Filed To Story: Chasing the Rejected Luna's Heart (Clara & Liam) Book PDF Free
Alexander just stared down at me, as if he found me as mystifying as I found his sudden appearance, fortuitous as it was. “Don’t mention it. Are you sure you’re alright?””Totally,” I lied, backing toward the door. There was still a part of me convinced this was too easy. Too anticlimactic. I reached for the handle and pulled the door open, but when I looked back, he was still standing on the sidewalk, watching me. “Um. Goodnight. It was nice to meet you.”
He tilted his head slightly, a hint of amusement in his dark red eyes. “Likewise, Lavinia. Take care of yourself.”
The sound of my name on his lips made me shiver. I nodded and went inside before my night could get any weirder, pausing to take a breath only once I was on the elevator. I never thought I would be relieved to get onto that rickety thing.
After an entire lifetime of never even seeing a glimpse of a vampire, I had encountered six of them in one night and almost hadn’t lived to tell about it. Even now, I wasn’t sure what to think.
* * *”You saw awhat?””A vampire,” I answered, although I wasn’t really sure after the incredulous way Sam phrased the question. “A few of them, actually.”
She was still staring at me, her jaw slightly slack. “And they attacked you?”
I couldn’t tell if she was surprised I had run into a vampire, or just that they had attacked. They certainly didn’t seem rare, the way she spoke of them. “Yeah. I was walking down Rose Avenue, and they started following me, then jumped me in an alley.””Holy shit,” she breathed. She seemed to have completely forgotten about the glass she was drying, and it almost slipped from her hand as I recalled the events of the night before. I had weighed whether or not I should even tell her, but she had picked up on the fact that something was off and I was still too shaken to really have all my lying faculties back in order. “I told you that walk wasn’t safe.””I know you did,” I said with a sigh. “You’re right.” She usually was.”I’m not trying to say I told you so,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m just glad you’re finally going to be moving in. Did you get everything over okay?””That’s one of the benefits of packing up your whole life in an hour. Not much to bring,” I said with a shrug.
She grimaced. “That’s depressing. We really need to work on making your life not suck so hard.””Gee, Sam. With pep talks like that, you really missed your calling as a motivational speaker.”
She rolled her eyes and set the glass back. “So, this mysterious vampire rescued you… Did he have a name?””He did,” I admitted. “Alexander.”
I knew from the way her eyes widened she recognized the name. I just wasn’t sure if it was fear or something else.”You know him?” I asked.”Not personally,” she said, staring at me like I had grown another head. “But everyone knows about him. He’s a fucking vampire lord.”
I frowned. “A vampire lord? Is it like a job title, or a religious thing?””Neither. It’s a royal title. He’s in charge of every vampire in the city. The state, for that matter.”
I blinked, definitely not expecting that answer. “I thought you said this was no-man’s-land.””It is. No one coven or pack holds dibs on the city, but the vampires are still subject to the rules of the monarchy.””A monarchy?” I echoed. “Seriously?”
She tilted her head. “They don’t cover very much about other species in werewolf political science, do they?””I wouldn’t really know,” I admitted, wiping down the counter for the fifth time. There wasn’t much to do before the customers came in, and I had an abundance of nervous energy to exorcise. “I majored in becoming a Luna.””Oh. Right.” Sam wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Well, here’s a crash course. The vampire monarchy is pretty much the only thing making sure the rogue vamps don’t expose us all, and they take themselves seriously. So seriously they make you guys look like a bunch of junkyard dogs in comparison. No offense.””None taken,” I murmured, having to admit my curiosity was piqued. “So those guys I ran into were an anomaly?”
She hesitated. “Maybe not if the others could help it, but yeah. The royals keep a pretty good handle on things. I’d say you got unlucky.””Yeah, sounds about right,” I sighed. “So, who is at the top of the food chain?””The queen,” she answered. “As for whoshe is, I don’t know. They keep her sheltered. Not that she would probably want to lower herself to interacting with the common folk anyway.”
I snorted. Guess not. “So, where does my hero rest on that scale?”
She considered it. “Well, as far as I know, he’s third in line for the throne.”
I blanched. “Seriously?”
She shrugged. “Technically, he’s a prince or something. Probably just doesn’t like being called one to preserve his street cred.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, I can see that, actually.”
At least now it made sense why the other four had scattered with barely a word from him. I wasn’t sure if I should be flattered or concerned such a prominent vampire noble had taken an interest in me, but decided it was best just to hope our paths never crossed again.”So, was he as hot as everyone says he is?” Sam asked, wiggling her eyebrows.”Seriously?””I’m just saying, not to diminish your trauma or anything. But there are vampires who would kill for a chance to meet that guy. You can’t blame a girl for being curious.”
I paused for a moment to think. “Hot” really wasn’t just the right word. Technically, sure, in the sense that the sun was hot, but it hardly seemed to do him justice. “He was…very handsome,” I said, expecting the look she gave me.”Oh, come on,” she muttered.”Okay, okay, fine,” I said, holding up my hands. “He was the hottest guy I’ve ever seen. He has long, black hair, red eyes that should be creepy but totally aren’t, and this intense stare that make your panties melt like ice cream in the middle of July. Happy?””Marginally,” she said, smirking. “Did you get his number?””I stared at her until I realized she wasn’t joking. “No, I didn’t get his number,” I huffed. “For one thing, I was kind of still traumatized by the whole being jumped by a gang of vampires thing. For another, why the hell would I?”