Vampire King Chapter 28

Am I Dead?
Emory
I hear a beeping sound, faintly, in the background, and I know that it’s some kind of machine. I remember hearing them in the hospital when Lola was born. For a moment, I am back there, and I am wanting to hold the baby but also want to see her mother, and I’m told that she died in childbirth. Sadness washes over me as I wonder who will take care of this little girl Then, I vow it will be me.
“Lola,” I mumble, but the voice I hear in response isn’t hers. It’s another familiar one, a voice that stirs all kinds of feelings within me as I begin to process the events of the last few days.
“Emory.” He sounds relieved, like he wasn’t sure I’d ever speak again. “You’re okay, Em. You’re safe. I’m right here.”
Kane. He’s with me. Wherever I am, with all of this beeping, he’s by my side. In fact, I’m pretty sure I cant feel his hand in mine.
I can’t feel much else, though. I wonder if that’s because those two ba**rds drank all of my blood. I remember now. I remember the note that led me to the library, the moment Jacob showed up, followed. by his sister, and then Lex, on the floor, not willing to help me.
Or had he?
Why am I not dead?
I remember them both attacking me, Jacob snapping my arm, and then their razor sharp teeth pierced my skin on both sides. I tried to scream but I couldn’t, and then, everything slowly faded to black
I’d seen my family, including sweet baby
And I’d also seen Kane.
Lola.
Another vague memory comes to mind, but it can’t be real. I am in a forest, barefoot, and he’s standing in front of me. I want him to know that it’s too late. I want to tell him that we could have been together forever, but I can feel all of the blood draining from me, and then that world had blackened too. I was whooshed away from him, then, there was only pain and darkness.
My eyelashes flicker open. Bright lights have me unable to open my eyes completely. Kane shouts something to someone, and the lights are off now. I can focus enough to see his face.
His forehead is crinkled, his eyes a bit puffy and red, and he looks like he is ready to rip someone’s head off, but he has my hand in his, and when he sees my eyes, his face c**ks into a smile.
“Emory,” he whispers. “Thank… the Moon Goddess.”
I almost laugh because I know he doesn’t believe in the Moon Goddess, but obviously I do. Laughing seems like too much work at the moment. I can’t believe I’m still alive.
“Why doesn’t it hurt?” I ask him, meaning my body in general. “Is it because I don’t have any blood left to feel with?” My voice is h**r*,” he says, smoothing back my hair, his fingertips cold on my face, which feels refreshing. “We ga*e you lots of it. You’re almost full again.” He smiles at me, like I am a container they are dumping blood bags into. “You can’t feel the pain from your injuries because of the medicine Dr.
+25 BONUS
Am I Dead?
Martin gave you.”
“Oh,” I say. That makes sense. Our pack healer relies mostly on herbs and other plants to heal people, but I can see vampires being different. They’ve always been more advanced than we are. “What’s wrong with.
me?”
“Do you remember what happened?” he asks before answering my question.
I nod the best I can without being able to feel too much of my body. “Jacob and Opal ambushed me in the library.”
“That’s right,” he says. “The broke your arm, dislocated your shoulder, and then drained you. They must’ve thought you were dead when they tossed you over the side of the banister.”
I cringe even thinking about that fall. “How did I not break more bones?” I ask,
“Lex caught you,” he explains. “He called for the guards. He sent Nellie and Helga to get me. I’m so sorry! wasn’t there, baby. I was asleep.” He shakes his head, like sleeping is a crime. “I should’ve known your weren’t safe. I thought-”
“It doesn’t matter,” I tell him, wishing I could lift my hand to stroke his cheek. “It’s over with now. What matters is I’m not dead, right?”
That makes him c**ck a smile, as if I think he has to contemplate whether or not that is the most important thing. “Yeah, absolutely,” he says. “That is definitely the most important thing.” He bends down and presses his lips to my forehead, and again the difference in his skin temperature is refreshing to me.
“Did you catch them?” I ask him.
His eyes drop my gaze as he stares at the floor in front of his feet for a few moments before shaking his head. “No, only Jacob. Opal got away.”
