Savor, Warm Delicacy Series, Book 1

by Megan Duncan

Chapter 10

  After the exciting mix of emotions, I decided to take a cold shower and then walk around the garden. The shower helped me feel better, as did spending some time with the only reliable man still in my life, Louie. He lay idly at my feet while I tried to find something comfortable to wear. When a blue cotton summer dress caught my eye, I quickly slipped it on along with a pair of flip-flops and my gold necklace, which contained one of my most prized possessions - the locket that Robin gave me. The pictures of Liz and my mom were comforting and I looked at them often, pretending that they were there with me. I even imagined what Liz would advise me to do if she knew the predicament I was in.

  In fact I knew exactly what she would say, “Claire don’t be a sissy, kick the girl’s ass and get it over with so we can go shopping.”

  For such a pretty girl, Liz definitely wasn’t afraid to break a few nails while she ripped out her rival’s cheap extensions. I giggled at the memory of Liz getting in a fight with her arch-nemesis, Stacey Hart, because Liz caught Stacey eyeing Liz’s current guy of the month.

  As I let my thoughts consume me, which I loved to do, but rarely got the opportunity to enjoy, I found that I had navigated myself through the palace with newfound ease and was descending the stone steps that led into the palace gardens.

  I took my time walking back to the bench that I discovered on my last visit to the garden and secretly hoped that my mystery man would find me again, but I was sadly disappointed.

  The bench was empty as were the rest of the gardens. I didn’t see, hear or feel anyone around me except plants and various animals. Everyone was most certainly getting ready for the big night ahead. I sat atop the bench and grabbed a handful of pebbles as I randomly tossed them into the pond.

  The sounds of the night grew muter the longer I was out by the edge of the pond. Perhaps I was losing myself in my thoughts more deeply or maybe the creatures of the night were preparing for a long days rest.

  When I sensed another presence, I was both excited and disappointed in the same fleeting moment. Nicolae appeared at my side, coming to such a graceful stop, that it almost appeared he had materialized out of thin air. His dark hair didn’t appear to be in the slightest bit out of place and his expression was brimming with calm and understanding.

  I hadn’t seen much of my new vampire dad since I first visited the palace and I was a little happy to see him. It was still new and slightly awkward, but never having a dad before, the man I had envisioned as my father growing up was so very much like Nicolae that it was hard not to be in awe of him.

  We stood silently in the night, breathing in the smells and absorbing the sensations of our surroundings. I watched as Nicolae unbuttoned his jacket and bent down to pick up a handful of small pebbles before joining me.

  “I don’t have to read your emotions to know something is vexing you, child,” he said as he tossed his last pebble and dusted off his hands. “Come sit with me.”

  I joined Nicolae on the bench as I battled with my inner self as to what I should tell him. I appreciated how patiently he waited and noticed how he studied my face like everyone else when they first saw me after the change. His face softened and I could feel my heart swelling with pride as I sensed his approval of my new appearance.

  “I am very proud of you, Claire,” Nicolae said.

  He was proud of me. The words almost brought tears to my eyes, but I fought them back because I wanted to maintain a strong image in front of my new dad. An indescribable urge to make him proud coursed through me. Was it really me who wanted this? Or was it because of his blood inside of me? “Thank you, Nic… Dad.” I was still getting used to Nicolae and calling him dad just didn’t seem to come too naturally, something he noticed as well.

  “You may call me Nicolae if you feel more comfortable,” he said as he smiled. “Although, hearing you call me ‘Dad’ does make me quite happy.”

  I returned his smile, revealing my new fangs and started to feel more at ease around him. “My, my Claire, your fangs are nearly fully grown. I suppose I owe Evilyn an apology; I accused her of exaggerating.” Nicolae’s eyes sparkled with amusement and I appreciated that he was trying to ease the tension.

  “The palace is alive tonight with preparations for tomorrow,” he commented as he turned toward the palace, letting the warm yellow lights dance on his face.

  I studied his features for a moment with my new eyes and noticed his strong jawline, taking took note that it was relaxed. Without trying to invade his privacy too much, I pushed out with my senses and hoped to gauge his true feelings, only to be blocked by a strong wall. It was quite jarring and felt much like the instant you slam on the brakes to avoid hitting a car in a near accident.

