Bloody Freak (A Bloody Series Book #1) (13 page)

She stared at him. "That was you?" She whispered, and he smiled, proud that he had affected her life in so many good ways.

    "She got her high school diploma, went to college
. Became a scientist, like her father." He looked to the King, who too smiled. "Then a random occurrence happened that threw them all together again. And the Great and Wise King had mercy on his old friend and didn't cut off his head. Please. The End" He
f
inished.

Chapter Twelve

    "That was quite a story Ethan."  The King looked at Brena and looked at Alex. "I think I'll let you live. If only for keeping my girls safe." He smiled. Alex let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. This was by far t
he most event filled day of her life. She turned to Brena, or Sarah. Whichever.

    "So? Mom, huh?" She questioned.

    "Oh God, don't call me that. I don't deserve it. And it makes me feel old." She grabbed Alex and squeezed her. "I'm sorry I didn't tell
you," she whispered.

    "Technically, dear, you are over seventy years old." The King teased. Brena turned and smacked him in the chest. "But you don't look a day over twenty-five." She smiled.

     “
I guess it makes sense now, you being so protective an
d all. You always had my back. Even if it was completely pointless to drag me across the world for the last thirty plus years.”
She frowned at the strange turn her life had taken. No more running.

    “
It wasn
’
t completely pointless. If the previous King
had found you I
’
m sure he would have done terrible things to you. And to Sarah and John. I wasn
’
t wrong, I don
’
t believe, in my reasons behind taking you away in the first place.”
Ethan looked at the King for reassurance.

    “
As glad as I am for having t
hem now, Ethan, I wish you would have trusted me enough to say something. I would have ran with them, or talked to Niles and persuaded him to understand,”
the King said.

    “
I know you think Niles was a great man, and he was in his way, but you must reali
ze I had much more experience with him, and I am not remiss in my opinion of his views on playing God. He lived through the Witch burnings mind you. He did nothing to stop them. His views on alchemy and sorcery were very set. I think the only reason he al
l
owed your lab to exist was to give you something to occupy your time, at first, but then came the Solar Potion. I am almost glad in a way that you became King. Even though it wasn't your wish, you've brought our culture into the scientific age along with
t
he humans. King Niles never would have allowed it.”
The King was silent for a moment, and then looked up at Alex. He smiled at her and tugged on her hand.

    “
Yes, I
’
m sure your right. My Alex is alive today because you were wise enough to see what I wou
ld not. Thank you.”
He looked to Brena.

    “
Can you forgive me,
a chuisle
, for not trying harder to find you?”
Using the Irish term for
‘
My love
’
made Brena grin.

    “
Of course, now that I know the truth. And it
’
s not entirely your fault I was so diffic
ult to find. I
’
m very good at hiding.”
She laughed.

    “
She
’
s not lying. Trust me.”
Alex confirmed. “
I can finally rest now.”

    "Alex, you haven't told us how you feel about all this." The King questioned.

    "Um, I'm a genetic experiment, bastard Pr
incess. How am I supposed to feel?" She had to sit down, as the weight of all she had learned finally hit her. “
They call me
‘
The Freak
’”
. She looked up at the King. She didn
’
t even get a cool nickname like Blade. He got the 'Day-Walker'. She could walk i
n
the day time, but she got singled out as the freak of nature. It wasn
’
t fair.

    “
I
’
m sorry for that, love. I
’
ll see to it that all know that you are my daughter and a Princess.”
He knelt and hugged her again, softly this time. She hugged him back, baffl
ed.

    "Hey," she looked up at Ethan, "you called me Princess."

    "Yes I did. I meant it," he smiled at her.

    "You also called me fat." His face fell as the King looked his way.

    "You called my daughter fat?"

    "No! I was teasing her about her Halloween costume and how she shouldn
’
t eat Hot Pockets if she wanted to fit into it next year, even though she looked amazing in it, I was joking you know, and she threw a printer at me!" He pointed declaring.

    "Wo
w, you don't do well under pressure." Alex laughed at him.  "Good thing we didn't tell him about..."

