Chapter 3: Santos

“King me,” I state.

I kiss on my husband’s neck. My tongue rails on Nero, feeling every inch of him.

“Promise is looking at us,” Nero states.

I turn to the baby carriage. Our son sure enough has woken up. He can’t even stand yet but he turns his little head to see what his parents are doing.

“He doesn’t know what’s going on,” I respond.

“He might need to be milked baby.”

“I'm the one who needs to be milked.”

I grab at his dick. He moans eagerly. I take off my husband’s pants. I take a hard look at him. He’s still the most handsome man in the entire city to me. He’s brown with big lips and silver eyes. His skin is the color of chestnuts in fall. His eyes were like shiny coins. They stare at me with a desire I’ve never been able to touch. His hard dick flops outside of the fly. He gives in for a minute turning to me and starting to kiss me hard. His tongue goes into my mouth.

He aggressively picks me up and turns me on my back. He kisses my navel, my side, my nipples and makes his way up to my neck. That is when he does something that makes me crazy.

My husband bites me!

His upper canines contort. They become fangs. Those fangs pierce into my throat. Not enough to really do severe damage but enough to draw blood.

“You taste so good…you’ve always had the sweetest blood,” he tells me.

There is a knock on the door at that moment. I'm annoyed. My husband seems even more annoyed. He licks at my blood. The scent of my blood dripping on his sexy lips is enough to make me crazy.

“Goddam it,” I start off.

“No one ever said it was easy to be King,” my husband warns me, wiping the blood away from the sides of his mouth.

My name is Santos. My husband's name is Nero. There is a real reason we enjoy blood. There is a real reason that his mouth becomes fangs. My husband is a vampire and so am I. We are not ordinary vampires at that. My husband is the King of the Vampire city of Eden. Yes. It's the same Eden from the bible. In the beginning of time humans were kicked out of Eden after sinning. Vampires weren't...

The vampires found Eden. It became a sanctuary for us. It was a city away from the world of man. There was only one gateway to Eden and that was in Harlem. One way in. One way out.

The vampires were safe in this city and my family ruled over them, protecting this holy city for an eternity.

“King Nero. We have an issue,” a soldier walks into the room.

The General has always been one of the most attractive bachelors in the Vampire city. Maybe it is the fact that he is stoic and emotionless when it comes to many things. He stands there wearing old fashioned clothes. In Eden, time seems to escape us. Some people dress modern. Some people dress as though they were pulled straight out of Ancient Rome. Time didn't matter here. This was the city that time had forgotten.

“General Armando,” my husband states, “I was sort of busy.”

“Well you should be busy being king. You're needed, Nero. Your son Justice has run off to the human world.”

“Again?”

“Again,” Armando explains, “I'm beginning to wonder. If you can't keep tabs on your older son, how do you expect to take care of your younger son?”

I know that no one can talk to my husband in this way except for the General. The General challenges him. Even after all this time my husband still feels like he has something to prove to the General. Any other of my husbands advisors would be sent away, but not Armando. Nero looks back at me hoping that he hasn't embarrassed himself in front of me but does what Armando says and walks out of the room.

Armando was my father.

“I brought you back from the dead Armando. You should respect me.”

Nero rarely brings up the fact that he brought Armando back from the dead. A while ago Armando had betrayed Eden. He had turned on all of us. As punishment I ripped my father's heart out and turned him into dust.

Nero brought him back to life.

Nero never told me how. I guess I never cared. I was just glad that General Armando was back and that stage of our lives was all behind us. Nero always told me that he had made a deal with someone. I wondered who at times but I never asked.

Armando gives Nero an awkward stare. He never thanked Nero for bringing him back. He never apologized for turning on Nero. My father was still ice cold towards Nero even though he was desperately attempting to mend things with me.

“You need to be nicer to my husband Dad,” I tell Armando.

He looked my age but in Eden looks can be deceiving. We both looked like we weren't a day older than 21, but Armando was actually my father. I think that had a lot to do with why Nero felt like he had to impress Armando all the time. Armando was a good looking guy who was a strong fighter and extremely protective. He spent his entire existence making sure that I was OK to the point that he wouldn't even start his own relationship.

If Armando wasn't my father we'd probably make a good looking couple. I think that intimidated Nero. The dynamic between Armando and Nero was weird. To say the least.

