved being outside at night. Sometimes when Mother and I went on our missions, we would dart from alley to alley, using the shadows to hide our quick movements. But that night, confusion and anger filled my pores. Did all vampires drink blood? Did Mother and Elizabeth? Did Will? I’d never heard anything about drinking blood from any of them. I knew there were uncivilized factions of vampires but had no idea that a black market for human blood existed. Further agonizing was that I wouldn’t be able to question them without raising suspicions.