Vampire King Chapter 52

A Wonderful Time
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A Wonderful Time
Emory
Bernard looks a mix of horrified and furious. His gray eyes are wide, and he stares at me dumbstruck for a full minute before he lunges. Dr. Martin and Helga grab him before he can get off the bed. They push him down, and Bernard is no match for their superior vampire strength. It doesn’t help that he’s lost a lot of blood and is malnourished.
“You have to get rid of it!” Bernard yells. “You can’t keep that thing inside of you!”
“That is not your decision,” I reply firmly. “This is my baby, and I get to decide.”
“It’s going to be a monster!” Bernard’s gray eyes look more scared than angry. “Whatever comes out of you, it’s not going to be a shifter or a vampire; it’s going to be an abomination.”
My hand cradles my belly protectively. “No, it’s not. My baby is going to be normal.”
“Normal?” he scoffs. “It’s going to destroy all of us. With Kane’s spawn inside of you, it’ll kill you as it tries to get out-”
The horrifying imagery makes me want to cover my ears. “Stop! Stop saying that!”
“Monster! It’s going to be a monster!” he chants. “A bloodsucking monster!”
I remember all the folktales I read in the castle library about hybrids. Those books said they are mindless bloodthirsty creatures that decimated whole villages on their own. My baby won’t become like that. I don’t want to believe it.
A hand touches my back gently, comfortingly. I turn to see it’s Kane. He wraps his arm around me protectively, and I want to let myself be lost in the safety of his touch. His anger is a cold fury that matches the blue of his eyes as he glares at my father.
“Bernard, I will not allow you to upset your daughter. She’s carrying your grandchild.” His stealy gaze doesn’t change as he pins Bernard to the bed with a look.
“That thing is not my grandchild! It’s a crime against nature!”
Something inside me crumbles and dies. There has been this naïve part of me that still remembers Bernard as a loving father that thought he might be happy at hearing the news of his first grandchild. Instead, I have the reality of his disgust and outrage. What should have been a happy moment is twisted by his malice and distaste.
“We are done here.” Kane turns me away from Bernard’s ranting and out of the infirmary, “You don’t need to listen to any more of this.”
Rainer is waiting in the hallway. Kane tells him, “If Bernard is feeling well enough to act like an a**hole again, he’s well enough to return to the dungeon.”
His friend doesn’t disagree. The king keeps his arm around me as he leads me away from the infirmary. We walk through hallways, and I cling to him, needing his steady comfort. He takes us to his room, and we lie on his bed. My head rests on his chest as he cradles me in his arms.
Are you all right?” he asks.
A Wonderful Time
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“Yes.” After a second I confess, “I don’t know. All that stuff my dad said was…”
“Don’t listen to Bernard. He only wants to hurt and scare you. Anything that comes out of his mouth is always for his own benefit. He’s been known to twist truths into lies.”
I know about my father’s propensity for lying. He had our pack belleve for decades that Kane had started the war between our species when it had been my father’s fault for not paying a debt he owed. My father had attacked our neighboring packs to expand his power and territory only to fail. All that bloodshed and wasted resources, and what was it all for? Nothing.
My father built his ambitions on hubris and greed. And when his house of cards fell, he blamed everyone
but himself.
I sit up, and Kane does as well. “I went to the library and read every book I could find on hybrids, and every story talks about terrifying monsters who only want carnage and destruction. What if the baby turns out like that?”
Kane cups my face in his hands. “Look at me, Emory. Those are just stories written by scared people from a long time ago. No one’s seen an actual hybrid before. Not recently, anyway. No one knows what they’re talking about.”
“That means we don’t know what we’re dealing with. I don’t know what’s inside me-if it’s a baby or some kind of monster.”
“It’s not a monster,” he insists, gently. “It’s a baby, our baby.”
I let out a shuddering breath. My whole body trembles. My breath gets quicker, and I’m growing lightheaded.
“But what is it? Maybe it’s a baby for now, but it won’t always be that way. What if it grows up and becomes a monster?”
“Breathe, Emory,” Kane tells me, firmly. “Breathe in and out. You need to breathe.”
I inhale deeply and exhale slowly. Kane makes me repeat this until I don’t feel lightheaded anymore.
“Our baby is not going to be a monster,” he says. “And you want to know why? Because you’re the child’s mother, and that means that baby is going to be fine. Look at Lola. She’s good and kind because of you.”
I close my eyes, the panic and fear melting away to relief. He kisses my cheek, the tip of my nose, and my forehead. His mouth is gentle as he leaves sweet kisses on my face and neck.
He kisses me with such tenderness I hold still, afraid to break the moment.
“Whatever the baby is going to be, we’ll take care of it,” he concludes. “Our child will be loved.”
I burst into tears. The shame of thinking the worst of my unborn child overwhelms me. Do I have such little faith? I have let old folktales and my father get into my head and make me doubt what I truly feel.
