Claire POV.

As soon as Xander's name leaves his mouth, my heart rate accelerates, butterflies swirl in my stomach, and I feel all mushy inside.

The three kings all turn to face me. One stares at me in amusement, another one with great interest, and the other, let's just say, King Nicklaus is sending daggers my way. Sort of like scorching hot daggers that have been placed into the fire. Just like silver daggers with neon orange and neon red blending together at the sharpest point of the knife, straight out of the fire type of daggers. The intensity of his stare is that serious. He's way past the point of being pissed.

I don't have the slightest clue why. I lost track of the whole conversation once he mentioned Xander's name.

"We shall finish this conversation," King Nicklaus growls, speaking through clenched teeth.

The other kings don't say a word. They vanish in the blink of an eye. Just like that, they're gone. I'm just sitting in my chair looking dumbfounded, left all by myself with this very angry-looking vampire king.

Like seriously, what did I miss?

He continues to stare intensely at me for a long-drawn-out moment, before finally breaking the silence.

"Come to me, Claire," he commands. His voice sparks something inside me. "Now, Claire," he barks, holding the edge of the table so hard it cracks.

I must be going insane because I rise instantly, and my feet move in his direction. But this time, my mind actually agrees with my body's reaction. There's something about how he called my name. It stirred a strange reaction deep within, burning flames inside me that match the color of his red, glowing eyes.

Without being told to, I take a seat on his lap, shocking the hell out of myself. But he doesn't move me; he doesn't even look surprised, not in the slightest. He continues to stare at me with blazing red eyes that seem to burn brighter by the second, red flames dancing away. I seem to be caught in some kind of trance. My heart rate increases, my heart beating so fast I feel like it may jump out of my chest, forming little legs before taking off. The butterflies that once were flying inside of me turn into buzzing bees, stinging the surface of my gut.

King Nicklaus continues to watch me, eyes focused and lips turning into a deadly smirk.

"This is the only reason your heart rate should speed up, firecracker," he tells me trailing his finger down the side of my face, never once breaking eye contact.

"You belong to me, Claire." His voice sounds compelling, but this time it doesn't feel like he's reminding me of my place. His words are spoken with more emotion, in a possessive but passionate way.

A passionate way. Yup. I'm losing my mind.

Whatever he does to me would explain exactly why I'm reacting like this. It's not me. This is him, controlling me again. That's the only thing that could explain why I feel so comfortable sitting on his lap, or why I so foolishly believe he's claiming me in another way.

A passionate way to be exact, his smirk deepens.

"At this moment you're free from my control, Claire."

His finger makes its way to my chin. He lifts my face up high, holding it in place making sure we're sharing eye contact.

"And I mean what I said in every single way that's running through that pretty little head of yours."

Shivers run down my spine. I part my lips to speak, but he cuts me off before a word can come out.

"Forget everything you saw or heard tonight. Eat your dinner until I suggest, otherwise . . ." He pauses. "Oh . . . and stop drooling over my brother." His words echo loudly inside my head.

My mind drifts off in a misty haze. I blink rapidly, feeling like I've just had one hell of a dream. Silver-cerulean eyes are staring directly at me, and I'm sitting on his lap. I'm sitting on the lap of the king of all vampire kings!

My eyes grow wide as I leap into the air and stumble back.

"Um, what's going on?" I ask, turning around, taking in a table filled with mouthwatering food.

He chuckles, bringing my attention back to him.

"You must have hit your head harder than I thought."

"Hit my head?" I sit in a chair. Usually, I don't eat anything given to me by a vampire. But for some strange reason, the spaghetti is calling out to me, practically screaming my name. So I place a huge amount onto a plate and dive in.

Yummy, this is delicious, really, really good.

I nearly moan from the taste.

King Nicklaus clears his throat.

"How's the food?"

I twirl some of the tasty noodles with my fork.

"It's actually pretty good," I answer with a slurp. "My head is killing me. What did you do? Hit me with a sock full of rocks?"

His laughter fills the air.

"You tripped, remember?" he says, pointing his finger at a crack on the table. "Hit your head and landed right onto my lap, like the clumsy little human you are."

"And like my knight in shining armor, you caught me." I stick my tongue out at him, demonstrating his amateur vampire behavior. "I'd rather be a clumsy human than a blood-sucking leech." I slurp the last of my spaghetti and then add some more on my plate. I'm not even hungry, but I still feel like I didn't have enough to eat. "I bet it killed you to have to share your seat, with you being a privileged vampire king and all."

He wiggles his eyebrows.

"On the contrary, I never told you to move, sweetheart. I actually enjoyed the feeling of you moving around, sitting fairly close to my own balls."

My whole face heats up. Fucking pervert!

"Speaking of balls, I know you had enough to eat." I place my fork down, suddenly no longer having enough room to finish my food.

He's wearing a slightly amused, slightly conceited, expression.