“Was he having sex with you in front of my grandson?” Armando asks.

Armando walks over to my son. He picks his grandson up. I can see the protective eyes of Armando. There was one thing you didn't do. You didn't mess with Armando's family. I just hoped that at some point Armando would realize that now Nero was his family too. Nero was his son-in-law. I had the baby with a woman but Nero had adopted the baby as his own.

“Armando please don't start,” I respond.

“This isn't right for Promise,” my dad says, “This city isn't right for him. Once he starts getting older it will confuse him that his parents don't age. He needs to be sent back to the human world until he is ready to become immortal.”

The change was when a human was changed into a vampire. The change usually happened between 21-30. It was rare to see vampires outside of that age range. That was the age range where people were healthy and at their prime. That was the age that humans changed into vampires and came to live in Eden. I knew my father would bring this up. He has brought this up multiple times. It wasn't natural for human children to be raised in Eden.

“Promise is the Prince of Eden. He's no normal baby,” I remind my father.

“He's very normal. There is blood in his veins. What if one of the vampires here get thirsty enough? What if they want to taste his blood.”

“They wouldn't dare.”

“You don't know what vampires are capable of. You have more to learn,” Armando explains.

I don't call Armando “Dad” as much as I probably should have. He didn't raise me. I didn't become a vampire until much later. I didn't want to continue this cycle. I didn't want my son to be raised in the human world and grow up thinking his family didn't love him only to be bitten and then all of a sudden realize that his father and grandfather were immortals who could pass for his brothers. I wanted him to be raised knowing who his father was from the beginning.

“I'll think about it. I'll ask Nero.”

Armando rolls his eyes at the mere mention of Nero, “Your husband has enough to deal with. Justice is an issue.”

Nero had another son. Justice. He had Justice when we weren't together. Justice was an example of what went wrong when you didn't raise your own son. Justice didn't respect Nero. He looked at my husband more like an annoying older brother than a dad. It's because they looked the same age. My father looked my age. Nero's son looked his age. We were the royal family and we were all cursed to repeat this existence forever being young and forever trying to prove a family structure that just doesn't seem to exist.

A generation of men. We are like a staircase. We go up. We go down. But we can never truly change direction. A generation of cursed blood that would last forever.

I didn't want this for my son. I wanted to raise Promise myself.

“Justice is misunderstood,” I defend him.

It's weird talking about Justice sometimes. He was my stepson but the boy was just as attractive as Nero. He had lighter skin but the same color eyes. Justice had pink lips and a perfect body. He competed against his father in all ways and the family dynamic had been weird because of it. I understood. The family dynamic between me and Armando wasn't that great either.

“He's a loose cannon,” Armando states, “Promise should be the crowned prince....”

I grab my dad. He's talking treason right now.

“Dad you can't say things like that...” I state, “Justice is the crowned prince. He is the next to be king when Nero steps down. Period.”

“And if Justice was out of the picture?” Armando asks.

It's a clear threat.

“He is your grandson.”

“He has no blood of mine,” Armando corrects me, “Promise is my grandson. And if Justice continues to prove how careless he is I'll make sure Promise is next in line for the throne.”

With that my dad leaves with Promise in hand. He's angry but I know there is no one my son is safer with than his grandfather.

That was the problem with my dad. He was protective. He was loyal to a fault but he was only loyal to his bloodline. I'd seen what my father had done for me in the past. It scared me thinking about what Armando would do for his grandson Promise. There was a tension in the royal family and it needed to be addressed soon.

~

We sit at the table. It's awkward. Nero is king. He is at the head of the table. My father is to the left. Next to my father is Aiden. Aiden was my father's protege. If it were up to my father Aiden would be my husband instead of Nero. Aiden was also the vampire who introduced me to Eden a long time ago. Of course that was all my father's doing back then. Aiden worked for my father. Aiden was trained by my father. He was my father's protege. He was also desperately in love with me. Luckily I figured that I needed to hook him up with someone so that he was distracted from constantly pursuing him. I found someone. He was also Justice's lover now and he was with Justice when Justice disappeared.

He was sitting at this table now because he just so happened to be engaged to Justice.

“Justice still hasn't turned up yet?” Aiden asks sitting at the table.

