The Vampire King's Fated Mate

CHAPTER 9: ARE YOU SCARED?

Nicolette's mind kept spiralling since she saw the bite marks on the pizza delivery guy earlier. It was minutes after 8 PM, and she wondered when Ambrose would show up.

Her sour expression and blazing stare told the story of her unhappiness with the terrifying events that occurred.

So, another vampire was in town, well, another one that she knew of.

She bit down her nails to the quick, thinking of the possibility that the human world could be taken over by these bloodsucking demons at any moment.

Her heart slammed in her chest, thinking about Ambrose being one of those bloodsucking demons. But Ambrose wasn't like that, she told herself. He was a good vampire, like Angel from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and just like Angel, Ambrose has a soul.

Maybe it was just a random vamp, passing through the town and he was just hungry. He didn't even kill the pizza boy, so that spoke volumes.

But could there be more than two in town? She wondered, making it her prize question to ask Ambrose when she saw him later on that night.

Nicolette exhaled as she tried to push away the invading bitter thoughts. She shook her shoulders as she lazily strolled to her bathroom.

Her reflection jabbed her in the eyes as she stared at it in the mirror above the sink.

It was evident that she hadn't been calm in hours. Her hazel eyes were dull and sunken in her face like a hungover zombie. Further inspections showed the dark circles beneath her almond-shaped eyes, and her entire face was completely covered in worry.

Nicolette was in a daze. She did not notice when her fingers turn the faucet on or when she cupped her palms beneath the pipe, filling her hands with water and then splashing her face.

Like a memory, her hand spread toothpaste on her toothbrush and she mechanically cleaned her teeth and rinsed her mouth, all while replaying the events of the pizza-thieving vampire in her head.

“That Jezebel!”

Nicolette heard Lexi cursing at the top of her voice. Her cousin went over to Donna's house in the afternoon as a surprise and, obviously, something went wrong by all the yelling.

“I can't believe that turd!” Lexi's voice sizzled through the halls, filling Nicolette's room. Nicky detected the hostility in her cousin's tone. Something was wrong.

Nicky sprung into action and hurried to her older cousin's room.

Nicky noticed Lexi laying flat on her back across the bed. Her feet dangled to the side while she had her arm across her eyes.

“Lexi, what's wrong?” Nicolette climbed on the bed and snuggled next to her cousin. Lexi then rolled to the side facing Nicky, revealing her red-puffy eyes. She was crying, and it hurt Nicky because she had never seen her jovial cousin cry before. “Oh, honey,” Nicky sighed as she dragged her cousin in for a cuddled hug. “It's OK,” Nicky cooed. She detected the smell of liquor and sour cream chips on Lexi's breath.

Lexi sniffled.

“It's not OK, Donna lied to me.” She pulled from Nicky's embrace and jolted her body into a sitting position. She gasped, trying to swallow her sobs in between her sniffles. Nicky waited for her to explain. “She—she lied to me when she said she came out to her parents. I went to her uncle's place as a surprise and stumbled on her f*****g engagement party.”

Nicky's eyes widened.

“What, but I thought she said her parents threw her out, and that's why she was living with her uncle,” Nicky stated as she remembered what Donna had told them at the masquerade ball.

“Well, she lied. Her uncle had surgery, and that's why she was staying with him. He needed someone around until he recovered. I am nothing more than an experiment to her. She doesn't love me. She is marrying some Ivy League prick whose parents are best buds with her witch face mom.”

“I am so sorry, Lexi. Donna is an i***t!”

“You should have seen the look on their faces, Nicky,” Lexi shifted, so she could look at her cousin. “They looked at me like I was trash and the worst part was when Donna pretended not to know me and asked if I was lost.” Lexi erupted in full-blown sobs now. “I am so hurt, Nicky. I love her so much!”

“Come here,” Nicky whispered as she pulled her cousin into her warm embrace. “Donna is a jerk, and she doesn't deserve your awesomeness.”

