Chapter 27
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
Iwas stuck with a vampire in a sleeping pod at the airport. Just my luck.
The woman’s crimson eyes fixed on me. I couldn’t move before she used her speed advantage to dig her talons into my flesh and drink my blood. Unlocking the door and running away were no-go options.
I raised my hands up, palms facing her.
“I don’t mean any harm,” I said, sweat drops forming on my temples.
The thick air in the enclosed space suffocated me. My heart worked overtime.
Her gaze flicked to my chest—she clearly detected my distress—and then back to my face. She took a step my way, and my body stilled.
“I-I’m unarmed,” I said, swallowing the dryness in my mouth.
The insides of my cheeks stuck to my teeth.
The vampire pushed her son behind her, and he climbed onto the bed and scooted to the corner, hugging his knees.
The boy was no older than seven or eight—about the same age as the kids who enjoyed reading time at the children’s corner in the library. His face was round with chubby cheeks. His brown hair, a shade lighter than mine, was nothing like the long raven hair of the woman who still watched me warily.
She squinted her eyes and seemed to focus on something, and then her lips parted, and she took a deep breath. Her strong aura was supernatural, but the young boy was a human.
My shoulders tightened. Had this vampire woman kidnapped a human child to feed off him?
But then I remembered how gently she held his hand, and even now, she protected him because she clearly deemed me a danger to him.
“Don’t look at him,” she said through clenched teeth, her fangs poking her bottom lip.
My blood turned to frost.
My dad taught me that at the sight of unfriendly vampires to choose between fleeing or fighting them, but not to stand around and ask questions. Every cell in me rebelled against years of training, and I told myself to calm down.
I chose option three—talk to the female vampire.
The woman acted like any mother would when an outsider intruded on her family. She must have gotten in the sleeping pod for the boy to rest, and here I was—a stranger with unknown intentions.
Of course she’d vamp out on me.
“I’m sorry to barge in like that,” I said.
She could lunge for me at any second. She didn’t have to hear me out. I’d trespassed, after all.
“I was running away from someone and wasn’t thinking clearly. I thought hiding in the sleeping pod was a good idea.”
The long rectangular light emitted dark-orange rays and hit the vampire’s cheeks, making them look sharper and hollower. Or was she shifting further into her full vampire form?
“It was a bad idea, indeed.” Her voice raised the hairs on the back of my neck.
“Mama?” the boy called from the corner.
The woman turned her head to look at her son, and that was my opportunity to attack her and hopefully hit the major nerve in her neck.
But I didn’t.
I pushed down my urges, and years of training went down the drain. It felt wrong, but I also didn’t want to die.
“Don’t be afraid, baby. Mama will handle it,” she told the boy in a singsong voice.
“Is she like me or you?” the boy asked, and my mouth dropped open.
What kind of arrangement did she have with this boy exactly? Female vampires couldn’t have kids because they were frozen in time once they were turned.
A dull ache formed behind my eyes, and a headache throbbed its way to becoming a full-blown migraine.
The woman narrowed her eyes at me and answered her son without looking away. “She’s not like either one of us, baby.”
Strange. I took a shaky breath. What was that supposed to mean? I almost wanted to sniff my clothes to check my scent. I knew I smelled like a human to the supernaturals.
I tried a small smile. She could have killed me by now if she were a ruthless vampire like the ones I’d met before.
“I’m a human,” I said, deciding to go with the truth.
“But then why doesn’t my compulsion work on you?” she asked, eyebrows furrowed in a line.
“I’m defective,” I said with a heavy breath.
The woman blinked a few times.
I had to talk my way out of this, but mostly I wanted to find out if the boy would be okay. He seemed attached to her, but what if she’d compelled him with nonsense?
“How old are you?” I asked the vampire.
The air between us grew tense and stifling.
“Thirty-eight,” she finally said, surprising me that she’d given an answer.
“No, I mean, how old are you really?”
“Old—”
“Mama, I’m sleepy.” The boy yawned and stretched his legs out.
“Take off your shoes,” the vampire woman ordered in a soft voice.
The boy started moving around in the bed but still sent me curious glances.
“Look, I’m not going to hurt you. I don’t have anything on me besides a couple of bills and my passport. I don’t even have a phone.”
I wanted to bargain for me to leave this sleeping pod as soon as possible, but my curiosity about the boy grounded my feet in one place. I had to make sure he was safe.
“All I ask is for you to let me stay here for a while,” I said in a low voice.
Hopefully, it wasn’t going to cost me my life.
She didn’t move a muscle. “How do you know about us?”
Her eyes flashed between black and red—a good sign. Her human side was close.
When it came to their children, mothers could smell a lie and danger from afar. I couldn’t make up stories, so I went with the truth.
“I was human born, but my parents are werewolves,” I said.
The boy gasped and covered his mouth with his little hand.
“Mama, she’s our enemy.”
Hearing a little boy say those words in the most tender and innocent voice did something to my stomach, tightening it into knots. The vampire stayed alert, studying me.
“No, no. Not all werewolves are bad, just like not all vampires are bad,” I said.
The woman had clearly taught the boy about supernatural creatures, which made the pair even stranger to me.
“I’m not the enemy. I promise I’m not here to hurt you. I’m on the run.”
Ignoring me, the woman faced the boy. “Jacob, you can lie down and nap, baby.”
With her gaze pinned on me, she took off his shoes and tucked him under the blanket. He observed me until his eyelids fluttered and then completely shut.
“He’s a deep sleeper,” she said.
A flicker of hope that the vampire was warming up to me ignited in my chest.
