The Kingdom Journals Complete Series Box Set

by Tricia Copeland

  Turning towards me, she begins to braid my hair. “We keep to ourselves. I’ve caught whiffs of them in the city.”

  “His scent was hard to recognize.”

  “I noticed that.”

  “You didn’t answer my question.” I hold her stare as she finishes my hair.

  She sighs. “There’s no sure way to know. Very old vampires—eight-, nine-hundred years of age—will start to wrinkle as humans do, and their hair turns white. Up until eight hundred or so, vampire’s physiques are frozen save for increase in strength. The older the vampire, the stronger, but you knew that. Just trust your instincts.”

  “Faye says he’s an honest man.”

  Elizabeth’s eyebrow shoots up. “So, you talked to her about him?”

  “She says she knows things.”

  “Henry believes she does.”

  “But he still doesn’t like Alec?”

  She cups my chin in her hand. “I’m not sure any man will ever be good enough for you in Henry’s eyes.”

  Glad he is a loud man, I wait until Henry’s breathing evens out, as is my habit. Just past midnight, I change into my favorite traveling dress and boots. Jumping out the window to the grass, I bolt to the trees. I reach out with my senses, trying to enjoy the night despite my apprehension. A mile from the brook, I catch Alec’s scent in the air. Jumping from tree to tree, I reach the spot in minutes.

  “I’ve been waiting for hours.” He rises from his position on the bank as I approach.

  “I have to wait for Henry to sleep. Why haven’t I noticed your scent in the woods before?”

  “Straight to business, eh?” The edges of his mouth rise.

  I place a hand on my hip. “You said you’d tell me everything.”

  “I did.” He smiles. His blue eyes catch the moonlight as a cloud exposes the sphere.

  I divert my gaze. “So?”

  “Sit.” He motions to a boulder.

  Taking a seat beside him, I fold my skirt on my lap.

  “Hunting would be hard in that.”

  “I make do.”

  “How long has it been since you were taught to hunt?”

  “I was one.” My eyes cut to the leaves under my feet as I think about my family.

  “Lady Thomas told me your story. I’m guessing Elizabeth is not your mother.”

  It makes me sad to think of my family, all the occasions we would have experienced together. The possibility of finding a love and starting a family of my own makes their absence feel more prominent. I focus on his face. “I asked how you hid your scent.”

  “I made sure to wash before I came out, masked myself with soil, and stayed downwind. Strategies you would know if you were raised to be a hunter.”

  “Don’t mock me. You’re no better than I am.”

  “Sorry. That was not my intent.” He leans towards me, eyes large and pleading.

  We sit on the soft grass beside the creek. I ask about his past, and he relates a story of being raised in a tribe of vampires near the North Sea.

  “Did you feed off humans?” I venture my next question.

  His eyes wander to the brook. “Sometimes. Do you believe it is wrong?”

  “Yes and no.”

  “That’s not an answer.”

  “Why did you leave?”

  “I wanted a different life, something more than survival.” He tosses a stone into the brook.

  “How old are you?”

  He holds my stare. “Will you believe me when I tell you?”

  “I will.”

  “Because you would, or Faye said you could?”

  I bite my lip. “Do you know what she is?”

  “I ran across a faerie or two in my travels.”

  “How long have you been traveling?”

  “Since the age of eleven.”

  “And you are?” I lean in to study every nuance of his face.

  “Twenty.”

  My heart leaps at his revelation, and I realize I’m more attracted to him than I admitted before. Still, there are tons of questions swirling through my brain. “You knew at eleven you wanted to live in the human world?”

  “Not human necessarily, just civilized. I was making my way to France when I found you.”

  A lump forms in my throat. “You found me? What does that mean?”

  “I stayed because of you. I saw you in this very spot for the first time just more than five months ago. I followed you home and waited and watched as you came and went. I’ve never seen a creature as beautiful, as kind, and as genuine as you. I had to know you.”

  I rise and back away from him. “Am I different from other vampires?”

  “You live in a building full of humans, and I’m assuming you haven’t eaten one yet.” He strolls to me.

