gotten worse without me around.
“Oh, keep them! Give them to your friends.” She smiled like she’d just given me the greatest gift and then shifted her eyes toward the television to peek at the news. I dropped the pins into my purse and rolled my eyes. Shifting my body aside to block the television, I lowered my head so I could make eye contact with her.
“I came here because there was something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Of course, of course. Come, have a seat.” She shuffled through a mess of papers on the couch, before picking them up and dropping them on the coffee table.
I sat down awkwardly, remembering that the last time I’d sat here was when Fox had uttered the words that changed my life forever. Where would I be right now if he’d never shown up? I turned to look at Arrick as he stood by the front door; would he still have come for me and taken me to Naos, or would he have let me live my life out as a human? Despite all the darkness that had entered my life I was still proud to be a vampire. I still felt the loss of the dreams I had once had, but I could no longer imagine a life without him in it, or the rest of my vampire family for that matter. They were my world now, not the one I’d left behind. Yet, here I was in the living room of a woman who’d always favored work over me. She’d never been cruel to me in any way, but there had always been something missing in our relationship. Even so, I couldn’t leave her here, defenseless against The Dark should they decide to attack the city next.
Her attention was finally riveted on me and her eyes widened as she gazed at my face. “Let me take a look at you.” She leaned in, cupping my cheek with one hand and caressing my long hair with the other. “You’re even prettier than on TV. Immortality suits you my dear.”
“You saw me?” I’d wondered if she’d seen me. My heart fluttered at the thought. I still craved attention from her, acceptance.
“I did. You look beautiful…” she took in my full form as I sat slightly slumped on the couch, “but you looked tired now. Is everything okay?”
I sighed. We were finally getting on topic. “No, everything is not okay. That’s what I’ve come to talk to you about.”
“Who’s your friend?” Her eyes shifted over to Arrick, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from moaning. She had always been riveted by vampires, and even though I now was one I still couldn’t get her to pay attention.
“That’s Arrick. He’s my…” How do I explain him? Humans didn’t know about Blood Mates and I didn’t feel like explaining it to her. Now wasn’t the time for that, I had other things I wanted to discuss. More important things.
“I’m her personal bodyguard,” Arrick answered for me with pride. He stepped further into the room, his hands locked behind his back. He’d kept the suit and tie on from the news interview, making him looked polished and virile.
“Splendid! Please have a seat.” She pushed off rolled up posters on a nearby armchair and gestured for him to have a seat. “It’s good to hear you’re being protected. You can never be too cautious in times like these. I saw the news. I’m so glad you’re all right.”
“That’s what I’ve come to talk to you about.” I grabbed her hand to direct her attention back toward me, she was worse than a child sometimes.
“What’s wrong?” Her voice was suddenly concerned.
How do I say this? There was no gentle way to let this cat out of the bag, so my only option was to just come straight out with it. “What you saw on the news wasn’t the whole truth.” Her brow wrinkled in confusion and she glanced back at the news that was repeating the interview, like she’d missed something. I couldn’t hold back a moan of annoyance, and as I clenched my teeth; my fangs pushing into my lips. Arrick nodded at me to continue. “It wasn’t the anti-vampire league that attacked the palace.”
“But that’s what King Nicolae said. I just saw it on the news. Those protestors have turned into a full scale gang since you left, dear. They’ve caused trouble all over the city and not just at the palace. Did I