Page 36 of House of Royals

“Without you and your blood, we get none of the Royal inheritance,” Anna says. It’s the first time she’s spoken, and she sounds just as harsh as she looks. “The Royal family supports every House throughout the world. They’ve had thousands of years to earn money, and they use it to keep their influence throughout the world strong through the Houses. It also is a line to all the other Houses, creating allies, sometimes enemies. Without a Royal, we are cut off from all of that. We are in a form of exile, you could say.”

“Basically, we really need you or we’re just a bunch of outcasts,” Cameron sums up as he munches on a bag of chips. He’s always eating, yet he’s a beanpole.

“Where are all these other Houses located?” I ask. And it’s surprising that I haven’t thought to ask until now. But I remember Ian saying there were twenty-seven Houses.

Jasmine waves her hand to a map on the far wall. It’s a map of the world, an old, torn, and wrinkled one. There are large pins stuck in various places. One here in Mississippi. Others that look close to Las Vegas, New York, Seattle. Several in China, Russia. South America. They’re scattered across the globe. And all ruled by descendants of King Cyrus.

“Will the King just come and make sure I’m actually of the Royal bloodline once you claim me?” I ask. I’m trying to keep my head from spinning out of control with all the information.

“He will do far more than that, my love. He will want to check and see if you are his resurrected Queen,” Markov says with that coy, thin-lipped smile.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

I look around to all the faces that surround me, expecting this to be some kind of joke that I don’t get. Because I don’t. But no one is smiling.

“After the King turned himself into the genesis vampire,” Lillian says. There’s a darkness in her eyes that extends beyond this story. “He forced his concoction on his wife, as well, not knowing she was with child. He cursed himself then and her, too, in a way. He thought they could be together forever.

“They both craved blood and frequently fed,” she tells. “But after only eighty-nine years of immortality together, Sevan seemed to grow ill. She was constantly hungry. She drank and drank and it was never enough. She was withering before the King’s eyes. And after only a few weeks of this, she died.”

“But I thought the Born were supposed to be immortal,” I say, trying to keep everything straight.

“The King and his Queen were not Born, though,” Christian interjects. “They are the genesis of vampirism.”

“And as Lillian said, the King and Queen were cursed when he changed his wife against her will,” Markov picks up the story. “The Queen died. And the King mourned her for fifty-one years. But one day, one of the King’s great-great-granddaughters died and resurrected.”

“The longer she was awake after resurrecting, the more she started to remember from her previous life,” Jasmine takes over. “She was the Queen, resurrected in the literal sense of the word. New body, new face. But it was her. And the King had his Queen back.

“But every so often, after inconsistent amounts of time, the Queen would once again wither and starve and die. She would be gone for unpredictable stretches of time and then eventually be reborn somewhere in the Royal line.”

“That’s why the King keeps such close tabs on his posterity,” I conclude.

Jasmine nods.

“How long has the Queen been gone for this time?” I ask. It’s creepy and dark, but I can’t help but feel sorry for the King. To keep losing his love like that, to not even know her face. It really is a curse.

“Two hundred and seventy-one years,” Markov says.

“So the King…” I trail off, trying to put the pieces in all the right places. “Once the King hears about me, he’s going to come here and see if I’m this reborn Queen.”

Most of them nod, looking at me expectantly like I’m missing something important.

And then it hits me.

“But he won’t know if it’s me until I resurrect,” I say quietly. “As a vampire.”

“And he’ll do it himself,” Anna says softly.

The King will come here and kill me. I’ll come back. But he’ll kill me.

Welcome to the House of Royals.

THEY ALL BREAK OUT INTO opinions and debates and shouts. I can’t distinguish one from the other, but there’s fear and anger roiling through the room. It’s overwhelming and terrifying.

“Enough!” Jasmine bellows. She shoots to her feet, commanding the room in an instant and her eyes flare red. Every one of them falls silent and their eyes turn to her. “Alivia will have to make choices soon enough. She has a fate over her head that no one can stop. When the time comes, it will come. But for now, she’s come to us with a warning, she says.”

And I feel every one of their eyes shift to me, heavy and hot. I can’t look around at them all, I’m too scared. I can’t deny that. They are giants, and I am a tiny ant. So I just look at Jasmine. “You want me to tell you in front of everyone?”

Once again, Jasmine’s eyes grow soft and kind. The woman is hot and cold. A small smile plays on her lips. “My child, whatever warning you feel inclined to give me should be a warning for the whole House. These people are my family.”

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