AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You realize a vampire holds you now?”
I grin. “I mean, I’ve never had a merman hold me on his lap.”
His eye darkens, and he tightens his arms around my waist. “And if I have my way, one never will.”
I plop a kiss on his nose and then return to the picture. “Honestly, I thought mermaids were fiction. Most of my books are nonfiction, and only a handful mention mermaids. And only for a sentence or two at that.” I sigh and put the picture back. My breath quickens.
Wait a second, I think to myself, the woman in the mirror. She said find the five queens. Quickly, I flip through the next few sketches. The dragon queen, the demon queen, and the vampire queen. None of them look at all like her. Maybe reading the journals will help me find her.
I study the picture of the werewolf queen. Her face is haughty, but with a dash of humor in her eyes. She has a silver crown as well, but this one looks sturdier than the mermaid crown and only has a single green gem in the middle. The paper crinkles in my hands, and I grip it delicately, showing it to Raúl.
He scoffs. “Put that one back. Werewolves are nasty.”
“I swear, you and the werewolves.”
He shrugs playfully. “What can I say? They bring out the worst in vampires.”
“Do you even know why you’re still fighting them?”
Raúl’s face tightens. “The most recent is because of Julian’s betrayal. He turned us over to them.”
“Are you going to tell me what happened?”
Raúl holds me close and stands up. “I suppose I could. Bedtime story?”
I frown and look up at him woefully. “Do I have to go to bed?”
“No,” he says. A grin spreads slowly across his face and his fangs slide out slightly. “We can entertain ourselves, I’m sure.”
My mouth goes dry, but I shake my head in response. As much as I would like nothing more, I knew that I’d have to be on the ready to help Mother tomorrow. With another month-long excursion, she will demand I pack. If I don’t have the energy for it, I will pay the price.
Raúl walks with me down to my floor. I grasp his arm tightly. “I need the sleep. Though I’d rather stay up with you.”
“The feeling is mutual,” he says as I get into bed. “Now, the story. Once, a long time ago, werewolves attacked the castle. This is nothing new. Werewolves are like a dog with a bone.”
I snicker, and Raúl grins at me. “One night in particular, after Julian left, the werewolves attacked, trying to claim the castle as their own. I am pretty sure they live in dirty caves, like the animals they are. Mother defeated one on her own, if you can believe it.”
“I definitely can.” Carmen seems like the type of woman who would fight back.
“It wasn’t until the fight was over, the werewolves leaving in defeat, that Julian came into the castle.” A shadow crosses his face. “From that moment on, I knew he’d lost his mind. He was raving, practically foaming at the mouth, claiming that our blood was tainted and he needed to cleanse us all.”
I sit up and cradle his face. “Raúl, I’m so sorry you had to see that.”
He reaches up and grips my hands. “Thank you, Penny.”
Gently, I tap my forehead to his. “You are not him.”
His grip tightens as he plants a kiss on my mouth. At dawn, he leaves again, and I wonder how much longer I’ll keep letting him go.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.”
Mother’s voice calls to me, and my eyes flutter open, the light still low in the sky. I fling back my covers and head to the window upstairs, glad I hadn’t bothered to change last night. Now I look like I’ve been up for a while. The chilly morning air wakes me up slightly. I cover a yawn and throw my coils of hair out, wincing as the strands pull on my scalp. I step on the braids, anchoring them, and Mother climbs in.
“I need help packing.”
I help Mother haul in several more baskets and set them on the table. After a quick peek inside, I see bundles of herbs and blank scrolls. “You really need all this?”
