Page 1 of The Vampire King's Gift

GIFT OR CURSE

Julian felt guilty. He and Elizabeth were walking arm in arm in the garden while Sophia skipped ahead of them, cutting night blooms and putting them in a basket. She was singing a sweet song to herself and the very whirr of the insects seemed to join in as a chorus. Stars were spread across the night sky like diamonds cast by a careless, yet generous, hand. The moon was large and luminous.

Even if he hadn’t had night vision he would have been able to see effortlessly. The air was cool and crisp, just right for a cozy fire–which they would be going back to after this walk–and the conversation was interesting and pleasant. But Julian was only half present. He was listening to the hum of Daemon’s thoughts and tracking his Master within the house. So guilt pricked at him.

Elizabeth stopped in mid-sentence and asked with a smile, “What is wrong, Julian? Your mind is only half here and half… well, I’m not sure where.” Her intelligent eyes then narrowed. “Perhaps with Daemon?”

A flush coated his cheeks. “I–I’m just aware of him because our minds are linked!”

Her eyebrows rose. “Really? That’s all? Nothing to do with the fact that he’s probably the handsomest man I’ve ever seen? Or because you’re afraid of him leaving?” Her forehead furrowed. “You’ve never been very attached to your lovers before. I’m assuming he’s your lover?”

Her raised eyebrows had him blushing again. But he had always been quite open with Elizabeth. He wondered sometimes if he told her too much, because Christian could say so little about his own relationships.

“It’s normal,” Sophia’s sing-song voice rose up from where she was kneeling by a set of huge white blooms she was cutting.

“What’s normal, pet?” Elizabeth asked as she went over to the child-sized Vampire and ran a hand through her golden locks.

Sophia let out a satisfied sound and turned her head into the touch, as if she was one of the flowers she adored and Elizabeth was the Sun.

“Wanting to be with one’s Master all the time. Julian is actually being quite independent compared to most fledglings. As is Christian,” Sophia explained. “Normally, Masters and fledglings hole up together for ages. Most Masters won’t let their fledglings out of their sight, let alone be around others, or even leave their houses.”

Julian gave out a snort. When both women looked up at him with questions in their eyes, he explained, “I was just imagining Daemon trying to keep me in the house.”

“Indeed.” Elizabeth laughed. “You and Christian excelled at escaping from our home every chance you got.”

“I didn’t think you knew we did that! We were so careful!” Julian gasped.

“The two of you might have been cat burglars with the way you would climb out the bathroom window, onto the garage roof and then shimmy down the drainpipe.” Elizabeth gave him a smile. “But I am a mother, which means I hear every single creak in my house and know what it is. Plus, I can always sense when the two of you were not in bed.”

Julian burst out into laughter. “So all that secrecy was unnecessary? We could have just gone out the front door?”

“Well,no. If you were going to disobey me, you were going to have to work for what you wanted. Besides, I figured it was good for you to plan escapes considering the adventures I knew you and Christian would be having when you were older,” Elizabeth said with a mischievous smile.

Sophia giggled sweetly behind one hand. “So Christian and Julian were naughty boys?”

“Yes, oh, yes, both handfuls.” Elizabeth’s laughter trilled in the garden. She cupped Julian’s face. “Both so intelligent and curious and with enough energy to power a small city each.”

“That describes them now!” Sophia said knowingly.

“Exactly! That’s why Balthazar and Daemon don’t even try to do what normal Masters do and keep us hemmed in,” Julian said.

His eyes though drifted to a piece of sod which was exactly where Daemon was standing well beneath the earth. He could hear his Master’s heartbeat and the urge to lay his ear against that powerful chest, close his eyes, and just listen to the steady thump, thump, thump was almost overwhelming. He swallowed thickly and curled his fingers against his palms.

“No, neither of them will. Though they will always be near. So do not worry,” Sophia said knowingly.

Julian blushed for a third time that night, but this time he wasn’t sure exactly why. His emotions around Daemon were both incredibly clear and completely opaque to him at the same time. How could he feel so much for someone he had met such a short time ago? He’d spent his whole life keeping people at arms length. He used to think that he was the open one while Christian was closed off, but now that he was with Daemon, he realized that he had been even more shut away than his best friend had been.

I didn’t want anyone in my life that I could lose. Better not to care about them from the get go and I wouldn’t be risking anything when they went. But now Daemon means more than any of those people ever could, and he’s in danger from Kaly!

Sophia got up from her flower picking and proceeded ahead of them again, looking for more blooms to add to her basket, and giving them the semblance of privacy. Julian knew that Sophia could hear every word they spoke, not to mention the whoosh of blood in Elizabeth’s veins.

He was grateful to her though for giving them a moment together. Ever since his mother had died, he’d often turn to Elizabeth with questions that he could not answer by himself. But he was worried about telling her his feelings around Daemon. She already had such distrust of Vampires, though it seemed to have dimmed slightly since the dinner party that had gone wrong. He wondered if Balthazar would ever get over that. He’d tried so very hard. He’d heard Balthazar muttering about at least there being leftovers for the Thornes to eat.

“Somethingisbothering you, Julian. What is it?” Elizabeth prodded slightly.

“You know when you realize something about yourself, something that you had thought the exact opposite thing about, and how that can totally upend things for you?” Julian asked her.

She let out a small laugh. “Like finding out that Vampires are real?”

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