  “You’re quite strong, Claire, but I am much older than you are young one,” he smiled and patted his hand on my knee.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “There is no need to apologize. I encourage you to practice your skills. I want you to be the best that you can be.”

  I nodded at him and gazed at the towering palace that lay beyond the gardens. “What will tomorrow night really be like?”

  “Tomorrow will be a night that many vampires have not witnessed in a very long time. Not in our region, at least. There is great anticipation to see you and I am happy to know that they will not be disappointed.”

  I thought about dancing around the subject, but changed my mind. I was a vampire princess now; and I wasn’t going to let anyone keep the truth from me anymore. I took a deep breath and steadied my gaze on Nicolae, “Is there anyone who won’t be happy about tomorrow night?”

  Nicolae looked away from me then, and nodded his head slowly. I got the feeling that my question didn’t surprise him, but I also sensed that he was hoping I wasn’t going to ask. “Claire, if I can give you any advice about the new life that has been laid out before you, it is this. Rare indeed will it be that a vampire or human will agree with any decision you must make, but your decision must be made nonetheless. You must do what has to be done, no matter what the consequences. If it is for the good of your kind and for your region, there is no sacrifice too great. Do you understand?”

  I nodded my head as stray strands of my dark auburn hair fell and tickled my face, “I understand.”

  “It was a monumental responsibility we have burdened you with, Claire, but you are a symbol of hope and strength,” he spoke the words with such conviction that I was starting to feel inspired, until I realized he hadn’t answered my question.

  I furrowed my brow at him, hopefully looking very much like a frightful vampire, and Nicolae read my expression instantly. “Ah, there is the power of which I speak. You see…” he said as he waged a finger at me, “you will be a wonderful princess and a finer queen someday.”

  His face drew into a solemn expression and he heaved a deep sigh as he looked at me, like a father would his daughter when she left home to attend college. A tiny ribbon of emotion escaped him as it wrapped around my body and pricked at my senses, giving me fleeting sensations of his emotional state.

  “I wanted to wait until you had time to acclimate… ‘til you had more time to learn our ways and grew to love us…” his words hung in the air and I became worried that he would suck them back in and not tell me the truth I so greatly sought since Fox had come to my home. Why had I been chosen?

  “I need to know,” I looked at him urgently, trying to convey my feelings without words.

  “There is a storm brewing on the horizon, Claire. One like the world has not seen in many ages. The humans grow restless, as if they have completely forgotten the old ways. The other regions see our way of life as an embarrassment and they grow greedy for our land and our people.” He expelled the words in a tidal wave of emotion and relief. I could sense the anguish that had been building in him and realized his pain would one day be all mine.

  My heart thumped in my chest and a sense of purpose filled me. One of my greatest dreams in life was being fulfilled, and an empty hole inside m
e began to close. I had a dad now, I could feel the bond in our blood, and he needed me. “We will not let them,” I said with unwavering determination.

  Nicolae was a good king and he alone had created the world I was born into, that I was happy living in and that my friends and family still enjoyed. I wasn’t going to let anyone take that away from us, no matter what.

  “Thank you, child. It saddens me to know I took your human life, and thrust you into this role, but the future and safety of our region is at stake,” he said in his deep, yet sorrowful voice as he rested his hand on my cheek. I looked up at him and his eyes were full of sadness, but not a single tear fell from them. “It will be dawn soon. Let us go inside, and get a drink?”

  “That sounds nice.”

  We walked side-by-side through the garden and back into the palace. A great many things had changed while I sat in the garden for the short time. Servants and vampires were busily finishing the preparations for the event. As we walked past the ballroom, I peered in to see quite a magical sight. My jaw dropped at the spectacle and I had to catch my breath.

  At the sound of my gasp, Dmitry, who was ordering the placement of tables, directed his attention toward me. In a flash of movement, he was at the open double doors, closing them in my face, with the most beautiful, fanged grin I had ever seen.

  “You’re going to ruin the surprise!” he said as he poked his head out between the doors.