  “Elizabeth doesn’t either. We would never. They’re like family to us.” I stand my ground as he approaches, trying not to appear anxious.

  “You don’t see it because you don’t know any different. How Henry responds to you is not normal. You saw how he reacted to me.”

  “I’ve known him since I was two.”

  He paces to the stream and back to me. “And what of Elizabeth? She isn’t your mother. You smell nothing alike.”

  “How is your nose so attuned?”

  “Years of practice.” Winding around a tree, he stops in front of me.

  Being close to him makes me nervous, jumpy in a way I’ve never experienced. Launching myself into the air, I perch on a low branch. He reclines on the trunk as I tell him about my parents, Elizabeth’s family, and the witches that burned them. I describe our cottage and the rolling hills where we played. Then, I relay all I know of my mother and father. How they met as teens in Egypt and moved first to northern Africa, across the Mediterranean to southern Spain, to Italy, Germany, and finally to France where they decided to start a family. Remembering makes me long for my mother’s embrace, and I fight tears forming in my eyes.

  “See.” He points at me. “They knew how to live, not just survive.”

  I swing down, landing on the ground in front of him. “Do you think I’m hiding?”

  “Partially.”

  Admitting my desire to travel, I tell him of the promise I made to Elizabeth.

  “Eight years is a long time to wait to be happy. You’ll be an old maid by then.”

  I jut my chin out. “In human terms, yes.”

  “We don’t even know what it’s like to live a human lifetime yet.” His eyes circle to the sky. “Think of what your parents witnessed, what Elizabeth experienced, kings, queens, the rise and fall of empires.”

  “But my parents had each other.”

  A grin forms on his face. “And that’s why you should consider allowing me to call on you. I overstepped before and am sorry. It won’t happen again.” He pushes off the tree and stands inches from me, his breath caressing my cheek. His eyebrows rise. “Unless you’d like it to.”

  I bite my lip and take a step back. “Henry doesn’t like you.”

  “Henry senses what I am, a predator. But I think when he visits Sir Thomas he’ll be convinced. Sir Thomas gave me a space in the loft of the barn and meals in exchange for running his farm. He’s happy with the job I’ve done so far, and Lady Thomas loves me.”

  “Do you like the work?”

  “The animals took some time to get used to me, but the rest was easy. I worked on a lot of farms over the past eight years. With my pay, I’ll earn a house of my own in two years.” He describes how we’d court, be married, have a family. “Then in twenty years when the humans begin to be suspicious, we can go wherever we want.”

  “And you know you want to do this with me, how?”

  “Well, I mean, I’m not certain, yet. That would be crazy. That’s what courting is for, correct?”

  “Yes.” I walk to the brook.

  “So, I may call on you by day, and we can spend our nights here in the woods?” He approaches me.

  “I haven’t decided if I like you.” I jum
p the stream and to a low-hanging branch. Climbing to the top of the tree, I look out over the fields. Seeing him ascend the grand fir under me reminds me of the night I scaled the tree to escape the witches and dogs. I shiver.

  “Are you cold?” He sheds his shirt and holds it out to me.

  I slide my arms in the sleeves and hug the garment to me. His scent surrounds me. I look into his face, wondering if we’re preprogrammed to be attracted to certain physical factors, his hard jaw, square chin, the angle of his nose, deep-blue eyes, hair the color of straw, and skin that smells of my home in France. I decide I won’t be a victim to my hormones.

  “Should we run?” I ask.

  “I thought you’d never ask.” He holds out his palm.

  I ignore his outstretched hand and fall to the branch below, catching it, and swinging to the ground. Running through the forest, he stays close, and I wonder if he’s faster than me. I slow up and ask him to race.

  “You’re not going to like that outcome.”

  I stick out my lower lip. “Elizabeth is the only other vampire I’ve seen in fourteen years, and she never comes out with me.”

  He counts down on his fingers and speeds off. Judging by the passing trees, I figure he’s twice as fast as me. A coyote barks in the distance, and he puts his finger to his ear. “Should we find him?”

