Born Regal Book 2

I gnawed at my nails as we started to descend. I couldn’t help it. After staring death in the face, I knew I had to let my mom in on what was happening in my life.

The guys had made it clear that this trip was for her safety as much as mine.

But as much as my mom deserved to know, I wasn’t exactly thrilled about sharing this life-altering news.

My hands trembled, and I fought back tears and the urge to vomit. My stomach was in knots from the small bag of peanuts I’d eaten on the flight.

I knew my vampire companions could sense my distress, but I was too scared to block the emotions from our blood bonds.

I longed to be back in my mom’s arms... But the cherished adopted daughter she’d found in a dumpster was now a monster.

These thoughts terrified me. In just a few weeks, I’d changed so much that I didn’t even recognize myself.

Every part of me felt alien, but looking like a stranger was the hardest part. Every scar and blemish, even the tiny one next to my lip, had disappeared.

My dull gray eyes, dark brown eyebrows, and dyed-black hair had transformed. I was like a faded rag doll that had been restored.

My eyes were now a bright silver-blue, and my hair had turned into a silky copper, replacing what used to look like a sad, limp broom.

I used to think my hair was healthy and beautiful, albeit a bit pale from lack of sunlight. Now, my new appearance made the old me look like a slug.

Even though it had been about three months, I still didn’t recognize myself since the transition.

It was like waking up every morning looking like a supermodel, as if a full makeup team had worked on me overnight. It was absurd that I could wake up with bedhead and still look perfect, like girls in movies.

Maybe it was because I avoided mirrors that I was so shocked by this; it often made my heart sink.

I was never a big fan of vampires, and what I liked about them in True Blood was that they could look like anyone. That made more sense to me than beauty and seemed like a better way to blend in.

Before I met my brood, I wasn’t exactly great at talking to people.

I’m still not the best at it, but the bond I share with the four of them and their concern for my well-being make things a bit easier—at least around them.

Like all vampires, I craved blood, especially the blood of three out of the four men currently with me.

The comparison of such thirst to a hot poker being shoved down your throat was spot on, and it was a feeling that would only intensify.

It was frustrating to know that Nonus wasn’t with us on this trip.

He was the only one I’d been truly intimate with, and the one I regularly fed off. This was natural, considering he was the first one I bonded with.

But without him here, my bloodlust and the pain in my throat were unbearable, no matter how much I tried to ignore them. Nonus had warned me about this and tried to encourage me to do what went against my basic human instincts.

“Feed and fuck any of the rest of them” were his exact words when he finally left. They had me crying all night.

Apparently, I was a vampire queen. Whatever that meant, it was something I was still just beginning to understand. Having been raised by humans, I didn’t understand vampire customs and desires, let alone vampire relationships.

Nonus would tell me things, and I was supposed to follow. And usually—especially after the attempt on my life—I did.

He was not only the oldest vampire in my brood but also the king of an entire court. So, it made sense to follow his lead.

But sex wasn’t something I took lightly. So, following his directions in this area was something I’d been putting off—not just about sex but also about blood.

I’d only had sex with Nonus, so I couldn’t view sex as casually as the rest of my brood. Maybe that was just my human upbringing, but it was still something I felt strongly about now that I was a vampire.

I was still trying to figure out what all this heritage stuff meant, so what was the harm in abstaining? So far, just a painful throat.

It felt like a lifetime ago that I’d boarded a plane to go to the tech school of my choice before being thrust into this world.

We’d talked about her date before I left, but I hadn’t heard anything since.

I’d stayed up occasionally, playing video games with my friends who kept asking why I wasn’t online as often. But how could I explain this online?

Even my virtual friends wouldn’t understand, and I couldn’t bring myself to respond to half the Discord messages when people asked about college.

“It’s quite cruel to tell us you’re fine and to leave you alone only to sit here and run through every fear in your mind over and over until it drives them insane. Not that I’m not enjoying Domonic’s torment.”

I tensed up at Justin’s words as he slid into the empty first-class seat next to me.

Out of all of them, Justin was the only one I hadn’t bitten, let alone tasted the blood of, so he always made me nervous when he appeared out of nowhere.

I was getting better at tracking and noticing the movements of other vampires, but he and Nonus still managed to elude my senses most of the time.

I was curled up in my seat near the back of the plane with my book and a worn green-knitted blanket my mom had tried to make years ago.

It was a bit ragged and uneven, but she’d put a lot of time and effort into it, which was why I’d packed it in the first place.

It was a reminder of home and a symbol of how wonderfully dysfunctional we were as a duo. I’d hoped it would calm me down, but it hadn’t.

“I’m okay,” I muttered, lifting my book a bit higher to shield my face, even though I hadn’t read a single word.

I shot him a glare, folding my arms and drawing my legs in closer. “None of you would get it.”

“You might be surprised. You forget we’ve all been around the block a few times.”

“With dulled emotions,” I shot back, turning my gaze to the window and the fluffy clouds below us.

“Not all of us,” Justin murmured, his voice so soft it made my heart ache for him.

I didn’t know much about him, but what I did know was that he, like me, held a royal status in the Red Court. I think his title was technically prince.

We were from the Red Court, where unlike typical vampire females, the males were treated like chess pawns; we females were the power pieces—or at least, that’s what I’d been told.

Up until a few months ago, I thought I was found in a dumpster, discarded like unwanted trash… Except for a waitress in the heart of New York who had no business raising a kid. My mom. My real family.