    "Oh, look at the time! We should retire for the day. I'll see everyone tomorrow. We can all catch up over dinner." Ethan turned on his heels and strode
out of the room, not even realizing that they didn't eat dinner.

The King glared suspiciously at Ethans back. Brena grabbed him and diverted that fiasco.

    "Hey, I have an idea. Let
’
s catch up right now." Brena whispered things in the Kings ear that,
having recently discovering they were her parents, made Alex nauseous.

    "Okay, that
’
s my queue. I'll let you two love birds get reacquainted." They didn't even hear her. She assumed Brena would be sleeping with the King tonight, so she had the suite to
herself. Walking back to their room she didn
’
t encounter a soul. She lay on the bed and thought about all she had learned. From practically homeless growing up to Princess. She didn't know if it counted because she was illegitimate but that didn
’
t really
matter. She would never feel like royalty. What was she going to do with her life now that she was free? Did her work in Columbus still matter after all she had learned? Thinking about work reminded her of Ken. The crush she had felt for him for so long n
o
w didn
’
t seem as intense. Actually, she realized she hadn
’
t thought of him at all since this morning. She wondered briefly why he never called. Would she really miss her co-workers if she didn
’
t return? Chris, definitely. Melody, maybe if she ever needed
a
laugh. Don, good God, no. That, actually, was a bonus. If she never saw him again, it would be too soon. She couldn
’
t decide now.  She also thought about Ethan, replaying their time together from his point of view. She thought about all the nasty things
s
he had said to him when she thought he was the enemy. Oh, she had been so wrong. The times he had looked at her like he loved her, she hadn
’
t believed it because it had seemed impossible. But now that she knew he had always been there, watching over her,
h
ow could he not care for her? She had to find him. She rushed out of the suite and ran towards the elevator. She went straight down to the lobby and ran to the desk clerk. He looked startled ather approach.

    "Where does Ethan Hollowman live?!" She excla
imed.

    "Upstairs, 14th floor, first penthouse on the right," he said slowly, like he was talking to a child.

    "Oh. Sorry. I didn't know he lived here too. Thanks." She rushed back to the elevator, layers of her dress flapping behind her. She pushed t
he button for the 14th floor a million times, bolting as soon as the doors opened. She found his apartment and skidded to a stop. She attempted to catch her breath and smooth her hair but didn't have the patience to care much. She rang the buzzer and tapp
e
d her toes while she waited. He finally came to the door. They stared at each other for a few seconds before she jumped into his arms and became one with his face. Not missing a beat he spun them around and kicked the door shut. She couldn't see where he
w
as headed but it didn
’
t matter. He could have tripped and fallen out a window and she wouldn
’
t have noticed.

    "I'm glad you
’
re not my enemy and you
’
re not out to kill me," she said between kisses.

    "I'm ecstatic you
’
re not mad at me for lying to you
and separating you from your family," he said as he kissed his way down her neck, removing the pins holding her hair in place.

    "Let
’
s talk later," she said as she wrangled his shirt off.

    "Agreed." He ripped her dress down the front.

    "Hey! I
liked this dress."

    "I'll buy you all the fabric in India." He set her down on the couch, flipped the coffee table out of the way, and then knelt in front of her. He nuzzled her breasts and down her stomach to her heated center.

    "Are you gonna...oh
hhhh Lord!" He was. She ran her hands through his hair, which curled adorably around his ears. It was soft and felt amazing, but she was more concentrated on the other thing that was going on. She arched up when he found a rhythm that had her panting. He
h
ad to hold her thighs down to keep her from coming off the couch cushions. She tried not to scream, and failed, when he pushed her over the edge. He was breathing hard too when he came back up.

    "Perfect." He breathed into her ear. He kissed her hair a
nd her cheek and down to her lips again. She could taste herself on his tongue and didn't care.

    "I need you," she said. She grabbed him and turned to lay full on the couch with him on top of her.