It is an unnecessary comment. It's awkward as well. It must be really awkward for my husband that Aiden is there.

The servants bring us out goblets of blood for dinner. We get the blood from a blood drive outside of Eden. That is the only real reason the vampires of Eden leave Eden. They go to get donated blood from the humans.

“This is some rare Egyptian blood. 100% virgin,” the prep cook announces as we drink the blood.

“Thank you,” Nero states.

The blood drive was important in Eden which required vampires to leave. Otherwise it was discouraged. As I look at the empty seat I notice that Justice was the exception to leaving Eden. My son Promise was almost 1 years old and it was becoming painfully clear that Justice was growing more and more resentful. Maybe he thought he didn't belong in our family. Maybe his relationship with his father had become really strained. Whatever reason it was Justice made it clear that he didn't want to be in the Holy City.

“Have your people found the Prince?” my father asks the king.

“They'll find him. We have our connects from the human world tracking him down. He just went out drinking again. That's all,” Nero responds to my father.

“Does he have a drinking problem?” Armando asks my husband.

“Dad...”

“Is that not a logical question?” Armando asks, “There is plenty alcohol in Eden. Why does he go to the human world to get drunk?”

I'm not sure what the problem with Justice is. He just wasn't the happy person I once knew. I didn't have a close relationship with my stepson anymore but I wanted to.

Nero gives my father a hard stare, “I'll deal with my son. I'll find him and I'll discipline him for leaving Eden like that. I am the king of Eden.”

“So I hear,” Armando snipes.

Aiden shuffles in his seat. I roll my eyes at my father. Nero breathes hard. He's not used to this kind of disrespect. Nero was far from a pushover or anything like that.

Just at that moment there is a servant that runs to the table. The servant hands a note to Aiden and whispers something to Aiden.

“King Nero?” Aiden asks.

“Yes.”

“I've found Justice...”

Nero gets up at that moment. He walks over to Aiden. It is clear that there is some real tension here. Maybe it was because this isn't the first time Aiden was trying to outperform the king in front of my father. Aiden was always the son-in-law my father wanted. Even now my father is giving Aiden a proud smile.

“You went behind my back?” Nero asks Aiden, “I had my own people looking for him.”

My father gives Nero a hard stare, “Does it matter? Aiden got the job done. Didn't he?”

I walk up to Nero. I feel like any second now Nero is going to explode. He is going to send my father back to his grave and let Aiden join him. I was trying desperately to keep the peace with the royal family. We were all men who had a very strong connection. I needed to make sure that everyone was on the same page.

I desperately needed Justice back so that Aiden could marry him and this dynamic between Aiden and Nero could end forever.

“Aiden is engaged to Justice,” I explain to my husband, “He's just worried about his future husband.”

Truthfully I didn't believe the explanation I was giving my husband myself. I knew my father. I also knew Aiden. I had no doubt that my father had specifically pushed Aiden to find Justice first in order to undermind Nero. I can look in Aiden's eyes and see that he is really trying hard here to seem like he doesn't know why things are the way they are.

He's trying to seem innocent out of fear for what Nero would do to him for going behind his back.

Nero is somehow comforted by me.

“OK,” he says, “Where is my son?”

“My resources have found him. A man has Justice. Justice was taken...”

My mouth drops.

“Impossible,” I state.

Nero is panicking at that moment, “Call in the entire army. We need to find my son. Call in every single Class A soldier.”

“That won't be necessary,” Aiden says, “The man who took Justice...he's already here. In Eden. And he's waiting to meet with you.”

Nero and I look at one another. This was weird. This was really weird.

~

We are in the throne room at that moment. I'm dressed in a gold, white and crimson robe. My throne is next to my husband's throne. My husband looks so sexy. Nero has on silver jewels that fall down his chest. His carved out biceps are exposed. His beautiful skin tone is like muscly milk. His eyes are focused. He looks like a king. He has that grandness about him. I know why. He's still trying to prove to people that he is worthy of the throne.

The guards of Eden have lined the halls of the throne room. There are more than I can count. They are all armed to the teeth but they wouldn't need them. We are vampires. We are natural weapons.

I turn to my right to see Nero again. He's sitting with his head tall. He's always been regal but right now when his son is threatened I can see the vampire king that I know and love. Below him are Aiden and my father. They are both Generals in Nero's army.