  I’ve haven’t hunted with anyone since I was very young, and a feeling of apprehension washes over me. I watch as his chiseled torso expands and contracts with each breath. “I’m warm enough now.” I slide his shirt off and hold it out to him.

  “No coyote?” The sides of his mouth turn down. “I like to keep the population down since they try to pick off our chickens.”

  “Go ahead. I need to get home.”

  “You don’t need to feed?”

  “Not every night,” I tell him, even though I prefer to.

  “It keeps the cravings to a minimum, right?” His eyebrows shoot up.

  “Yes, that is true.”

  “So, come help me catch the coyote.”

  I want to spend time with him but worry he will find me inferior. “I don’t think you need help. Thank you for your honesty. I believe I’ll head home.”

  “May I escort you?” He offers me his arm.

  His piercing blue eyes and smile are more than I can resist. “You may.” I smile as I slide my arm through his.

  We walk through the forest, as I imagine a human couple would. Except I hop over boulders, and he jumps the stream. When asked about my food source preferences, I admit to my dove rule.

  Facing me as we near Henry’s property, he holds my gaze. “One day, we’ll hunt together.”

  “Perhaps.” I smile at him.

  He reaches out, and I take his hand. “Thank you for coming.” He kisses my fingers, and my heart races at the touch of his lips.

  “You’re welcome. I’ve enjoyed our time together.” I slip my hand from his grasp. “I’ll see you at dinner Friday.”

  “Or tomorrow night? Same spot?” His eyes hold mine.

  “Maybe.” I smile and dart away before I’m caught up in the bliss of being with him again.

  The next night, I hunt before I meet him. After our conversation, I’m torn between a rabbit and a fox. I tend to choose herbaceous feeders, rabbits, turkeys, thinking there are more of them to be had. If I eat the fox, then the rabbit population will swell and they may take the farmers crops, but if I take the fox, then chickens in the coops may be spared. In the end, I snatch up two rabbits.

  We run farther than I’ve ventured on my own, talking of art, culture, society. He describes his trek from the North Sea through Russia and Germany, the jobs he took and cultures he witnessed from the Vikings to the Germanic tribes, the Druids, the Scots.

  It is just before sunrise when he escorts me to Henry’s property line. “Till this evening, my lady.” He bows.

  “None of that.”

  “Yes.” A smile spreads across his face. “I will save the etiquette for our proper meetings.” Before I can blink, he darts away.

  That evening, the dinner with Lady and Sir Thomas starts out tense. Henry questions Sir Thomas and Alec about everything from the farm business to Alec’s past. Alec tells a story of how he lived in a rural Scottish village until the plague took his family.

  “I believed a larger city would offer me more opportunity, so I came to London,” he finishes.

  Sir Thomas grips Alec’s shoulder, beaming at him as if he were his own son. “I’m quite impressed with his knowledge of the soil, crop rotation, growing strategy, animal husbandry, even accounting. He’s quite learned despite his past. It takes an intelligent, hard-working fellow to come from nothing and make something of himself.”

  “Has he told you how came to know Alec?” Lady Thomas sets her goblet beside her plate. “I was out in the carriage and the wheel broke. Bernard, you know how he has those attacks, well, it came on just as he was trying to fix the wheel, so there I am with the two small ones crying and hungry, and trying to care for Bernard, but he’s so large I couldn’t even lift him. Alec, Mr. Alexander”—she smiles at Alec—“had an elixir that calmed Bernard’s breathing. Alec fixed the carriage and had us on our way in no time. Bernard hasn’t had an attack since.”

  We tour their farm and meet the children. The boy of five runs straight to Alec. “Mr. Alec, look what I’ve made, just the way you showed me.”

  Alec studies the boy’s handiwork and returns the cross to him. “What a fine job you’ve done.”

  The two-year-old girl snuggles into his chest as he kneels in front of her. He lifts her up and tosses her into the air, her giggles caroling throughout the room.

