Vampire Charming (20 page)

Worse,
Jane
would never respect him.

She
wouldn’t stay, if she didn’t respect him.

Slade
looked away from purity of her gray eyes, his mind whirling.  He wasn’t sure
how it had happened, but he couldn’t ignore the truth.  Keeping Jane was the
only thing that mattered.  She meant more to him that any throne.  Allandrina
and Infinia and the future he’d sought versus this one small human…?  That was
no choice at all.

It
would
always
be Jane.

“Why
must you confuse everything?”  He muttered, surrendering the inevitable.

The
thought of giving up another kingdom was very vexing.  They were difficult to
come by.  It would no doubt take him weeks to find another.  In fact, on second
thought, he wasn’t going to just give Infinia up.  He was Slade, King of the
Vampires, so he’d think of a way to claim Infinia
without
Allandrina. 
It was possible, but much more difficult.

Also,
more time consuming.

Not
only would the war be longer, but Allandrina would surely not be in the mood to
help send Jane back to her own dimension.  Not after Slade conquered her lands,
took over her castle, and didn’t marry her.  Without the princess’s magicks, he
had no idea how to get Jane home.  She would be stranded in Infinia forever.

He
smiled at that thought.

Jane
was only woman in Infinia immune to his many charms, but he could change that. 
Somehow.  When Slade wanted something, he found a way to get it.  And he wanted
Jane.  With more time, he
knew
could win her over.  If she could never
return to her dismal world and her dismal prince, Slade would have nothing
but
time with her.  She’d spend the rest of eternity right beside him.  Sooner or
later, she’d
have
to start caring for him.

Actually,
this wasn’t such a bad idea, after all.

“Are
you laughing at me?”  Jane demanded, seeing his sudden grin.  “Because, I’m
right about
all
of this, Slade.  About you and me and Melessa and
Alla-What’s-Her-Face…”

“I
am unamused by this entire conversation, I assure you.”  Slade assured her. 
“And while you might be right about
most
things, you are definitely
wrong
about Melessa.”  He refused to budge on that point.  “She
was
my
Eternal-One.”  He was positive that his ex-wife was the woman he’d been waiting
a millennium for.  She
had
to be.

Didn’t
she?

“Then
why didn’t you love her?”  Jane asked, feeding into Slade’s most secret
doubts.  “Why didn’t she love you?”

“Something
obviously went wrong between us,” he admitted, “but I
know
what my Dark
Instincts told me and they are never wrong.  When I looked at Melessa, I
knew
that she would lead me to my destiny.”

“Only
she didn’t.”  Jane countered.  “I think you were both more interested in the
idea of
ruling
together, than of really
being
together.”

“On
Melessa’s side, I’m sure that’s true.  But, I
know
what I felt and it
was the call of fate.”  Slade crossed his arms over his chest.  “What else
would it be?  Believe me, I did not marry her for her conversational skills.”

“How
about for her cup-size?  You said yourself she was the most beautiful girl in
the universe.”

Slade
squinted.  “Did I really say that?”  He must have been delusional.  Honestly,
it was a struggle to even recall the woman’s face.

“Yes,
you really said it!  You think I’m making it up?”

“Fine.” 
Gods, why did Jane have to remember every stupid word he’d ever uttered?  “Perhaps,
I
did
say it, but I was wrong.  Melessa may have been pretty, but only
in a very expected sort of way.”  He flicked a dismissive hand.  “I did not
look at her and see something new each day.  I never woke up with her image at
the forefront my mind.  There was nothing…
extraordinary
about her.”

Not
like with Jane.

“Nothing
extraordinary about Melessa.”  She muttered.  “But she helped you secure your
kingdom, so you proposed, anyway.”

“That
was
not
why I married her.  I grow tired of you saying such a thing.”

“You
grow tired of me saying the stuff you’d rather not think about.”

