Have you ever felt the love and protection of three vampires? Zoey hasn't, she didn't even think it could've been anything other than fiction.
Nikolaus, Jett, and Wyatt could surely keep Zoey out of harms way, right? Especially since Nikolaus is an...
He smiles and backs away from me to the same small group of friends he sat at the restaurant with.
I would've never hurt Brexley, she was my everything when we lived in the orphanage. How could he possibly think I had something to do with her death?
"Hello," Poppy drags, "earth to Zoey," she says, waving her hands in my face.
I shake my head, and smile, "sorry." I laugh.
"Come outside with me, all these people are overwhelming me." She pulls my arm closer to her.
I nod, also feeling the overwhelming need to escape. But I have to stay, Nik needs me here and I need to put my big girl britches on and fight through it.
The cool air nips at the exposed skin on my arms and chest, giving me a much needed cool down from the overheated ballroom.
"It feels so good out here." Poppy sighs in relief.
"It feels like taking a nap when you get home from being at the pool all day." I tell her.
We sit in silence, enjoying the company of the crickets and twinkling stars.
As I'm sprawled out on Poppy's lap on the bench outside, the back door opens, making me sit up quickly.
My vision blurs from the quick movement, but eventually, my eyes set on Nik's sweet smile.
"You two already partied out?" He chuckles.
I nod while Poppy scoffs. We've never really been the party type, especially clubbing. Women like me are easy targets while women like Poppy get thrown off to the side and ignored unless she's stripping. It makes no sense to me but young men are indeed stupid sometimes.
"It's about time I deliver the speech, love." He informs.
I nod and follow him back into the ballroom where a whole crowd of people stand, some even overflowing to outside the room.
My cheeks sting in embarrassment as I walk past a ton of prying eyes, I can only hope I didn't seem as scared as I felt.
Ruth's eyes lock with mine. She stares me down like I hawk as I quickly advert my gaze to directly in front of me, which is Nik's back.
A small girl runs up to Nik and curls herself around his leg, making me almost bump into his back.
"Matilda, get over here right now!" a furious woman who I hope is her mother says harshly then pulls her off his leg.
"I'm so sorry, she-"
"I don't like my mommy, can you exile her?" The little girl cuts her off, making me back away a little out of second hand embarrassment for the poor mom.
"Matilda." I whisper, "you're very lucky to have a mommy. Why would you want to exile her?" I ask, taking charge of the situation to impress all the vampires who think of me as less than...especially Ruth.
Matilda huffs and walks towards me, "she won't let me have anymore candy when she promised I could eat anything I wanted tonight. She lied!" Her arms lay across her adorable white and gold dress with ruffles on the sleeves and skirt that touches her ankles.
"Well, sometimes mommies and daddies say things then change their mind to make things better. If you eat more candy, you'll start to get a tummy ache and not feel very well or it could make your shiny teeth hurt." I explain calmly and softly.
A soft voice is still a spoken voice.
Her fingers touch her front teeth, "they'll hurt if I eat more?" She asks.
"Maybe, you'd have to ask your mom." I gesture towards her with a smile, to which she returns.
Matilda looks between me and her mother, "I can eat candy again one day though, right?"
"Of course, baby. Come on, Mr. August has a speech to deliver." She takes her daughters hand and mouths a 'thank you' in my direction.
Nik smiles and takes my hand into his and kisses the knuckles before continuing to walk towards the front of the room.
If that doesn't impress the most of them, I'm not sure what will.
"Thank you all for coming to this years annual gathering!" Nik announces, causing everyone to clap and cheer.
Nik's words fade out of my mind as Henry's voice from last night enters my head. I must stand straight and tall and keep a straight face.
The touch of Nik's hand on my arm shakes me out of my thoughts, making his voice return.
"You may not like that she is a human, but you will respect her and treat her as you'd treat a queen as I have no intention of leaving her. If you insist on having an issue, I suggest you come to me." His demeanor is authoritative, like he's not just spewing bull. He means exactly what he says.
"What if some of us are worried about how well things will be run with a human queen?" Ruth speaks up with a few silent vampires nodding along.
"She will be trained just like any other queen, whatever she can't physically do, I will do." Nik protectively pulls me closer to him.
"Once again, thank you all for coming, please continue to enjoy yourselves." Nik says, standing tall and proud.
I hope I look just as confident as him.
The group scatters as the music starts back up.
"You did good, love. Very professional and queenly." He kisses my cheek, making me smile.
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What do you all think about what Jack said? Do you think Zoey is a secret serial killer? O.o
