Chapter 28

ELEANOR

I enjoyed the plane ride to Italy. I got to sit next to Aric. He spent his time staring at me, commenting on my drawings, and letting me crawl past his lap so I could see out the window.

He pointed out the mountains we crossed, telling me their names and pointing on a map to show me where we were exactly. I used a red pen and followed the plane on the map.

“How does a plane stay in the air, Aric?” I asked him. He grinned at me. He always enjoyed telling me stuff.

“It’s the air pressure at work. When a plane is in the air, four forces come into play: thrust, drag, lift, and gravity. The thrust is generated by the jet engines. You can see them there.

“The lift force acts on the plane wings and allows them to move upward and maintain their altitude.

“For a plane to stay in the air like this one is, the lift force needs to be stronger than the force of gravity. The thrust must overcome the drag force.

“If you look carefully, you can see that the wings of a plane have an upward curved surface and a flatter lower surface. That shape is called an aerofoil.

“When air hits the curved-up section, it deflects the air upward, and then we have that curvature of the wing. It pulls the air around and also back down the wing.

“So, the air is stretched out in a bigger volume, which means you have the same number of air molecules forced to occupy a bigger space.

“This results in a pressure drop, so the pressure of the air under the wing increases for the exact opposite reason. So, it’s the pressure under the wings that keep us up.”

“Wow.”

“Wow, indeed.”

“Have you ever flown a plane?”

“Of course!” he scoffed. “I had a little plane in the forties.”

“What happened to it?”

“It got old,” he said, chuckling to himself.

I grinned up at him. “Aric, I missed you.”

He glanced down at me and placed his hand lightly on top of my head. “I missed you too, kiddo.”

I glanced at Mother, who was sitting next to me. Her beautiful hair was pulled up in a tight bun, and she wore plain clothes.

I could tell she was uncomfortable and unhappy. Her eyes were brimming with blood tears, and she kept flexing her hands. She and Demetrius were deep in conversation, but I couldn’t hear them.

Phoenix and Venus were sitting behind us, busy on their computers, picking out what they would wear to meet the king.

I looked at Aric.

“Tell me about the king,” I pushed.

“If you like. King Lucius Night is family to us. He is Father’s uncle, so that makes him your great-uncle.”

“Really? I’m a princess?” I gasped.

Aric chuckled. “Not quite. Grandma Elizabeth gave up her royal title and claim to the throne when she joined the Mcnoxnoctis family.”

“What does a vampire king do?”

“He rules. He makes decisions, he’s like a judge, he can also propose new laws, but they must be passed and decided with the agreement of other elders. He can declare war if necessary.

“He can order killing sentences. He’s very powerful.”

“Has there ever been a vampire war?” I asked, my eyes widening in curiosity.

“There has. But it was very long ago. I wasn’t even born.”

“Why were they fighting?”

“They were fighting over a pureblood named Helen,” I replied. “She was from a place called Troy, and she was a princess from the Night family. The royal family.

“She fell in love with another pureblood, and they escaped together. Her fiancé declared war on the pureblood she loved, and there was a massacre. Many humans in the armies were destroyed.

“Helen and her lover’s family were also destroyed. That pureblood family hasn’t existed since then. They were wiped out completely.”

“Wow.”

“Wow, indeed.”

“Why does the king want to meet me?”

“I think he’s curious.”

“But I’m not special.”

“You are special. You’re a human living with a pureblood family.” I peered up at him.

“Do you think he wants to see my drawings?” I glanced down at my drawing pad on my lap.

Aric chuckled. “We’ll ask him,” he said with a grin.

The chime rang in the plane, and the seatbelt sign came back on. I quickly clipped mine back together. Aric pointed out on my map where we had arrived.

He let me hold onto his hand tightly as the plane began to drop, and I felt all my insides jumbling about.

When we arrived at the Naples airport, it was about midnight, so most of the humans were rushing home, yawning with exhaustion.

I watched as a family, two parents and their two daughters, hurried past us. One of the daughters looked at me. She looked my age.

I gave her a small smile. She frowned at first but then gave me a small wave as she was dragged away by her mother.

Mother and Demetrius were moving through the airport quickly, each carrying a small bag. I dragged my suitcase behind me on its wheels, following Aric and the twins.

They were all walking so quickly, I had to jog to keep up.

By the time I exited the airport, Mother was waiting with a clipped smile. She grabbed my suitcase and reached her hand out so she could pick me up.

I took it carefully, and she pulled me up into her arms. I shivered.

Mother started running with Demetrius and Aric ahead and Phoenix and Venus behind. We arrived very quickly, stopping in front of a large house, pushed up against a big, pointed volcano.

