Page 3 of Guardians for the Vamp
“Yeah. COVE gave up after King Basque kept canceling meetings with them, so they informed me it’s now my job as vampire queen to hold meetings with other supernatural royals.”
“Definitely pick the beefy one,” Teddy says, not even focusing on the other part of our conversation.
He runs his fingers through his shaggy blond hair, then unbuttons his suit jacket to reveal his dress shirt stretched over his gut. Teddy has a dad bod—another descriptor the body-image obsessed world has adopted for men who don’t have abs.
“I have to say,” Millie begins, raising a brow at me twirling a wayward curl at the nape of my neck. “I’ve neverseen you anxious before. Not even at your coronation. I mean, you freaked out for a second, but the moment you took the stage, that strong woman I love took over. Are you nervous about the unification plan?”
I drop the curl and shift on my feet. “Yes. It’s going to be a disaster. You know how supernaturals are. We’re stubborn, and we don’t like being told what to do. It’s not going to work.”
“Do you know how long they’ve been considering this plan to reveal ourselves to the human world? I’m a little offended they didn’t include me in discussions.”
“Miss ‘I want to face the sun because I hate my life’, of course they didn’t get you involved. But apparently it’s been in discussions for months. And since you’ve been wanting to step away from the throne for years, they needed someone more... reliable to launch the plan.”
She rolls her eyes, and I stifle the urge to choke my best friend. The night she met her mate, she had planned to end her existence. Millie’s sire forced her to do some really fucked up shit after he turned her into a vampire, and she was tired of living with her guilt.
Teddy saved her life.
I was pissed when she told me she wanted to face the sun. She never talked to me about having these feelings. I could have been there for her.Icould have been the oneto save her, but she shut me out, as most vampires do with emotions.
The doors open again, and we turn as three tall and massive gargoyles enter.
I’ve met the king and the commander of his army, Locheran, plenty of times before. But this third gargoyle…
Holy shit he’s intimidating.
The scar that got Teddy and Millie all hot and bothered stretches diagonally across his dark purple face. Braided black hair hangs over his shoulder. His light purple wings are tucked to his back, and his tail whips around his body as if agitated.
My eyes lift up and up, past his pointed ears, until finding dark gray horns that curve out of each side of his forehead. Lord, he’s tall. I’m five foot four and this gargoyle is as tall as the king, who I’m pretty sure is seven feet. Xander and Locheran are both packed with muscles, but this soldier? He’s bulkier. Thicker. A mountain of a monster.
My amplified vampire senses pick up a new scent, one not belonging to Xander or Locheran. Sandalwood—myfavorite—and hints of cinnamon wash over me.
Fuck... this new gargoyle smells fantastic.
His plump lips purse as they stop a foot in front of us.
What the hell? Is he mad about being here? Why so grumpy?
“Queen Aldana,” Xander says, pulling my attention away from the Goliath of a gargoyle. The king holds out a hand, and I place mine in his, giving it a firm shake before letting it go and stepping back in line with the other two.
“Lovely to see you again, King Basque,” I peer over his shoulder. “I was hoping to meet your mate. Is she not attending tonight’s ball?”
Xander and his mate skipped my coronation, sending Locheran in his place following the fallout of his brother’s attempted coup. I assume he didn’t want his mate to attend without him by her side.
It’s clear the gargoyle king is madly in love, his face lights up at the thought of the human. “Since you asked that I arrive early, Evangeline will be arriving separately with her mother.”
I nod and make a note to find them at the party so I can meet the human who saved the gargoyle king of New York City. Gargoyles in royal positions are cursed to find their mate by their thousandth year of living or permanently turn to stone. Xander had six months left to live before he found Evangeline.
Talk about a close call.
I glance at tall, dark, and handsome again, but he’s scanning the room instead of paying me any attention. As if he’s looking for a way to escape. Or maybe he’s scoping out potential threats as gargoyles tend to do, their protective nature kicking in no matter where they are. Either way, he’s yet to look at me, which for some reason pisses me off. Who the hell is this guy anyway?
Okay, wow, I’m being needy. He doesnotowe me his attention.
“Congratulations on your new position,” Xander says. “I’m sorry I couldn’t attend your crowning ceremony, but I’m here now. Please tell the elder vamps to stop blowing up my inbox and text messages.”
The king chuckles, and my anxiety lessens slightly. Xander has always been a reasonable leader, but there’s no telling how he’ll react to this request to have one of his soldiers lead my security team.
I wonder which one it will be.