Lexi let out a giggle, pulling away to glance at Nicky's face. She examined her cousin and realized that she wasn't looking that fresh. “OK, enough about that b***h,” Lexi announced, wiping the tears from her face with the inside of her shirt. “Now tell me, what is up with you? Why do you look like s**t?”

Nicky let out an exasperated sigh. “Where do I begin?”

“How about the beginning,” Lexi suggested. So, Nicky relayed every piece of information she could remember to Lexi.

Fifteen minutes later, Lexi was pacing back and forth in her room, like a guard on patrol. Her brows were furrowed, and Nicky was getting impatient. “Lexi, say something.”

“Nicky, babe,” Lexi went to sit beside her cousin at the edge of the bed. She took Nicky's palm in hers. She struggled to keep the tears in her eyes as she spoke. “There are no such things as vampires. I don't know what Mr. Phantom gave you that night, but I think it is still affecting your brain.”

Nicky saw the worry in her cousin's eyes. Lexi probably thought she was going insane, so Nicky did the next best thing. “You're right, I'm just stressed out because I did not get a call from any of the hospitals I've applied to.”

Nicolette recently graduated as an RN, and she had been focused on starting her career as a nurse. Lexi seemed to buy that story as her body relaxed. “Don't worry cous, you will get a call soon. I'm certain, you're so smart.”

“Thanks. What about you? How's the job search going?”

“Well, it's going slowly, and I think Uncle Paul will throw me out soon if I don't get a job.” Lexi excluded the f****d up email she got in the afternoon. She knew Nicky wouldn't hesitate to pay the school a little visit.

“Come on, Lexi, you know dad will never do that.”

Lexi chuckled. “Speaking of uncle Paul, where is he? I feel like I haven't seen him in days.”

“I think he is at the church, he said something about meeting with some other pastors about church business and how to get more people to join the gospels.”

“OK. Well, there is no food in the house, and I need to f**k Donna out of my system, and I can't do that on an empty stomach.” Lexi winked. “I kinda met someone today.”

“I have pizza downstairs. You are welcome to eat the rest.” Nicky giggled, grinning like an i***t, waiting to hear who her cousin met. “Now spill, what's her name?"

“Meera and she was so breathtaking. I almost forgot Donna even existed.” Lexi beamed. “She had the most beautiful eyes. Like deep ebony.”

“So did you at least get her number?”

“That's the weird part. She ran outta there so fast, I didn't even get to tell her my name.” Lexi shook her head. “I did get Mason's and Mitsy's number, though."

“Who are Mason and Mitsy?”

“Mitsy is an old woman I met in the car park and Mason is Meera's brother," Lexi explained. “Mason told me that his sister is shy, and she isn't used to talking to people, but I gave him my address in case he and his sister wanted to come over sometime.”

Nicky wanted to notify her cousin that she cannot be so trusting, especially since there were vampires in town, but she let it go for now. She needed to see Ambrose first.

Lexi's stomach protested. “That's your cue. You need to go eat.”

“Yes, I'm gonna eat some pizza, then smoke a blunt.”

“And please smoke outside. Dad will have an aneurysm if he knows you smoking inside.”

“OK, I will. Jeez.”

Half an hour later, Nicky was fluffing the pillows of her bed when a gentle breeze entered her room through the open window.

When the scent of lavender and paprika entered her nostrils she swallowed hard.

She craned her neck to the side to have a peek out the window. She saw a figure hovering outside, and her breath caught in her throat as she recognized the sunset blond hair and cut-glass cheekbones.

He looked otherworldly in the darkness. His face is a contrasting artwork of shadows and ivory, his eyes diamond-hard.

She ambled up to the open window. His lips morphed slightly in an upward smirk, showing his pearly fangs.

“Good evening, Nicolette," his raspy voice sent chills up and down her spine.

“Ambrose," she replied, flustered.

“Aren't you going to invite me in?” Nicolette gulped because she knew once he got one invitation, he wouldn't need another. “Are you scared?” Ambrose licked his lips as he lingered for an answer.