the vampire mansion who elicited a clap of thunder and lightning after opening the door and saying, “Good
eeeevening
!”
Again, Cleo wasn’t in the least impressed. She huffed at Ram, but she also discontinued her sentence, much to Docia’s frustration. The highest of queens? Was that who was knocking around inside of her? That is, if she was going to listen to either of these raving lunatics. Of course, it was a little compelling as far as lunacy went. Highest of queens? Destined to be something other than the manager of a dinky little office? If she had to almost die, that’d be kind of a really nice side effect of the whole nasty business.
“I think I need something to drink.”
“I’ll get you some water, beauteous majesty,” said a quiet man she hadn’t had time to notice, kneeling deeply before he rose to leave.
Beauteous majesty? Fucking
A
! What woman couldn’t use a bunch of men referring to her as “beauteous majesty”? That alone almost made the dance on the rocks worthwhile.
“Liquor,” she managed to choke out. After all, being a beauteous majesty was going to take some getting used to. Just resisting the urge to giggle was going to take superior training and maybe some severe lip biting. “Need liquor.”
The man stopped and nodded. “As you wish.”
“No,” Ram barked. “The doctors said you were not to have any such spirits.”
And bam. There it was. The end of her beauteousness and her majesty. Well, as far as Ram was concerned, in any event. The other man looked torn, however, hesitating between the two commands he’d been given. He shifted his weight awkwardly on the balls of his feet, his gaze darting from Ram to her.
“I think I made my wishes clear,” she said firmly and reproachfully, not really knowing where the mischief came from.
Hmm.
It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with a wild urge to pull rank on this man who had done nothing but move her around like a frigging chess piece as she stood there all confused on his little chessboard, could it? But if she was the queen, that meant she was the strongest piece on the board … and she wasn’t above testing that out.
“Anthony.” There was a clear and present warning in the way Ram said the other man’s name. Anthony swallowed hard, even as he went terribly pale. But he didn’t look at Ram, he looked at Docia. His eyes were begging her for reprieve. He certainly knew she was more human than she was his queen at present, and he was hoping she would be willing to relent based on that fact. It made her wonder just how much of a bitch this queen of theirs was. Was that the calm, strong voice that had suddenly appeared in her head? Was there going to be a major bitchy side to her as well?
“Fine. Whatever,” she said, waving off the suffering man. She felt terribly guilty when she saw the wash of pure relief that went through him. She realized as he turned and the light glinted off his skin that he had broken a significant sweat. She had not meant to cause him any real discomfort. It wasn’t as though he’d been in any kind of danger … was it?
“Cleo, if you don’t mind, I would like to give Docia abetter explanation of what she can expect,” Ram said, coming across the room and standing over her, making her suddenly recall just how big and tall he was in comparison with her reasonably shrimpy proportions. Truth was, outside of their respect for this queen she was purportedly lugging around inside of her, she had absolutely no bargaining chips in this situation.
Cleo opened her mouth to argue, but Vincent or Ram or whatever the hell he wanted to call himself from one minute to the next had pulled out a cellphone and snapped it open and was holding it in front of Docia’s face.
“I assume you’d like to call your brother?”
Holy shitcakes!
She grabbed for the phone, panicking as she stared at the unfamiliar configuration and tried to decide which button required hitting first. What was his
eeeevening
!”
Again, Cleo wasn’t in the least impressed. She huffed at Ram, but she also discontinued her sentence, much to Docia’s frustration. The highest of queens? Was that who was knocking around inside of her? That is, if she was going to listen to either of these raving lunatics. Of course, it was a little compelling as far as lunacy went. Highest of queens? Destined to be something other than the manager of a dinky little office? If she had to almost die, that’d be kind of a really nice side effect of the whole nasty business.
“I think I need something to drink.”
“I’ll get you some water, beauteous majesty,” said a quiet man she hadn’t had time to notice, kneeling deeply before he rose to leave.
Beauteous majesty? Fucking
A
! What woman couldn’t use a bunch of men referring to her as “beauteous majesty”? That alone almost made the dance on the rocks worthwhile.
“Liquor,” she managed to choke out. After all, being a beauteous majesty was going to take some getting used to. Just resisting the urge to giggle was going to take superior training and maybe some severe lip biting. “Need liquor.”
The man stopped and nodded. “As you wish.”
“No,” Ram barked. “The doctors said you were not to have any such spirits.”
And bam. There it was. The end of her beauteousness and her majesty. Well, as far as Ram was concerned, in any event. The other man looked torn, however, hesitating between the two commands he’d been given. He shifted his weight awkwardly on the balls of his feet, his gaze darting from Ram to her.
“I think I made my wishes clear,” she said firmly and reproachfully, not really knowing where the mischief came from.
Hmm.
It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with a wild urge to pull rank on this man who had done nothing but move her around like a frigging chess piece as she stood there all confused on his little chessboard, could it? But if she was the queen, that meant she was the strongest piece on the board … and she wasn’t above testing that out.
“Anthony.” There was a clear and present warning in the way Ram said the other man’s name. Anthony swallowed hard, even as he went terribly pale. But he didn’t look at Ram, he looked at Docia. His eyes were begging her for reprieve. He certainly knew she was more human than she was his queen at present, and he was hoping she would be willing to relent based on that fact. It made her wonder just how much of a bitch this queen of theirs was. Was that the calm, strong voice that had suddenly appeared in her head? Was there going to be a major bitchy side to her as well?
“Fine. Whatever,” she said, waving off the suffering man. She felt terribly guilty when she saw the wash of pure relief that went through him. She realized as he turned and the light glinted off his skin that he had broken a significant sweat. She had not meant to cause him any real discomfort. It wasn’t as though he’d been in any kind of danger … was it?
“Cleo, if you don’t mind, I would like to give Docia abetter explanation of what she can expect,” Ram said, coming across the room and standing over her, making her suddenly recall just how big and tall he was in comparison with her reasonably shrimpy proportions. Truth was, outside of their respect for this queen she was purportedly lugging around inside of her, she had absolutely no bargaining chips in this situation.
Cleo opened her mouth to argue, but Vincent or Ram or whatever the hell he wanted to call himself from one minute to the next had pulled out a cellphone and snapped it open and was holding it in front of Docia’s face.
“I assume you’d like to call your brother?”
Holy shitcakes!
She grabbed for the phone, panicking as she stared at the unfamiliar configuration and tried to decide which button required hitting first. What was his
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