Chapter 96 - The King's Bite

The hardest part about adjusting to Cilla’s new change had to be the thought of telling her parents. Allegra was so used to them, that her vampire status was almost inconsequential, but she knew it would be a lot for scientific minds such as the Duvals to accept the fact that vampires existed, let alone their daughter being one. Still, she made sure to tell her mother that they had rescued the redhead. She was deliberately vague about who was involved. Allegra and Vladislav needed to figure out how to deal with Elanora before letting it be known that she was involved in the plot.

The older woman made it clear she wanted to see her daughter with her own eyes, but Allegra panicked. One look at Cilla’s new eyes was sure to freak her out. Instead, she suggested she visit because her friend was taking some time to rest and recover. That idea assuaged her fears and the next thing she knew, both her parents sent their flight details so they would know when to be expected. They planned to land within a couple of days, so it gave them enough time to agree on just how much they would all reveal.

In the meantime, Allegra wondered if they could do something about her best friend’s eyes. There was nothing wrong with them, but they both knew how unnerving they appeared to humans. Cedai came up with the perfect solution.

“I can cast a masking spell on them,” said the fae over breakfast.

It was the morning after Cilla’s transformation and the three of them had gathered to discuss everything. Vladislav was hesitant to share details of the rescue with his wife, so she decided to get them from the source. Milena was also supposed to join them, but the vampiress seemed to hold herself at fault for everything and was avoiding the redhead for the time being. Allegra knew it bothered Cilla, but she tried not to let it show.

“We use them whenever we have to blend in with humans,” Cedai explained, which made sense.

Although a lot of the features the fae held were similar to humans, the purple eyes and pointy ears would stick out anywhere that was not a movie set or a cosplay event. Cedai wordlessly waved her hand over her face very slowly. Her ears became more rounded and her eyes darkened into the same brown as Allegra’s, as if to prove her point. The Duchess stared in wide-eyed fascination. The scope of fae magic never failed to impress her.

“Why didn't you do that during my wedding?” she asked in disbelief as she remembered the deep purple of Cilla’s eyes on the day.

“I was very wrung out,” the fae admitted. The protection ritual took a lot out of me, but Zallius and I held onto our vow of silence for so long that right now I am close to peak condition... even after the considerable effort over the past couple of days.”

“That, and it was really funny seeing your mother being scared shitless of me,” Cilla said smugly, much to ask their amusement.

The redhead was drinking from a large handheld flask. Allegra suspected she deliberately chose an opaque vessel so it would not be too obvious that she was drinking blood, despite the fact that they all knew what it was. Allegra had half been expecting her friend to mindlessly attack her in a feeding frenzy when she woke up, but Milena assured her that that rarely happened. Cilla had been given more than enough blood upon being changed – so much so that Milena had almost drained herself, Mace later told her. Any hunger that she felt would be manageable, especially since they had a virtually never-ending supply at the castle. She was still uncomfortable with the thought of drinking directly from people, however, hence the flask.

“I’m so sorry, Cilla,” Allegra said for the umpteenth time. None of this would have been possible if they had taken her protection more seriously. None of this would have happened had her sister not assisted Rafael.

“You really don't have to keep apologising, Legs,” Cilla said. She was starting to feel uncomfortable with her best friend's guilt. “You have no control over what your family does. Besides, other than Elanora, those who do owe me an apology are dead and gone. Sorry, Cedai.”

She blurted out the last part when she remembered how close she and Azil were. In retrospect, considering how many lives had been taken, Cilla had come out from the fray relatively unscathed. The fae simply nodded. Cedai had been particularly quiet on that front and Allegra could not blame her.

“I know you don't want to talk about it,” Cilla said with a nervous glance at her best friend, “but for what it’s worth, I thought you should know that Elanora did try to keep me safe. The key word here is ‘try’, because she just got knocked out for her efforts.”

“You’re right,” Allegra said coldly. “I don't want to talk about this at all.”

“Just hear me out,” Cilla insisted. “You know I'm not a fan, but in this case I think her desperation just took over. She was convinced that Rafael wouldn’t hurt me because he claimed to love me and she somehow saw him as a kindred spirit, going about finding love in the worst way possible. When he had me in arms reach and knew he couldn’t escape... when he made it clear he was going to drain me dry, she stepped forward to try to stop him. She realised she was in over her head far too late, but she did try. Do with that as you will.”

“It’s true,” Cedai said reluctantly. “She probably knew there was nothing she could do, but she tried anyway.”

“She also put this whole thing in motion,” Allegra reminded them mercilessly. “You said yourself, that portal only opened because she willingly gave up her blood. I appreciate what you're trying to do for her, but Elanora doesn't deserve your empathy. Let’s move on to the masking spell. Would it work on a vampire?”

Cedai and Cilla exchanged uneasy glances, but ultimately dropped it.

“I’ve never tried it, but I see no reason why it shouldn’t,” Cedai said as she faced the redhead.

