Queen of the Dead (The Dead and Not So Dead Book 1) Page 8

  It was only a plus that our family had decided to travel, so the estate was available, vacant for our use.

  I was up and moving toward her before anyone had a chance to talk to me. The previous Queen, her dynasty lasting only a decade and a half, watched us with an amused expression. Something told me that she knew exactly where we were going. No one attempted to stop us though and that was smart since it would merely take a twitch of my hand to kill most of them.

  My nature was to be a lover. An artist. A philanthropist. I couldn’t ignore the predator that roamed around under my skin though, calling for blood. It was a delicate balance that my brother had given up on. He was a gruff bastard and the only reason that we were so close was because we were family. I don’t think we would have been friends had we not been twins. He could be a bastard. Even on his best days.

  “What are you doing?” he growled in a low tone.

  “I am doing the same thing you are,” I murmured. “You didn’t have to follow.”

  He snorted and shook his head with amusement. I ducked through the dark iron railings that lined the stairs upwards. The entire building was a fortress that had an open pavilion in the center and was surrounded by older yet glamorous rooms that breathed of history. It was one aspect of New Orleans that I loved. It’s rich decadent history that seemed to breathe life into all things, including the dead.

  We continued to move silently and passed several individuals that barely noticed us.

  The thing about being a living vampire? We could move within the night’s shadows with ease. I found her energy quickly as my darkness craved to touch her. It was like this dark intense power that thrummed under my skin and demanded that I taste her. Demanded that I claim her. That would never be the case, though. I had long ago accepted that any woman I had would not just be mine. My brother and I, despite our massive differences, were far too close to have anyone separate us. After all, what is near mortality really worth if you aren’t with your family?

  So, we had long ago decided that if we found someone, she would have to take both of us. The only thing that could stand in the way of this was if we found our amour de sang. The connection between a living vampire and their amour de sang was essentially unbreakable, so our separation would be impossible to stop.

  I stood in the doorway with my brother for just a moment. I was looking at the young confident woman that had been downstairs. I felt something hurt inside my chest because in this moment she looked very young. Her face was softer and those lips were pressed together with thought and tension. Her head was bent with her mass of hair creating a veil and those eyes were closed, a tense nature to her jaw. I had a feeling this was as close as this woman came to crying.

  I could only imagine the burden on her shoulders. In that moment I found myself irrationally upset at her grandmother for laying such a burden on a woman, who within this day and age, was considered just on the cusp of being an adult. Despite looking very much like an adult, with long legs and gently curves, I had to remind myself that the truth of the matter was that she had just turned seventeen. She had barely lived.

  None of that stopped my attraction to her. I shouldn’t have been attracted to her, right? I had been alive for half a century and been around countless women. From famous movie stars to European royalty. None of them held a candle to this woman in front of me. It had little to do with looks, although she was beautiful. Her hair was thick and dark, hanging in silk waves that surrounded her deep golden skin. I could see her tight curves pressed against her dark blue dress and those wrap up sandals formed to her long lean legs like they were melted on.

  Fuck. I could smell her blood.

  Her beauty and blood had nothing to do with why I was suddenly so enamored with her. No, this had to do with the strength and seduction radiating off her. Natural and completely unintentional. I felt like I was in the presence of a truly powerful predator.

  “Your Majesty,” I started. Her head snapped up, pinning me with metallic gold eyes. I know that color shouldn’t have been possible but it there it was, golden orbs surrounded by beautiful dark lashes.

  Her voice was smooth and husky. “Ah, the Vladern twins. I was surprised to see you tonight.”

  My entire body shivered under her direct attention as my brother spoke in a voice wrought with tension and confusion. “You knew of us?”

  We lived very quiet lives. No one had even known, supposedly, that we were back in New Orleans until tonight.

  Her smile was authentic as small infernos brightened in those eyes. She straightened herself. “Know of you? Yes. I am very, very much in the know when it comes to your family.”

