Tempting Raven (Curse of the Vampire Queen 1)

“Yeah, while he looked at you like you were some sort of velvet blood cake dessert he wanted to devour.”

“That’s not how he was looking at me!” My cheeks stupidly warm.

“He so was.”

I grimace, unsure how I feel about the idea of one of my mother’s workers looking at me like I’m some yummy cake. I mean, I haven’t ever thought of him in that kind of way. Although, now that I think about it, I guess he is pretty good-looking. And funny. And he makes me smile every time I see him …

A thought sucker punches me from out of nowhere.

If I’m only ever supposed to drink the king’s—Rhyland’s—blood, then how am I ever supposed to be in a relationship with anyone? How is any guy going to be okay with that? They won’t be, unless I can find a very understanding vampire. Even if I did, drinking from each other’s veins is an important step when a vampire makes a commitment to a relationship, and I’ll never be able to do that.

“Well, even if he was flirting with me, it doesn’t matter.” Tears burn in my eyes as the brutal truth opens in front of me. “I’ll never get to be with a guy ever.”

“What are you talking about?” Effie asks. “Of course you will. You have so many options, Rave. You just can’t see it.”

She doesn’t get what I’m saying. I open my mouth to explain it to her, to explain that I’m the queen, when fingers wrap around my wrist and jerk me back. The phone slips from my hands and crashes against the ground.

“Well, well, well,” a male voice purrs in my ear. “What do we have here? Fresh meat for me to taste.” A nose presses against my neck. “Tell me, sweetheart, what’re you doing all alone in a place like this?”

The way sweetheart purrs from his tongue sounds so familiar. When he steps around in front of me, into the moonlight, I realize why.

The vampire with the red eyes.

The vampire who was part of the fight that happened in front of my mom’s club.

The vampire who was at the school the day the demon attacked.

And he’s not alone. At least ten other vampires slink from the shadows of the surrounding buildings and surround me.

Trap me.

And all of them look hungry.

Ready to devour.

9

As I stand there, watching them circle me, licking their lips and nipping their fangs, I wonder what will happen if they drink my blood. That part of being queen was never explained to me.

While my initial instinct is to cower, I remind myself that I am the queen. That I am strong. I just wish I could feel that strength.

“Stay away,” I warn, cringing at the tremble in my voice.

A tall, female vampire with long, black hair walks up. “Aw, look at her trying to be brave. It’s adorable.”

Red eyes steps up beside her and studies me with his head tilted to the side, just like he did in the hallway years ago. Does he recognize me? Because he hasn’t acted like it yet.

“It’s definitely adorable. She’s adorable.” The way he says it isn’t flattering.

“I’m not adorable. And if you try to hurt me, you’re going to pay.” I’m all fake confidence as I struggle over what to do.

Either I can attack and hope my queen powers kick in completely. Though, according to everyone, that won’t happen yet. Or I can try to find a way to distract them and run.

Figuring my best bet is to run, I rack my brain for a distraction. But red eyes distracts me as he ambles toward me.

“So, Raven, I’ve gotta say, I’m very surprised to see you again.” He stuffs his hands into the back pockets of his blood-stained jeans.

I force down the lump wedged in my throat. “You remember me?”

“Of course I remember you.” He steals another bit of the space between us. “The girl who I was told was dead.”

I blink in shock. “What?”

His lips twist into a smirk. “He never told you?”

I dare another step back, instantly slamming to a stop as a shorter, male vampire with bright green hair takes a nip at me. “Who never told me what?”

His grin broadens, his sharp fangs glinting in the silver moonlight. “I’m wondering if maybe I shouldn’t tell you just yet; drag the anticipation out for a while until you’re ready to beg.” He whisks forward, getting in my face before I can even take my next blink. “I know he’d like to make you beg for a lot of things… But maybe I’ll take that chance away from him.”

“Who’s he?” I ask as I start to step back.

“Someone I thought wouldn’t be stupid enough to let you wander around here alone. Or maybe you just ran off.” The way he looks at me, as if all my secrets are carved across my skin, makes me shudder.