Mother set me down on the ground and stepped in front of me. I could see her fidgeting again.

“Rose,” Demetrius grabbed her hand, and she looked up at him. He murmured something softly to her that I couldn’t hear. She kissed him lightly on the lips before turning to me.

“Are you ready to meet a king, Eleanor?” she asked. I nodded enthusiastically, and she smiled and reached her hand out.

We walked ahead of the others, Mother setting a slow pace. The two ginormous doors swung open, and we stepped through.

I gazed in amazement at the entrance, all gold and marble floors and columns and red carpets.

A wide staircase spread out in front of us. On each step, someone stood, wearing the same matching black and white uniform.

When I stepped in, they all turned to look. I knew they were looking at me because their eyes were red, and their fangs were bared.

I felt my steps faltering, and Mother growled at the vampires, holding my hand tightly.

Suddenly, a young woman appeared in front of us, flashing me a wide toothy grin.

“You must be the Mcnoxnoctis family. It’s a pleasure. We were expecting you. Please follow me.” Her red eyes slid down to me, and she winked. Aric beside me growled.

She disappeared up the stairs, and Mother picked me up quickly and marched after her at incredible speed.

We zoomed through the castle, and I barely had enough time to admire the gold curtains and enormous paintings hanging on each wall.

The vampire pushed open two large doors, then stepped back and let us pass.

Mother put me down again, and we walked into the hall. It was gigantic, with chandeliers, a golden ceiling, and red walls.

The most impressive were the two big, golden thrones at the back of the room, shining brilliantly.

The room wasn’t empty, not even close. I counted at least fifteen others, lounging on the various plushy chairs. I felt like I had stepped into a magazine.

By the look of them, their perfect hair, smooth skin, and red eyes, they were all pureblood vampires. And they were all sneering at me with bared fangs.

I squeezed Mother’s hand tighter, and she squeezed back. I glanced behind at Aric. His eyes were also red as he scanned the room. When he noticed I was watching him, he gave me a small smile.

“Demetrius! Rose! How lovely to see you again!” a loud voice boomed from the other side of the hall. Suddenly, a big man was standing in front of me.

He was very tall, with long dark red hair and big blue eyes. He wore black clothes and a red cape fastened with a golden clasp at his throat.

He crouched down to my level, his blue eyes flashing bright crimson.

“Hello, pet,” he reached out his hand, grinning. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Hello, my name is Eleanor,” I took his hand. It was big and cold. He shook it slowly, grinning at me. Then he glanced up at Mother, who was staring down at us wide-eyed.

“She smells mouth-watering, Rose. How do you stand it?” he asked, winking at me, then standing up again.

“King Lucius, a pleasure,” she reached her hand out, and he kissed her fingers, grinning.

“Uncle,” Demetrius stepped forward and clasped hands with the big man. “It’s been too long.”

“It has indeed.” He looked down at me again. “Come, pet.”

He reached his hand for me to grab it. I moved to do so, but Mother held me back, her grasp on my hand hurting.

“Relax, Rose.” The king smiled slowly. “I won’t eat her.” He grinned at me. “Not yet.”

Mother’s grip tightened even more as she took a step back.

“Rose.” Demetrius placed his hand on top of my head.

The big king was watching, his red eyes bright with amusement.

“Come, pet.” He reached for me again, and this time, Mother let my hand slip from hers. I clasped onto the big king’s cold hand, and he led me, very gently, toward the large gold thrones.

Behind me, I could feel Mother and Demetrius following closely. The eyes of all the vampires in the room followed us in silence.

The king stopped in front of the thrones, then he sat back down in one and drew me to his side. There was a large red cushion decorated with golden tassels.

“Sit, pet,” he ordered, and so I did, sitting cross-legged on the cushion and looking over the crowd of vampires who had pressed closer.

Mother and Demetrius stood close by. Behind them, I saw the twins and Aric. He was glaring at the king.

“Dear sister,” the king waved a woman forward. “Would you like to meet the pet?” He snickered.

The crowd parted, and a beautiful woman stepped forward. She had the palest skin, smooth like porcelain, and the brightest red hair, just like Phoenix’s hair.

She wore a thin, long white gown and had fastened golden flowers in her hair.

She had big round red eyes, dark eyelashes. As she approached me, her full red lips curled back into a wicked grin.

“Dear me,” she stood over me. “You’ve grown.” She glanced back at Mother, who was straining against Demetrius’s grip.

“Not quite big enough yet, I think, Rose. What do you think? A few more years, make it bigger? But will it still smell so sweet?”

She bent over and traced her long, white, cold finger down my cheek. I shivered. “Too bad your time is up, pet,” she said with a smirk.

“Don’t you dare touch her,” Mother snarled.