“Really?” I say, surprised. “I would’ve thought that it would have been the other way around.” Opal never struck me as particularly strong or fast, but Jacob…. Just thinking about how easily he ripped my backward makes me shirk, and at the moment, it feels like I don’t have arms at all.
arm
“He sacrificed himself for her,” Kane explains. “They had a car waiting on the other side of the wall, closest to their clan lands. Jacob slowed Rainer up so that Opal could get away. She’s gone now, and I’m pretty sure she managed to slip through our border patrol, too. I’m going to go call her father as soon as I am sure you’re all right.”
I want to tell him I’m sure I’m fine, but I’m not completely convinced that’s true. As much as I want to believe that all of the threats are gone with Opal and Jacob out of Crescent Peak, for all I know, there could be others with designs on angering the king who would even break into the hospital to kill me.
“What about her entourage?” I ask, thinking of those other girls that were always with her.
“We have them all under arrest,” he says with a confident nod, “even her maids. The ladies-in-waiting insist that they didn’t know anything about this scheme, but I don’t have any way of knowing that for sure. They will all be punished for the way they’ve treated you.”
“Not the maids, though, right?” I ask. “They didn’t have anything to do with any of it, did they?”
“Well, no, not them,” he clarifies. “But her friends, those b**es are going to wish they never stepped foot
in Crescent Peak.”
+25 BONUS
The way he speaks when he’s angry is very s**, and even though my body seems to be somewhere else at the moment, I still feel a stirring within my core. “I’m sorry,” I tell him, and I watch as his expression tumbles back into confusion. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that I was a virgin.”
“No,” he says, interrupting me as I state the last word. “Baby, you’ve got nothing to apologize for. That was all my
fault. I should’ve asked you, I should’ve warned you. I just… when I came to you that night, I wanted you so badly, I wasn’t thinking clearly. I should’ve come later to tell you the reason I acted the way I did, but… I was… embarrassed.”
My eyebrows arch as I contemplate the truth of that statement. The Vampire King was too embarrassed to tell me something? That didn’t quite seem right, but I believe him. “I hope that you’ll never hesitate to tell me anything important ever again,” I say to him. “Regardless of what we are, King Kane, I want to be someone you can trust. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, ever, and even if you don’t feel the same way about me, even if you’re too busy being the king of the world to have much time for me, or if I become a nuisance to you as someone you have to spend valuable resources keeping safe when you never wanted me to begin with, I hope you’ll know I’ll always be there for you, no matter what. No matter how big the problem is, I’ll always be your soft place to fall.”
He stares at me, unblinking for several seconds, and I feel a rush of heat to my cheeks as I contemplate Whether or not I am the one who should be embarrassed now, but when he speaks, he says, “That was the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever said to me, Emory Moonraker. Thank you.”
I can’t help but grin at him. I try to shrug again and fail. The attempt makes him chuckle, which makes me laugh as well. “It’s true,” I tell him.
“I never meant to buy you, that’s true,” he says. “But I’m glad that I did. This is going to sound awful, but I’m glad that your father is a f**g a**ole.
I know what he means, and we both laugh again. I want to kiss him so badly, but I can’t reach him, and I know he’s afraid he’s going to hurt me.
“How long was I unconscious?” I ask him, wondering what day of the week it might be.
“Just a couple of hours,” he says. “You wolf shifters heal quickly. Not as quickly as we vampires do, but still pretty fast.”
I’m relieved to hear that. I yawn and can’t raise my hand to cover my mouth, so I feel silly, but when I look back at him, he has a thoughtful expression on his face.
“A lot of people are waiting to see you, but I think you should rest first.”
I agree with him, but there’s one person I do want to see before I go back to sleep. “All right,” I say. “But can I talk to Lex for a minute? Alone?”
His eyes widen, but then he nods. “Sure.”
Kane leans over and presses his mouth to mine softly before he stands. It’s difficult for me to let go of his hand because it’s just a mass of warm tingles, but before I release him, I ask, “Does this mean the wedding is off?”
He looks at me for a long moment, and his expression is unreadable. My gut tightens. 7 need to talk to King Peter.” He lets go of my hand and exits the room, leaving me, once again, wondering what the hell
that means
Can he still have a baby with the woman that tried to
Today’s Bonus Offer