The Kingdom Journals Complete Series Box Set

by Tricia Copeland

  “Do you have to work today?” I asked as I kissed her cheek and sat beside her.

  “No. We have work. We were invited to a Dodgers baseball game. We need clothes. I’ve been studying these magazines.” She held up a few tabloids. “Something casual but classy. Will is taking us out in an hour.”

  “Who invited us?”

  “A friend of mine,” Mother said.

  “You have a friend?”

  “Well, she’s a new friend and has a son your age. I thought it might be fun.”

  I cocked an eyebrow at Mother, wanting to ask when her name and fun had been used in the same sentence.

  “We leave in an hour,” she said to me as I left the room.

  Happy my cover hadn’t been blown, I made my way to my room. The flowers from Nick sat on my dresser, and guilt stirred in my chest. I’d have to be honest with both him and Hunter eventually.

  Monday came with the complications of seeing Nick and Hunter. Talking with Nick, I remembered what a sweet guy he was. But when I saw Hunter, sitting on the bench in our secret garden, my heart flipped in my chest. As I reached him, he stood, leaned over, and planted a soft kiss on my lips.

  “Wow.”

  “Was that okay? I mean, we sort of ended things on that note yesterday.”

  “Yes.” I beamed at him, thinking he may be the most beautiful person I’d ever seen. “Can we talk?” I sat on the bench.

  “Oh no. If this is ending already, I’m standing for a quick exit.”

  “No, no.” As concisely as possible, I told him about Nick and how we were going to Homecoming together with our friends.

  “So, this guy likes you?”

  “I think so, yes.”

  “And you like him.”

  “As a friend.”

  “Okay, I’m good.” He took my hand and pulled me to him, kissing me again. It wasn’t a quick kiss, and I felt tingly from head to toe.

  “Yep, I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop kissing you if I started,” he said when the kiss ended.

  I bit my lip, not knowing what to say next.

  “You’re blushing.”

  “Am I?” I felt my cheek. “We should eat.”

  “Yes, food is good.”

  We sat on the bench and ate our lunches. I told him about Fahim’s bookstore and how I’d searched for more information. Hunter had done some research too, and we compared notes. But in the end, there wasn’t much more than we’d found before.

  “I could come help you go through the books,” Hunter suggested as we walked out of the gate.

  Air caught in my lungs as I pictured Hunter, smelling of fruit and honey, in a room with those wild vampires. My mouth began to water, and I spun to stand in front of him.

  He blinked, and I realized I’d moved too fast, but I had to impress upon him how dangerous it would be. “You can’t ever go there. Promise me you won’t. There are some really scary people that hang out there. Until your magic is stronger, you have to stay away. Do you understand?”

  His palms went up. “I am officially freaked out enough by your tone right now that I will listen to you.”

  Realizing my nails were digging into my palms, I relaxed my stance. “Okay.”

  “How did you move that fast?” He bent over and whispered in my ear. “And when can I learn more magic. I’ve been practicing a little at a time with the levitation thing.”

  “That’s good for now. Maybe this weekend.”

  His lips formed a smile, and he caught my hand. “My mother works every weekend. You can lie and tell your mom you’re sleeping at Sophie’s again.”

  “That is tempting. I’ll let you know.”

  His phone beeped. “Dang. See you tomorrow?”

  “Yes.” I smiled at him.

  “Good.” He kissed me and then turned and jogged away.

  “Hey, you got some bony shoulders there,” Ganby said when I passed his desk in the classroom. “The bruise on my arm is already purple.”

  “Well, maybe you shouldn’t make fun of people when they’re sick.”

  “Nah, it’s too fun.”

  My heart rate skyrocketed, and I gripped my backpack. Don’t react, I thought, that’s what he wants. Ignore him. Taking a deep breath, I focused on the teacher as he called roll.

  After two periods, I found Nick and told him I had some research to do.

  “Darn, I thought we could get some homework out of the way so we could do something fun tonight.”

  “Oh, I have gymnastics and my tutor after cheer practice anyway.”

