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Considering the vampire king was almost six centuries past when most of his kind found their mate, it was shocking to hear that he was finally claiming his and that she lived in Gardena. Gardena was barely on the map, only notable for having cheap living accommodations still within walking distance to the city center. It was widely accepted that when he did find his mate, she would be from Harpsmore or one of the provinces that were governed by a titled member of the gentry.

“So any thoughts on who she could be?” Janus asked once we were at the bistro. She was bouncing in her seat from excitement.

“Who is she?” her boyfriend, Kyle, asked, leaning over to try and plant a kiss on her cheek. He finally grabbed her face with both hands and kissed her forehead.

“She is the vampire king’s mate!” Janus squealed excitedly and Kyle and I exchanged a look. It wasn’t like Janus to be this excited over something that didn’t involve skulls or rituals. Often confused for a vampire mate, she wore her black hair long with blunt bangs, black contact lenses in her eyes, and black clothes from head to toe. She only wore black lipstick and enjoyed anything that involved death. The exception was Kyle, who worked for the IT department of the palace. He currently wore khakis, a white button up, complete with pen in the front pocket, and wire rimmed glasses that never sat on his face correctly. His light brown hair was combed over and held in place with copious amounts of hair gel. The two were complete opposites in everything except their love of obsolete card games. It was the glue of their relationship.

“Who is?” Kyle repeated.

“Apparently, a girl in my building,” I answered, opening a menu.

“Really? Is that what all the crowds and cops were for?” Janus nodded, looking out the window at all of the people still walking around.

“She must have just turned twenty-one. Do you know anyone that young in your building?” Janus asked, making our twenty-eight years sound old. I shrugged.

“It’s probably Lily. Her family are nobles and she just had her twenty-first birthday. Could be one of her roommates, they’re all twenty-one too.”

“If she’s a noble, why is she living in Gardena?” Kyle asked. Janus made a face.

“Lily’s a spoiled brat. Her dad got sick of her attitude and wanted to teach her a lesson, so he made her live on her own. Her friends’ parents loved the idea, so they did the same. Although, it’s hard to learn a lesson when mommy still pays for everything,” she explained.

“Ugh, just what we need in a queen. Too bad it’s not you Raya,” Kyle said, taking a sip of his water.

“Uh yeah no. I would be the worst queen ever.”

“You think so? You’re always so nice and doing things for the community. I’d say those are pretty “queenly” qualities,” Janus said.

“One is just good customer service and the other is civic duty. Anyone can accomplish those,” I explained. The waitress came and took our order. Janus went with a beet salad, Kyle ordered the lasagna, and I decided on the fettuccine alfredo.

“But still, Lily as a queen would be awful. She’d declare a class war for sure,” Janus continued.

“Maybe the king will get sick of her and eat her,” Kyle suggested and I wrinkled my nose. The vampire king did have a reputation for ruthlessness. He had essentially ended the war because no one could defeat him and the current werewolf and human kings decided it was better off to join him than die.

“One can only hope,” Janus snickered. I changed the conversation to one of the card games she and Kyle loved and then spent the next twenty minutes zoning out while they argued about the best way to play. My mind drifted to what it would be like to be with the vampire king. In the pictures I had seen, he was well built, broad shoulders, long legs, chiseled features, a Roman nose, dark hair that hung just over his dark eyes. Most vampires were pale in coloring, still preferring to only go out at night, even though hundreds of years of breeding with humans had made it possible for them to go out in the daylight. The vampire king’s skin was golden brown, a shade or so lighter than my own brown skin. With his desirability, the rumor mill thrives on his endless affairs. Of course, they all say how good he is in bed, but what else would they say?

Our food finally came and when we were finished, we stood outside, chatting a little while longer. They wanted to walk me home but they lived in the opposite direction. With the heavy police presence still around, I insisted that I would be fine and gave them a hug. I assured them I would call them once I was in my apartment and headed home. When I arrived, the crowd had thinned some and I easily pushed myself up to the barrier in front of the main door.

“Hi, I live here,” I told the police officer, holding out my ID. There must have been a shift change since I didn’t see the last officer I spoke with.

“You’re in 22B?” the officer said, his voice sounding shaky as he handed back my ID.

“Yes, is there a problem?” I asked, hitching my purse higher up on my shoulder.

“N-n-no problem. Have a nice evening ma’am,” he said, practically tripping over himself to open the barricade.

“Uh, thanks. You too.” What a weird interaction. I decided to forego checking my mail in the lobby and headed straight up the stairs to my third floor apartment.

When I unlocked the door and stepped inside, I was hit with an immense pressure on my chest. I desperately felt for the light switch, flipping it several times, but nothing happened.

“You’ve kept me waiting,” a gruff voice rumbled from the corner of my living room. A set of red eyes were suddenly staring at me and I tried to take a step back but a wall was blocking my way. I turned to get around the wall and realized that it was a giant person. I turned back around, ready to scream, when a hand clamped down over my mouth and nose. I struggled to get away but an arm had come across my chest and was holding me in place.

“Relax, no one is going to hurt you,” the voice said, and I sensed movement but the hand over my face was cutting off my oxygen. “Do you know who I am?” My mind was completely blank and the lack of oxygen wasn’t helping. “Do you know why I’m here? You can answer me, I told you, no one is going to hurt you.” I can’t answer you idiot! I can’t breathe! Still struggling, the hands on me tightened. My lungs were screaming.

