Blood Of Kings (Transfusion Book 3) Read online

  “You weren’t to know this would happen Lucius, and locking me away in some…”

  “Gods be damned, Amelia, I should have fucking shackled you to me the moment you set foot in my club!” he snapped making my jaw go slack.

  “Erm…that’s a little caveman, don’t you think, even for someone with an obviously big club,” I said this time thanking the Lords in Heaven it at least got me a slight lip twitch, one that nearly made it into a small smile when I wagged my eyebrows at him.

  “Big club or not, the temptation to chain you to me is increasing by the day, princess,” was his equally possessive reply.

  “Wow, how Jabba the Hut of you…what’s next, a gold and red bikini and a chained collar around my neck, because you know, that shit didn’t end so well for Jabba,” I said and one look told me he had no clue what the Hell I was talking about. His next comment confirmed as much,

  “Okay, so I am liking the idea of the gold and red bikini, especially the chained collar to match…however, I have no idea what a Jabba is,” he told me, making me throw my hands up dramatically and say,

  “Seriously, where were you in 1977, hibernating in a coffin somewhere in Transylvania?” I said making him roll his eyes and reply with a curt,

  “Really?”

  “And in the early eighties at least?” I asked trying to even picture him in that era.

  “Probably wishing I was fucking hibernating, that’s where” he said making me smirk before saying,

  “What’s wrong, weren’t a fan of shiny shirts, white suits and big hair?” I asked giggling at just the thought. He granted me a look as if to say, ‘what do you think’.

  “Oh wait, I have just the thing!” I said getting excited and pressing the media button on the centre console screen. Then I found the music player and knowing the car had its own access to the internet I tapped in the song I wanted.

  “This one is just for you, lover boy,” I said as 80’s ‘Missing you’ by John Waite started playing, making Lucius groan and shake his head as if he didn’t know what to do with me. Then I started biting my fingers, smiling around the tips of two just before I asked in a cheeky way,

  “Come on, handsome, admit it…”

  “Admit what?” he asked trying to be stern but failing when his lips twitched again at my playful mood, one that I needed right now just to keep from focusing on what had happened to me in the last Gods only knew how many hours.

  So, I teased,

  “That you had a blonde perm.” At this his face was a picture and his reaction was so funny, that I threw my head back and roared with laughter when he shouted,

  “Fuck no!” Then he growled the rest of the way through the song, speeding through the streets of Munich, with what I knew was him trying to keep his face straight the whole time. Well, at least I was laughing instead of crying and I had to say, when I was falling from that helicopter to what I knew could have been to my death, I didn’t think the day would end by me laughing my ass off to the idea of Lucius once having a perm!

  “All that neon, I am not surprised it was my aunty Pip’s favorite era,” I said smiling at the thought of her back then.

  “I am going to take a wild guess here and say that she made quite an impression on your childhood, giving your obvious love for old pop culture?” he asked and I wondered if he really wanted to know or just knew that I obviously needed the distraction from the reality of what we had just endured. Either way, I was grateful for both.

  “That she did. Although, I can’t say that my dad was grateful, seeing as he was always the one that ended up taking me to Comicons,” I said making Lucius look incredulous for a moment.

  “What?” I asked with a frown.

  “I am shocked that he would.” I frowned harder at this and asked,

  “Why, because he is King? He is also a dad and seeing as he is an overprotective one at that, he wouldn’t have trusted me going with anyone else…besides, I think he felt guilty because there was so much I wasn’t allowed to do,” I said making Lucius look thoughtful a moment.

  “Your protection came first, as it should have,” he commented and I released a sigh and with it, all humor left me.

  “What, you didn’t approve?” he asked, and I shrugged my shoulders before telling him,

  “Not really, but then again, he isn’t the only one to continue underestimating me, so what else was this mortal princess to expect.” I think my deflated tone was easy to detect as he said my name in a soft but reprimanding tone,

  “Amelia.”