Nero's council are there too. Countess Livia, Countess Coco, Count Lucca and his wife Countess Camille and all the others counts are there as well. They watch patiently as a silence takes over the room. This is a big deal...

Behind the guards are the news reporters of the Vampire City. I knew these people and I knew they were here specifically judging my husband. I wonder if my father was responsible for inviting them in this room. He never missed the chance to show Eden just how incapable my husband was especially in front of the council. I knew that this moment wasn't just about getting Justice back to my father.

This moment was about showing the entire country how King Nero would deal with an emergency. All eyes were on my husband to perform.

“Bring in the person who took Justice...”

The doors open at that moment. Slowly someone walks in. The man is cloaked in some sort of shawl. It's tattered and torn as if he was a hobo. I can't even see his face. As he walks down the aisle of guards he seems not to be moved by us in anyway possible.

It's so awkward you can hear a pin drop in the room.

The person is not alone. There is a woman next to him. The woman is pale almost the color of snow. She has a bald head and seems to be somewhat albino. She is so mysterious in a way. I wonder if she's human. On the other side of the albino woman is a man. He's large and has tattoos all over his body.

The man walks down the aisle and stops.

He takes off his hood.

“Aiden,” I whisper below, “I thought you said that a man took Justice. This looks like a boy...”

I mean it as a joke. Aiden laughs. Nero was close enough to hear the joke but for some reason he doesn't find this funny. Nero stares at the boy across the room.

“Oh my god...”

“You know him?” I ask my husband.

“I've met him once,” my husband states and leans over to me, “I'd heard stories about him and the things he could do. Things like witchcraft.”

I don't believe it, “You're telling me that man is a witch?”

The man is still walking. Slow, steady steps approaching us. His face is sharp and contorted in a way. He's nothing that I'd find attractive in a man. I wasn't impressed. His mouth is too narrow. His eyes are too pointed. His chin is too sharp. He looks like some sort of twisted raven. He doesn't look at anyone but the vampires circle around him. Whispers start to form. Some people are laughing.

We'd expected more. Something more. Anything more than this human standing here, especially one that had the nerve to kidnap a Prince of Eden.

My husband continues to whisper, “I sought him out. He was the one who brought your father back to life for me. His name is Genesis.”

All of a sudden it seems a little bit more important. This boy had brought my father back to life? The boy Genesis walks over to us. He has a swagger about him. You would think he was surrounded by an army by how confident he was. Did he not know what we were? Had he not heard of the the city of vampires?

The people who are with Genesis are silent. They don't speak. They just stand by his side. These people had no idea how serious blood was in Eden. They had no idea what they had done by taking Justice.

“Good morning. Or is it night here? I can't tell in the Timeless City,” Genesis states.

His voice purrs across the hall. It's deep but not in a commanding way like my father would speak. Genesis speaks like he's high. He talks like he's smoking weed and there is all the time in the world to get out of his ideas. There is no rush in life to him. He takes his time with pronouncing every syllable, purposely.

Nero doesn't waste anytime, “You took my son?”

“Yes.”

Whispers. I can see my father look up at Nero. I was sick of this. I was sick of my father and Aiden and everyone else trying to make it seem like Nero had something to prove. He was born to be king. He had nothing to prove to these people. None-the-less I knew that Nero wasn't just going to let this stranger come in here and disrespect him like this.

“Release him and I might consider letting you live,” Nero warns him.

“I won't harm him. I'll release him within two days,” Genesis states.

There is silence. A few people seem confused. I happen to be one of these people. I want to jump in and say something but Nero is the first king. I want him to prove to my father that he has control of this situation once and for all.

Nero doesn't seem any less confused then the rest of us by this boy Genesis though.

“Why did you take him in the first place if you just plan on releasing him?”

“I needed to get your attention. I needed to get your audience,” Genesis states.

“You've chosen a dangerous way to do it,” Nero responds.

“I apologize King Nero,” Genesis responds.

I'm proud of Nero at that moment. He is challenging Genesis and it's working. I see the reporters filming this. There was only one channel in the vampire city but I had no doubt this would be the talk of the city for quite a long time. Everyone would be talking about how Nero demanded the release of his son and it worked without him having to shed a single drop of blood.

“Good,” Nero states.