  “So, what days are you free?”

  “This week? None, sorry.”

  “No worries, maybe we can hang out after the game again.”

  “Maybe.” I hedged. “I’ll catch you after school.”

  “Okay.” He waved as he walked into his classroom.

  I walked as fast as I dared to Fahim’s. “Okay, I’m ready for vamp training.” I set my bag on the office floor.

  “Let me get Aaron and Dimitri. I’m getting too old for jumping about.”

  Following Fahim to the back room, we passed Chalondra’s office. I shivered as the wave of magic hit me. She winked and smiled, I guessed acknowledging my reverence of her powers.

  “Sirs,” Fahim called to Aaron and Dimitri. “Your pupil.”

  “Finally, something fun to do,” Dimitri answered.

  “Teach her the basics. She doesn’t need to be a warrior, just a survivor,” Fahim instructed.

  “Whatever you say, boss.” Dimitri saluted. “Let’s go, young one.”

  I followed them out the back door and down the alley a couple of blocks to an abandoned building. As soon as we were inside, they sped off, returning with a couple of smelly, dirty humans across their backs.

  “Can’t have any witnesses.” Aaron winked at me as they dropped the people in a heap outside.

  “Did you?” I pointed at the limp bodies.

  “No, we didn’t kill them. They’re passed out drunk or high or something.”

  Inside, Aaron asked me to try running, and I shot to the other side of the room. Doubling over, I faked nausea as I assumed a human might after zipping across the room vamp speed for the first time.

  “You’ll get used to it,” Dimitri told me.

  They had me do sprints back and forth across the room, and after a few minutes, Aaron left me in Dimitri’s care. After I went through jump and landing instruction and practice, he dropped a cinder block in front of me.

  “You need to be stronger. Start lifting weights.”

  I picked it up over my head twenty times until my muscles tired.

  “Not bad, for a newbie. Okay, throw a punch.” He held his hands up.

  “I thought Fahim said just the basics. Why do I need to know how to fight?”

  “You want a witch to take you? You should be mentally and physically prepared. A fight’s brewing, I can sense it. We need all the soldiers we can get.”

  “Why would you think I’d want to fight with you?” I swung at his hand.

  “People usually fight with their own kind.”

  “I’m a halfling. I have a human home. Why would witches and vampires fight each other anyway?”

  “What does everyone want? Power.”

  He taught me how to jab and duck and had me practice a couple of kicks. I wondered why he cared so much about training me. It couldn’t just be for his army. It didn’t make sense.

  “Why are you helping me?” I asked as we walked back to Fahim’s shop.

  “Fahim told me your dad’s gone. My dad left when I was a youngling too. I told myself if I ever had a kid, I wouldn’t leave them. I don’t have a kid. But if I did, I would want them to be as strong as they could be. I’m guessing your mother hasn’t taught you to fight.”

  He was right. Mother believed in non-violent resolution. I wondered if she knew a war loomed. It was too bad I couldn’t tell her. But she had eyes and ears everywhere. It could be that Dimitri and Aaron were her warriors. The though
t made me second-guess my relationships with them.

  Dimitri held a bottle out to me. “Here, take a hit.”

  “What is it?”

  “What do you think? It will make you strong.”

  “I’ll pass. My hair and skin were a little tinged after Friday night.”

  “Yeah, you have light skin. I can see that.”

  “Okay, well, I’ll see you tomorrow.” I waved to him as I walked to the front room to retrieve my school bag.

  Eating some nuts on the walk back to school, I pondered the idea of a war. I’d never read anything about witches and vampires fighting. Maybe this was yet another unrecorded prejudice my family kept from me. I tried to grasp why they would. To reduce any bias? To ensure I held no preconceived ideas about any species? The more time I spent at Fahim’s, the more I learned, and it could only serve me well.

  “What were you doing?” Sophie asked as I entered the locker room.

  “Why?”

  “You’re already sweaty.”

  “Oh, I was almost late, so I ran from the bookstore.”