  “It’s fine, let’s just drop it okay,” I said now looking out the window and seeing my sullen expression looking back at me, now that the bright lights of the city were behind us. I suddenly wondered how long it would take us to get to his fortress and would have asked but Lucius got there first, obviously having something to say. So, after this moment of silence Lucius cleared his throat before he told me,

  “I saw what you did to those men, Amelia.” I closed my eyes and swallowed hard just thinking back to that last fight and what I had to do to survive it. Meaning now I wasn’t sure how I felt about him knowing what I had to do just to keep breathing, as it wasn’t as if he would have been opposed to the violence. No, it was more the guilt I knew he would have felt at seeing what could have happened.

  I released a sigh before turning to face him, seeing his features now only lit from the reds and blues from the illuminated display in front of him, no doubt telling him a speed that was way past the limit. Or at least it would have done had we not been on the Autobahn, which technically, didn’t have one.

  “Yeah,” was all I had it in me to say, as like I said, not fully understanding how I felt with him knowing what I did…that was until he replied with,

  “Your father would have been proud of you.” I sucked in a shuddered breath, as he had no idea how much that meant to me but then I was about to find out, it wasn’t quite as much as what it meant to me when he added,

  “I was proud of you.” This time when I closed my eyes, I did so as the emotions filled me with peace. I was just about to say something else, probably a joke or something equally inappropriate in that moment just to lighten the mood, when he beat me to it.

  And when he did, I really wished that joke had made it out first, as dread now filled me,

  “Now, as for jumping out of a fucking helicopter, well it’s time to explain that to me and be warned, princess, it better not start with…” I quickly cut him off and finished that sentence for him with what actually happened, doing so before the echo of one pissed off demon boyfriend…

  “I shot the pilot.”

  Chapter 6

  Jump of Faith

  “You did what?!” he shouted making me wince and I had to ask myself why the hell I just blurted that shit out like that! Seriously, what was wrong with me, well apart from the obvious verbal diarrhea…eww.

  “Okay, so that sounded bad,” I admitted, not that this helped much.

  “So, it didn’t happen that way then?” Lucius said with premature relief coating his words, which I didn’t think wise to let him believe for too long. Not seeing as I had already tore the band aid off, so didn’t see any point in putting that sucker back on there.

  “Oh no, it happened that way, but just sounded worse being blurted out like that.”

  “Gods give me fucking strength,” Lucius uttered under his breath and closed his eyes for a moment as he rubbed the top of his forehead. I tensed the whole time, and decided it was wise to bite my lip on making a remark like, ‘shouldn’t you be watching the road’, or ‘hey honey, please don’t kill us because I pissed you off’…that type of something.

  “Hey, but shouldn’t you be contacting your council, you know, to let them know what happ…”

  “They can wait, this however, cannot!” he snapped and for the moment I allowed his little freak out, knowing it was done solely because he cared about me and most likely, he had been going out of his mind with worry. I could tell that in t
hat single look alone when he finally saw that I was alright and also, well let’s face it, saving the fucking day, thank you very much!

  “Alright, I will tell you but first just for my peace of mind, is there any way I can just sugar coat this for you seeing as you are currently driving what must a million dollars’ worth of…” This was where he swiftly cut me off in his usual pissed off way.

  “One point nine million and no, there is no way you can sugar coat you purposely shooting a pilot and having no other choice but to open the door and jump from a fucking helicopter into the fucking Isar river!”

  “Does it help that I killed those on board too?” I asked thinking back to him being proud that I had kicked ass back at the club. He raised a brow my way and said,

  “Then consider it slightly frosted and continue, whilst my patience isn’t spent and therefore going to cost me that one point nine million.” I rolled my lips again, trying really hard not to smile at that, making him shoot me a look and say on a growl,

  “Don’t you dare fucking laugh.” So, I tightened my lips and tried to hold it in because really, Lucius was pretty funny with his dry wit, even when he was trying not to be. But then, when I felt it breaking free, I covered my mouth and shook my head, making him roll his eyes and scoff at me.