I don't think Nero was expecting this to be easy. I don't think anyone was. My husband had a smile on his face but I notice there is something wrong. The companions of Genesis definitely seem like they are amused by this. Genesis himself has a very strict face that doesn't show any emotion but his companions seem to be almost entertained by Nero.

Genesis takes a few steps forward, “Now that I've stroked your ego, we need to get down to business.”

“I have no business with you,” Nero responds.

“You're wrong. A year ago you told me to bring someone back to life. A deal was cut. You owe me.I told you back then that any blood magic requires sacrifice. All of it. You owe me...”

There are more whispers. Genesis's tone is becoming aggressive to say the least. I can see the reporters whispering among themselves. The guards look up at Nero. This Genesis guy has no idea. Nero already had something to prove. He would rip Genesis and his friends to pieces before he let them continue to disrespect him like this.

A part of me didn't want bloodshed though. Not to appease my father and the blood thirsty media in Eden.

Nero had nothing to prove to these people.

I grab my husband's hands. I can tell he wants to be brave but I want to let him know that he's strong to me. Nero has always been strong to me and I had always been his greatest supporter.

“Just give this guy what he wants and have him go away,” I whisper to Nero, “The important thing is that he is going to release Justice.”

Nero looks over at me. He squeezes my hand. I know he feels like he has a lot to prove but I think a lot of it is that he wants to impress me. Why else would he have brought my father back from the dead? Nero wanted to make me happy. He wanted to make me happy almost to a fault. Everything he did was for me and our family.

Even now he proves that he will do whatever it takes to make me happy.

“I owe you a debt for a service you did for me,” Nero states, “What do you want Genesis?”

“I want your city.”

There is an awkward silence. People seem confused.

“Excuse me?”

“I want all your vampires to leave Eden and I want to take your city from you,” Genesis explains, “That is my price. That is what you owe me.”

Laughter spreads across the halls. Armando and Aiden join in on the laughter. Nero looks confused about what exactly to say in regards to that. They aren't taking Genesis seriously. I look at him and for a moment I see something that the others don't see. This boy isn't joking. The boy looks dead at me and I know that there is true intention underneath his eyes.

“QUIET!” I call out.

The entire hall goes quiet.

“What's this thing?” Genesis asks staring at me with this immediate and strange interest. The way he calls me a 'thing' is weird.

I get up off my throne. I leave my husband and walk down to Genesis. I walk all the way down until I meet him directly in his eyes. The people of Eden get quiet. They know me well. They know who my mother is. Eden remembers Santos.

And I wonder if Genesis recognizes Santos as well.

“Do you know who I am?” I ask him.

He glares at me, “You're different from the others.”

I circle around him. I can feel the fangs growing in my mouth. I don't need guards. I don't need soldiers. Genesis doesn't seem to need them as well. Right now Genesis is threatening the love of my life and he had no idea what I was capable of to protect the man I loved. I watch as his companions seem to get nervous. I wonder if they can feel it too.

Yes I was different from the other vampires.

I was much different.

“Correct,” I respond, “My name is Santos. I was born from the first vampire. My mother was the first wife of Adam from the bible. She was the first woman of Eden before Eve. Do you understand now? Genesis, was it? Eden is my home. You sir, are trespassing.”

“I had a deal with your husband.”

“The deals off,” I state.

Genesis and I square off. He looks in my eyes. I look in his eyes.

"The spirits told me stories of a vampire demon. I wouldn't have known he would be married to the king," Genesis states.

“So you know I’m not the average vampire,” I explain to Genesis, “You must really be that wise wizard I heard you were after all, huh? Do your spirits show you the future too? Can you see what happens to people who disrespect my husband, my family or my city?”

“I cannot see the future but I know that I don’t want any problems with you,” Genesis states.

It’s not fear. I’ve seen fear before. I don’t ever show exactly who I am and exactly who my mother was, but when I did there was fear. Genesis is careful. He is calculating but he isn’t afraid. For the moment I respect this.

“Then lets not go down a road that neither of us want to go down, “ I try to make peace, “Walk away.”

“I would…”

“Good. We have an agreement.”

“However…” he interrupts me, “I can talk to the spirits and an angel came to me. And she told me that you have defiled Eden and I should remove you. All of you.”

I roll my eyes. He is relentless.