He
arched a brow.  “I suppose your feelings for Charming are entirely based in
love and have
nothing
to do with his crown?”  He’d much rather discover
more about Jane’s beau than rehash ancient history about his ex.  Melessa had
never been very interesting.

“I
can honestly say that I’ve never even
seen
his crown.”

“It
is probably very small.  And fake.  And small.”  He paused.  “Has Charming
shown you anything
else?
”

“Like
what?”

“Like…” 
He hunted around for some way to casually ask if she’d slept with the bastard. 
He probably didn’t want to know, but he
fucking wanted to know
.  Images
of her kissing that barely-royal human filled his mind.  Her hair brushing
against Charming’s skin, her beautiful body opening for his, her smile warming
every piece of him.  Slade told himself he was in control of his Dark
Instincts, but it wasn’t true.  He would slaughter any other man who touched
her.  In his heart, he knew it.  Jane was
his
.

Her
eyes narrowed.  “I
know
you’re not asking if I’ve slept with Prince
Charming.  Because, that’s none of your business, Slade.”

Shit. 
She was right and that pissed him off even more.  “Of course not.  I was asking…
about… his castle.  Have you seen his castle?”

“No.”

“Then,
he’s lying about having one.”  Slade decided.  “If a man truly has a castle, he
shows it to the woman he wants.”  God knew, he would be showing Jane the
Obsidian Fortress as soon as he’d claimed it.  Maybe that would impress her.

She
made a face.  “For your information, I know for a
fact
that Prince
Charming has a big, pink castle in Disneyland.”

“You’ve
been to this land of Disney?”

“No,
but I’ve seen it on TV.”

Slade
snorted.  “Oh, the picture box is filled with lies.  I saw a program on that
screen which claimed Bigfoot was eating campers in some forest.  Only he is a
vegetarian, so I
know
that report was fabricated.”  Slade nodded smugly
at Jane’s eye roll.  “Your alleged ‘prince’ is no doubt lying, as well.”

“I
guess we’ll see when he rides up on his white steed and sweeps me off my feet.”

Slade’s
teeth clenched.  He’d never been so sexually frustrated, the only woman he
wanted longed for another man, and he
still
missed his royal horses. 
The very last thing he wanted to hear was Jane admiring Charming’s herd of
thoroughbreds.  “I owned an entire
stable full
of white steeds back on
the Vampire Isle.”  He told her, tersely.  “They were the envy of the realm.”

“So
you’ve said.  A lot.”  Jane didn’t seem awed by the news.  “If I were you, I’d
be sorrier about losing the giant butterflies.  They sound way cooler.”

Aha! 
Now
they were getting somewhere.

“Charming
does not have giant butterflies?”  Slade smirked.  “Mine will come whenever I
call.  What kind of king lacks a loyal swarm of giant butterflies?”  He gave a
dismissive scoff at the very idea.  “But then, Charming’s
not
a king, is
he?  He is a mere
prince
and giant butterflies are discriminating
creatures.  They only seek out the
truly
worthy.”  He arched a brow. 
“You should take heed of their wise example.”

“This
‘Prince Charming’ joke is becoming less funny.”  She muttered and shook her
head.  “Whatever.  We’re getting way off track.  Let’s get back to the you-flying-us-out-of-the-enchanted-
forest plan.”

“I
told you I cannot fly.”  Slade would not backpedal on that deception.  Not when
she was still obsessed with leaving him.  It offended his intrinsic nobility to
lie, but he would gladly suffer the degradation before he lost Jane.  He would
endure
anything
to keep her.  “We will have to use the Corpse Road.”

“Your
creepy henchmen say that it’s a bad idea.  No one even knows where that path
is, Slade.”

“So
we shall find it.  And our devoted followers are not
henchmen
.  Or
creepy.”

“That
one guy has three eyes and an extra elbow, Slade.  It’s creepy.”

“That
is a female.”  Slade corrected.  “Mrs. Zagn’2!x.  She bakes wonderful bread.”