She sat down on the bed. I stood awkwardly, wondering what to do with my hands.
“Can I take cover here for a while?” I asked.
“For how long?”
“I’m not sure. He may stay here to search for me and wait me out. Or he’ll leave and go report to my dad. I really don’t know.” I shook my head.
I didn’t know what she saw in me, but the vampire woman nodded toward the empty corner across from her. I dropped my tired body and leaned my back against the wall, letting out a sigh of relief.
But was it a good idea to relax now?
“You shouldn’t let your guard down in front of a vampire,” she said. “I avoid”—she glanced at the boy—“killing people in front of my son.”
“Lucky me.” I smiled, and the crimson shade in her eyes retreated completely. “Why would you let me stay here?”
“You’re unarmed and stand no chance against me.
And you remind me of myself. We’re on the run, too.
” She shrugged. “From our Queen. Since she’s been creating vampires and killing the old ones under the control of the old King, she gets to control us as our sire.
We don’t want to be a part of her growing army. ”
The vampire Queen was creating her own army to control? I sucked in a sharp breath. Did my dad know about it? Was the Blood Queen becoming stronger while Dad waited on me to make up my mind about inheriting the throne?
Sharp pain stabbed into my chest, but I ignored it.
“You’re a rogue vampire?” I asked.
She nodded, and her soft gaze fell on her son. I couldn’t believe the vampire Queen hunted her own kind. But then, I recalled Dad’s story about how Victoria, a young human woman, became the vampire Queen.
I’d never seen the woman, but even Dad admitted she was a beautiful young woman from a wealthy family. She had many suitors who courted her centuries ago, but she played with them. According to the rumors, Victoria didn’t like the idea of getting old and losing all the men’s attention.
When she caught the vampire King’s eye, and he showed interest in her—more than being a food source for him—she asked to be turned.
Once she became a vampire, she stayed by the King’s side for many years, but he didn’t make her his Queen and gradually lost interest in her.
The vampire King sought out other women while Victoria grew resentful and bitter.
One night, after she seduced the King in her bedchambers, she stabbed him in the heart with a silver sword prepared by the best swordsmith in the country. Proclaiming herself the vampire Queen, she took over the reign by wielding her sword, purging the vampires who wouldn’t follow her obediently.
The same silver sword had pierced Dad’s shoulder, leaving permanent damage.
I’d never met the vicious woman, but the more I learned about her, the more her attitude toward the humans, vampires, and werewolves ground up my nerves. A Queen should be followed out of respect—not out of fear.
As the woman looked at her son, her eyes lit up with pure adoration. A small but gentle smile graced her face. It was as if she saw the entire world in her child, cherishing every moment and every detail of his presence. The familiar sight of her unconditional love reminded me of my mom.
“The vampire General’s men came too close to finding us.” Her chest expanded with the deep breath she took, her gaze unwavering from the sleeping form of her child.
“Who is this vampire General?”
I’d only heard Dad mention him during his all-Alpha board meetings, but I didn’t know who he was or what he did for the vampires.
“He’s the Queen’s mad dog, her right-hand side. Like her, he doesn’t like to dirty his own hands, so he usually sends assassins after us,” she said. “But if his mission is not completed, he will get involved.”
I hoped I didn’t have to meet this vampire General man.
“Does the vampire General usually send human assassins after you, or are his men only vampires?” I asked, thinking about the amateur attack in my office and the trained assassins outside my apartment.
The vampire woman patted the boy on his hand. “Both.”
I drew in a deep breath. Although I couldn’t verify it, there was a chance the vampire General had sent the humans to retrieve the magic book.
“And the boy, your son, is human?” I asked.
Her gaze snapped to me. “Did you think I compelled him and would use him as my food?” She rushed her words out, her elevated voice a warning.
I sighed. “Honestly, I didn’t know what to think at first.”
“Well, I’m not going to harm my own son.
” She wiped her hands on her black jeans.
“My husband and I were stricken by the plague a long time ago. He died. I didn’t.
Then, I got cholera.” She sighed. “Be grateful for the modern times we live in now. Technology and medical advancement. Anyway, I was going to die. The doctor gave me a choice—to turn me or not. At least he didn’t turn me forcefully. ”
Something in my stomach twisted at the reminder of Torin, who’d had no choice but to be a vampire.
I remained quiet.
“If you’re ever given the choice between immortality and mortality, choose wisely. I regret my decision every single day. I had to go through the death of my son, who, although he survived the illnesses, died of old age. No mother should outlive their own children.” She patted the boy on the back.
He stirred, and she withdrew her hand.
“To lessen the burden of immortality, I’ve been adopting young human kids from orphanages, raising them as my own, and preparing them to live on their own when they’re in their twenties.”
Her tone was sincere, and in my gut, I felt she told me the truth.
I was taught how vicious, ruthless, and cruel vampires were, but this vampire woman had shattered these beliefs in a moment. She had no reason to lie to me. My chest lifted and felt lighter.
“You give them a better chance in life,” I said.
“I don’t drink their blood. I pay willing donors for my food.”
“I’m sorry.”
She smiled. “What for?”
How wrong I was in the way I thought about vampires.
I shook my head. I couldn’t utter the words. How utterly mistaken I had been in my preconceived notions about all vampires. Regret seeped into my soul like ink on canvas.
Even the werewolf King was wrong.
I chatted with the vampire for a long while, and before her son woke up, she arranged to switch flights. Because of the vampire mother, I would board an earlier flight to Los Angeles.
I didn’t know what to believe anymore. Not only had my carefully built world crumbled into pieces, but so had the beliefs the royal family had ingrained in me since I was a kid.