  “Why?” Alaric demanded. He sounded harsh and this seemed to only make her smile, a flash of white brilliant teeth against her golden skin.

  She walked towards both of us, with gliding steps, standing nearly a foot shorter yet vibrating the air around her with an intensity that should have been… well, impossible. In fact, she seemed as though she herself should be rather impossible.

  “Your family is one of the only original founders,” she murmured while surveying both of us. “I also needed to know which vampires were living without a coven.”

  “It’s only us,” I responded. She tilted her head. The action was observatory and predatory in nature, her dark red lips curving up at the edges.

  A small curious smile came on her face that was nearly coy. “So, is it true?”

  “What?” Alaric asked with a furrowed brow.

  “You have a pulse?” She asked with authentic interest. There was a flash of curiosity that gave me whiplash and made me feel as though for just that moment, she was much younger. I couldn’t get a hold on this woman and maybe that was the point. She wasn’t someone you ever “got a hold of,” or kept. No, her power was wild and uncapturable.

  I offered my wrist, a move that shocked Alaric, but didn’t seem to phase her. It became clear that while this woman was well-versed in the world, she lacked some cultural nuances. For me to offer my wrist was like a wolf offering their neck. It was an act of trust and submission.

  The only thing that was more surprising than me offering my wrist was when Alaric grunted and offered his as well. It confirmed my assumption that he was feeling the odd pull that I was. Her cool fingers wrapped around both our wrists and euphoria filled me. A rush of cool energy floated through me as the scent of earth wrapped around me like a blanket.

  The power was deceptively welcoming but I could practically suffocate on the amount of it. Then it hit,

  Oh, fuck me.

  She was our amour de sang.

  It hadn’t taken long for Alaric and me to realize the delicacy of the position we were in. I was thankful in some ways that we shared the same amour de sang because it brought us closer, but dealing with his gruff bullshit for the past two years had been exhausting. I understood though. Both of us were high strung from not being able to claim her.

  Now, I stood looking at our stunning Queen and felt my heart hurt. It took a lot to make her upset and it was clear that we had messed up. Somewhere along the way we should have told here our intentions and made it clear that her feelings were not misplaced. Mind you, we had been oblivious to those feelings until recently but I mean, fuck! We should have just told her.

  She had been so new to life, I hadn’t wanted to burden her with the knowledge that she was essentially stuck with the two of us for the rest of our extended life periods. I mean, shit! Even if she didn’t like us, I wasn’t positive we could leave her alone.

  It was a painful enough thought to make my chest clench.

  “Narc,” I spoke. The other men moved throughout the room. Raphi looked very uncomfortable being away from her and, if I had to guess, his wolf felt defensive. He was a territorial creature by nature but this situation had made it far worse. It had taken most of the past two years for him to even come to terms with sharing her attention.

  She took a deep breath and offered us a controlled expression. “Yes?”

  Despite her apparent calm, I could see how she held her arms crossed in a self-soothing manner. Fuck. I wanted to soothe her. How the hell did we mess this up? It was like we had gone from 0 to 60 and back again in the past day.

  “Why did you run?” I asked. It was the only thing I could get out. I knew I wasn’t the only one upset because a soft, unintentional almost whine, came from Raphi’s wolf.

  Her lashes closed and she seemed to grow frustrated. She tossed a glance to Dorian. “What did you need to talk to me about earlier?”

  Dorian chuckled. “You know what, Narc.”

  This was bad. The two of them fought, a lot.

  “No,” she hissed with brightening eyes, “I really don’t, Dorian.”

  He stepped forward and I could see this heading further south. “Well,, that’s surprising because here I thought you were perceptive.”

  Her lips peeled back in a snarl as her power, sleek and deadly, began to swirl around her. “You’re an ass.”

  “And you’re being evasive.”

  “Me!” she exclaimed with a dark laugh. “How fucking hard is it to admit you like someone?!”

  Silence.

