Fanged Fury (The Adventures of Sydney Sedrick Book 3) (7 page)

My headlights flashed across another set of gates, but those were already open. Catching a flash of white, I saw an arm waving me forward. As I approached I recognized Princess Kat’s smiling face as she jogged toward my car as I parked in one of the designated visitor spots.

The car door was opened before I could pull the handle myself. Kat’s arm bolted in, grabbing my hand to help me out. She twirled me around while we laughed with girly glee. The princess must not have any better of a social life in the friend department than I had.

“Sydney, I’m so glad you decided to come. We’re going to have so much fun!” The princess continued to dance in the night air, flinging her hands skyward as her knee-high sundress twirled about.

A male voice broke us from our dancing on the pavement. “Princess, I promised the king you wouldn’t be outside for long. Come, let’s get you back inside the palace walls.”

The princess stopped dancing with an irritated abruptness. She stomped over to the man who spoke, putting her finger close to his aristocratic nose. “Torque, you promised you wouldn’t interfere with my fun tonight. You know how important this is to me.” The princess’ voice calmed, becoming somber, like a switch had been flipped.

The man put his arm around the princess’ shoulders, holding her against him. “Don’t worry, princess, you and Sydney can do whatever you want, as long as you’re inside the palace. Now, let’s get you inside before the king has me beheaded.”

The man didn’t laugh at his joke, so it was possible what he said wasn’t meant to be funny. The king was serious in providing security. Even Kieran wasn’t as obsessed with protecting the Elders during the Blood Rites Ball as the king was in insisting the royals stay put inside the fortress he built to protect his family.

Kat held out her hand, which I took in my own to show whomever this Torque guy was that I supported the princess’ argument about her freedom. “Torque’s right. Uncle Alexander would have a cow if he found out I was outside of the palace. He’s a stickler when it comes to rules.” She winked at me, not letting her escort see. From her mischievous grin, the princess appeared to have fun with testing the lines of those rules.

Torque followed us inside the underground palace. The great hall was bustling with activity as we passed by. Vampires and human servants were busy carrying laundry, piles of crystal dishes, and floral arrangements. From all the bustle, it appeared the palace was getting ready for a big event.

“Kat, what’s going on?” I asked while we continued strolling through the great hall. I peered upward. I was in instant awe.

The chandelier hanging from the second-story ceiling was in a word, magnificent. There had to have been at least ten thousand twinkling crystals arranged in a downward spiral. The light fixture expanded the length of the entire upper story.

The princess appeared surprised by my question at first. Realizing what I meant, she said, “Oh, them? That’s normal for the palace. The king likes the place to be spotless.”

Kat put her arm up, gesturing me forward. “Come on, I changed the plans a little. I thought something more exciting than movies and popcorn would be much more entertaining.”

I didn’t realize how nervous I was being in the vampire’s royal palace until she’d said that. Stopping in my tracks, I felt the blood drain from my face. I was sure I looked as pale as the vampires did on any given day.

Kat and Torque stopped short when they noticed I was no longer following. Kat grabbed her stomach. Seeing her bent over, I saw her shoulders shake and a surge of anger spiked swamped my body. She was laughing at me.

“Sydney, don’t worry, you are so funny. I haven’t had such a good laugh in a really long time. You are a hoot.”

The vampire princess wore a smile the size of her face as she let out a few more giggles at my expense.

My feet didn’t move from where they were planted. I wasn’t budging until I got an explanation of the evening’s plans.

Kat’s tennis shoes squeaked on the gold-colored marble floor with each step she took toward me. She hooked her arm in mine. “Sydney, would you like to accompany me and my body guard to a training session?”

“Training session? What kind of training do you have to do?” The vampire princess seemed genuine. I didn’t want to be insulting, but I didn’t want to be the stupid girl in the horror movie who strolled her way right into the bad guy’s trap.

She pulled me along with her guard while she explained. “Since there’s not all that much to do in the palace, and Uncle Alex doesn’t let me get out very often, Torque trains me in the arts of battle. Have you ever scaled a climber’s wall? We have a three-story, multi-dimensional one down in the sparring room.” A glint of excitement shown in her eyes which were brown, not red.