  “Alec seems to be a very hard worker,” Henry notes on our ride home. “Sir Thomas’s farm looks better than it ever has. Alec asked me if he may call on you. I told him he could if you were interested.”

  I try to keep my elation in check. I take a deep breath before answering, hoping it looks like I’m considering the prospect. “He seems like a good man. It’d be nice to get to know him better.”

  “I don’t want you to limit your prospects, make sure to speak with some of the other gentleman at the party tomorrow.”

  “I will.” When I cut my eyes to Elizabeth, she winks and smiles.

  At the dance the next night, Henry spends a lot of time introducing me to families and talking with their sons. I endure dancing with a couple of them, but all the while my eyes are fixed on Alec. My friends, and seemingly every girl at the party, also favor him, and they circle like vultures. He dances with twice as many partners as I do. When Henry finally releases me to speak with my friends, it’s not half a minute before I see Alec approach Henry. Finishing their conversation, Alec rings the dance floor towards me.

  My heart races as I take his hand. As we dance, all my senses awaken. His smell, gestures, face, eyes, lips, all combine in such a way as to mesmerize me. At the end of our third dance, Henry appears behind me.

  “It’s getting late.”

  “Yes.” My eyes cut from Henry to Alec. “Thank you, Alec.”

  “I will see you tomorrow afternoon.” Alec extends his hand to me and bows.

  I take his palm and curtsey. Wishing I could say more, my eyes stay trained on Alec as Elizabeth and Henry lead me to the door. Alec holds my gaze till I’m required to thank the hosts and bid them good night. He’s in the same spot, and I wave as I exit the house. He smiles and winks, and I pray no one else has seen.

  “Hunting again?” Elizabeth asks as I switch to my traveling dress in our room.

  “All the people packed into the small space make it difficult. It seems to help when I feed every night.”

  A smile forms on her face. “You’re not quite full grown and require extra nutrition. I remember being young.”

  I stop mid-lace. “You’re not so old.”

  Elizabeth cups her hands around my face. “Be careful, we love harder than most beings; passion can be an intense thing.”

  “I
will. I promise.”

  Her words cause me to think about Alec’s lips, his broad shoulders, and bulging arms, as I run through the forest to our meeting spot. I catch sight of his blond hair through the trees and quicken my pace.

  “I thought you’d never come. It seems like an eternity since I’ve seen you.” He holds out his hand, and I slide mine into it without a second thought.

  “It’s only been an hour. I left early tonight.” I step over a branch as we walk between the trees.

  “You didn’t stop to feed?”

  My cheeks flush. “How can you tell?”

  “Well, before you blushed, you looked pale.” He runs a finger down my cheek. My skin tingles under his touch. His finger lingers on my jaw bone. “How do you feel about me?”

  Swallowing, I meet his gaze. “I’m quite taken with you.”

  “Good.” He lowers his head, and his lips press to mine.

  His lips are soft and warm, and we kiss until I can’t breathe. When he pulls away, his smile seems to echo my elation. His arms are tight around my waist, and I realize our actions are improper. We aren’t supposed to kiss until we’re engaged. But a part of me wants to kiss him forever.

  “Was that okay? Did I overstep again?”

  I stand on my toes and kiss him again. “No, it’s amazing.”

  His eyes light up. Backing me to a tree, his lips press against my mouth and then move to my jaw bone and my neck. Trembling, I slide from his embrace. When he frowns, I take his hand and kiss his palm. “I like kissing you. But I can’t go further. I won’t do anything to disappoint Henry.”

  “I wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

  I circle around him. “That’s a lie. You’ve been making me edgy since the first time I laid eyes on you.”

  “That isn’t my fault. You’re nervous because you know you want to kiss me.”

  My cheeks flame, and I push him away. “That’s not true. Let’s hunt.” I grab his hand and pull him along as I break into a sprint. A hundred yards out, he forces me to stop. His arms wind around me.

  “You just wanted to get out of that conversation.”

  “What if I do? I’m hungry. You don’t want to be around me when I’m hungry. I’m very grumpy.” I laugh.