She brought her palm up to Cilla’s face just as she had done to her own earlier. Allegra assumed it would take even less time since she was only changing one thing, but as the fae’s hand began to lower, it halted right in front of the new vampire’s eyes and the look of concentration increased tenfold. After an extended moment, the hand finished its decent, but Cilla’s eyes remained the same. Allegra felt disappointment lance through her until her best friend blinked her eyes. When they opened again, they were back to their normal vibrant green.

“It worked!” the Duchess exclaimed with disbelief.

“Yes,” Cedai chuckled. “It usually lasts a couple of days unless undone. I've made sure to extend it, so hopefully it will last over the next few weeks.”

Cilla was too busy staring at her reflection through her phone’s front camera. The relief on her face was palpable.

“Thank you, Cedai,” she sighed, a heavy burden lifting from her shoulders. “Now I don’t have to worry about seeing my mother flinch from me when I try to hug her.”

“As long as you don't try to crush her to death like you did with me, you should be fine,” Allegra jested.

The answering laughs brought a lightness to the room that had been absent before. For the first time since returning to Nefolktu, Allegra felt happiness boom inside her heart once more.

***

“Are you sure you want to do this? She will understand if you do not wish to talk to her. I certainly would.”

Vladislav had Allegra’s hand in his own as he led her into a seldom used wing of the castle. They had decided that isolating Elanora would be best while they decided how best to move forward. She was still fed four times a day and allowed to roam free in her suite – which was better than they had treated Cilla. Her phone, however, was confiscated. Basically, Elanora was a prisoner, but not for much longer.

“I have to,” Allegra said to her husband. “This is most likely going to be the last time I ever see her. I might as well say goodbye.”

Vlad nodded with understanding as they approached her door. There was one guard stationed outside and he was currently speaking with Mystik. Allegra recognised him as one of the vampires who had accompanied them to Gatterlein. They both nodded at the couple respectfully before the guard rapped his fingers brusquely against the door to let Elanora know someone was coming in. It was early evening, so it was too late for tea and too early for dinner. It was undoubtedly a change from the routine of the past couple of days, so she expected her sister would be nervous even before they made their entry.

Allegra pushed the door open, not bothering to wait for any longer. When she saw her sister was dressed, she opened the door wider to show Vladislav to step in behind her. He closed the door behind him and they wordlessly walked deeper into the room. Elanora was in an armchair with a movie or show of some kind playing, not that she was paying any attention. Her eyes were now taking her two visitors in and her fingers nervously fluttered over her palm as they sat next to each other on a sofa. Vlad made sure to sit closer to Elanora because he was unsure whether or not his wife would try to attack her sister.

“I've talked to mother,” Allegra said as she reached for the remote and shut the TV off with the click of a button. “She will be expecting you home tomorrow.”

Elanora breathed a sigh of relief and Vladislav wondered if she thought she would be imprisoned there for the rest of her life, or worse – killed. He had admittedly considered the latter, but did not bother bringing it up to his wife because he knew she would not be up for it.

“I think it goes without saying that you are now banned from entering Nefolktu ever again,” Vladislav said, sounding bored. “The same goes for both your parents. We will keep the news under wraps to save your family embarrassment, but should any of you cause us any trouble in the future, that will change.”

Elanora nodded numbly.

“You are not to contact either my wife or I ever again,” the King continued. “If you wish to relay important news to either of us, you will go through Milena. She will deem whether or not it deserves a response. I am sure I do not have to tell you not to bother reaching out with news that is not of the highest importance.”

“Are you serious?” Elanora scoffed in disbelief as she looked at her younger sister imploringly.

“Deadly,” Allegra spat. “I’ve already blocked all of your numbers, so if you try something slick like contacting me on another number or using Aidon’s phone, that will fall under the category of ‘causing us any trouble’ that Vladislav mentioned earlier.”

“Allegra, I’m –”

“Save it,” the Duchess interrupted. “I'm not the one you owe an apology to. Cilla’s parents are coming soon and I’d rather you weren’t here when they arrive. The extent of what to tell them is up to her, but I’d rather not lie to them. They will most likely know about your involvement by the time they return to Rijavia. If you try to intimidate or harass them in any way, that will also count as causing us trouble.”

“I would never do that,” Elanora said with a quiet fierceness.

Allegra shot her a cold smile. “Of course not,” she said as an eyebrow shot up tauntingly. “Just as I'm sure you would never participate in human trafficking.”

The sisters glared at each other and Vladislav cleared his throat to get things back on track.

“This time, you will be accompanied by a guard,” he said, standing up to open the door as said guard stepped in. He returned to his seat. “You might be familiar with Mystik. He will make sure to deliver you to your parent’s doorstep so that we do not have a repeat of last time.”

“Fine,” Elanora huffed. Mystik nodded cryptically, but otherwise maintained his silence as he left the room and shut the door behind them. “What about Aidon?”

“He will be returning with King Emir and Queen Solal after Allegra’s coronation,” Vladislav said with a slight smirk. “He seems intent on mending a few broken bridges, but seems pleased that his daughter will no longer bear the title of the family’s black sheep.”