  “I am not. I was just enjoying the sensation of surprise until you interrupted it, so if you could just let me continue?” I said in my most flirty tone, not caring that Nicolae was standing nearby watching him.

  Dmitry simply winked at me and closed the doors, but not before looking toward Nicolae and nodding respectfully. I sighed softly as Nicolae and I continued our walk and I noticed the amused expression on his face as we entered his office.

  “What?” I asked.

  “He likes you very much, Claire. You must be careful of starting such a bond so early in your vampire years.” He picked up the phone on his desk and made a call to have blood delivered for the both of us.

  “Do you not approve of Dmitry?”

  “You need not ask my approval on such a matter. Affection is not a choice for one to make, like whether or not to buy red flowers or white,” he said as he pulled two roses from a large crystal vase on a nearby table. “Do they not both smell as sweet?”

  He handed me the roses and I smelled them both. Each of their fragrances were soft and gently filled my nose with their delicate aroma. “They both smell very nice.”

  “Ah, but tell me which you prefer. Is either more beautiful to you than the other?”

  I thought it an odd question, but I answered, “Well, no.”

  “So you like them both equally?” Nicolae asked as he approached me, raising his eyebrows quizzically.

  “Yes, I suppose I do.” Nicolae smiled then and grasped the white rose ripping all the petals off and releasing them, allowing them to flutter to the floor.

  “Hey! Why did you do that?” I asked as I crouched to pick up the petals.

  “You still have the red rose, do you not? Is that not enough for you, or did you truly favor the white rose over the red?”

  I stood and looked at the red rose in my hand and the white petals in the other, still not completely understanding the point he was trying to make. “No I didn’t like the white rose better, but now it’s ruined.”

  “But you still have the red rose, Claire,” Nicolae looked down at the rose in my hand and urged me to smell it again, but this time the scent was slightly different. It was familiar and I sniffed deeper to completely fill my nose with the scent. As I looked at Nicolae to ask him what had changed, we were interrupted by a servant bringing two small silver goblets, identical to the one I had drunk from earlier with Robin.

  “To family,” Nicolae toasted.

  I joined him, but as I brought the goblet to my lips, the scent of the blood surprised me. It was the very same scent I smelled in the red rose. Did Nicolae put blood on the rose? Then for the first time, I found myself wondering whose blood I was drinking. If he and the queen were supposed to represent the red rose, then whose was the white? Dmitry?

  “Now off to bed with you. Big night tomorrow.”

  I looked at him for a moment as hesitation halted my movement, but the expression on his face made it clear that it was an order I could not disobey. The cold, emotionless, vampiric demeanor had returned and I was slightly disappointed until I turned the corner.

  Fox inspected me like a hunter would his prey as I walked past him and it made my emotions boil inside me. “Princess,” Fox said mechanically as he bowed his head at me.

  I walked past him, giving as little acknowledgement as I could and let my true feelings fly free from me. I was secretly hoping that the ribbon of emotion, which so delicately caressed Dmitry, would slap Fox square on his smug and proper face. A small giggle escaped me at the thought, which was immediately followed by Nicolae’s office door being slammed shut behind me.

  I made my way down the hallway, amusing myself with a mental picture of Fox being slapped as I finished the blood in my goblet. The last drops of the warm liquid dripped onto my lip and I licked them greedily.

  As I looked ahead, my eyes locked onto a set of menacing dark pools that looked both enraged and surprised. Luka was standing in the center of the hallway, clearly frozen mid-step at the shock of my presence. For a fleeting moment, I thought to say something to him. The need to plead my case and win his favor, so that I could bring some semblance of peace to the palace crossed my mind, but I bit my tongue. Now was not the time for such things. Judging by the pulsing muscle at his jaw and the way his lip was quivering as he held back a snarl, I knew anything I said would fall on deaf ears.

  Instead, I placed the empty goblet on a nearby table and walked straight past him with my head held high. I could feel his eyes slashing at me as I approached, but I dared not look at him. I used every ounce of self-control to look every bit a royal princess as I could.

