Crimson Flame ~ Book 1 - The Royal Blood Collection

Chapter 3

Leaning against the cold window, I sat on the bench seat and watched the sun slowly creeping higher into the sky. Alaric had kept his word, ensuring that I was safe until first light when all vampires would return to their homes. He'd waited for as long as possible, thankfully the building manager was up early to sweep the lobby floors and let me in.

Alaric had to hide, of course, we both knew that the gate would not be opened if he was in sight. I'd been questioned as to how I'd survived and I said that I was at a friend's house. That was a few hours ago, now I was waiting for lethargy to hit me so that I could sleep.

Except, I couldn't stop thinking about Alaric's proposal. Well, the basic proposal. He said that nothing more would be discussed until I agreed to the basic idea of what he wanted. The finer points would be discussed when I was okay with helping him get to the top of all the vampires. Which at the moment, I wasn't.

I found the idea of it to be quite worrisome but I liked the idea that they would be bound to rules like the rest of us were. At the moment, vampires did as they pleased and it wasn't a good thing. The only thing that saved humanity was that the vampires understood that they needed us to survive, otherwise it might be different.

Sitting on the cushion in front of my bare feet were the documents that led to this nightmare and in a way, a continuing nightmare. I didn't want to be partnered with an unknown man for the next fifteen years. There wouldn't be love in the beginning, it might develop over time but that would be pointless considering that he would leave to be partnered with another woman.

I wouldn't get to choose; the selection would be made for me and there was nothing I could do about it. The only way I could get around the situation was if he was abusive to me or the children. Even then I had to have proof. It was this way because the government was distrusting jerks. They didn't listen to the complaints, they didn't care.

This wasn't a life for me, I saw how shallow it made people. My father turned away from my mother because she wasn't what he desired. It's why I was an only child, he'd done his duty to the world once and when I was born, he walked away. My heartbroken mother probably knew that there wouldn't be any allowances made to her for another fifteen years so she walked out of the hospital at night, leaving me behind. It was a guess but the hospital suggested that she died at the hands of a vampire. I was put into a government-run orphanage. My father wasn't interested, he probably hated the program like I did.

I wasn't looking forward to it and that's why Alaric's proposal was tempting. Even in a basic form, I saw a better life. He said he would pay me and it would be better than anything I got at the moment or would get in the future. I'd be living in his new house to keep up the ruse that we were together and I'd have my own place to sleep. He'd protect me from the vampires because I would be known as the mate of the leader and they wouldn't dare touch me. And, he would keep the government off my back about the breeding program.

All I had to do in return was pretend to be his partner and show the world that a human and a vampire can cohabitate. Sure, some vampires could be trusted just like some humans could be as well. But like humans, there were some vampires that couldn't be trusted and I didn't want to give the wrong message by what we were doing. I was conflicted. The things he offered to tempt me were like a sweet icing on a cake made of manure. Externally it looked divine, inside it was horrible. And it stank of something rotten, I was certain of it.

I'd agreed to meet with him again if only to discuss it further. Alaric suggested that I took the day to think about the proposal and of course, say goodbye to the sun. I could venture outside of a daytime but my life would be lived of a night.

Picking up the paperwork, I flicked through it. I wasn't interested in it, I was tired of thinking about Alaric, sick of trying to figure him out and what he was up to. In the paperwork, I could see my parents and what my father had done to my mother and I didn't want that for me. I wanted to pick my partner, I wanted for us to fall in love and actually want to be together.