“Oh, and if it wasn't clear,” Allegra inserted, purposely needling. “You aren’t invited.”

“Yes, it was perfectly clear,” Elanora said with clenched teeth before she darted a nervous glance between the two of them. Allegra could guess what was on her mind, but she still could not believe she actually had the gull to voice it. “What about Gregory?”

“Greg is living his life,” Allegra said with a disapproving frown. “I won’t go out of my way to contact him so I can spill all your dirty secrets, but I won’t hide them, either. If he ever comes back to Kalitsk and asks, I will tell him everything. If he doesn’t, then maybe you have a chance and he’ll take you back.”

“Allegra, please –”

“No,” the Duchess said shortly. She refused to even let her sister voice whatever was on her mind. “You almost got my best friend killed. You irreparably set her life on a course that was not of her own choosing. You don’t get to ask me for anything ever again. Your flight leaves at ten tomorrow morning. Someone will be in to wake you up early enough to be on time.”

Vladislav sensed that was the end of that. He stood up with his wife’s hand in his; mind already aiming for the door, but Allegra pulled him to a halt.

“For what it’s worth, I hope you actually do learn from this and stop living your life to please mother now,” Allegra said as the sisters stared at each other. “Even if you do, however, please don’t reach out to me. I'm done with this chapter of my life.”

She looked up at her vampire and he squeezed her hand comfortingly before they left the room together, hand in hand.

***

Allegra’s head was resting on her husband’s chest. The rest of the evening had gone by in an uneventful blur. Vladislav could tell she was conflicted, but knew she had done the right thing. He chose to hold her close in their bed rather than try to comfort her with meaningless words. She had done her best to keep her family in her life, but in the end it was not meant to be. He knew she would come to accept it in time, just as he would accept the choice he had made to end Rafael’s life. He knew they were both in their own kinds of pain. He also knew that the only thing that would heal that pain was being with each other.

The vampire King’s grey eyes slid down to her prone figure. He could tell she was not asleep by her breathing. She was probably too troubled to rest. He brought his lips to the crown of her head and placed a firm kiss there. The feel of his cold lips shook her out of her reverie as she lifted her eyes to meet his. She released a small smile when he saw the fondness that he did not bother to hide.

“What was that for?” she asked.

“Do I need a reason to kiss my wife?” he asked right back.

She rolled her eyes playfully. “I was just thinking that this is the way we would have ended our honeymoon,” she admitted. “It was delayed, but at least we got here in the end.”

Vlad took some initiative and rolled them over until he had trapped her beneath him.

“Funny,” he murmured, pressing a soft kiss on her neck. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

“You were not,” Allegra giggled, calling him out on his lie.

“No,” Vlad admitted shamelessly. “I was not.”

Whatever answer she was going to give was swallowed by his lips descending onto hers. They both closed their eyes as their lips met, Allegra giving a sigh of relief. It was like coming home after a long, laborious trip. She hummed contentedly as his tongue swiped across her own possessively. Vlad moved his arm so his hand slid between her back and their sheets. It slid down until he was cupping her backside, pressing her impossibly closer to himself. His hardness spurred her on and, in the next moment, she was grinding insistently against him.

Their lips broke free of each other’s as Allegra took in some much needed air, but the needy sounds spilling from her were absolutely maddening. Vlad only allowed her a brief reprieve before he claimed her lips for his own once more. She squirmed in his arms until he loosened his hold just enough for her to slip out of the dress she was wearing. So distracted was she by trying to wrestle the material away from her body that she did not realise her husband was content with just sitting there and staring at her.

Allegra flung the dress away from her, remaining in her bra and panties. She turned to see her vampire still completely dressed and shot him a look of frustration as her fingers flew to the buttons on his shirt to begin loosening them. All the while, Vlad continued to stare at her.

“I love you,” he said as he watched her struggle with the third button. It was breathed out like some kind of confession and his words caused her fingers to stumble even more.

“What did you say?” she asked as she came to a complete halt, raising her eyes to stare directly into his. For the first time, she took note of the adoring look in his eyes.

“You heard me,” he said as he sat upright, pulling her into his lap so they were facing each other even closer than before, their eyes close to being on the same level.

“Then say it again,” Allegra demanded in a disbelieving whisper.

“I love you,” he repeated.

“What changed?” she asked, not sure what to do now that the words she had dreamed of hearing from him had finally been uttered.

“Nothing changed,” Vlad said with a shake of his head. “I just needed time to be sure of what I was feeling.”

“And you’re sure now?” she asked with a hitch in her voice, brown eyes staring searchingly into his grey ones.

“I am one hundred percent sure,” her vampire said as he leaned forward and pressed the most tender kiss to her lips. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Allegra said with a watery chuckle, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding them close together for a moment before she pulled back and looked him up and down with a mischievous smile. “Now, take off the rest of your clothes.”

Vladislav let out a deep laugh, but did not hesitate in doing exactly what his wife asked of him.