Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Abi
When I came to I was on my back, and Kinge was holding my legs up so the blood would return to my head.
“Miss Marshall?” Kinge asked, his voice emotionless. “Have you awakened?”
“Yeah,” I said, groggy. It felt like my mouth had been stuffed with cotton. Kinge had put a chair cushion under my head, so it was easier for me to prop myself up on my elbows. “What happened?” I asked, my brain slow to start.
I glanced up at Kinge, who was giving me an unreadable look, then peered around the kitchen, my eyes catching sight of the blood pack on the counter. “That’s right. Blood.”
My vision turned black and for the second time in a handful of minutes my ears rang as I passed out.
The second time I woke up Kinge was on the far side of the kitchen, as if he was concerned fainting might be a contagious disease.
This time I was prepared, so I immediately slapped my hands over my eyes and did some breathing exercises that my brother always joked sound like the Lamaze method.
“I apologize for your fear,” Kinge said stiffly. “I know you must be uncomfortable, but I’m afraid I must insist you stay in the kitchen for now, until… help arrives.”
“Help?” I asked, pausing my breathing exercises for a moment. “Why do we need help? Just stick the blood in the fridge.”
“What?”
“If I can’t see it, it won’t affect me.”
“You’re fainting because of… my blood pack?”
“Of course. I’ve got hemophobia.” I paused, confused but unable to look at him because it sounded like he hadn’t put his dinner (or was it his breakfast if he was a vampire and kept night hours?) away. “Why else would I faint like this?”
“Because I’m a vampire?”
“Why would I faint over that?” I asked, bewildered.
“Because I’m a vampire,” he repeated.
I was so intrigued I finally risked peering at Kinge. Thankfully he’d moved to stand in front of the island, blocking my view of the blood pack. “Have you been so removed you didn’t hear that the supernatural community went public decades ago?”
“I’m aware,” Kinge said, a drop of sarcasm souring his words.
Well. Touchy.
“I’ve seen loads of vampires in movies, the news, and even on streets.
Being a vampire isn’t even news worthy these days.
” I slowly sat up, satisfied that my vision was stable and I didn’t get that annoying vertigo sensation with the movement.
“Why did you even feel the need to hide it in the first place? Oh, wait.”
I paused, trying to remember some of the communication and emotional expression workshops my company had held. “Have you experienced prejudice from humans, which has made you reluctant to give us emotional trust and forge relationships?”
“No,” Kinge said.
“Then what’s the issue?”
Kinge raised an eyebrow, giving his stony face a slight tint of bemusement. “Are you not afraid that I will harm you?”
“No. Logically speaking, it was dangerous for me to take this position because you could have turned out to be a creep. You being a vampire has no impact on whether or not you’re a creep,” I pointed out.
“I see.” Kinge casually folded his arms across his chest. “I suppose that illuminates your priorities.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “So could you put the blood away?”
Kinge turned his back to me, so I shut my eyes and listened as he sauntered around the kitchen. “Unfortunately, despite your acceptance, we will still have to reconsider your employment.”
I popped my eyes open once I heard the whispered shush of the fridge door opening and closing. “What? Why?”
“Even if you are unafraid of vampires, I have hidden my true nature for decades and have no intention of coming forward, even though supernaturals have revealed themselves.”
I slowly peeled myself off the ground, using a nearby chair to stabilize myself as I stood. “I take it that means your ‘uncle’ was really you?”
“Yes,” Kinge said—his honesty was now making me suspicious.
He’d said earlier ‘help’ would be coming, did he intend to fire me and banish me from the area?
Was there magic that could do that? (I was human through and through, and there was only one wizard House in my hometown, so I knew very little about magic.)
“Actually,” he continued. “This is the third time I’m pretending to be my own heir.
I hang around as long as I reasonably can, using a fae glamour spell to add white to my hair and age myself a little, then travel abroad for a year or so before returning as my heir and adopting new styles to look different. ”
“Is that why you wear glasses? And the contacts are to color your eyes?”
“Yes.” King rubbed his neck. “The tattoo is also a glamour—a spell sold to me by a fae.”
“Why go through all of that work? Is the area really that great to live in that it’s worth all the work?” I asked, skeptically.
“While the Wisconsin Peninsula is generally charming, my determination to live in the area has little to do with the scenery and more to do with supernatural politics,” Kinge said in a firm way that even I had enough emotional intelligence to recognize meant he didn’t want me asking more about it.
“I see,” I said.
“That is also why I wish for my vampiric nature to remain hidden.” His dark gaze settled on me, and his words sounded spooky enough that it occurred to me I should maybe start worrying for my well-being after all.
“I’m very willing to sign a nondisclosure agreement,” I said.
“I’m afraid a mere legal agreement isn’t reassuring enough for me to risk letting you roam about,” Kinge said.
I narrowed my eyes and braced myself, mentally calculating if I could reach my office—and the pepper spray I’d stashed in one of the top drawers—before he caught me. “That doesn’t sound great for my physical well-being.”
Kinge blinked at me, seemingly confused. “What?”
