The King Of All Vampire Kings (Book 1) ✔️

|21|~Royal Family~

 Now, don't get me wrong. I don't like this woman. She seems to be more treacherous than King Nicklaus. She would drain me in a second without a doubt, but she is his mother. That should count for something, right?

He grinds his teeth.

"About that, Xander and I had a minor disagreement." His eyes flash in my direction but were quickly placed elsewhere, quicker than I could blink. "Our issue is now resolved. He understands his place, so now, both of you can take your leave."

"My place?"

"Keep quiet, Xander!" the kings' mother snaps. She turns to face King Nicklaus. "May I ask what the fight was about?" She crosses her arms gracefully, waiting for an answer.

The look she gives tells it all. She will not leave this room until her sons explain themselves, and neither will. Maybe I'm wrong. He may have more respect for his mother than I thought because if any other vampire intentionally defied his orders, there would be hell to pay.

"Mother, did I not make myself clear?" asks King Nicklaus. "I dismiss you both."

"I'm not one of your flunkey kings or your slave whores," she snaps, pointing in my direction.

It takes everything in me not to give her a piece of my mind. I can't believe she just called me a slave whore. What the hell is up with these leeches calling me everything under the sun but my name?

"You shall show me the respect I deserve, Nicklaus. I am still your mother!"

"And you have it all. Now please, can the both of you get the hell out of my room?" he yells.

I feel the urge to laugh. If it wasn't for the dryness of my throat, I'm sure I wouldn't be able to hold it in.

He looks more like an annoyed human than a scary vampire king at the moment. This is fairly entertaining. So, this is how it is to have a family. I wonder if all families are like this. I used to dream about having a mother who annoys me to the very end. I used to wonder whom I inherited my hair color from, my mom or my dad. Maybe we all share similar features. I guess that's just something that I'll never know.

"Bye, Mother." He turns to face Xander. "That goes for you as well. Mother is losing her temper, and we don't want anyone else to suffer because of it, now do we?" he asks, giving Xander the side-eye.

Xander's thin lips curl, and his eyes flash neon red.

I expect his words to have a hidden meaning. Okay . . . I mean, it's obvious he is referring to me. I know Xander doesn't like his tone or his choice of words for that matter, and I expect Xander to jump into a quarrel with the both of them. However, astonishingly enough, he doesn't respond. He doesn't even disagree. He grinds his teeth, just like his brother did seconds ago, then he takes his leave.

Right before he steps out of the door, he turns to face me.

"Continue to remain quiet, brave one. Our mother is just as bad as she looks." His words appear inside my head as the door closes behind him.

Usually, I would be startled, but this time I kind of expected it. Well, I'm kind of becoming used to it. Xander has had no problem showing how he feels about me. I assume that he is only leaving this room for my benefit. Unlike his brother, Xander cares about my safety, strangely enough, or at least I would like to think that he cares.

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see the king's mother watching me. She must have noticed that Xander's eyes were lingering before he headed out the door. If she could kill me with a look, I'm almost 100 percent positive that I'd be dead.

She opens her mouth and moves her tongue over her fangs. Yup, she certainly wants to drain me. I'm extremely feeling uncomfortable, and the dryness of my throat makes it ten times worse.

I roll over, trying my best not to look at her. She shoots me an angry glare, and I want to sink underneath the covers to hide away from her. She is giving me a jeepers-creepers type of vibe. Seriously, her stare promises death. Oh great, just what I need. Another swarm of vampire enemies. The list is starting to fill up. First, King Cyrus decided to attack me for no reason, and now their mother's glare speaks a similar threat. I might as well paint, "Hate me, vampires," in bold bright red letters on my forehead.

Speaking of which, my head is pounding. Fuck, it hurts.

"Very well. I'll leave you to play with your slave whore, for now."

Yup, she has just officially assigned herself to my list. She hates me. Oh well, join the hate-her vamp club.

"Thank you, Mother," King Nicklaus says, before kissing her left cheek.

She cups his face in return, and I receive a glimpse of her true eye color. They are similar to both of her sons's—stormy, cerulean-silver, almost white, chilling orbs. Now I know why King Nicklaus's and Xander's eyes are so beautiful. They inherited them from their mother.

She leaves, and now it's just me and him. At first, I was relieved as I watched her walk out of the door, but now I'm not quite sure. King Nicklaus and I are all alone, and that didn't go so well for me the last time.

No, this is not good. This is a really, really, bad idea. Hopefully, Xander will save me.

"Don't count on that," says King Nicklaus, startling me. He makes his walk over to the bed.

When the hell is he going to stay out of my head?

This time he doesn't respond, well at least not with words. He just flashes that devilish smirk.

"Here, drink this," he says, holding my head up slightly and putting a cup of cool water to my lips.

I down the liquid without a second thought. This is exactly what I need.

"I apologize, Claire. You should have received water the very moment you awoke."

Once the cup is empty, he hands me another.

"You have already received something to stop the pain in your head," he says, massaging my temple.

My heart rate starts to pick up.

"Your headache should end soon." He snatches his hand off my temple as if I'd burned him.

"Why are you acting strange, Nicklaus?" I ask, not bothering to put "King" in front of his name.

I expected his eyes to flash and his blood to boil. Shockingly, he does the opposite. He laughs and says, "Little feisty thing, your balls grow bolder by the moment. It's nice to see that you're back to your usual self. I truly do apologize for hurting you, Claire."

His words stun me. For a second, he almost had me. I don't know what to say.

"I was listening to your thoughts when my mother was here," he confesses, climbing onto the bed.

My body visibly goes still. We're lying right beside each other. I can feel his hard chest brush against me, making my mind go blank.

King Nicklaus wraps his arms around me, and everything goes haywire, sparks of electric fire hitting me hard and setting my body alight.

What is he doing? Better yet, what is my body doing?

I attempt to provide some space between us, but the ache in my body prevents me from moving.

"Claire, calm down. I won't bite you again, or dishonor you. I'm going to command that you go to sleep. And when you wake, we should discuss arrangements for finding your parents."

"What? Find my pare—"

"Sleep, Claire," he whispers, then it all goes dark.

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Awake Mondays. Please Please Please don't forget to vote and comment. Nicklaus is starting to show his true colors. I could only predict that things shall be interesting between him and Claire! Let me know what you think Thanks Love-bugs♥️