With a pleased grin on his face, he darts his hand out, his thin but surprisingly strong fingers wrapping around my throat. “Now, no more talking. Not until I get to taste your blood and see if you’re the one.”

My heart plummets to my stomach as he lifts me up until my feet no longer touch the ground. The one? Does he know I might be the queen? If so, why is he trying to hurt me?

“But you’re an emperor. You took a vow never to hurt an innocent vampire.” I gasp as his fingers constrict.

Panic flares through me as my ability to breathe is ripped away. Sure, he can’t kill me by strangulation, but not being able to breathe is painful for a vampire. And, if he grips my neck tightly enough to snap the bones, it’ll take me months to heal.

“I stopped caring about that vow the day they kicked me out,” he growls in my face. “The day he stabbed me in the back.” He leans back, only to dip his lips toward my neck. “Fuck, you smell good. Innocent. Pure.” He lifts his head to glance at me. “Have you ever been bitten before?”

“Leave … me … alone,” I growl out through my ragged breathing.

His sinister grin makes my stomach clench. “Yeah, you’re definitely a virgin biter.” He wets his blood-stained lips with his tongue and then lowers his head to my neck again. “Don’t worry; I’ll be gentle.”

No! Not like this!

I let out a roaring scream that echoes through the night as I swing my leg forward, the tip of my shoe colliding with his manly parts. He cries out in pain, his hand slipping from my neck.

I drop to the ground hard, but quickly stumble to my feet, preparing to run. But the other vampires close in on me, growling, their eyes glowing yellow …

I blink. Then blink again.

Since when do vampires’ eyes glow yellow? That’s usually a demon or werewolf trait. But I can sense their blood is connected to mine and their sharp fangs mark them as vampires, so they must be vampires…

Aren’t they?

“There’s nowhere to run.” Red eyes moves up behind me. “The rebellion is coming whether you run or not.” He grabs me by the back of my neck and jerks me back lightning quick, his fangs grazing my skin enough that a drop of blood trickles out. He tenses, sniffing me. “You’re different …”

Does he know?

He tightens his fingers around my neck, his palm scorching my skin, burning my flesh, sending blinding pain through my body. I don’t know what’s happening, but I refuse to back down.

I ball my hands into fists and start to lift my foot to knee him in the balls again when a shadowy figure zips by me at an alarming speed, even in vampire terms. A cry pierces against the silence of the night as three vampires vanish from the circle around me.

“What the …?” red eyes whispers from behind me. His grip loosens, the blazing pain extinguishing from my body.

Seizing the distraction, I whirl around and kick him between the legs. I repeat the movement again, and then go in for a third kick, when he catches my foot.

“Nice try,” he growls, kinking my leg into an awkward angle.

The sounds of bones snapping shatter the darkness as pain splinters up my leg.

Red eyes laughs darkly, leaning over me as I fall to the ground. “Think you could get away from me? News flash: I always get

what I want. And now that I know what I want …” He opens his mouth, fangs out, ready to plunge into my flesh …

The shadowy figure zooms out of nowhere and knocks him to the concrete.

I blink and the figure gradually comes into focus. Then I blink again, more out of shock of the male vampire standing in front of me.

Rhyland is the shadowy figure? Rhyland can move that swiftly?

Rhyland crouches down and pins red eyes to the ground, his fingers wrapped around his throat. “You have no right to put your filthy hands on her.”

Red eyes lets out a choking laugh. “I see nothing’s changed. Still trying to protect everyone.”

Rhyland leans in toward red eyes, his low tone deathly chilling. “Not trying. Doing.” He reaches into his jacket, retrieves a gun, and aims the barrel at red eyes’ forehead. “Ever tasted demon’s venom, Gabe?”

Seeing the two of them together brings back the memory of when I overheard them in the hallway. They were plotting something then, but now they act like immortal enemies. Then again, red eyes, who I now know is Gabe, said he was kicked out from the emperors’ circle, so maybe that’s why.