  “Which one did you go to? That freaky one?”

  “Yeah, it’s actually not that bad. I think if you’re seriously looking for something, they are fine.”

  “If you say so. That place gives me the creeps.” Her shoulders shuddered.

  I guessed humans had a pretty good warning system after all.

  The conversation had me thinking of keeping Hunter safe all through practice. Why I felt the heightened drive to protect him, I wasn’t sure, but my mind spun through alternatives. After the workout, I noticed Sophie putting on her jewelry, and the solution came to me.

  “You seem chipper,” Orm commented as I plopped into the seat beside me.

  “It was a good day. That Ganby kid hardly bothered me.”

  “What of Mr. Nicholas?” Orm looked at me in the rearview mirror.

  “Nick is fine.”

  “Fine?”

  “He’s a good friend.” I looked out the window to avoid eye contact.

  “I get the impression he’d like to be more.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I know, but I’m not feeling it.”

  “That will leave a mark. On him I mean.”

  Wishing I could grill Orm on all my newly acquired info on vampires and witches, I picked at my snack. Anxiety made me too upset to eat. After two workouts and a third looming, I should’ve been pouring the food down my throat, but my head was too much of a jumble.

  The next day Hunter and I met at the garden again. Seeing his eyes light up as he caught sight of me made my heart thump in my chest, and I wondered if the sight of him would ever get old.

  “Hi, beautiful.” His smile reached his eyes, and their blue hue seemed to intensify as he looked at me.

  I stood on my toes and kissed him. “Hi, handsome.” He took my hand. “I can’t keep it cool for long.”

  “That’s okay. The weather’s cooling. If we lived in Alaska, they would feel good.”

  “So, I have an idea, come on.”

  We walked down each path, making sure the block was empty. Then I found the most secluded area beyond an arch and sat cross-legged on the bench.

  “I brought this for you.” I took a leather bracelet I’d gotten in Seattle, twisted it around his wrist, and hooked it on.

  “Wow, we’re like really tight now I guess.”

  “If you ever need to know where I am, you can put your hand on the bracelet and picture where I am by thinking of me.”

  “Why couldn’t I call you?”

  “Well, you could, but I don’t know. There are rumors among my people that something is off.”

  “Like witch people?”

  “Yes. Do you have a bracelet or something of yours I could have?”

  He turned his arm over. “I always wear this.” He spun the leather strap around. “My grandfather made if for me.”

  “It doesn’t have to be that. Anything of yours.”

  “No, here.” He took the bracelet off his arm and wrapped it twice around my wrist. “I trust you.”

  “I won’t let anything happen to it.”

  “Can we try this?”

  “Sure. Stay here, and I’ll hide.”

  “Just like old times.” He smiled.

  “Just like old times.” I smiled back at him.

  I weaved through the paths to the fountain. Within minutes he appeared before me.

  “Did it work?”

  “That was seriously freaky. I could see what you were seeing.”

  “Cool, right?”

  “Do you need to practice? Make sure you can find me?” he asked.

  “No. I’ve got it.” I smiled at him, thinking the universe fated us to find each other.

  My week progressed with me meeting Hunter for lunches and Dimitri in the afternoons. Thursday came, and the meet-up with Mother’s friend loomed like an albatross around my neck. I wondered what the event would be like, what the woman and boy were like. It all felt weird. I’d rather be on one of Mother’s mystery missions than sit at a baseball game for two hours with a stranger.

  Following Mother through the crowd outside Dodger Stadium, I spotted our targets before she noted them. The woman vampire oozed power, and the vampire beside her would have made any girl’s head turn. With olive skin, dark hair, and deep blue eyes, he looked as if he walked out of a magazine.

  “Marta.” Mother kissed the woman’s cheeks as we reached them.

  “Anne.” Marta returned Mother’s kisses.

  “You must be Alena. Wonderful to meet you.” Marta planted her lips on each side of my face, and I guessed her to be eastern European from her accent. “This is Theron.”

  A chill ran down my spine as she said his name, and I steeled my back to keep from shivering.

