Chapter Eight

“You excited for your first date with the Vampire King?” Leyla asks “I bet he’ll bring you somewhere very romantic.” Leyla tells me with a dreamy look in her eyes. “It’s a bummer that Walter will be going with you on both your dates. It’s like having your dad go on dates with you. It gets very awkward. I remember my first date and my dad tagged along it was very embarrassing,” Leyla goes on.

“There your makeup is all done. I did little to your hair. It felt like it was perfect the way it is with the outfit.” Leyla tells me. I stand up and walk towards the full-length mirror to see the final look. The dress Leyla picked out isn’t something I’d wear but for the Vampire King, it’s ideal. The dress is black that goes mid-thigh it has long sleeves and open shoulders with a turtleneck. She paired the dress with black sheer tights and knee-high socks with the same ankle boots I wore last time. My hair is down with a little bit of wave at the ends. For makeup, Leyla did a black and gray smokey eye with nude pink lipstick. It actually doesn’t look that bad on me.

“You look perfect!” Layla squealed “the Vampire King is going to fall and won’t want to let you go,” Leyla tells me. I smile at her through the mirror and nod but deep down I know he won’t. He’s most likely dreading this date like I am but I’m not looking towards tomorrow either. “You’re set for today. I hope you have fun lucky girl” Leyla tells me while opening the closet door. I give her one more smile and she leaves the room. I take a deep breath before I stand up and exit the closet. I walk into the primary room to find Lennon looking around. I stand there for a couple of seconds watching him until he notices me.

A blush covers his cheeks, and he dips his head down. “I’m sorry for snooping around your room, Miss. Amber. I’ve never been in this room before and I was curious,” he tells me. Lennon looks up at me but he doesn’t look me in the eyes instead he looks me up and down then down back up. “I shouldn’t be saying this and I’m sorry for the disrespect but ma’am you look stunning today. The Vampire King is a very lucky man. Any man would be lucky to have you as a mate,” he tells me. This time I’m the one blushing. I can’t believe he said that. It was so sweet, and I think this might be the only time a male has told me this.

“We should get going. The Vampire King said he’s very busy today and doesn’t have much time for the date,” Lennon tells me. I nod not surprised. I follow Lennon out of my bedroom. The walk to the limo was silent but not an uncomfortable silence. I think he’s still embarrassed by what happened in my bedroom, but he has nothing to be embarrassed about. I think he’s sweet, and it’s shocking he hasn’t found a girl yet. I don’t know if he’s human or not. I can’t really tell besides when it comes to Vampires. You can’t hide those fangs every time a Vampire opens their mouth to even just speak they are there begging for attention. But Lennon doesn’t have any Vampire teeth and he talked bad about the vampire the other day, so I don’t think he’s one of them.

But whatever girl he does end up with is very lucky… but why am I also feeling jealous for the girl he isn’t even with yet? Am I starting to have feelings for Lennon or is it because he’s the first guy to be nice towards me and now I’m growing attachment for him. Whatever it has to stop. I’m not supposed to be his forever. I’m already spoken for by two Kings who at the moment are fighting to convince the council that they will benefit the most with me being by their side.

We finally reach the Limo the driver standing by the door opens it for me. I send him a soft smile and get in with Lennon following behind me. Why is Lennon coming? I thought Walter likes the Vampires. I sit in my normal seat and I then notice Walter is already here. Lennon sits next to me and the door shuts. “The drive will be shore today. King Bertoldo’s team set up a beautiful date at a sacred location to the Vampires. Lennon is coming today because he is your personal bodyguard and we will be out in the open so the council wants to make sure you are protected. The Vampire King will have guards there but their priority is to protect the King so if something happens and if Lennon isn’t there, you won’t be protected.” Walter tells me.

Well, that’s sure reassuring. “The drive will be an hour instead of four” Walter adds before going back to his laptop. Nice talking to you too. “Here I brought this with for you to read on the way,” Lennon tells me while placing a book on my lap. I look down at it and notice it’s a Vampire book. Oh because I didn’t read enough of those yesterday. I pick the book up and notice it’s about their sacred grounds. I open the book and go to the chapters page I notice every chapter is a different location. If only Walter told me what this place is called so I could read that one first. I open the first chapter and begin reading.