"You sure know how to stop a girl from finishing her food, pervert," I call him, stretching the last word out.

He leans closer, hovering over a few chairs that are separating us.

"You have no idea how true your statement is, angel face," he confesses, curving his lips into a full-fledged, seductive smirk and flashing pearly white teeth.

My breath catches in my throat as he leans closer. His broad shoulders brush against my left arm. Having close contact with his slender but muscular frame is enough to make any girl faint.

I bite my bottom lip. Why does he have to be so goddamn handsome, so goddamn good-looking?

He stands up straight and presses himself against the side of my body. If my face was on fire before, it is burned to a crisp at this point. Because of his height, this new position places his waist directly in front of my face. His spaghetti balls are practically served on a platter—meaty and plump enough to eat.

Realizing my eyes are set in stone, staring at the hanging jewels, I jump out of my seat.

Oh God, his balls were in my face and I thought about them being good enough to eat! I mentally smack myself.

"Still hungry?" he asks wiggling his eyebrows, adding more to my embarrassment.

I totally, forget about him having the ability to read my mind.

My hands cover my face in a failed attempt to hide the red blush on my cheeks.

"It's okay, Claire. There is no need to be shy. You can't help yourself, with me being a blood-sucking leech and all," he teases, forcing my blush to spread all over my face.

I don't know what to say. This situation is already awkward enough. The sound of clicking heels comes to my rescue, saving the day. A young girl with a round face comes into view. She curtsies before kneeling.

"Your Highness, I apologize for interrupting you. King Cyrus is requesting another audience," her soft voice announces.

She looks very familiar, but for the life of me, I cannot place my finger on where or when we met. It's very strange that I believe we have met before. I have lived in the school my entire life and I know for a fact, that she didn't attend the academy with me. She's wearing six-inch heels, and a black tight-fitted dress complements every inch of her curves. Her dark mahogany hair is pulled into a high bun, revealing her slender neck. My eyes zero in on two tiny puncture holes followed by a trail of blood.

"Who fed on you?" I choke, jumping towards her to further evaluate her neck.

She flinches, cowering away in fear but doesn't respond. The poor thing is terrified out of her mind, petrified even.

"Claire," King Nicklaus calls out in a warning tone.

Claire my ass.

"Who did this to her?" I turn to face him, not giving two shits about his status or the strength he possesses to overpower me. This is some sick shit, how dare he?

"Don't forget your place," he hisses, revealing his fangs.

My place . . . my place . . . That does it.

I swing my hand out, jabbing him right in his face. It feels like I punch a wall. A snapping sound soon follows, alerting me that I may have cracked my wrist. Disregarding the pain, I continue my attack.

"You blood-sucking leech! You blood-sucking leech!" I land punch after punch—my temper flaring rapidly by the second—raising my voice as I scream.

The ground trembles beneath me, followed by whooshing air, and my back abruptly hits a wall. I close my eyes through the process. Nonetheless, I continue to fight—swinging, kicking, and biting. Yes, actually biting, and I have to admit the taste of his skin is satisfying to my taste buds.

He grips onto my hips, gentle but firm enough to keep me in place.

"Get your filthy hands off me, leech. You fucking monster."

I continue my assault, attempting to ignore his warm, intoxicating vanilla scent.

Gosh, he smells so good.

"Calm down, little firecracker."

His smooth and compelling voice settles my anger immediately. I then realize that his entire body is coating my own. My mouth seems to dry up, and my heart races, running its own personal marathon inside my chest, just beating away.

"Look at me, Claire."

My eyes pop open.

"The only human that will ever feel the pleasure of my fangs piercing their flesh . . ."—he pauses for a second—"is you."

Booming laughter and hand clapping sound off from behind us.

"Nice show. Like seriously, you guys really put on a great performance," a voice full of amusement tells us.

King Nicklaus's muscles twitch.

"Didn't I tell you that we would finish our conversation later?" He turns to face the direction the voice came from, providing me a view to see King Cyrus sitting in a chair and smiling brighter than the early morning sun.

"Get out!" King Nicklaus shouts, pressing his tall frame against me, intentionally blocking me away from King Cyrus's wondering eyes.

"Aww come on, man. Don't be such a grouch," he responds.

I can't see his face, but the tone of his voice confirms that he's holding back laughter.

"I just wanted to—"

"Get out!" King Nicklaus interrupts him.

"Okay, okay, okay." King Cyrus stands, holding his hands in the air, no longer being able to contain his laughter. "I'll go, but before I take my leave, I thought you would like to know that—"

King Nicklaus taps his foot.

I can tell that his patience is wearing thin.

"I don't give a—" He starts to say, cutting him off again before his neck snaps in the direction of the door.

A high-pitched voice calls out, "Honey dumplings, I'm home."

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Awake Fridays
Sorry about the late update! Today is my son's birthday ☺️ next update will be Monday! It may be uploaded late just a heads up.