I know I love this baby. He or she is mine and Kane’s. Whatever they may be-shifter, vampire, or something in between, they will be loved and cared for They will never doubt whether a parent’s love is real or unconditional. I will make sure of it.
Kane holds me and lets me cry on his shoulder. His hand rubs gentle circles on my back. He doesn’t let me go until I fall asleep.
A Wonderful Time
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Lex
Opal is not feeling well that morning and is noticeably absent at breakfast. I don’t care for her. I never have. When she was my brother’s betrothed, I had no interest in her besides the physical.
Things are different now. She’s pregnant with my child, and that is not insignificant. We’re tied together in an irrevocable way whether either of us like it or not. I feel responsible for her.
Later that day, I still haven’t seen her. Dinner is an unpleasant affair. King Peter mocks me to his courtier who jeers and snickers at my expense. It sickens me that I used to be like these fools who had nothing better to do than to look down on someone. I pay them no mind and leave as soon as the meal is done.
I make my way to Opal’s room. No one stops me as I enter the suite. Opal is lying on the large bed. It is the most opulent room I’ve ever seen, more flashy than elegant. The furniture is made of the same dark wood like the rest of the castle’s furnishings. The walls are painted a deep midnight blue but with sparkling stars sprinkled. As I move closer, I realize there are opals embedded into the walls. The large canopy on her bed has little opals sewn into the fabric. All this unnecessary expense is true to Opal’s
taste.
“Get out!” Opal yells at a maid, throwing a glass of a blood at her. “Get the f**k out!”
Her maids scurry away and out of the room, not even bothering to clean up the mess that Opal just made. The mess has fallen on the carpets below, soaking them. Opal sees me and throws a pillow in my direction. I dodge, and the pillow hits the floor with a pathetic thump.
“Leave me alone!” she shrieks, 1 want to be left alone!”
“You know, Opal, all that yelling is probably not good for the baby,”
She lets out an angry cry that reminds me of a pelican and turns away from me, covering her head with a pillow as if it could block me out. I look at the door and consider just leaving. She’s made it clear she wants to be left alone but I can’t leave untill I know she’s all right-for the baby’s sake. I sigh to myself, lamenting how I got myself into this mess again.
My st***id c**k. That’s how.
Maybe I should take a vow of celibacy. Having meaningless sex has never done me any good. It’s only more trouble than it’s worth. I wonder if I have the fortitude for such a vow. I consider testing it.
I walk over to the bed and sit at the end of it. Opal keeps her back to me.
“I heard you’re not feeling well,” I say. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“You can f**k off, Lex. I didn’t invite you in here.”
I ignore that and continue like nothing is amiss, “I talked to my mother about her experience being pregnant. She advised cold food. I know you like ice cream. I can get you some.”
She turns to me and drops the pillow on the bed. Her sapphire blue eyes narrow in suspicion. “What the f**k are you trying to do?”
I sigh again and rub the bridge of my nose, wishing I was anywhere else but here. I wouldn’t mind living outside in the frozen tundra if it was far away from here.
A Wonderful Time:
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“You’re pregnant, and I want to help. It is my baby, after all, whether you want to verbally acknowledge it
or not.”
“It’s not your baby,” she hisses. “It will never be your baby.”
I give her an unimpressed look. “Opal, we both know Kane never touched you. I came inside you at least a dozen times. You can keep saying it’s his kid, but he will never acknowledge it as his own.”
“That’s his f**king fault for being so stubborn!” She throws a pillow at a wall. “If he would just marry me, we wouldn’t be having any issues between our kingdoms!”
“We wouldn’t be having any issues if you and your brother never attacked Emory,” I point out. “If you would be honest with your father about the baby’s parentage-”
“Why does it matter? It has Kane’s family blood. That should be enough!”
“Kane will never accept your baby as his own because he despises you. You almost killed the woman he loves, and Kane has never been quick to forgive when someone hurts a person he loves.”
She scowls. “All of this because of a werewolf? Is he really going to make a baby that’s half-shifter his heir? Is he insane?”
The news of Emory’s pregnancy had spread to Scarlett Thunder thanks to the diplomat, Lord Alistair, informing King Peter. Word of a royal hybrid being born is not just a salacious topic for vampires. The wolf shifters will be interested in the information too. I don’t doubt the other kingdoms will learn about Emory’s pregnancy soon enough.
“Kane is excited to be a father,” I explain. “To Emory’s baby, of course.”
hale you,
Opal hits me with a pillow. “I f**king hate you, Lex!”
I half-heartedly block her assault. She keeps trying to hit me in the head. “You aren’t that sweet either, Opaline.”
“Get out!” she screeches. “Get the f**k out of my room
I get to my feet and away from her reach. “Do you want ice cream or not?”
“No!”
“Fine.” I turn to leave. “I’ll try again tomorrow.”
I walk out of the room just as a pillow hits the door behind me.
My mother is right. Pregnancy can be such a wonderful time. For other people, that is.