“We’re here. Are you kidding me, Amber? Now you decided to read that?” Walter asks. I close the book and look at Walter’s questing. “Don’t give me that look you were supposed to read that yesterday. What did you do all day?” Walter asks me with a raised voice. I’m confused. I didn’t know I was supposed to read this. It wasn’t with the pile of books from yesterday. “Sir please don’t get mad at Amber. This wasn’t in the pile of books from yesterday. Leon gave this to me this morning telling me he forgot to put it in the pile. He only noticed it this morning, ” Lennon tells Walter.

Walter sends a mean glare to Lennon “don’t get into this boy. Just because you have feelings for her doesn’t mean you can bud in and speak” Walter tells him. Did Walter say Lennon has feelings for me? I look over at Lennon to find him looking down at his lap with bright red cheeks. “Come on we’ll disgust this further after,” Walter says and gets out of the limo. Lennon follows him out. I scoot to the door Lennon stretches his hand out for me. I take it and stand up I give him a soft smile. He opens his mouth to say something, but Walter calls for me. Lennon sends me a small smile and lets go of my hand. My smile drops and I walk over to Walter.

“Did you read the instructions?” Walter asks me I nod my head. “At least you read something,” Walter tells me with an eye roll. The instructions were nothing new to me. It was everything they taught a slave to serve their Master. So the Vampire King doesn’t want a mate to love he just wants a mate that will obey and serve him. Walter stops walking and thankfully I noticed otherwise I would have walked into him and I’m not in the mood to deal with that.

“We can’t go any further than this besides for you. The guards will be around the area keeping a watch on the surroundings. King Bertoldo is on a tight schedule and he was able to squeeze a bit of time for you so don’t mess this up” Walter tells me and walks away. Nice pep talk I feel a warm hand on my bare shoulder. I turn my head slightly to see Lennon “don’t listen to him. You’ll be just fine just be yourself” Lennon tells me. He sends me a soft smile and walks away. Okay, that was slightly better. I look back towards the entrance. Why do Vampires like everything gloomy and scary? Why can’t it be bright and happy?

In front of me is an iron gate connected to a concrete structure. The gate is already open so I walk through it. There’s a long row of dead trees leading down the path of stone with grass growing between the cracks. In some places, the grass completely covers the stone. After a couple of minutes of walking, I walk into a clearing. The place looks like ruins with black and dark-colored flowers everywhere with vines growing on the ruins. I walk around the maze of walls trying to figure out where the Vampire King is. After minutes of walking, I finally find him. He’s sitting on a stone-covered flooring reading a book. I walk over to him and I notice most of the stone is cracked with moss growing over it.

When I get a decent distance from him he looks up. He first looks me up and down and a smirk is placed on his lips. This is the first time I get a good look at the Vampire King and he is completely opposite to the Werewolf King. The Vampire King is pale, almost like snow. His eyes are a dark blue color and his hair is a dark brown that goes to his shoulders. He has a triangle face that does suit him very well. His clothing is very gothic. His suit jacket and slacks are black with a black dress shirt and a blood-red tie. It suits him. “You look decent this afternoon my sweet. Sit down so we can have our lunch. I don’t have much time I’m afraid. I have a lot of important meetings” he tells me.

I nod and sit down the best that I can with this dress on without showing anything that I shouldn’t. In the instructions, it’s told that I must pour his drink and serve him food. It’s also said that I can only speak without permission is when I’m offering food and drink. “Would you like some wine, my lord?” I ask him and making any sort of eye contact. “I would love some but make sure it’s from this bottle. It has blood mixed into it” he tells me as he places a bottle of wine in front of me. I take the bottle and grabbed a glass that he’s been drinking from and pour the glass halfway. The way I was taught at the auction house. I set the bottle down and placed the glass in front of my Vampire Mate.

He takes it and takes a sip. “Would you like me to fill your plate, sir?” I ask “no I’m going to eat before a meeting. This food is for you,” he tells me. I freeze he isn’t going to eat? Then what’s the point of this picnic? But is this a test? Is this a test that I must fail? The food looks so good but in the instructions, it’s told that I can not eat a single thing until he takes the first bite.

