Page 13 of Vivian

CHAPTER 7 – Viv

“My son tells me that you are ready to be free,” Margaret lifted her nose at me to indicate she didn’t feel that I was ready. I learned that Brendon’s mother was named Margaret, and she was the oldest member of the hive.

Also that she had one child, Brendon, and no others. Brendon wasn’t forthcoming with the facts of who his father was, but I got the impression that it wasn’t talked about.

I had been locked in this room for nearly a month, and they still have me on bagged blood there was something about my virginity that Brendon refused to discuss. I don’t hate him as much as I once thought. There were moments of my captivity where he was almost kind to me. But my mind always referred back to Heather and Patricia. I couldn’t wrap my head around whatever he might or might not be doing with them.

“You are an anomaly to the vampires. Your power is strong despite the unusual way you came to us. It is because of your worth to the hive that I have allowed you to live.”

As far as welcome home speeches go, it wasn’t the warmest.

“What value?” I asked.

Her eyes narrowed, “It is unheard of for a vampire to reach their age of majority without losing their innocence. You will be regarded as quite a prize.”

I blanched, “You are going to sell my virginity?”

I knew she was evil, but this was too much.

Margaret rolled her eyes, and it was eerily similar to her son.

“No, I am going to have you go about court. You and Brendon will be leaving immediately for Sighisoara,Romania. It is in the heart of Transylvania.”

“Are you serious?” I gasped. “I can’t go to Transylvania. I don’t even have a passport!”

Margaret looked like she was itching to slap me again. “You are a vampire! We have no use for passports and local laws. That is a thing of the past. Now, you will go and help my son bring me the heart of the vampire king. If you do this, I will allow you to live.”

My stomach dropped, “Excuse me?”

Brendon stepped forward so that he was in between his mother and me. “It will be as you say, My Queen.”

Margaret turned a rare cold smile on her son.

“They will all wish to fuck her, with her beauty and the smell of innocence that she exudes. Use that to your advantage. Seduce the ladies and gentlemen of court until they trust you. It is only then that you will strike. Can I trust you to do this?”

Brendon nodded, but I had a feeling that the question was aimed at me and not at him.

“Yes,” I whispered the word knowing that there was no possible way I could kill someone. I had no idea why she wanted the vampire king dead. But this seemed to placate her because Margaret moved to the door and opened it.

“Oh, and see that she has a bath, she stinks.”

With that, the Queen of Doom departed.

I sighed heavily. “I can’t stink that bad.”

Brendon made a face. “You don’t smell that good.”

“First off, I know that is a lie because your mom just said that everyone will want to fuck me. Which by the way, is creepy to the extreme. Second, I smell because you locked me in a room for a month. So, clearly, this is on you.”

Brendon rolled his eyes and walked away. I figured he meant for me to follow and so I did. We made our way through the gorgeous hallways. Everything was rich and decadent. It was hard for me to imagine that Brendon grew up in such a place. What struck me the hardest was how cold everything was, and I didn’t mean the temperature.

**

“ARE YOU PACKED?” ACEraced up to me as I walked into the entryway the next morning in a sensible dress and heels.

Ace was spiffed up in a suit of his own, but that didn’t stop him from picking me up twirling me in the air before setting me back down.

I laughed and was thankful that he had forgiven me for the bite I had given him. It was good to be friends again. It was also good that I didn’t want to eat my friends.

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