  However, as usual I could see him trying to hide his own amusement at my childish behaviour, no doubt slightly glad that I was acting this way instead of falling to pieces. Because really, I had lost count of the amount of times I could have died tonight, therefore it was little wonder why I didn’t exactly want to think too much about it. But then, how far I could get ‘not thinking about it’ when Lucius was expecting a minute by minute recap on what had happened, I didn’t know. So, I decided to tell it in a matter fact type of way, as much as I could and wondered if it would come across as not just being downplayed like I was hoping.

  “Okay, so the short version, I woke up on the floor of the helicopter, managed to grab what I thought was a gun and threatened to shoot the two soldier boys if they didn’t land and let me go. Then, after they informed me it was a tranquilizer gun, I called their bluff and threatened to shoot the pilot,” I told him thinking this was reasonable…his face said otherwise.

  “Good Gods, Amelia,” he said shaking his head.

  “Well, I knew I had to do something because it didn’t take a genius to know that they would use me to get the bloody box and we both know how that can’t happen!” I snapped making him rub a hand at the back of his neck and groan before forcing out,

  “Continue telling me what happened next.”

  “Are you sure you can handle it?” I asked in a tone that suggested I didn’t think he could. However, he just shot me a look that I knew not to argue against because there was no point. He was like a dog with a bone and wanted to know everything, despite how obvious it was that this was difficult for him to hear. Which is why I said,

  “Okay, so just remember that before I tell you this next part that I am here, I didn’t die, I am safe, and I am in the car with you…yeah?”

  “Yes, and by the grace of the fucking Gods so it would seem!” he snapped, making me frown before telling him,

  “Err, I hate to point shit out here Lucius but shouldn’t you be thanking the fucking Gods that you have a girlfriend who didn’t just sit in a corner, lose her shit, and cry for someone to save her but instead actually was the one that just saved the fucking day!?” I shouted back, finally giving him enough to think on. Only instead of saying calmly, ‘Yes Amelia, you’re right, you’re brave and courageous actions did in fact save the fucking day and I love you dearly for it!’ no, this was Lucius we were talking about… clearly, I thought with a frown.

  “Yes and I would like to remind you that your life is too fucking important to me for you to risk, so I will kindly ask you not to do so ever-a-fucking-gain and instead wait for me to come and save the fucking day! Got it?!” he growled making me fold my arms across my chest and pout, deciding I was too pissed off right now to argue against that statement. So, instead, I looked out the window, again seeing myself instead of the world we were passing at speed. I heard him release a heavy sigh before saying my name, this time in a softer tone than ‘Mr Angry, I look hot in denim pants’ from seconds ago.

  “Amelia.”

  “What!?” I snapped back.

  “Sweetheart, look at me.” This time I was the one to release a sigh before eventually giving in and looking at him, seeing that his gaze had finally softened.

  “I am proud of you. You were incredibly brave and yes, I thank the Gods that it turned out the way it did. However, you must admit, that your actions could have gone very wrong and in a way you would not have come back from. So, given this fact, surely you understand why being the person who very much wants to keep you alive for a fucking eternity, would be pissed off at hearing the way his Chosen One had risked her life to… how you put it, save the fucking day…yeah?” Okay so when he put it like that, then yeah, I guess I could see his point.

  “Now please, tell me the rest.”

  “Alright, but please try and reserve your judgement until the end or at least try and be less growly.” He raised a brow but that was it, so I continued,

  “So, instead of just calling my bluff, they tried to take the gun by force which meant the gun went off, by accident and shot the pilot…so, not entirely my fault with that one. But then seeing as neither of them could fly, I saw we were headed for over the river and decided to take my chances,” I told him and tried to ignore the way his knuckles on his one bare hand turned bone white from holding onto the steering wheel that hard.