“No, I’ve never done any climbing. That’s sounds like great fun.” I relaxed as we made our way down three flights of stairs, which seemed odd to me considering the palace’s first floor was already underground. I wondered how far beneath the surface the structure went.

The metal on the wrought-iron staircase clanked with each of our steps.

“Good, then tonight will be full of firsts.” Kat skipped down the rest of the stairs. When she reached the bottom, she headed toward a set of double doors. Before she opened them, she said, “Behold, my inner sanctum.” She giggled as she pushed the doors open.

Over her shoulder, I spied not a three, but a four-story tall gym, with the most elaborate equipment I’ve ever seen. The weights resting on weight trees were the Olympic type, but the plates were not one hundred pounds. They were five hundred pounds each. I knew vampires were strong, but seeing the evidence of how much they could lift was awe-inspiring.

After Kat changed into workout attire, Torque helped us put safety harnesses on while attaching the bungee cords to our harnesses. I gave Kat a questioning look. She was a vampire. Why would she need to wear such gear?

Kat motioned toward Torque. “Mr. Protective over there doesn’t want me to get hurt. I haven’t been a vampire for too long so my reflexes haven’t developed to their full potential yet. Thus, me in a safety harness.”

From the sigh of resignation she expressed, things made a bit more sense—the ridiculous security measures to get into the palace, Kat being assigned her very own personal bodyguard—all because the king cared about his family, a lot.

“Safety is a good thing,” I said as I tightened my straps one more time before grabbing the first grip-hold.

We both made our ways up the three-story wall. Kat took the more aggressive routes upward while I stuck with the straight-up path. A portion of the wall stuck outward, making her unable to use her feet. She relied solely on the strength in her arms.

Assessing my own arms, I realized I’d never be able to pull that move off.

Torque cleared his throat. “Princess, we have talked about this. You take unnecessary risks. This is exactly why the king will not allow you to leave the palace unattended.” He sounded totally pissed.

Kat groaned dramatically, letting one of her hands go. While only hanging on to the wall with one hand, she glared down at Torque with her free hand on her hip. “Torque, if you’re not careful I’ll ask Uncle Alex to assign a different Judge to watch over me, maybe one who won’t lecture me with every breath I take.”

“Judge?” My concentration blown, my foothold slipped. I went tumbling down the two stories that I’d climbed. To my dismay, I screamed in terror the entire way down.

A set of arms caught me, keeping me from smacking into the wall from the recoil of the safety strap. I’d never seen the man before who now held me cradled against his chest like a baby. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment from having him see me fall, making a fool out of myself all the while yelling, even though I knew I wouldn’t hit the ground.

“Hello, there. You must be the human Kiernan speaks so highly about,” the raven-haired, red-eyed rake said.

“Thanks for catching me. I think.”

He stood there smiling with me in his arms. “My pleasure, Sydney. You are very beautiful, much more so than Kieran described.”

Hearing my name on his lips sent an excited chill down my spine. What was wrong with me? I had enough to deal with having Blake insist we were life-mates. I didn’t need to be ogling a vampire from the royal palace.

“Um, I appreciate you breaking my fall, but I think it would be safe if you put me down.” A set of feet hit the gym mat. Kat approached us and put her hands on her hips.

My savior bowed his head. “As you wish, Sydney.” Gently, he leaned over, placing my feet on the ground. His hands lingered on my back while I got my bearings.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, or the fact that I didn’t step away.

Kat didn’t look happy at the newcomer’s presence. “Daire, is there something you need to discuss with Torque? Why are you here?”

Torque put his hand on Daire’s shoulder, turning him toward the doors of the gym.

I watched as the two males walked away. I had to admit Daire’s backside was just as nice to look at as Blake’s. Shaking my head to extinguish the lustful thoughts in my head, I turned back to the wall. “Do you want to try again? I feel like I should try again.”

Without waiting for Kat’s response, I started to make my way up the wall again with a renewed vigor.

Kat climbed on the panels next to mine. “Sydney, did Daire do something to you?”

“What?” My hand slipped from the holder, her question startling me. That time I was able to keep my footing to avoid another fall. “No, he didn’t do anything. Who is he, anyway?”