“An angel?” I ask.

“Lilith.”

My mother. The wife of Adam. There is laughter in the hallway. The vampires at one point would never have laughed at my mother, but my mother was gone. The comfort they feel at the idea that Genesis thinks he was talking to Lilith is ridiculous. I look hard at Genesis. I’m not laughing. I don’t know what game Genesis is playing but I don’t have patience for this.

I grab Genesis by his throat.

One of his companions attempts to charge at me but Genesis stops him.

“No Walid!” Genesis says.

Just at that moment I lift Genesis off of the ground. I choke him. I show him at that moment what true power is and he is terrified. I am not even breaking a sweat. My fingernails pierce his neck at that moment and blood drips from his neck. Genesis is shaking struggling to catch his breath. His two companions both look like they want to fight but I think Genesis knows he is outnumbered.

The sight of blood almost drives the vampires into a frenzy. The room sinks around Genesis. They get closer. All you see are fangs.

“If I wanted I can have you devoured. Right here and right now.”

The vampires get closer. The sight of human blood fresh out of someone is something that they have not seen in quite a while. We were used to the donated blood. The vampires are thirsty. One word and hundreds of vampires would rip Genesis to shreds.

“You’ll never see the Prince again if that happens. You vampires are very intimidating but I’m not afraid.’

“You should be,” my father answers Genesis, “If you knew what my son was capable of; you would be…”

Genesis pulls a lock of hair out of my head randomly. I throw him on the ground.

“Why did you do that just now?”

Genesis just stares at me blankly. He starts backing away from me. He has a lock of my hair with him! The muscular man with the tattoos that he called Walid and the mysterious albino woman surround Genesis.

The vampires are thirsty. They get closer and closer. All of a sudden this brave man doesn’t seem like he has all those balls after all.

“Let him go,” I tell the vampires before they rip him apart, “For now. Once he releases Justice…we’ll see what he has left to save him from us."

The vampires listen to me. They follow Genesis out of the hall but they listen to me and don't attack. As I walk back to my throne I see my father give me a smile. I have no doubt that he is proud of me. Unfortunately as I get back to my throne I see that my husband is so proud.

“I could have dealt with him myself,” Nero states.

I had forgotten about Nero’s pride for the moment. The vampires respected me so much because they knew who my mother was. Sometimes they had forgotten about Nero. I should have been a little bit more careful with his emotions here.

“I was just trying to help,” I say.

“Next time don’t. I am the first King of Eden,” Nero tells me, “I take the lead.”

With that my husband storms off. I understand what Nero is saying but he just doesn’t understand. I had to step in. This Genesis character was no normal enemy. Nero would need me.

~

I’m sitting with my baby Promise. It’s hard to just take care of a baby when a threat was out there and my stepson Justice was in his possession but I had to. I had to sit back and let Nero handle it. Nero needed to gain the respect of my father and the rest of Eden. They thought he was weak. They thought he was ineffective.

“King Santos,” Aiden says walking into the room.

Aiden has a group of strong looking vampires with him. Aiden was promoted to a general not too long ago. I know it has to be awkward for him to see me married. At one time Aiden and I had a romance but that was a long time ago.

“How can I help you General Aiden?” I ask.

I intentionally try to make this as formal as possible. I don’t want him to ever get comfortable. I was married to Nero and he was supposed to marry Nero’s son soon. There was nothing between Aiden and I. Still looking at him he still is the handsome Aiden I knew. He is tall and lean. He is confident in a way that Nero isn’t. Nero is more handsome than Aiden and he has a better body. Nero is a king. You would think Nero’s confidence would be through the roof but he just lacks that for some reason. Maybe it’s because he’s married to me; the son of the first vampire.

“I’d like permission to take a team and track down Genesis in the outside world.”

“Shouldn’t you be asking my husband for permission? Not me?”

“Everyone knows who the true king of Eden is,” Aiden says.

He is looking at me when he says that. The weird thing is that his men agree with him. Nero was the true King of Eden. I was just Nero’s husband.

“Stop it Aiden.”

“You’re the son of Lilith. What you did in that room was amazing. Nero sat there looking stupid. Everyone is talking about how you put the witch in his place.”

“STOP IT AIDEN!” I scream at that moment, “Go ask my husband.”

