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I wasn’t so sure.
“Lacey,” Zena shouted from the doorway.
I held my hand in the air and gave her a massive smile. Kane didn’t really like me being friends with either Zena or Safir and I understood, but it was nice to have some people to talk things over with.
It was especially nice to take my mind off having so many men in my life, which was getting exhausting—on all levels. I suppose that came with now having a child. But having these two girls as my friends, letting me have a girly laugh, which most of the time was about stupid things. But it was better for me and took away the seriousness of my life.
“I’m faster and stronger than you are,” Zena said as she took a seat.
“I’m a vampire. There is not a person, magic or no magic, faster than a vampire. We move and you don’t see it,” Safir said. Though I’d seen how fast the king of the fae moved and I’d seen no one move without me seeing them before.
“How fast are you, Lacey?” Zena asked, as we sipped our coffee. I didn’t answer straight away, and she tugged at my elbow. “Lacey,” she said again, but I was busy peering out of the window at four men dressed in black but waiting outside.
I shrugged my shoulders. I wasn’t into discussing myself. The vampires and the fae were cocky, but magical kingdom people underplayed our skills. We liked to keep a lot of those skills to ourselves, perhaps because over the years our magic had evolved and if it became known how strong it was, that would be a problem for the kingdom.
But as Safir and Zena continued their discussion in oblivion, I zoned out of their conversation and tapped my hearing to listen to the exchange happening outside. Their mouths moved, but they were using magic to cover their sounds. That pricked my curiosity.
“I’m popping to the bathroom,” I said, still not wanting to get involved with Zena and Safir and their constant petty squabbles.
“Do you want another coffee?” Safir asked.
I shook my head. “Thanks, but I need to get home and finish some university work. I’m meeting Seb in half an hour at the car park.”
It was also time for me to leave, as I didn’t want to get involved if there was going to be trouble and something about the men outside looked troublesome. And I wasn’t sure if they were human or vampires because the vamps could make themselves blend in. Especially this time of year, when most humans hadn’t seen enough sunlight on their skin to not look like a vampire.
Whereas Zena and the other fae had a distinct look and the fact she towered over most men, never mind, the women showed everyone what she was.
“I’ll be a minute,” I said, leaning down to take my bag, just in case I felt the need to leave the building by the window. I’d become accustomed to not feeling comfortable around certain situations, and this wouldn’t be the first time I’d left the room by a window.
Zena looked at the man at the counter. She dipped her head and looked through her eyelashes at him. “One of yours.” She turned her gaze to Safir.
Safir twisted in her seat and looked at the man who side-glanced our way as I exited the booth.
“I don’t recognise him,” she said. “Maybe he’s human and just getting a coffee.” Her tone was sarcastic, but it often was.
“Mmm,” Zena said as I walked away.
I pushed the door to the corridor that led to the first floor bathrooms and glanced back to see the rest of the group walk into the coffee shop. They looked around and took a booth by the window, one still stood at the counter.
My hand shook with an uneasiness, and they worry me. I was the queen of the magical kingdom and I could defeat any of these people in here if I needed, but something inside was twisting at my gut. Perhaps because I knew how valuable my life was now that I had Aria.
After taking my bathroom break, I washed and dried my hands. Then stared at myself in the mirror. I was changing. My amber eyes still looked the same, though now they sparkled, and I knew it was because my life was worth living again.
My daughter and my knights were now my life, my knights much more important to me now than ever before because I’d lost Carter. I smiled at the thought of him because he was in this world and not the next. Though the sadness I felt at his loss, he might as well be there.
Bang! Bang!
I stopped.
My finger stilled over the handle of the restroom door. I was feeling nervous. I’d felt it before and although there was a calmness in the air—it was quiet. Too quiet. There wasn’t any screaming, and I remained in my place as I listened for some other sound. Wondering if I should leave the bathroom and have a laugh with the girls once I found out the noise was nothing but a passing banger of a car.
Crash!
Now I wasn’t so sure anymore and knew this was the recent arrivals. And I tossed up between leaving the bathroom now to help those outside, though I knew I should walk away and let two gangs get on with their rivalry. Clay would tell me not to get involved with other kingdom troubles, and he was right.
But what if it was more than that?
I knew I could defeat each of the scrawny bastards one after the other with my skills. Though, if they were vampires, I only needed to be off balance for two seconds and there would be the chance I’d feel fangs sink into my neck. And regardless of the spell cast upon magical folk that vampires couldn’t kill us, that was unless we agreed to a union of sorts and then it wasn’t death we choose, but an immortal life as a vampire. But I never, ever wanted to feel any fangs pierce my skin, regardless of the intensity of euphoria I was told when experienced during sex.