  Luka stood still, like an immobilized colossus, only his eyes following my movement past him. It wasn’t until I made it to the end of the hallway, a good twenty feet away, that I heard the sound of him running at full speed in the opposite direction. The tension in the air immediately fizzled away; and as I walked back to my room, I couldn’t help but feel proud of how I handled the situation. No doubt Luka ran back to Ana to tell her of the event, but I truly did not care.

  When I entered my room, I quickly shut the door and latched it, not wanting to be disturbed so I could truly get a full day’s rest. I figured I would need it with the kind of night I thought lay ahead of me.

  My hopes for deep, uninterrupted sleep were short-lived. I tossed and turned as nightmares haunted my thoughts. Images of a massacre at the coronation ball, and blood splattering the beautiful gowns and tuxedos, as vampire attacked vampire. Their blood curdling screams ricocheting off the towering ballroom walls wreaked havoc in my mind.

  The room was madness and I trudged through the chaos in search of someone, desperate to find them. I didn’t know who I was looking for until the moment I saw him. Even with the ballroom lit up by thousands of candles, he still remained in shadow, and though I could not see his face, I knew his gaze was fixed on me. My mystery man.

  I felt the connection extend and wrap around me like a warm embrace as my desire for him grew, pulling me toward him through the mass of warring, blood-thirsty combatants. I was only an arm’s reach away from him when a vampire came hurtling toward me like a football player and rammed me in the gut.

  My body flew backward and I screamed in agony as the link between us broke. I pleaded for him to come for me, but he only held out his hand as the mountain-like vampire dragged me further and further away. As we barreled through the double doors, I bolted awake and fell out of bed with a shriek, sending Louie yowling from the bed.

  “Sorry, Louie,” I apologized, knowing he was going to be gru
mpy the rest of the night. I stuck my tongue out at him when I saw him glaring at me from inside his little cat bed. “I didn’t do it on purpose, you little stinker.”

  I looked at the clock and saw that it was seven in the evening. It was going to get dark soon enough and even though I was incredibly tired, I decided not to try and go back to sleep. I didn’t want to risk re-entering the nightmare or starting a new and possibly even worse one. I was obviously much more worried about everything than I even admitted to myself. My subconscious mind, however, wasn’t going to let me hide from it.

  Sleepily, I found my way to the shower and turned it on as hot as I could stand it and closed the door, hoping that I could turn the marble bathroom in to some sort of sauna and truly relax myself. The mirrors fogged up quickly as I undressed and stepped into the shower.

  The hot water startled me awake as it burned my skin, but it felt good. I closed my eyes and just stood under the torrent as the water fell upon me, hoping it would wash everything away. When I was thoroughly soaked, I found myself sinking to the floor of the shower and just sitting there, holding my knees and crying. The emotions came flooding out as a complete surprise, but I didn’t hold them back as I normally did. I usually held onto the hurt, the fear, and the sorrow until it was bursting at the seams. This was that moment and I let it happen.

  “What am I doing?” I wept to myself as my tears mixed with the water that rained down on me. “Some vampire princess I am. Crying in the shower like a baby.”

  I untangled my arms from around my legs and looked at my hands. They still looked like my hands. I ran my fingers across my new fangs and was both amazed and horrified by them. The new changes to my body made me feel both powerful and alien to myself at the same time and I wondered if these feelings were normal for a new changeling? Or was it my unique transformation that made it so much more difficult for me?

  As the water slowly grew cooler, my internal bottle of depression emptied and I regained my composure. My new life was flying toward me at full speed and I knew the impact of that reality was going to hit me hard. I just hoped that when that time came, I would be as strong as everyone believed I was. I wanted to be.

  I quickly washed and opened the shower door to a wonderfully steamy bathroom. Wrapping a plush, white towel around me, I relished the softness of the fabric and walked to the mirror, wiping away the water just enough to reveal my face. Leaning closer, I looked into my eyes as deeply as I could, searching for even the smallest trace of who I once was. Although I couldn’t see it, I could still feel it deep inside me. The young girl who dreamt of making a difference in the world, getting married and buying a house next door to her best friend. I never would have thought that by having one dream come true, it would completely destroy any chance for the others.

  ~