My Vampire Queen

The boys had to follow me to the bathroom after we had put all the bags and boxes into the car. Of course, they had to follow me, I wouldn’t let any of them in because I already had Caine on my arm which was awkward enough. The other three were waiting outside, I had no choice in that. I revealed myself and made my way over to the counter and sink, I had never seen such a fancy bathroom for a store. Considering where we were I wasn’t too surprised by it.

After washing and drying my hands, a cloud of smoke filters out from my arm. It was so odd to watch Caine manifest from the smoke, like from the show Supernatural. Which made me think. “Are their hunters? Like humans who hunt supernatural creatures?”

“You mean the Catholic church?” Caine quips moving towards me suddenly, I back up a step until my butt hits the counter. “There were hunters that weren’t Catholic, I don’t know if many are around anymore.”

His hands go to the backs of my thighs just above my knees and lifts to perch me on the counter. “What are you doing?”

“Answering a few questions while you feed.” He answers, he unbuttons the first few buttons on the top of his shirt allowing me an up-close look at the chiseled tan chest with a scattering of scars. Thin and thick, from half an inch long to into his shirt too long for me to see.

He pulls what looks like a small wicked knife, from nowhere. It’s all black with a layer of smoke surrounding it I raise my brows. “Magic knife?”

“It’s shadow magic, at some point, I will teach it to you.” Caine takes the tip of the knife and pulls the collar of his shirt to the side. I take it from him, holding the shirt so he can drag the knife in a small but deep cut against the side of his neck. My mouth waters as I watch the crimson red start to pour out from the wound and I latch my mouth to it. I try to be gentler, sucking without biting with my dull teeth.

“I won’t be around for a few days,” Caine said, hands going around me to pull me flush to his body. He feels cold, oddly cold. “When I was still with your father I was feeding from him, it was like being connected to a power plant. You still have a protective spell on you that’s slowly peeling away in layers. It doesn’t allow me to fully feed like I need to. So I will be riding you until I can get more energy.”

I wrap my arms around him like I could pull myself into him. His blood seems richer than the other threes, Bjorn’s is close but this. Caine is so much older like expensive wine that’s had more time to mature. His hand trails up my back to the back of my head and I feel him grip a handful of my hair to pull my head back. I wanted to fight him on it, but he was so cold and him pulling me back I could see the black circles under his eyes. He’s so tired and weak right now, this was probably the last feeding I was getting from him for a few days.

“The more the layers peel away, the more power you’ll have,” Caine said.

“My fangs?” I ask.

He nods. “It’s probably why you haven’t gotten them. You’ll get them in time and much more, but with your power, you’ll start giving off more energy. Other Queens will be able to pick you out of a crowd.”

“So don’t go near other Queens.”

There’s a ghost of a smile on his lips and he shakes his head. “If you can manage not to get close to one, your Alpha will be able to scent one from a block away... if the Queen isn’t hiding herself.”

“Queens can hide themselves?” I question. “Can I do that too?”

It would be a good thing if I could do that, then the pressure of finding a nest wouldn’t be that great. Sadly Caine shakes his head. “To manage a spell like that takes practice, or multiple Queens to focus on such a charm or spell.”

“There are spells and charms?” I ask and he snorts.

“Well get into that at some point or one of the others can explain. I doubt they know how to perform anything though, spells and charms are an old and complicated craft.” That made me frown but I didn’t push for more. I’ll ask the others at some point about spells and charms because the idea highly interested me.

Caine brushes a finger across my cheek lightly. “If you need me I will appear but I won’t have long. Use the time wisely.”

With that, he disappears back into a cloud of black smoke that moves to my arm. Well, he only answered a few things, but now I have more questions about things I hadn’t even thought of or known of. Great.

Letting out a sigh, I slid off of the counter and wobbled a bit. That short feeding was like having a few shots. It left me feeling lighter and more sated. The good food and good blood put me in a better mood, even the cloud of questions and worries of the future wasn’t bothering me. For the moment anyway. For this moment, I pushed those aside and walked back out to meet my three men. None of them asked me anything about Caine, but Nathan wiggled his brows at me letting me know they had an idea of what happened.

Nathan drags me around to multiple other shops, making it an easy yes or no system. He was catching onto my style very quickly which also helped the process go by quickly.

“Let’s change this up,” Nathan said as we hit the car once again with an armful of bags. Instead of back into the building, he leads us out onto magnificent mile. Fingering the new necklace my other hand was being held by Nathan as he lead me happily through the crowd of people on the sidewalk. The necklace was something I had never pictured myself wearing, even though I thought they were cute. All natural pink pearls, okay I never thought pink pearls were a thing but they are cute. They work extremely well with the girly or upper-class style we had been going for. But I did snag a chain-looking necklace with pretty emeralds in it for the darker-looking outfits.

Thinking about that just sitting in the car made me sick. The prices of this jewelry were absolutely nuts. The shoes and clothes I could see spending more on, just to have them if I ever needed to meet with someone with high standards. But why did I need a five-grand necklace? Why did I need two? Nathan had talked me into it.

Even though I still thought it was a little overboard.