B Positive by Jewel Killian
Fifteen
If the courtyardwas dead center, and the wing with the Tzarina’s Cooch Diamond, which was now safely stashed in a small safe in my apartment, was at about seven o’clock, then the king’s wing was at noon.
But as much as I was curious about the other wings, Sunny had deposited me neatly in the center of the royal pain in my ass’s bedroom, so I took it upon myself to exercise my mately duty and make sure his room was fit for, well, a king.
And by that I mean I snooped the fucking hell out of it.
I put my hands on or in everything. Every drawer, every pocket, everything.
Every stupid gray suit in the closet. I ran my fingertips over the fine fabric, squashing the irrational urge to smell it. Who knew there were so many shades of charcoal?
I checked every view from every window in his room. All of which looked down on the busy midtown streets.
The king’s bedroom was dark and moody, but not overly masculine. Deep gray walls complemented the mid-toned wood furniture. The linens were the same dark gray and while in a lot of spaces it might be too dark, Julian’s room had so many windows the effect was dramatic, not overbearing.
Sunny breezed into the suite with a pile of paperwork and set it up in the living area next to his bedroom. I sat next to her on a buttery leather sofa and waited for her to explain the papers sprawled in front of us.
“We tracked down Titus’s purchase orders going back ten years and found which safe companies he had contracts with. We even discovered which security system he uses and what contractor he hired to staff his guards.”
“Sounds like you’ve done everything right so far.”
“Well, yes, but we still don’t know which safe of the dozens he’s had delivered to his tower over the years holds the scepter.”
“Titus has had dozens of safes delivered to his property?”
Sunny nodded.
Well, I saw why they needed me. Still, I didn’t think I’d be much use as a “consultant.” I could explain the basics of any safe to anyone, but they really needed someone there in case they pulled a Russian nesting doll, like Julian had. I couldn’t prep someone for that or to think on their feet. There was no way I could jam months and months of study into someone else’s head. “There have to be others who know more about safecracking than I do. I don’t think I can do this the way you need.”
Sunny nodded. “There are. But they’re all human. They can’t set foot in Titus’s tower without becoming a meal.”
That sent a jolt of ice down my back. I didn’t know what kind of arrangement Titus had with the human officials on his side of the river, but the rumor was that he kept them all compelled so his vamps could feed on the streets.
More like murder in the streets.
“So, I’m the only vampire safecracker?”
Sunny nodded, scrolling away on her tablet. “You know the reason, Eden. Vampires respect the chain of authority too much to steal from a king. The safes are for the illusion of safety alone because any vamp could tear the door off its hinges. But brute force sets off secondary alarms and countermeasures, so we need to be more subtle about it if we want to get out alive.”
Yeah. But that was only part of the reason I was the only vamp safecracker. Sunny was just too thoughtful to say it out loud.
If Odette hadn’t died, she would have instilled in me respect for vampire authority and I never would have considered stealing from a king.
It made sense, but also, it kind of didn’t. “Okay, but who was doing this before me?”
“No one. During previous incursions, they displayed the objects in front of everyone. The game was more about who had the skill and balls to steal in plain sight more than anything.”
And since Julian had caught wind of a supernatural thief, I was the perfect choice to help with the new way of things.
I nodded, head a little spinny, like I needed some blood.
Hadn’t I just had some at breakfast?
It was probably all this talk of Titus getting to me. I took a hard left and changed the subject with zero segue or tact. “What about you? Do you have a mate?”
Sunny’s eyes widened, and an adorable flush spread across her nose. “Oh, um, we don’t have to talk about that.”
“I have exactly one friend, Sun, and I just found out that I was keeping secrets from him when I didn’t need to. I don’t want to start off our relationship one-sided like I did with him.”
Her cat-like gaze met mine. “You want to be my friend?”
“Uh, duh. You’ve got killer style and you know way more about all the vampy shit than I do. Plus, if you’re gonna make me stay here, we might as well be friends.”
She shook her head, brow pulling together. “But I’m the king’s aide.”
I shrugged, not sure what she was getting at. “Is this a hierarchy thing? ’Cause I don’t really care about that.” If she was about to tell me that I could only be friends with the mates of other kings, I was gonna start throwing things.
Sunny picked up the tablet and scrolled through it at lightning speed. Not quite a blur, but definitely faster than a human. “There’s nothing in our laws that strictly forbids it,” she mused and glanced up at me. “I don’t have a mate. Yet. It’ll happen though, after I decide to die.”