    "I'm here." He spread her legs and entered her slo
wly. He stopped when he had filled her completely. He just looked down at her, as if he couldn
’
t believe his luck. She arched up and he took the hint. Grasping her hips like before, in the car, he controlled the tempo. She reached up to kiss him and he br
a
ced his arms above her to lower himself. They stayed that way until her second orgasm broke. She gasped his name as he pounded out his release, following hers. They both lay spent, sweating and gasping for air for a long time. One of her legs had fallen o
f
f the side of the couch, but she couldn
’
t find the strength to lift it. She stroked his back and he nuzzled her neck.

    "I was thinking...," she started to ask.

    "Hmm?" He hummed lazily.

    "When I bit you in the car..."

    "Mmmmm," he mumbled app
reciating.

    "Why didn't you bite me back? Was it because you didn't want me to know what you were?"

He lifted his head. "I didn't bite you because it was a miracle you let me touch you, let alone sleep with you. I wouldn
’
t dream of violating you that wa
y without your permission."

    "Really? Why? It seemed like such a natural thing at the time. If I had known you were a Vampire then I would have been hurt that you didn
’
t." She was hurt, a little, after she found out. But she had buried it.

    "Alexandr
ia. My Princess. I will never take a liberty with you that you do not allow." He laid his head back down. She thought about that.

    "What about earlier? You took liberties with your tongue."

    "I didn
’
t think you'd mind."

    "You were right." It got quiet again. "Ethan?"

    "Hmm?"

    "You can bite me if you want." He had his teeth in her before she took her next breath.  He held her, his hand pressed into her shoulder and hips pressed tightly to hers. He entered her agai
n. They played and teased and loved each other until morning.

Chapter Thirteen

Three weeks later

    The King decided to keep the knowledge of their kind kept hidden, for now. He had the Scanners publish false statements made by 'defectors' of the terro
rist group explaining how the hoax was pulled off. Since the human police couldn't find any evidence to the contrary the case went cold. Joseph, or rather Stephan Kowalski admitted, under much duress, that he was the leader of a group of Weres that wanted
an outting of the Other community. They wanted the respect they thought could be wrought from fear. Hiding their projects behind the guise of the peace group, Brena had unwittingly joined up. The rest of the group has been hunted and dealt with. The real
f
ollowers separated and questioned by both Vampires and Weres. Alex had been staying with the King to better get to know her family. Of course she already knew Brena, but only the woman Brena wanted her to see. They talked for hours about her life in Irela
n
d, where she was born. How she came to be a vampire. The King showed her his laboratory and he, Brena and Alex spent a lot of time together there. Brena had found her love of science again. Alex loved talking shop with her as she caught up on the new disc
o
veries. The King had shared his latest project with them. He was working on a serum that would allow all Vampires to keep their digestive systems active. Eventually he hopped Vampires would be able to eat solid foods again. It was a long time from being f
i
nished but Alex and Brena loved helping him. She called the lab in Columbus to let everyone know she was taking time off. Eventually she would tell them she was transferring to New York. It turned out Ken Farley had decided to hunt the Wolf Killer himself
and had followed a wrong lead to Tennessee. At least that's what he thought now after they planted the idea in his head. In actuality he had come fairly close to catching Rod Murphy, the Were who had killed the Channel Six news team. After Adam caught up
w
ith them both, he defused the situation and sent Rod packing to Denver. Master Orleans sent world of his confession and bloody demise. Ken was wiped of all memory and sent back to Columbus. The Lab gave him his job back anyway when Ethan didn't come back.
That was explained away with a family emergency.  Alex seemed to take everything in stride. He could tell she wasn't sharing everything but it was okay. He was keeping one more secret close to his chest as well. The reason he would always know where she w
a
s, no matter how far or how well she thought she was hidden, was because he had shared his blood with her when she was still just an infant. And he wasn't sure if that wasn't the reason she turned out the way she did. He would stick his head under King Ni
l
es' guillotine before he told a living soul that though. Everything was so perfect now he could barely believe it. The only thing that wasn't perfect was Ethans reluctance to tell the King of his relationship with his daughter. He had been so merciful alr
e
ady he didn't want to push his luck. But it became obvious to Ethan that Alex didn't want to hide anymore. So here he was, in the Lab watching the King study something under a microscope.