Page 30 of Taken By The Vampire King

There were plenty of people in Baton Rouge and New Orleans who would either try to kill Leia to prevent me achieving the power granted to me by my birth or claim her themselves and remove me as a threat entirely. My blood heated in my veins at the thought of someone else taking Leia.

That wasn’t acceptable, and I was here to make sure it didn’t happen. And within The Neutral Zone, those threats were…well…neutralized.

Mixing business with pleasure wasn’t ideal, but Percival and his attempts at subterfuge had made it necessary—I couldn’t have him reporting back to Francois about Leia. I’d taken the right precautions—bringing us to The Neutral Zone, which guaranteed her safety as much as possible. She’d be fine in the restaurant for a little longer while I met with Francois.

I made my way up a grand staircase to the rooms upstairs. The red and black color scheme continued here, even more ornate, and it was like being in a whore’s rotting pussy, regardless of Francois’s delusions of grandeur regarding the regal atmosphere it projected.

Francois was heir to the New Orleans throne. He’d always been my peer in every way but age and experience—only my father had happened to die first, while his lingered in a stasis rumored to be caused by the slow descent into madness that seemed to run in the family. Francois ran The Neutral Zone as a safe place to conduct his political meetings, and generally, the clue was in the name. I’d never dared bring something as sought after as Leia through the door, though. I could only hope our negotiations here tonight would be worth the risk.

Leia was mine, and I needed the rest of the community to understand that—whether my mark was on her or not. And that included Francois. I was the only one in our position in possession of a virgin, and I intended to keep it that way.

I was here to stake my claim because vampires, especially young vampires, were like toddlers. If they saw something they wanted, they took it. So if I couldn’t sway Francois with consequences regarding my ownership, I had something he might want almost as badly to secure his rule.

I hurried down a wide corridor. Crystal chandeliers hung above my head, reflecting and refracting hues of red like kaleidoscope droplets of blood, and a plush carpet beneath my feet cushioned my footsteps. Any vampire in the building would still hear me coming, though.

Leia’s scent still lingered in my nose, solidifying my desire to return to her as quickly as possible.

I arrived at the door to Francois’s office. Closed, of course. He’d want to start the meeting off in his favor—with me knocking like some meek subordinate for entry. And it wouldn’t hurt me to play along, so I knocked. Like the good guest.

There really was no point in angering Francois when he already knew exactly what I had with me, the one thing that could secure either of our futures. Except Leia wasn’t merely a virgin. She was also my mate. And that made her priceless. And mine.

“Entrez!”

I rolled my eyes at Francois’s sharp command before throwing the door open, my gesture large and designed to take up space.

“Nicolas.” He turned big brown eyes at me. He’d always struck me as a little insipid, possibly a little feminine, with hair that had been styled after a regency gentleman and his taste in clothes more flamboyant than my own.

But whatever worked for him. I wasn’t here to exchange fashion tips like some fucking teenager.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Francois continued when I stood silently inside the door. He spoke heavily accented English, which was completely unnecessary because I wasn’t sure he’d ever even visited France.

I sighed heavily, dramatically, falsely. “I’m afraid I’m here with bad news about Percival.”

For a moment, Francois’s eyes narrowed. Then he shrugged. “I’m not sure why you think I need to know about this Percival.”

“He’s no longer with us.” I examined my nails. “Turned out he was a spy.”

Francois gave a delicate shudder. “How unfortunate for him.” Then he looked at me, his eyes cold. “But that doesn’t explain why you are here, mon ami.”

There was nothing friendly in his tone at all, and I scanned his gaze, tying to work out if the family madness had found him yet.

“To protect what is mine.” I folded my arms, narrowing my eyes as I watched him.

Francois stood, his gaze reddening. “You came to my restaurant to stake a claim on something?” He advanced toward me. “You may have made a mistake.”

His mild words didn’t hide the sudden threat of violence emanating from him.

“The woman I’m dining with tonight—”

“Oui, the virgin?” Again, Francois sounded casual, but there was tension in the way he held himself. “She’s a little old to be a true virgin, don’t you think?”

But even Francois must have heard the lie in his words. There was no way he hadn’t picked up Leia’s scent. A hint of fang glinted as he smiled, and rage filled me. His fangs had descended while he thought of my mate?

“She is mine,” I roared as I rushed him, grabbing his throat and pinning him against the wall, but he just chuckled lazily.

“Nicolas, Nicolas, Nicolas.” He sounded so longsuffering. “If you were really staking your claim, why would you bring your new toy to play here?”

“My new toy—” I hissed the words “—means I can secure my reign as soon as I mate with her. You’re still stuck waiting fifty fucking years until your father comes out of stasis—or is it getting longer each time, Francois? Does your father’s death draw nearer even as we speak? Do you wonder if this time will be the time when he doesn’t wake?”

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