  A pink blush tinted her cheek but she held her ground. I could tell she was practically jumping out of her skin wanting to yell at us. I countered. “To be fair, you haven’t expressed interest in us either.”

  All right. I’m clearly a fucking idiot.

  Her mouth popped open as she looked away in disbelief. “Is that a fucking joke? All I’ve been doing is crushing on the four of you for the past year or two and now somehow this is my fault?! You treated me like a fucking little sister! Well, except for Raphi but he fucking friend-zoned me until about 10 minutes ago!”

  Alaric snorted. “Yo
u’re our amour de sang,Narc. Trust me, nothing little sister-ish about that.”

  Ah. Good. Just pile it all on brother.

  “I’m your what?” she asked. I suddenly saw this entire conversation spiraling. Her cheeks flushed and she looked more confused and impossibly defensive than before.

  It was time to end this.

  I drew a deep breath in and shook my head. “I’m done with this evasive shit, Narc. I’m bloody crazy about you and have been since we first met.”

  Narcissa

  Oh.

  “Really?” I asked, my voice very quiet. My power had turned down to a low simmer and I unwrapped my arms from my waist. Was it wrong there was a tiny, coy part of me that was parading around my head in victory?

  “Really,” Abel confirmed as my cheeks deepened in color. He looked frustrated and relieved at the same time which was confusing on its own end.

  “You are the amour de sang,” Alaric stated softly. “Of both of us.”

  I scanned my head for the term and realized it was the equivalent of a shifter’s mate for natural born vampires. I blushed slightly more because holy fuck… both of them? I felt my lips involuntarily smiling. I mean was it that farfetched to find a way to be with the other two then?

  Fuck. Now, I was just being greedy.

  But maybe. Just maybe.

  I bit my lip as Abel tilted his head with a knowing look. “Are you really going to make us say it?”

  I offered a small, wide eyed, look and nodded as Alaric chuckled. Abel grunted and walked up to me, tilting my head up with his large hands before placing a kiss on my nose. “I really like you, Narc, and have for some time.”

  “Like me like…” I urged him to continue because, fuck me. I’m insecure right now. Never, ever had I been insecure but give a girl a break! This was a big deal and I wanted to hear these fuckers spill their hearts out before I do.

  Abel smiled and narrowed his pretty eyes. “Like you as in I’m in love with you.”

  My smile broke open authentically. “Yeah? Really?”

  I totally loved my cutie pie.

  “Move over,” Raphi grunted and swept me up in a nuzzling hug. I wrapped myself around him as Abel chuckled lightly but didn’t really move. I wasn’t positive how the twins felt about Raphi holding me but when they didn’t protest, Raphi took his chance to speak.

  “Of course, I love my mate, what type of stupid question is that?” he whispered softl. I pulled back surprised.

  “So it’s not just your wolf?!” Well, shit! Now, I just felt deceived. I should have listened to the damn wolf. Only one being honest out of the five of us.

  He shook his head, heat in his gaze. “It’s very much both of us.”

  I blushed and tried to control my growing smile.

  He continued. “For the record I never friend-zoned you. I mean come on, Narc, I had you wearing my shit to school every day so that no other shifters would look at you.”

  I grinned. Possessive shifter. Raphi let me go and seemed to relax.

  Dorian sauntered around him and narrowed his gaze. I crossed my arms and faced-off with him, stepping into his space. A small lip twitch told me he loved this before he leaned down to softly kiss my lips with a mere brush.

  “I’m crazy about you, Narc. Your stubborn ass keeps me in check. Although, I really can’t believe you hadn’t figured this all out.”

  “You all say it like I was just supposed to assume that you liked me!” I exclaimed then as they chuckled. Dorian wrapped me up in a warm hug as I sighed happily my face pressed into him.

  “Yeah,” Raphi rolled his eyes, “because we weren’t obvious or anything.”

  Alaric snorted. “At least we don’t have to be quiet about warning people off.”

  “What?!” I surged forward in a very quick movement grabbing his shirt. “Warning who off?”

