The Purple Eyed Girl

8. Toxic masculinity

As soon as the guard said the vampires were here, my father ran over and stood in front of me, trying to protect me from what was to come. He was extremely nervous, they all were. Their  nervosity combined was even making me anxious, so I blocked it out. My eyes were glued to the door opening, waiting for something to happen.

Was it time I believed in supernatural beings? Did they truly exist?

My mind had a hard time comprehending it, if it was true, my whole life was a lie. Not only that, but then my father had lied to me my whole life as well, because it meant he wasn't just a detective, he was a supernatural detective. A part of me didn't want it to be true, because if it was, what would that make me? Was I human? A half-blood? A demon? My head was spinning and I blocked out my own mind, this was useless, I didn't even have all the information yet.

Multiple warriors came to defend the generals, they stood at the sides of the room and drew their swords as they watched the door.

A couple minutes later, four men walked in and the warriors immediately tensed up. They had to be the vampires. The four of them were insanely gorgeous, but one man stood out the most. He looked like he was in his early twenties and wore a blue suit which perfectly complimented his dark skin. He had short trimmed black hair, brown eyes, refined features and plump lips. He was very tall and the suit hugged his body, revealing he had some muscle under there. His whole presence was sophisticated. 

He was the king.

"No need to draw your weapons yet, I've come for a civilized discussion." He said smoothly. 

The warriors looked at Foxglove who nodded in response, so they put their swords away. Foxglove then instructed the one star generals to give up their seats for the four men. His tone had shifted, it was cold and strict. He commanded my father to sit back in his seat again, leaving me alone in the corner. I sat down and trailed my fingers over my Seregbond, until someone noticed my presence.

"Now, who is that? She has to be one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen." The King pointed to me, making literally everyone stare at me in silence. He certainly had a way with words.

I didn't know what to do, so I just gave him an awkward smile. Something told me now was a time to really hold back. He wasn't satisfied with my response and stood up, walking over to me. 

He smiled at me and held out his hand. "I'm Haimon Orpheus, King of the Vampires."

I stared at the hand in front of me. Was I supposed to shake it or kiss it? Was I supposed to bow? The thought of having to kiss someone's hand or bow to them made me cringe. King or no King, there was no way in hell I was going to do that.

"I'm Iola Ashford, Purple Eyed Girl." I said confidently while I shook his hand.

Gasps could be heard from around the room, mostly from warriors. Apparently, a woman shaking a King's hand was a rare sight.

Haimon looked down at our shaking hands for a moment before his eyes met mine again, they narrowed. "Interesting." He smiled. "I like you."

I let go of his hand and sat down again. He walked back to his seat and sat down as well.

"Gentlemen." He started. "It appears we have a bit of an issue at our hands. There is absolutely no way the throne of the late King can be taken by a commoner. So I'm afraid this conquest of yours simply won't do."

"We would be interested in your opinion, if you were a fact human and not some vampire." Hemlock said in disdain. 

I slapped my hands against my face and shook my head. Hemlock really had a death wish. I heard some soft snickering coming from the table, it appeared I had caught the attention of one of Haimon's men. He was in his early thirties and had short black hair. He watched me in amusement and held up his thumb. I copied his gesture and listened to the conversation again.