Gabe’s chuckle drips with venom. “You know I haven’t.” He lifts his head until the barrel is pressed against his forehead. “But there’s one thing I know that you don’t.”

Rhyland cocks the gun, his lips curling into a grin. “I might not now, but after a little torturing, I’m sure I will. And we both know how much you hate torture.”

Gabe’s grin reflects Rhyland’s. “Yes, but there’s one small, minor problem in your plan. You have to catch me to torture me.” His grin magnifies before he vanishes into the darkness, leaving nothing but dust in his place.

I snap out of my trance, and my gaze darts to the other vampires, only to find them gone and Cam and his mafia vampires now shadowing the sidewalks and field around me.

“What were you thinking, running off like that?” Cam hisses as he strides toward me. “Are you crazy?”

“I panicked, okay?” I cup my hand around my neck where Gabe choked me, the muscles aching. I also can’t put any weight on my leg that snapped. Dammit, he broke the bone, I think, which will take at least a couple of days to heal.

“Well, your panicking almost got you killed.” Cam stops in front of me, clutching a gun. “And your stupid mistake almost cost you—cost all of us.”

“I’m sorry.” I don’t know what else to say. I feel awful. At the same time, I felt so trapped when I decided to run off.

I still feel trapped.

“Sorry isn’t going to cut it.” He stuffs his gun in his shoulder holster. “Not when the entire vampire population is riding on you not being stupid. This is our last chance.”

My lips part to tell him to go to hell, that yeah, I made a mistake, but calling me stupid isn’t going to help, but Rhyland beats me to the punch.

“Cam.” Rhyland’s voice rings with authority as he gracefully moves up beside me, his arm brushing mine. “I’m going to give you a second to step back and think about who you’re talking to. This will be your one and only chance. If you do it again, you will be punished.”

Cam slowly blinks, the fury that was raging war in his eyes vanishing. “I’m sorry, my king.” He bows to both Rhyland then me before backing away.

The rest of the vampire mafia turn around and face the streets and fields opposite us, but don’t make any move to step away.

“What the heck’s up with the bowing?” I mumble as Cam walks farther down the sidewalk, muttering incoherently to himself.

“You’re the queen, and I’m the king,” Rhyland says as if that explains everything.

“We haven’t been crowned officially yet,” I stress without looking at him, trying to put all my weight on my good leg. “And I’m still holding on to the hope that the Eternal Reading will announce a mistake on my part.”

“There wasn’t a mistake.” His voice conveys confidence.

I turn and meet his gaze. “You don’t know that for sure.”

“Yes, I do. And you want to know why?” He winks at me. “Because I know everything.” He gives me a cocky smile, and I wince. The smile evaporates into confusion mixed with a droplet of frustration. “Why did you just wince when I smiled at you?”

I shrug, biting my bottom lip. “Because every other time you smiled at me like that I ended up either trapped in an attic or a locker or a closet. Or you grabbed me when I was walking out of my house.”

He dips his head toward me, his deep tone reverberating across my skin. “I didn’t want you leaving the house for this very reason. But you wouldn’t listen.”

“Of course I didn’t.” I refuse to step back, though I desperately want to. But I don’t want to appear afraid. Plus, the move will only bring more pain to my broken leg. “Maybe if you would’ve explained it to me, I would’ve …” I trail off as his brows rise and he gives an insinuating glance at the dilapidated stores, shops, and houses around us. “Okay, you know what? Maybe I still would’ve ran away. I’m sorry, okay? I know it was a stupid move, but I was—still am—freaking out.”

I sit down as my leg throbs with pain and my head begins to pulsate. Great. I’m getting a blood headache, probably because I’m hungry. And, according to everyone, the only blood I can drink is Rhyland’s. Rhyland who has, up until today, never done anything other than torture me. Who locked me in that locker. Who was talking to Gabe that day …

“How did that Gabe guy turn into dust? Did you stake him?”

“No,” Rhyland replies tightly, staring down at me with his brows furrowed.

I squint up at him. “Then what happened to him?”