He takes a sip of his wine sets it back down and goes back to reading. I look away from him and look around the place. Hmm, let me see if I can figure out if I read about this place. The first garden that I read was the Guilty Grotto. It explained that when the very first Vampire was born it was at the Guilty Grotto. It’s named Guilty because Vampires are known to be a curse. Werewolves were supposed to be the curse but as generations have gone on they grew to love their wolf’s side. The Gods had to think of a different punishment that they know no one will soon love. The Gods didn’t know what cruel creature to turn an evil soul into.

But one day the Gods noticed an evil soul among the humans. They tracked the soul down and were horrified at what he was doing. Boris Buffy In the 1400s was a mass killer. He would kill his victims by stabbing them with a wooden stack to the heart. He loved to kill so much that he would drain the blood from his victims and add it to his wine. The Gods were so horrified by his evilness that they turned him into a monster that they thought fit. Had to survive on blood and the only way to kill them was to be killed at the stake. Unlike the Werewolves Vampires never grew to love themself and what they are and that’s why they are so dark. There’s no happiness in them. If you really think about it, it is sad.

“Are you going to eat?” I hear the King ask. I look in his direction without looking at his face. “No sir I’m fine,” I tell him. He knows I can’t eat until he eats first. He’s the one who had the instructions written. “Suit yourself then,” he tells me. He takes another side of his wine glass and goes back to his book. I sigh internally and look around the ruined garden. None of the gardens that I read mention ruins. “Sir?” a man in a black suit asks as he walks towards the King and me. “Yes?” The King asks. “Your first meeting will be starting soon sir,” he tells the King. “Thank you,” the King tells him. The guard nods his head and leaves. The King closes his book and sets it down.

“This was a delightful lunch. Thank you for coming” the King tells me. He stands up and walks towards the way his guard came. It took me a couple of seconds to realize what happened. Did he really just leave me here? Not making sure I get back to Walter and Lennon safely or a hug or even a kiss on the cheek or forehead? Ha, who am I kidding I’m a slave and to him, I’ll never be anything more than just that. I tidy up the mess so when the maids come and clean it isn’t everywhere and hopefully won’t take them that long. It’s sad to see such beautiful delicious-looking food go to waste but like the instructions said I can’t eat until he takes the first bite.

After everything is tidied up I stand up and try to find my way back to Walter and Lennon. This place is a maze and I got so confused trying to find the King that I don’t know what way I came from. I walk over rubble and make sure I watch where I walk so I don’t step into a hole. I walk try my best to make it to the outside of the ruins. I understand that he’s busy but could he at least had a guard show me out. I wonder if that Vampire who was in charge of giving me the books to read didn’t give me the most important one. Because maybe it tells you how to get out of this hell hole. I’m so sick of the Vampires. I have no idea why Walter favors them so much but I’m over it.

After ranting in my head for what felt like forever I finally found the exit. I walk down the path as fast I can while wearing heels and not falling. Thankfully they are chunky heels so they don’t get stuck between the stones. Sooner than expected to see the limo. I slow down to a walking pace I fix my dress and hair to make sure I don’t look desperate to leave. For the rest of the way I walk… I try to walk in a normal space I caught myself jogging a bit. Finally, I walk through the iron gates and find Lennon leaning agents the limo looking around his surroundings. I never wanted to run into his arms before but right now I really did. As I walk towards him he spots me and smiles. “Ready to leave?” He asks I nod my head he opens the door and I get in.

Lennon gets in after me and shuts the door. “Good, you here. Once King Bertoldo is done with the meetings he’ll send me a report of your date today. The rankings will be based on how well you followed the instructions. If you followed them you will be rewarded if you didn’t you will be punished. I won’t know until tomorrow so tonight enjoy your night like you will any other night. The same thing will happen with King Sawyer your rewards and/or punishments will be the day after your date with the Werewolf King” Walter tells me. After he finished talking he went back to his laptop. I grabbed the book Lennon gave me earlier and got to reading. I want to know where I was just at and what it means to the Vampire King.