Page 6 of His True Beloved

Leaning over the wheel, I stared up at the out-of-place plantation-style home. Homes like these usually belonged in the southern part of America. Reaching over to the side of the door, my fingers wrapped around the handle until a head popped up into view. “Hello!”

“Fucking Zeus!” Slapping my chest where my unbeating heart lay, I took heavy breaths.

“Damn, you’re jumpy.” The male’s head cocked to the side. He was sporting short dirty blonde hair, a slim build, and an overly eager grin on his face. His eyes were blazing red from feeding recently on human blood.

“What do you expect?” A breath left me as I finally stepped foot out. The crunching gravel echoed through the unsettled silence as we both studied each other.

“Do you have an appointment?” He crossed his arms. Looking around me, seeing other vampires watching our interaction as they went along with their business, had me shifting uncomfortably.

“No, should I?” I asked.

“No.” He shrugged his shoulders, still staring.

What the hell?

“Suron! Stop scaring him!” The gentleman sporting a black suit and red tie walked out of the home. He straightened his vest underneath his jacket, holding out his hand to me. “Sorry about him; he's a troublemaker.” He narrowed his eyes at him. “I’m Elder Rowan.”

“Nice to meet you, Elder—”

“I’m just seeing if he had a sense of humor. He doesn’t,” Suron interrupted, holding out his hand to now shake mine. “I’m Suron. I’ll see you around?”

“Sebastian.” Suron continued shaking my hand, smirking until I pulled it away forcefully.

“Suron,” Elder Rowan barked. “Aren’t you supposed to be playing hide and seek with the children?” Suron shook his head. “Oh, bollocks, I knew I was supposed to be doing something.” Without another word, Suron took off, climbing a distant tree and grabbing a child. “Found you!” he sang as the human boy squealed in delight.

The boy isn’t scared?

“He’s… different,” Elder Rowan stated, “but he’s great with the kids. Come, I had heard through the grapevine you might end up here.” Rowan patted me on the back and led me into the house. The house was unusually warm, meeting the rest of the ambiance of the entire 1950s-looking theme outside.

Floral. That was what could be summed up of the living room. White doilies, pictures of flowers, actual flowers in vases, and a large collection of tiny figurines of glass and books on white-covered shelves. It was all old-looking but with a modern twist of the new century.

A tea set sat in between two couches, and a lovely woman rose, smiling at Rowan. The human women that accompanied her all giggled, walking to the other side of the room. Whispers that would make a kinky fae blush hit my ears until they shut the door. Rubbing my face, I looked away from the door, flabbergasted.

“You will have to excuse them. Some of them are new to understanding vampires and our excellent hearing. I’m Adaline.” She held out her hand. Taking it with my hand, I bowed, kissing the top of her hand. “So the rumors must be true. You are from Bergarian.” She blushed.

Rowan rubbed his mate’s arms up and down, smiling at her. “We’ve heard of your tales dealing with King Darius and being forced to fight in an unjust cause. I’m happy to hear that Alpha Kane spared you.” Clearing my throat, I pulled on the collar of my dress shirt.

“Uh, yes, very lucky.”We do not need to get into that.

Rowan cleared his throat, tapping his mate’s shoulder. She bowed and walked out of the living room and had me sit on the cream-colored couches. Cream couches seemed odd to have in a vampire’s home, considering we drink blood and blood stains like a bitch.

“As you can tell, we are a different type of coven compared to the other covens of Earth.” Glancing around the room, I only mumbled in agreement.

“Humans find nature soothing; the classic looks bring back a better time for them to help settle their souls about being around vampires. Many believe in the dark shadows, and the hunter-to-prey vibe that vampires supposedly represent, which they find disturbing. This whole coven area has been decorated to help with the transition, get to know who we really are instead of the human folklore.”

Adaline put down a tray of clear glasses and a special teapot I hadn’t seen since I was a boy in the middle. It was made of a type of Bergarian clay in the lands of Vermillion. It could keep the blood warm for hours without it spoiling. Her delicate hands held on to the top as she poured the blood into low-level glasses, handing one to Rowan and one to me.

I hesitated, gripping it with my shaky hand. Rowan studied me, sipping his glass. His wife sat beside him, putting her hand on his knee. I couldn’t do it; I couldn’t bring the glass to my lips and drink it down.

It had been a long time since I had drunk human blood. Hell, I wasn’t even sure what it tasted like anymore. Vermillion had been free of humans for a long time, the only blood we could drink was from willing supernaturals, and that came in short supply. Animals were a specialty for me, even though they could barely satisfy my thirst. I just had to feed more often.

The few times I had human blood, it was when I was a child. My parents had lived on Earth. They had stored it in the clay pots and brought them when they moved back to Bergarian before the portal had been closed to humans so long ago. I drank blood on special occasions because my parents didn’t need it. Vampires feed off their beloveds. It was to taste far better than any human blood that vampires could drink.

The blood that sat before me, where did it come from? Was it given willingly, or was it drained from an unsuspecting human? Either way, I did not want its taste. I wanted to drink from something far purer than anything that some ordinary human that could give me. I wanted to drink from my beloved.

Rowan seemed reasonable on the outside, but his deeper intentions still had me questioning. I continued to stare at the glass, not daring to pick it up. I had come here to get away from Darius’s rule, not force a human to give unwillingly.

Rowan gazed at me inquisitively. His mouth came into a giddy smile. “I see you aren’t like the dark ones; the other elders were right.” Setting his glass down, he rubbed his hands together. “You are more than welcome to stay here as long as you like.” Wrinkling my nose in confusion, he barked a laugh.

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