Rhyland shifts his weight, tensely massaging the back of his neck. “Gabe has a gift …”

“What sort of gift?”

“A gift he shouldn’t have.”

“What do you mean?”

Rhyland glances around the area, then offers me his hand. “I’ll explain more, but not here”—his gaze flicks to the field—“where anyone can hear us.”

I don’t want to take his hand, nor do I want to go with him, but I don’t really have a choice. Not after what happened. Not when I can’t get to my feet without help. So, I place my hand in his and let him pull me to my feet. Then I jerk my hand away and limp forward, trying not to wince from the aching pain in my leg.

Rhyland walks beside me, staring at my leg. “What happened?”

I shrug. “I think that Gabe dude broke my leg.” I touch a hand to my neck. “He tried to choke me, too, and his hand burned my skin.”

Rhyland stops me by putting a hand on my shoulder, his widened, panicked eyes assessing my neck. “He burnt your neck?”

I nod. “Yeah, it was weird.”

He grinds his teeth. “God-fucking-dammit. I hate that fucking bastard.”

“When did that happen?” I ask dryly. “Because, the last time I saw him, he was with you, and you guys seemed …” I waver, trying to figure out the right word. “Conspiratorial.”

He swallows hard. “That wasn’t what you think.”

“You don’t even know what I think.”

“Yes, I do.” His gaze welds with mine. “Because it’s what I wanted you to think it was.”

“So, you’re saying that you really didn’t shove me into my locker in hopes that the demon you let loose in the school would kill me?”

“No.”

That’s all he says. No offered explanation of the truth. No what he and Gabe were conspiring that night. No why he shoved me in the locker at all.

Ready to leave, I step forward, when he captures my arm. “You shouldn’t be walking around on that leg while it’s hurt,” he whispers. “Let me carry you.”

It takes all my willpower not to laugh. “No thanks.”

“Raven, I …” He struggles for words. “Please, just let me carry you. It’s my job as king not to let you be in pain. And to take care of you.”

“Well, it’s my job as queen to take care of my

self.” I wiggle my arm from his grip.

“That’s not true.” He walks beside me, warily watching me struggle as I limp toward the black SUVs parked on the street, which I’m assuming belong to the vampire mafia surrounding us. “It’s my job to take care of you. In fact, it’s the rules.”

“Well, if that’s really true, then I know the first thing I’m going to do once I officially become queen.” I stop at the curb to catch my breath.

“And what’s that?” He sounds partially amused with a bleeding drop of wariness.

I smile sweetly at him. “Change the rule to the queen being able to take care of herself. She shouldn’t have to rely on someone to do that for her.”

His lips twitch in amusement. “You can do that, but you’re still going to need help. No one can take on that job without help.”

“Yeah, so? Maybe I’ll put in a request to find my own help.” I lift my chin and give him a sassy smile, despite the pain in my leg. “Maybe I’ll eliminate the role of the king altogether.”

“Hate to break it to you, but that can’t happen.” He reaches out to tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Rules or not, you and I are stuck with each other forever.”

My mood splatters like spilled blood. Great. Just what every vampire wants to hear from their sworn enemy—the words stuck and forever in the same sentence.

Sighing, I turn away from him and face the street. “Which car am I riding in?”

He points to the largest SUV. “Climb into the back of that one.”

“Okay.” I pause as I notice almost every mafia vampire is watching us. “So, what’s the deal with all these vampires? Are they, like, your bodyguards or something?”

“They’re our guards. They’re all emperors and empresses, and you can trust them with your life.”

“But there’s so many.”

“That’s because your life is very important. The most important, probably.” He studies me, his eyes searching mine. “You’ll also have a few personal guards as well, but we’ll get to all of that tomorrow.”

I shift more of my weight to my uninjured leg. “You make it sound like you’re the boss.”

“I’m not,” he replies without missing a beat. “But since I’ve been through training, I do know more about this than you. And we’re going to be so close that everyone figured I could be the one to teach you what I know. You know, guide you into becoming queen.”