  “You are more beautiful than your pictures.” He kissed one of my cheeks. My face flushed as I thought it weird that he had seen a picture of me. Unlike his mother, his speech had no hint of foreign inflection.

  “Thank you. It’s nice to meet both of you.” I smiled at each of them.

  “Shall we. Our seats are this way.” Marta spun and headed towards a ramp leading to the stands.

  Theron motioned for me to follow them. “After you.”

  Nervous, I spun Hunter’s bracelet on my wrist.

  “Is that yours?” Theron’s voice came from behind me.

  “Oh, yeah. I picked it up in some second-hand shop. The leather is really soft.”

  “It’s cool.”

  “Thanks.”

  Finding the entrance to our section, we walked down the steps to the first row. The sound and commotion from the surrounding stadium had my ears burning and my eyes darting from body to body.

  “You have to kind of dial down your senses. Mom likes to meet here because no one can hear anyone over the noise. And of course because she gets her picture in the tabloids.” He rolled his eyes.

  Wondering what Mother had roped me into, I took a seat between her and Theron. Seeing Mother laughing and chatting with Marta, I wondered if another soul possessed my mother’s body.

  I felt Theron’s warm breath on my neck. “So, what do you like more? Your vampire or witch side?”

  My pulse raced as I digested his words. We’d found another being like me? Meeting his blue-eyed gaze, I realized it wasn’t worth pretending I didn’t know what he was talking about. Obviously, he’d been privy to more information than I had.

  “I’d pick vamp any day.” His hot breath cascaded down my back, and I leaned forward to get some fresh air.

  “Not me.” Even though training with Dimitri had me feeling stronger than I ever had, the thought of using that strength horrified me.

  “I guess witchcraft is a more feminine art. But you’d never say that if you met my father.”

  I glanced to Mother and then back to him. “You know your father?”

  “Yes. I live in his house. He travels a lot, but your mother has met him. He’s the High Priest.”


  My mind riveted with the information he’d given me. So the Chancellor of the Vampires and the High Priest of the Witches both sired illegal beings under the noses of all their subjects. Again, the idea that I’d been bred to create some master race itched in my brain. I sat beside a man who might be the only other creature like me on the planet. I folded my arms over my chest, wishing I could disappear.

  “Hey.” He tapped me on the arm. “You want to go get something to drink?”

  “Sure.” Right then I didn’t care how I got away from Mother. I wanted to get as much distance from her as possible.

  When I stood, he placed his hand on my back and leaned towards our mothers. “Do you need anything from the concessions?”

  “A person will come around, Theron,” his mother said.

  “I know, but we wanted to stretch our legs.”

  “Okay, well, of course.” She smiled a thin smile at him, and I looked to my mother who shared her same forced grin. I hoped she felt as uncomfortable as me. It would serve her right for arranging this whole evening.

  “Wow, that was intense down there,” Theron said once we made it up to the vending area. “I could use a beer.”

  “How old are you?”

  “Almost eighteen. But I pass for twenty-five all the time.” Taking in his broad chest and height paired with his square jaw, I had no trouble believing him.

  Following him to the line, I ordered a red wine at the counter. I pondered the realization that three weeks ago I would’ve never lied to my family or broken the law. My desperation for answers had me walking a very thin line, and I hoped the house of cards I’d built around myself didn’t come crashing down.

  “Why didn’t they ask for identification?”

  “Because I suggested they not.”

  How I’d missed his use of magic on the worker, I wasn’t sure. Perhaps the noise level and hum of all the electronics masked it.

  “Come on, this way.” He took my hand and pulled me to the stairs. Unlike Hunter, his palm felt warm as our body temperatures matched each other. I didn’t try to pull it away as we weaved through the crowd since I could barely sneak through the web of people. At the top level he stopped, dropped my hand, and reclined against a half wall.

  “Finally.” He took a long sip of his beer.

  We finished our drinks in silence, and he cocked his head to the end of the hall. “Want to get out of here?”