Tempting Raven (Curse of the Vampire Queen #1)(42)

"The latter." I jump left then right and snicker when he bounces like a hopping sprite after me.

"Mother of all annoying vampires, will you knock that off?" He bounces to a stop beside me and tears his gaze off his phone. "I'm not a puppet."

"It sort of seems like you are." I do a little dance and bust up laughing when he mirrors my jig.

Once I let him stop, he gives me an unimpressed look. "Will you please knock that off? I need to send a message and you're distracting me."

"Oh, fine, but only because you said please." I start up the hallway again with him at my side. "Why are you mimicking me, anyway?"

"It's an aftereffect of taking the oath," he explains as he punches buttons on his phone. "It'll wear off in a couple of days."

I tap my fingers together, very evil villain-ish. "So, I have two whole days to torture you?"



       
         
       
        

He shifts uneasily. "Yeah, but you don't need to torture me."

"But I could." Maybe it makes me twisted, but I'm enjoying his discomfort. All those years he went out of his way to make me miserable, and now I can make him do anything.

"You can't make me do everything," he explains, as if reading my thoughts. "Especially anything that will bring harm to you or me."

"I wasn't planning on doing anything harmful," I say, slightly offended. "I'm not that mean."

He tucks his phone into his pocket, fixing his undivided attention on me. "No, you're not. I'm sorry if I made you feel that way."

"Is the oath making you apologize to me?"

"No, I just want-need-to apologize  …  for a lot of things." He doesn't elaborate on what those things are, just motions for me to get a move on. "Now, hurry up. Dinner is waiting and you have guests."

I tense. "What guests?"

"The fey king and queen."

Shock ripples through me as I force my feet to move forward. "My first day here and I'm supposed to have dinner with the fey king and queen?" I absentmindedly touch the makeshift crown on my head. "No wonder Dex had me dress up."

"It's tradition for the queen to dress up for dinner," Kingsley says as we stop in front of a set of wooden doors. "He'll probably try to dress you up every time you leave the room. And even probably when you go to bed."

My mood splatters across the tile floor. "So, I have to dress like this for bed?"

He chuckles, his gaze skimming up and down my body. Then he scratches the side of his eye. "Probably not the dress, but something like what you have on underneath it."

Warmth rushes to my cheeks, but I hold my chin high. "He may try, but it's not going to happen. I am queen, after all, so I change the rules."

"Of course, my queen." He bows to me, and I snort a laugh. He chuckles, standing upright. "I'm glad you find my respect amusing."

"I really, really do," I say. "Still, I think you should probably stop doing that."

"Bowing?" he asks, and I nod. "It's part of my job description."

"Well  …  I'm abolishing you from doing it."

"Abolishing, huh? Sounds pretty official."

"That's because it is. Now, no more bowing, at least to me." I reach for the door handle, but pause. "Wait? Why am I even having dinner with the fey king and queen? And, on day one here, for that matter? And when I know practically nothing about being queen?" 

"It's not a business meeting." His fingers fold around the door handle. "Just a meet and greet."

"How  …  casual." I chew nervously on my fingernail. I've never been good with meeting new people. "Will there be others there?"

He lifts a shoulder, shrugging. "Rhyland, me, a couple of other guards and, of course, the fey guards."

I scratch at the burns on my neck. "That sounds like a lot of guards."

Kingsley stares at my neck, a frown forming on his lips. "You should've drunk some of Rhyland's blood already to hide those."

"I was planning on doing it at dinner." I brush a few pieces of flaky skin off my neck. "I didn't realize we had company. Is it going to be a problem?"

"I think it might be best if you don't show up for the first time to meet the fey king and queen with a dragon fire burn on your neck, especially when dragons are so rare. It'll make you seem suspicious." He holds up a finger. "Wait out here for a second." He cracks open the door and slips inside the room.