“That was practically a threat,” I said. “You could have been implying that now you need to kill me to keep your secret safe.”
“What? No.” Kinge gave me an irritated look. “You might be familiar with vampires through fictional portrayals, but it has given you an overly dramatic idea of how we solve problems.”
“Then how do you solve problems?”
“With magic,” he stressed. “Ideally we’d cast a confusion charm on you so you wouldn’t remember this instance. Or at the very least bind you with a fae geas so you can’t speak about my nature to others.”
“Oh.” I relaxed. “Great. I’d prefer the second—it would make working here at lot more simple. How on earth did you think you could hire a human to run your house and not reveal what you are anyway?”
“First of all, I’ve never had a problem before because I’ve never had a house manager who worked until nine in the evening.
Most left before the end of a typical work day so it was never a risk that they would wander in and find me…
drinking. Secondly, you seem to be misunderstanding something.
Naturally you won’t be working here anymore. ”
“What? Why not?” I asked, real panic starting to hit me.
Kinge gave me a look that said he was questioning my mental capacity. “Because you discovered I’m a vampire. As I said earlier, I am essentially sequestered.”
“But if I take the verbal binding thing you mentioned, wouldn’t that mean I can keep working for you?” I pointed out.
Kinge narrowed his eyes, his suspicion tangible. “Why do you so badly want to work here?”
“Because I broke my apartment lease, sold all my stuff, and the hiring season for the Door County summer is over. Having to find a new job—not to mention housing—would be really difficult now,” I paused, then added, “Plus your library is amazing and it would crush my soul to lose it since I haven’t had a chance to explore it. ”
“Couldn’t you return to your family?” Kinge asked, ignoring my lusting over his library.
“I could, but that would defeat the point of me trying to make a major change in my life and experience new things.”
“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“I worked dog-like hours at my previous job. I stayed late all the time,” I explained.
“I never would have guessed,” he dryly said.
“I spent my twenties at the company, and only took a few vacations to travel,” I continued. “The only reason I had the courage to come up here and possibly risk myself for this potentially sketchy position was because I’m trying to make a change.”
Kinge was quiet, but the perfect marble of his face was ruined by a pensive furrowing of his forehead.
I’m getting through to him! But it’s not enough… I better be honest.
“And finally,” I grimaced. “I have student loans to pay off. You pay really well. One year of work here and I’ll be finished paying them off.”
“Ah,” Kinge said.
“So… can I stay?” I asked hopefully.
Kinge sighed and massaged his forehead.
“At least let me try.” My thoughts raced through my brain as I tried to use what little knowledge I had of vampires to come up with an enticing reason to keep me.
Mostly, I knew vampires usually drank blood provided through special blood bank delivery services or employed humans specifically to provide blood.
Based on the glimpse I’d had of the packing of Kinge’s breakfast/dinner, and the knowledge that Kinge was in hiding, it seemed Kinge drank from blood packs rather than directly from the source.
But that was perfect! I knew firsthand Kinge contracted and delegated out as many aspects of his life as possible!
“And since I know about you, I could schedule blood deliveries. I can’t organize the actual blood packs given my hemophobia, but I could at least be on hand to receive the deliveries if they come in discreet packaging so I can’t see anything.”
Kinge froze, and I knew I had his interest.
“If there’s anything else a previous house manager couldn’t do because they didn’t know, I could try it,” I offered. “I could… make appointments for you with other supernaturals?”
“I try to interact with supernatural society as little as possible,” Kinge said. “Except for my personal relationships, but we are scattered across the globe and mostly communicate by text.”
“Ah.” I wilted a little. “Uh… then I could be your human spy, and spread rumors about how different you are from your uncle and stuff like that, on top of handling your blood deliveries.”
Kinge frowned and stared at the tiled kitchen floor. “I must be half mad.”
“Because you’re considering it?” I asked, hopefully.
“Yes.”
I wanted to shout in glee, but I was pretty sure that wouldn’t help my case, so I stayed quiet.
Kinge glanced at me, and I gave him my ‘employee meeting’ smile that was a little tempered so I didn’t look unhinged.
He sighed. “Fine. We’ll try it.”
I clasped my hands together to keep from clapping them in glee. “Great! What precautions would you like to take to ascertain my silence? I’ll write them up in another contract so we have clear expectations.”
“I’ll think it over, and we can discuss it in the morning,” Kinge said.
“Understood. Thank you, sir, for taking a chance on me,” I enthusiastically said.
Kinge waved me off. “Whatever. You should head out for the night.”
“Of course! I imagine you want to drink as I interrupted your dinner—or breakfast? Whichever. Have a great evening, sir!” I darted out the back kitchen door and slammed it shut behind me before Kinge had a chance to respond and possibly revoke his permission.
I had to slow down once I hit the lawn, which was soaked with dew and slippery.
This job will be an even bigger change than I expected since it means I’m working for a supernatural, but that works in my favor. Nothing like new experiences to help me discover what I really want out of life!
I just hoped whatever magical means Kinge wanted to assure my silence wouldn’t be too risky. But! I’d kept my job, and that was the important thing!