  “So, you pulled the door and jumped,” he surmised and I could see that it was taking a vast amount of restraint from losing his temper again.

  “Well, not exactly.” I confessed quietly, wondering why I did. Jeez Fae, next time your big bad broody boyfriend asks you a question like that, you just, smile and nod. That way it’s not really a lie if you don’t speak.

  “Okay, so I tried that but then the asshole had it in his head that if he was going down then I was going with him, seeing as he was a bit pissed off with…well, you know, the fact I’d just caused their deaths and stuff…anyway, he grabbed my dress and to get free I needed to…”

  “I think I am seeing where this is going,” he said cutting me off seeing as they had found my dress and sent him a picture of it as proof of life.

  “And do I want to know the reason you’re dressed in leather?” he asked nodding down at my rock biker chick attire.

  “You like?” I asked winking at him making his lips twitch again and shake his head before informing me,

  “Sweetheart, when I get you to fuck you in leather, it won’t be some skinny guy’s worn biker gear, but something skintight that needs to be clawed off you just to free your skin from it,” he said making me swallow a whopping great lump named lust! Holy mother of a moon goddess, that was quite a picture he just painted. I just hoped I wasn’t visibly panting.

  “Mmm, I see you like this idea…this pleases me,” he informed me now adding to that secret pant with a not so secret blush.

  “So, you stole some clothes, adding to the reason you smell of Marijuana,” he said after voicing his sexual fantasy that had momentarily just stolen my voice. Which was why when I did finally speak, I didn’t fully think about my words or the way I should have worded them.

  “Oh, that, no I just stopped for a quick spliff with my new homies, only well…let’s just say that they weren’t as accommodating as I would have liked, so needed a little convincing to give up the goods. But then, I didn’t exactly feel bad for breaking a guy’s nose and then some other guy’s arm seeing as they made their intentions pretty clear when seeing a half-naked soaking wet girl, who was obviously in need of aid.” I said making him growl dangerously enough to tell me it was coming more from his demon this time.

  “For fuck sake, Amelia! Is there ever going to be a fucking day, just one, where you are not intent o
f getting fucking attacked!?” he snapped making me frown and finally I officially lost my shit and in a big way!

  “Stop fucking swearing at me! And may I remind you that up until that fucking box came into my life, then the only danger to me was my own clumsiness and shit like falling off the toilet whilst painting my own damn nails was the only reason I ended up in an emergency room!”

  “Amelia, sweet…” I cut him off as I wasn’t finished my freak out rant,

  “So, can you at least cut me some fucking slack, as it’s not like I have a damn sticker on my forehead asking for this shit to happen and who wants to see what it feels like to be stabbed by a damn pencil! I mean don’t you think that all I want is one Gods be damned night in my pajamas, on takeout Fridays, a Lego set to make, whilst spilling shit on my rug for like the millionth time whilst watching the USS Enterprise getting wrecked for the gazillithenth time, instead of killing people with stationery like John fucking Wick!” After I had finished, I was now panting for a very different reason. I was that angry and didn’t realise until he was out of the car that he had actually pulled over. Then, just before I had chance to get out of the car and ask what the hell he was doing, my door was opened, my seatbelt was undone, and I was being pulled out the car!

  “What are you…” I was cut off the second I found myself in Lucius’ arms, and this time he simply held me to him, cradling my head to his chest and I wasn’t sure in that moment who needed this more, him or me. But whichever it was, the fact remained that the second he took me in his arms, the flood gates opened and I found myself with tears in my eyes, as the entirety of the night slammed back into me. Because I may have been strong and brave when it all happened but right now, well I could be vulnerable. I could be emotional. I could be…human. And I could be all these things because I trusted Lucius to take care of them. To accept them as being me and to know that this was all I needed right now.

  And because he knew this, well it just made me love him all the more for it.