The Vampire Gift 2: Kingdom of(38)

I tense at the way she says his name. She knew the ring was from him the entire time.

She holds her hand out. “May I see it?” she asks.

On instinct, I angle my body away to protect the piece of jewelry.

“Oh, I won’t take it off your finger, don’t worry,” she says. “I simply want to examine it from up close.”

I glance over my shoulder at Raul and Phillip. They’re engaged in a deep conversation with each other and don’t notice me.

“Eleira…” Morgan says. “You’re not going to defy a direct order from your Queen, are you?”

I sigh and hold my arm out. “Doesn’t seem like I have much of a choice,” I mutter.

“Oh, but this is spectacular!” Morgan marvels once she touches the ring. “I can feel the power within. How did my son ever come across something precious like this?” She shakes her head. “That doesn’t matter, since it’s yours now.” She gives me a most meaningful look. “You know the deadline I set of three days?”

I eye her warily. “Yes?”

“When you come to me with your final decision, you will also give me the ring.”

I jerk my hand away. “What?”

“I can feel what it’s doing to you, Eleira. It’s preventing you from becoming the woman you are destined to be. I will not have the future Queen of The Haven be suppressed the way Phillip was for so many years. I’ve been too lenient with him in the past. But the time for leniency ends with your coming. The Haven will be ruled with an iron fist while you are being groomed for power. The first step of that is getting you to accept your vampire nature. Without…” she casts a disgusted glance at my ring, “…without your abilities being hampered.”

The worst kind of sickness settles in my stomach. It feels like all my defenses are being stripped bare.

Just when I start to look back at Raul for help, the ground starts to shake.

We’re thrown against the side wall. The vampires around me quickly regain their balance.

“What was that?” Smithson yells. He casts a worried look at the stone above us. “If this place caves…!”

He doesn’t get to finish his sentence. At that moment a bright blue light flows out from around Morgan. It envelops us in a protective orb.

The ground continues to shake. But none of the rubble touches us.

Raul grabs my arm and pulls me to him. He holds me to his body.

Morgan has her eyes screwed shut. She’s muttering an incantation under her breath. Stones rain down from the ceiling. They rebound off the blue sphere and do not reach us.

After a few minutes, the shaking stops. The Queen holds her spell for a few more moments… and then lets go.

The light winks out. As soon as it does she stumbles back, as if a great rebounding force just crashed into her.

Smithson is at her side in a flash, holding her up and helping her stand.

“You’ve overexerted yourself, my Queen,” he says, his voice becoming toady. “You mustn’t risk so much of yourself. We could have handled it without the need to resort to magic.”

“We were lucky,” she rasps. I realize just how much the spell took out of her. She sounds hoarse, exhausted, and—just for a moment—I see past her regular vampire face and glimpse the tired woman underneath.

I shiver. That’s one of those things only granted to those with magic in their bloodline—as the Queen had explained to me.

Does it mean that being a vampire is all an illusion? Or am I seeing something else?

It certainly doesn’t feel like an illusion.

After a few moments Morgan pushes herself up. “That could have been much worse. The tremors came from deep underground. Had they known we were here…” she trails off. “The spell would have saved our lives.”

“But that means…” Phillip begins, concern filling his words.

“It means someone is mounting an assault on The Haven,” the Queen finishes for him. “Smithson—I want guards posted at every entrance. Get all the coven vampires to their homes. Don’t let any wander. The humans must be kept together, too. Keep them within the boundaries of the village, but do not tell them what’s happening.”

She looks up. “The wards will inform me of any who attempt entry into The Haven from the Outside. I want you to be ready to defend at a moment’s notice.”

“I warned you,” Raul tells his Mother. “I warned you what would happen if you sent James on his mission!”

“You think The Crypt vampires have come to get retribution?” Morgan laughs. “No, my son. Logan would not move so soon. It would take weeks for him to assemble the necessary force.”