Jane
squinted at the pronunciation.  “Uh-huh.”  She sighed again.  “Look, all I’m
saying is that we need to get out of here and your ‘devoted followers’ just
told us that the Corpse Street
isn’t
the way.”

“They
are an overly cautious group.  Do not worry.  I can protect you from whatever
small ghosts lurk on the path.”  Slade smiled confidently.  “They are easily
defeated with…”

She
cut him off.  “Ghosts?”  Her brows drew together.  “Hang on, like actual
ghosts
live in this place?”

“Ghosts
do not ‘live.’  They haunt.”

…And
kill unsuspecting travelers, if Neville was to be believed.  Best not to
mention that part.

“They
haunt?
”  Jane looked appalled.  “Holy shit!  I’m not going on a path
with freaking
ghosts haunting it! 
You must be out of your mind to
even suggest that, you lunatic!”

“It
is
called the Corpse Road, Jane.  What did you think dwelled there?”

She
didn’t appreciate that logic.  “You got us into this, so you
fix
it,
Slade.  Find us another way out!”

He
liked it when she called them “us.”  Slade and Jane were an “us.”  Jane and any
other man were
not. 
Her eyes sparked in beautiful shades of silver and her
impertinent demands had his whole system aflame.  No one but Jane ever issued
him orders.  For some reason, he found that so attractive.  He found everything
about her attractive, actually.  It was almost as if she was made for him.

Like
she
was the destiny he’d been searching for.

Slade’s
head tilted, on the verge of a great revelation.  “Jane…”

His
words were interrupted by the lightning storm.  A fantastical bolt of electric
orange burst from the cloudless sky and arced downward.  The unnatural power
impacted the ground with a gigantic crash, igniting the trees in the distance. 
Flames jumped fifty feet in the air, illuminating the sky.  Then another
lightning bolt struck.  And another.  And another.  Until the forest was
burning in every direction.

At
the rebel camp, screams and panic erupted.  Slade’s followers began frantically
running towards the river to escape the encroaching flames.  Someone had set
the entire Endless Woods ablaze.

“Oh,
my God!”  Jane gaped at the chaos.  “What’s happening?”

There
was only one species capable of this level of destruction.  They were hunters
of the Vampires.  Remorseless killers, who’d been eradicated in all civilized
realms.  He should have known that the few who remained would join forces with
the Werewolf.

Slade
looked down at Jane, his jaw set in a grim line.  “Fang has called in the Order
of Mages.”  He intoned, waiting for the true horror of that statement to sink
in.  Her beautiful face would no doubt pale with the realization that they were
about to encounter one of the deadliest enemies in the supernatural world.  He
just prayed that she wouldn’t faint in terror.

Jane
squinted.  “Who the hell is that?”

INT.-
DRUNKEN DRAGON TAVERN- DAY

ROLAND
is brooding.  Everything seems to be going wrong for him lately.  The
anti-Vampire supplies he bought from the WIZENED ENCHANTRESS haven’t helped,
because he has no idea where SLADE even is.  Worse, over the past week, ROLAND has
ceased to matter.  All anyone can talk about now is the Vampire.  Even his musical
gig was canceled, because everyone else in the band was too busy talking about
SLADE to care about rehearsal.  ROLAND’S glorious fate has been derailed, all
because of that blood-sucking asshole.  He must find a way to stop SLADE before
it’s too late.  In the meantime, ROLAND finds comfort in sharing his thoughts
with the pretty bartender.  And in drinking a lot.

ROLAND

(Drinking
a lot)

I don’t
get it, Tegan.  You were here when the Dying Old Knight Guy gave me the Silver
Sword. 
I’m
the one who’s supposed to defeat Fang, not this Slade
douchebag.  The dude is a total fucking nobody, man.

What does
everybody see in him?

TEGAN

(Sighing
dreamily)

Well, he’s
amazing
looking, for one thing.  His hair is like someone bottled the
sun and sold it as shampoo…

ROLAND