I didn’t want to seem interested in the man, but I was a little curious.

Kat gave me an inquiring stare. “Daire is the replacement for Kieran’s Knight that went rogue. He’s probably just being orientated to the palace before he takes his place in the coven. Why do you ask?”

Dang it, she must have seen my reaction to him when I unceremoniously dropped into his arms.

Shrugging my shoulders, I continued to climb. I made it to the second story panel. I was determined to make it to the top. “No reason, I hadn’t realized Kieran was replacing Liam so soon, that’s all.”

We climbed for a bit, focusing on getting to the next panel. “Kat, don’t get me wrong, your gym is awesome. I’d probably spend a lot of time here, too, but why does the king make the Judge stay with you every moment when you’re inside of the palace?”

Rolling her eyes, Kat hung her head backward. “My uncle’s children, Anna and Evan, have made too many successful trips outside of the palace without my uncle’s approval. They wrecked it for all of us. Now we each have a guardian tailing us at all times. Torque is tolerable, though. Since the king has my husband doing security work outside of the palace, Torque keeps me company.”

I thought for a while about what she said. It seemed everyone I had met in Kenosha had been given a life they had no control over, whether they were vampire, werewolf, demon, or even human.

Torque came back into the gym. “Princess, I’ve been called away for an hour or so. Please promise you won’t try to leave the palace, or do anything unwise until my return.”

The Judge didn’t know what hit him, because in the moment Kat grabbed a pocketknife from somewhere in her shorts, cut the safety rope that held her to the wall, and pushed off with her feet.

She moved so fast I didn’t see what had happened until she had the Judge flat on his back with her straddled on top of him. “Okay, my overly obsessive protector. I won’t do anything that will get you in trouble for not watching over me. What is it that you have to do, anyway?”

Judging by the scowl on his face, the demon was not happy being bested by his charge. “Princess, you know what I would do to you for this if we did not have company present.”

Kat swatted at Torque’s chest as she climbed off of him. “Knock off the sexual innuendos. You know I’m married. My husband wouldn’t take it well if he knew how you really spoke to me.”

Getting back onto his feet, Torque brushed some imaginary dust off his black slacks. “Princess, some day that husband of yours is going to realize a real man does not leave his wife behind to spend so much time with her guardian, especially one so attractive as myself.”

I slowly made my way back to the bottom of the wall in time to hear Kat say, “Torque, just let it rest, okay?”

The princess turned to me with a fake smile. “Sydney, if you’re ready to go I’ll walk you to the front door.” She came over to me while I undid the harness. “I’m so glad you decided to hang out. I promise next time we won’t be interrupted by uninvited guests. Unfortunately my guardian will always be at my side as he so likes to shove in my face when my husband isn’t around.”

Kat seemed like a different person. The demon Judge must have struck a nerve.

I tried to lighten the mood. “Kat, I had a great time. Don’t worry. I understand living in a palace must come with a lot of activity. Of course there’ll be a next time. Just let me know when. Oh, and next time? Warn me if we’re going to hang out in the gym.”

Laughing, we both looked down at my white sandals, definitely not user friendly when trying to scale a three-story rock wall. The princess seemed to let go of some of the stress that had her tensed and put her arm around my shoulders while we exited the double doors of the gym.

“Kat, I do have one question for you, though. Why are your eyes brown when all the other vampires are glowy red?” There had to be a reasonable explanation. I couldn’t hold my tongue any longer.

Opening her eyes wide, she put her forehead close to mine so I could get a closer look. “I haven’t been a vampire for very long, so they haven’t turned red yet.”

That explained it, a little. I’d assumed as soon as a person became a vampire their eyes turned red in addition to their teeth growing long and pointy, all the better to suck people’s blood. I learned something new about the Others every day.

I nodded with a renewed understanding. Patting her back, I held my hand above her workout shirt. To my surprise, I felt lumpy lines running down her shoulder blades. I stopped breathing. Fear iced my lungs. Afraid I’d just learned something I wasn’t supposed to know about, I waited for her to begin the unavoidable torture, which was sure to end with my death. The blood once again drained from my face and wooziness set in.