It’s at that moment that I realize what I did in that room was a big mistake. Aiden was right. All over the news the vampire media was spinning this. An anchor on Bat Chat literally stated that Nero needed help from me to deal with some hocus pocus bullshit. They were underestimating Genesis. If only they knew why I had interfered they would understand.

I’m confused though. Why did he steal a lock of my hair? I had to figure out this Genesis person.

I realize I have to apologize to Nero.

Just as I am about to leave I am interrupted. My father is standing there.

“There is something we need to talk about,” my father explains.

“Talk about it with Nero,” I tell him.

My father gives me a hard look.

“You know as I know that Genesis is a real threat. I can see it in your eyes Santos. You think Nero can really deal with it?” my father asks.

I remember Genesis taking out my hair. He did it for a reason. I didn't want to sit around and wait to see what that reason was. Still. Nero was very clear that he wanted to deal with Genesis himself.

“He’s the king.”

“Then you must protect him,” my father explains, “Follow me…”

I’m annoyed my father is undermining my husband yet again. He isn’t the only one. If it isn’t my father, then it’s Aiden. If it isn’t Aiden then it the council. If it isn't the council then it’s the vampire media. People felt like I was the real power in Eden and I didn’t like it.

It was putting a strain on my relationship.

Still. My father was right. Genesis was no normal threat. He had the power to remake my father and bring him back. Regardless of what Alison Nosferatu on Batchat said this wasn’t a normal threat. This man was powerful and if I wanted to protect Nero, I might have to protect him against his own pride. The truth was that I was stronger than any vampire in Eden. The truth was that Nero would need me to fight Genesis.

We make our way to the basement of the palace. My father opens the door.

My father was good for these secret hiding spots.

“What’s this?” I ask him.

I cover Promise’s face. It’s really dusty in here.

“A gift…” he says.

There is a box in the middle of the room. It’s just a box. It’s just sitting there.

“From who?”

“One of his companions. The one he called Walid. Before he left, he reached out to me. He told me that Genesis plans to take the city by force.”

Damn it. I knew when I looked at Genesis that he wasn’t just going to leave this alone. He wanted Eden. What if he really did talk to the spirit of my dead mother? If he thought Lilith was an angel he had another thing coming. Lilith wasn’t an angel. She was the devil. If my mother’s spirit had reached out to Genesis than he had no idea what sort of menacing power he was fucking with.

My father knew though. I can see it in his eyes.

“Is this Walid person trying to help us?”

“I believe so. He is afraid of Genesis.”

“He’s a traitor,” I point out, “If he is betraying Genesis then he would betray us. You trust him?”

“I don’t trust anyone who isn’t blood,” Armando explains, “Still. He has his reasons. Genesis is a threat. Not only to Eden but to the world. Walid told me to give this to you specifically. I think he respected the way you stood up to Genesis. He said that doesn’t happen too often.”

I don’t know if I trust Walid but Genesis was a threat. I had to protect Nero. I had to protect Eden.

“Open it.”

Armando walks over to the box and opens it for me.

What I see in the box blows my mind away.

“Help…me…”

I can barely recognize the face. It is swollen. The person is all shades of purple and blue. It’s shocking!

The person is barely clinging to life. It’s almost as though they’ve been poisoned.

“What would I need with a dying boy?”

Armando looks over at me. He smiles.

“Genesis did this to him. His name is Yaser. Walid betrayed Genesis and brought him here when he was ordered to burn him. He’s not just a dying boy. He’s a dying werewolf.”

“They exist?” I ask raising my eyebrows.

“Yes. This is more than a gift,” Armando explains,

I look at the weak boy. If he was a werewolf I wasn’t impressed. He was frail. He was weak.

I shrug, “Armando is this some sort of joke?”

Armando shakes his head, “We’ll save him. We can turn him into the most powerful weapon that Eden has.”

“How?”

“Have you ever thought of what happens when a werewolf also becomes a vampire?”

My father gives me a slow knowing smile....

Yes! Oh yes!

All of a sudden baby Promise laughs. My father smiles back at the baby. I'd learn something from my father a long time ago. You don't mess with blood. You don’t mess with the Royal family. You don’t mess with Eden. Genesis was going to learn those lessons the hard way.

I bear my fangs.

“Let’s find out…”

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