Page 10 of Cruel Vampire King

If it was, I never wanted to wake up.

Mom, Dad, and our other siblings waited for us inside. Mom had a strange look on her face, almost afraid. I spared half a glance to her but couldn’t take my eyes from the king that long.

“Your Majesty. Thank you for coming to our humble inn,” my father said, sounding uncertain. He was usually so confident that it pulled me out of my daze. He broke away from the rest of the family to come stand next to Darcie and me. “If there’s anything we can do to make your stay more memorable, please let us know.”

The king’s expression hardened again as he viewed my father. “I thank you for your offer but I will not put you through any trouble. Especially seeing as I’m taking your daughter Elara back with me to the palace, to be my personal blood donor.”

Darcie gasped and squealed. Dad swayed on the spot. Mom covered her mouth with her hands.

My heart hammered as I gazed at the wonderous, intimidating, and achingly handsome man before me. Like most girls, I’d always harbored fantasies of some rich, titled man falling desperately in love with me. I’d imagined what my life would be like, dripping with jewels and with servants at my beck and call all day. Now here I was. The King of Taimarah himself was staring into my eyes, making my heart beat faster, telling me he wanted me to go with him.

Go with him and… what? Be his personal blood donor. I knew what that meant. I was eighteen, I knew all about sex and that stuff, even if I hadn’t experienced it myself. I knew he wanted more than my blood… and I wanted it, too. I wanted it more than I’d wanted anything before.

I’d seen him from afar and it set my heart blazing with want for him. Now, with only a few feet separating us, that want had flared into an almost painful need. All it took was for our eyes to meet once and I knew he was the one for me.

He wanted me to come with him. Which meant he felt the same way. It was like in the fairy tales I read. Love at first sight, the strongest type of love.

But what would my family do without me? The inn couldn’t run itself. We were just getting comfortable. My older sister, Jessica, was about to go to college. If I left now, who would take my place? She’d have to stay home. Part of me thought, but I could just send them money.

My dad put a protective arm around my shoulders. “My daughter is not for sale, my Lord,” he said, his voice thin but determined. “She will not be going with you.”

“She is the one who will make that choice,” the king said flatly.

“She’s only eighteen,” my mom protested. “She’s too young.”

The king didn’t answer, but one of the other vampires did. “Eighteen for a human is old enough to join the army, pay taxes, get married, and enter the blood donor program. There is no reason why she isn’t old enough to be the king’s personal donor.”

“But,” Mom started again.

“Her choice,” the king interrupted, and his voice was like thunder, stopping all arguments.

I wanted to say yes so badly. But I couldn’t. Not when I was still needed here at the inn. I twisted my hands and lifted my chin, trying to force myself to be more certain than I felt. “I thank you, but no. I cannot go with you.”

The king’s amber eyes sharpened. My heart pounded, part of me hoping that he would simply say too bad and take me away regardless. My favorite stories of the gods was how the demon king of the night stole away summer’s daughter and made her his wife. The story always ended with the girl refusing to leave her husband, having fallen in love with him.

It would be easy to fall in love with this dangerous, handsome vampire who looked at me as though I was already his.

Instead, he sketched a bow, turned on his heel, and left.

Heleft.

The festival didn’t happen that day. Not with the shock of the events that actually transpired and our guest of honor leaving so abruptly.

After he was gone, my family gathered around me and told me it was okay, that he wasn’t going to take me. They mistook my heartache for fear. When they found me with red-rimmed eyes, they were quick to tell me that I didn’t need to cry, because the king wasn’t coming back. He’d forget all about the innkeeper’s daughter from a small town.

Oh, if only they knew! I moved through my chores with a forced smile on my face, not daring to say what was truly in my mind.

A week after the incident, my mother pulled me aside. She took in the pallor of my cheeks and the dullness of my eyes and touched my forehead.

“You’re cold,” she said. “Elara, I’m going to ask you a few things and I need you to be honest with me. Some of these questions may be difficult, but it is very, very important that you tell me the truth, alright?”

My brows pinched together in confusion but I nodded.

“When the vampire king was here, did he…” Mom looked away, her cheeks darkening with a blush. “Did he… touch you?”

“Touch me?” I repeated. Did she mean like a hand brushing mine, or a hand under my skirt?

“See you alone?” she prompted, as though that clarified anything. “Drink from you?”

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