  Dorian laughed. “Oh, Alaric, you’ve done it now.”

  Alaric’s eyes grew dark but sparkled. “Now, sweetie…”

  I hid my grin as he continued in his rough accent.

  “We may have warned off a few very bad men from asking you out. We couldn’t exactly let anyone else try to take our woman out, could we?”

  “How?” For the record, I was loving this shit.

  I know what you are probably thinking, Narc how did you turn an admission of love into a joke instead of the serious moment it was? Because I’m fucking funny. Also, I’m not exactly the Queen of Emotion now am I? No. I’m the Queen of the Dead. The dead are petty and so am I.

  Also, I had been nursing this love sick crush for quite some time now. It wasn’t that far of a stretch for all of us to admit to being in love. I mean, shit, we had been saying “love you” for about a year now. I smirked, now it just meant I could jump their bones.

  Abel walked around us. “Raphi, what was the threat again?”

  “For which species? The vampires was something along the lines of being trapped in the ground for a century or so.”

  I growled. “And you never thought to run this by me?”

  “They weren’t your type,” Dorian grinned. “We decided.”

  I went to respond but Alaric’s teeth on my ear had me shivering. He spoke in a quiet, more private tone. “You know how much you mean to me, Narcissa. You’re everything.”

  Oh, be still my heart.

  I would just like to state for the record, that I was totally creating a harem. I mean I was a badass Queen so that shit just made sense. Not that I read reverse harems on my kindle or anything. Or even that it reminded me of the possible future/dream of my boys and I. No. I never even thought about this idea until this very moment.

  I solemnly swear.

  I snorted and rolled my eyes. I spoke then with a smile. “So, you all love me. Hm.”

  Dorian squinted and I grinned even more. “I mean, I may need to think about this, it is a lot to process.”

  I was up and over Alaric’s shoulder as he placed me on the bed, my laugh echoing through the room. “Raphi, help!”

  “Nope,” he grinned and leaned back to watch as Alaric pinned me to the bed.

  “What are you doing?” I gasped with laughter.

  “You said you needed to think,” he smirked. “I’m going to keep you here until you make the right decision.”

  I continued to laugh and wiggled underneath him. “Let me up!”

  “Nope,” he grinned.

  “Just admit it.” Abel looked down at me as Dorian watched with unmasked amusement.

  “Admit what?” I asked with a fake wide-eyed look.

  “Narc,” Alaric warned and began to lightly tickle my ribs.

  I shrieked and pushed away from him to no avail. I gasped. “Damn it, you bastards! Of course, I love all of you. I have, like forever, now.”

  Alaric stopped and surged forward, kissing me and making my stomach flutter. He pulled back and I was about to respond when my phone rang. I groaned as my head drooped. The collective moan around the room made me laugh.

  Well, now that the five of us were being all cute and shit, maybe I could suggest the idea of taking that vacation overseas. I had vacation time as Queen, right? I needed a vacation. Also, sex. Sex was totally on the table now.

  “Hello?”

  “Declan and I will walk with you to the meeting. We will be over in five.”

  Zachariah hung up then as I shook my head. I looked up at all of them with a lightness in my chest. “So, what does this mean?”

  Raphi grinned. “It means we are together, baby.”

  “Oh yeah?”.

  Before I could even continue our conversation, my balcony doors flung open to reveal a very amused demi-god. I crossed my arms.

  “That wasn’t five minutes,” I complained.

  His accent was growing thicker once more. “Sorry, Lass, but patience isn't me strong suit.”

  “Nor mine,” Zachariah said strolling in through the other door.

  “Well,” I looked around. “Isn’t this fun? You know, the five of us were in the middle…”

  “Yes, yes,” Declan grinned. “We knew.”

  “You were listening?!” I exclaimed.

  The two of them looked at me with a confused expression. My boys all chuckled except for Raphi. I rolled my eyes, opened my wardrobe and stalked toward the bathroom.