Even after my outburst, Warrick took my hand in his as we made our way out of his office and headed in the direction of the library, curling my hand onto his forearm and holding it with his hand over mine. I glanced up at him before looking forward again and swallowed.

“I’m sorry for my outburst earlier. It was unprovoked and it wasn’t right of me to think that of you. You’ve been nothing but kind to me and it was uncalled for.” I felt his gaze drift over to me as we walked side by side and he gently squeezed my hand.

“No need for apologies, I’m sure it was called for. I didn’t answer your question and it seemed to you that I was evading it. You never have to apologize to me if I don’t act the right way with you and you deem it unfit. I am your mate after all, I have to earn my place.” I looked up at him as he continued to gaze down at me and I stopped walking.

“You’re not the only one who has to earn their place as the others mate. I guess it goes both ways.” I said quietly as I noticed we were no longer alone in the hallway.

He smiled at me and pulled me gently so we could start walking again. “Fair enough, my Queen. Fair enough.”

I let out a soft laugh. “Did I just win our first argument?”

When Warrick looked down to look at me again, I met his look with my own with a sly grin on my lips and he softly chuckled. “I suppose you have. I’m sure it won’t be the last either.”

My heart was pounding and the fluttering was happening again in my stomach. I pressed my free hand against it to hopefully calm it a little.

Warrick looked down as my hand touched my belly and he frowned. “Are you hungry? Are you not feeling well? I’ll have someone bring refreshments to the library once we get there. I’m sorry I didn’t realize how long we had spent in my office, you missed dinner.”

“Hm? Oh no, I’m fine right now, but some refreshments would be fantastic. But no, that’s not the problem, truly there is no problem. I just get this weird fluttering in my stomach when you’re around. I’ve never had it before.” I blushed when I realized what I said and he stopped in front of two large doors.

“I see, you’re getting what the humans call butterflies.” He grinned at me and stepped closer, my chest almost touching his and I leaned my head back in surprise as his eyes flooded with red. “I’m glad I’m not the only one, little dove.” He gently tapped his finger on my nose and opened the double doors, raising a hand to allow me to go first through the entry.

Instead of looking inside as I walked forward into the library, I kept my eyes on Warrick. “Why do you call me little dove?”

He raised an eyebrow and shut the doors behind him. “It’s because of your innocence. And also because of Sister Marjie calling you little Raven, and I assumed you wouldn’t want me to call you what she calls you.”

I nodded in understanding. “It’s fine if you call me that or little dove, whichever you prefer.” I looked away to finally realize how massive the library was. My eyes widened as it took my breath away. “This. This is your library?” I asked him in awe.

He chuckled under his breath. “Yes, I’ve accumulated a lot of books in my lifetime and it slowly got out of hand. There are books of different races’ history and folklore, to journals of the vampires who have died. I’m sure there’s more than just that in here but I haven’t read them all entirely. When I became King it was slightly difficult to get some down time to read again.” He looked away from me to look at all the books he’s gathered from his long life. I could see the hidden sadness behind his eyes before he closed it off when he looked back toward me.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

I walked over to him and placed my hand in his. “Then while you do your kingly duties, I can read to you the books you haven’t read yet.” I gave him a small smile.

He lifted his hand from mine and cupped my face in his hands, staring into my eyes. “You’re too good for me.” His eyes drifted down to my lips and I thought he was going to kiss me until he pressed his cold lips against my forehead. “Come, let’s find some books about our history and I’ll have someone bring you some food.”

***

Warrick gave me a short history about vampires just as Sister Marjie had. Silver would burn vampires and if it was made into a stake, piercing the heart with it, would kill them immediately. He told me that each vampire has a certain gift after they’ve been turned or born. Some have telekinesis, telepathy, and some even can control an element. It’s rare that a vampire would carry more than one gift at a time. Vampire lore states they were created by evolution of the human race and to counterbalance the world, werewolves were created. There had been too many vampires turning humans because of their bloodlust. When a vampire bites a human and drains them dry, it kills the human instantly but there’s always a drop left that the vampire venom creates another vampire. Which in turn sets off another series of events and that’s where the wolves come in. If the vampires shed too much blood in one area and kill off too many humans, the wolves are there to take them out. But since then, the wolves have become out of control with their thirst for the vampire's blood and destruction. They used to keep to the woods and mountains, but now they’ve come so far into the vampire territory that they’ve created an all out war between the two races for as long as anyone can remember.

“I truly want to learn more about what you are, I’ve never seen claws like that before in all my years on this earth. And I want to be able to help you when you finally come into your power. I wish we could find out who your parents are and it’d be easier to know from there. But I think, seeing as how it’s gotten so late into the night and you’ve been up all this time, I’ll walk you back to your room and I’ll let you rest. We’ll start on the werewolves' history and their strengths and weaknesses tomorrow.” Warrick stood and held out his hand for me to take.

I stood after taking his hand in mine and curled my arm around his. “Thank you for teaching me a few things about the vampire's history and werewolves. And you’ve been around a long time, how have you never seen my claws before?” I frowned in slight confusion.

“Don’t be too concerned about it, although the black fingers and claws have me stumped completely. I’ll look into it further to see what I can find out for you. But yes, even though I have been around a long time, I still haven’t seen everything, yet.” He muttered as he rubbed his chin in thought.

“Okay, thank you for understanding and not being angry with me. That’s never happened to me before. I was also wondering something too, if you don’t mind me asking.” I glanced up at him as we left the library.

“You can ask me anything, little dove.” Warrick gently squeezed my hand.

“What power do you have since you’re the Vampire King?” I asked him and looked at him curiously as we walked.

He chuckled under his breath. “I was wondering when you were going to ask that of me. How about I show you tomorrow night in the gardens?”

“It’s a date.” I smiled at him and blinked at what I said in surprise when his eyes turned a light red.

“And so it will be, little dove.” He stopped just outside my door and opened it for me to enter. “Goodnight, sweet dreams. I’ll see you tomorrow night.” He winked at me as he turned to head towards his office.

I quickly shut my door behind me and pressed my back against it. I couldn’t believe I just said that to the King of Vampires, let alone someone I barely knew. The butterflies started swarming in my belly again at the mere thought of tomorrow night.