“Listen, if you’re going to be my mate, you’re going to have to talk to me. Unless you’re mute. A mute queen would pose an interesting challenge.” I’m not mute, I’m dying! “Honestly, this is ridiculous. How about your name? I’ll start. I’m Trick, Vampire King. And you are? Listen, I need to know what to call my queen.” Queen? It was the last word I heard before I lost consciousness.

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  • The Reluctant Queen   16

    There was no time to think about my mortality now. As I finished off the last of my drink, Bishop whisked me back to my new office. It had an entrance directly to the Great Court but the main entrance was accessible through the Lesser Courts. The gold motif continued and I wondered if it fulfilled some kind of fetish for Trick. The wall paper was cream with gold flecks, the writing desk was cast in gold, the chandelier shimmered with Swarovski crystals in gold settings. Sunlight gleamed through windows trimmed in gold and the whole room had a wicked glare to it. First order of business, sheers to diffuse the light.“Well, Milady, here are the final candidates for your staff,” Bishop brought my attention to the paperwork on my desk. Each showed a headshot of the woman being considered, as well as a detailed resume. “No humans?” I inquired, flipped through the sheets.“Given the nature of the palace business, it’s best to have a staff well versed in vampire culture,” Bishop explained.

  • The Reluctant Queen   15

    After living through Bishop’s morning schedule for me, I could see why Trick always hired him back. The man was like a machine, never deviating from the task at hand, a clear plotted course for each action, and always ready with a reason why we couldn’t take a break to have a snack or a shot of tequila. By the time I was allowed to make my way to Lucy’s and have lunch with her, Jules, and Kyla, I was ready to forsake Trick and run back to the bookstore. Then Bishop brought me a giant toasted club sandwich with extra bacon and a side of potato soup (heavy on the bacon) and all was forgiven. When he sat down a vodka spritzer, I almost kissed him. “Rough morning?” Jules commented, watching me drain the entire drink. Bishop whisked the empty glass away and set down a replacement beverage.“Did you know that I have to invite the queens of each realm to monthly lunches for the rest of my life? And then attend them in each of the realms? Every month. In every realm. Also, there’s an entire

  • The Reluctant Queen   14

    My mouth went dry as all liquid in my body shot straight to my panties. Trick took advantage of my shocked open mouth, inserting his tongue, closing the gap I had been maintaining. My hands fisted his dress shirt, while he took handfuls of my ass. I rubbed myself across his front, feeling his erection through his pants. Damn, that was an inhumanly impossible cock. Duh stupid. I groaned at my idiotic thought but Trick took that as approval, sliding both hands under my shirt, lifting it until both of my breasts were exposed.“Hey now,” I squealed, trying to step away. Trick’s eyes were black with need and he pulled me back to him, dropping his mouth to my left nipple. My toes curled the second his lips touched my skin, his tongue teasing me. “Oh, uh, mmmm, we can’t,” I panted. “Please.” Trick stopped and I died when he pulled away, the cold air replacing his breath.“Give me one good reason why we can’t,” he demanded, his tone low. It wasn’t threatening, but it still

  • The Reluctant Queen   13

    I rubbed my sweaty palms on my leggings and stepped out of my room. Jules and Lucy looked relieved to see me.“You didn’t need to check on me,” I told them. “I appreciate it, though.”“Well things were pretty intense and that group is not exactly easy,” Lucy said understandingly. “Jules and I remember meeting them for the first time.” Jules nodded.“It was horrible. The only saving grace for me was no one said anything bigoted. If they had, I would’ve just been done,” Jules remembered. “Thankfully, Risk scares most of them and the ones he doesn’t scare don’t care.”“Does Trick care?” I asked. I already had an oppressive mother, I couldn’t stand it if my husband was the same way.“Nope. He gave me away at our wedding.” A tender smile crossed Jules’ face. “My parents refused to attend, so he declared he was my father for the day. It was perfect.” My heart burst with pride. And relief. “I’m glad. I may need a set of substitute parents for my wedding.” Jules and L

  • The Reluctant Queen   12

    “Bishop.” Trick’s voice was bone chilling. “Yes, Your Majesty, Lord Hail came to pay his respects to Miss Saraya earlier today.” Bishop’s already grey skin appeared more sickly as he spoke. The muscle along Trick’s jaw clenched. “You are dismissed,” Trick managed through clenched teeth. Bishop bowed his head and disappeared. My heart sank. Was he coming back? Had Trick just fired him? “It appears that I’ve caused some discord between servant and master,” Hail said, smirking while he took his seat. “Trick,” I said softly. “Not now,” he replied shortly. His tone dumped cold water on my feelings causing tears to form. I stared at my plate, trying to

  • The Reluctant Queen   11

    “Uh, not that I know of,” I managed. “You’d remember if we had,” Trick said, holding up his champagne glass for a refill. “Would she?” Maven teased. “You would know,” Eclipse said in a sickenly sweet voice. My heart fell. “Your speculation on my previous relationship with Trick is gross, not to mention unfair to Saraya. If you have something to say, address it with me. This passive aggressive pettiness is unbecoming of someone of your rank, even if that someone is you.” Eclipse opened her mouth to say something but she stopped, her jaw open. “Eclipse, I highly recommend that you think very carefully before you say anything else the rest of the evening,” Trick cautioned, leaning back in his chair with his glass. “You have proven to be a competent minister. It would be a shame to be replaced, unable to fulfill your father’s dying wish. Have I made myself clear?” Her eyes darted to Trick and I realized that she sat there paralyzed. “Good.” The next instant her j

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