Hm. I knew fuck-all about living vampires, but I’d be willing to bet my tips for a week that her word choice was a clue about how she felt about it. “You don’t want to become a vampire?”
She chewed her bottom lip. “Stupid, right? I know it’s supposed to be this great awakening where I’ll see just how limited the human experience is, but what if this is really the better life? What if I turn, and regret it? I can never have this time again. I’ll never get this back.”
Sunny’s human life had clearly been far different from mine if she was struggling to choose between it and vamp life. Still, I understood uncertainty. “Are you expected to turn at a certain point?”
“I was supposed to last year. But now it feels like the longer I hold out, the more difficult it becomes.”
“Well, believe it or not, I do know what you’re going through. As much as I wanted to go through the change, I was still scared shitless. How about I promise to be there for you when you decide to take the plunge?”
She gave me a small smile and nodded. “Thank you. I think I’d like that.”
After a few moments, we regrouped and focused on the paperwork still spread out in front of us.
I scanned the purchase orders and delivery receipts, counting at least thirty different safe models, some of which I hadn’t even heard of. “Sunny, even if I could go to his tower, I’m not sure I could crack his safe. He’s got paperwork on models I’ve never heard of.”
She nodded. “I was afraid of that. Hopefully, King Julian will be back with good news on the negotiation side of things.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, we can’t exactly call for all-out war on each other. The risk it would pose to our people aside, it would endanger our very existence. The more overt our tactics, the greater risk we run of being discovered by the greater human population. That’s not something we can afford to risk so generations ago, the ruling families drew up rules to keep our in-fighting covert and as nonaggressive as possible. With that comes a formal negotiation period when the leaders of each side agree on the time frame and parameters for each incursion.”
Sounded like Cold War bullshit to me. “Incursion?”
“Each king gets three incursions—sanctioned events when each is allowed on the other’s turf. During an incursion, the goal of the hosting side is to protect their claim to the throne by whatever means necessary while the other side tries to undermine it. All under the guise of a party.”
That sounded incredibly strange, and I didn’t bother keeping the thought from showing on my face.
Sunny shook her head. “I know. You’re a new vamp, and you weren’t taught the importance of the incursions or what they mean to each side. You don’t know the history. And I admit, it must sound pretty juvenile to outside ears. But let me assure you, Eden, there are no stricter rules than those around incursions. And while it may sound silly to you, it’s saved countless lives.”
She lowered her lashes, back stiffening the smallest degree.
Sunny was hiding something.
“I’m hoping King Julian will have arranged ample time before the first incursion for more research.”
“Ah. I see. Well, how long does the negotiation period normally take?”
Sunny whizzed through the tablet. “Last time it took seventy-three hours.”
“Three days! Sunny! I can’t stay stuck here for three days. I have a job. A life! People counting on me.”
Sunny furrowed her brow at me. “Eden, you’re the king’s mate. That makes you one of the two wealthiest people in Laurel Cove. You don’t need to work. And the king won’t have it.”
My brain skipped over the wealthy part, needing to deal with that some other time. “Sunny, I can’t just quit and leave them in the lurch. Besides, I’m not even sure I want to accept this mate thing. I’ve agreed to help with the theft. That’s all.”
“You can’t seriously be considering rejecting the king.”
I shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know anything about the guy, Sunny. What if he likes to run over puppies for fun?” Or he thinks the poor should just pull themselves up by their bootstraps and work harder? “I’m not just going to accept this bullshit mate thing just because—”
“It’s meant to make your life easier, Eden. Not harder.”
“Maybe so, but I’m not buying it until I know the guy. That’s not unreasonable.”
She nodded curtly, and we both went back to scouring the paperwork.
After some time my head went spinny again. “I need some blood,” I said, pressing the heel of my hand into my eyes.
Sunny checked the tablet before sashaying out. A few minutes later she was back with the Starbucks cup from this morning. The scent wafted over to me and my fangs descended without my say-so.
I clapped a hand over my mouth. “I’m so sorry! That hasn’t happened in months.”
Sunny only smiled as she handed me the cup.
I took it and sucked down half before taking a breath. “Thanks,” I gasped. “I don’t know what’s come over me. I haven’t had cravings like this since…” I didn’t finish the sentence. Sunny didn’t need to know about the last time I had blood cravings that made me lightheaded.
It was probably some wonky side effect of the mate bond. But I’d have to remember to ask Julian about it to be sure.
The last thing anyone needed was a bloodlust-y Eden terrorizing the compound.