ROMANCE: His Ebony Blood Jewel - A Novel (BWWM, Paranormal, Vampire, Billionaire New Adult Romance) (11 page)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Victoria
and Harper sat across from each other in a cozy booth at Kierra’s restaurant, Soul Food. Harper was finished with her chicken and greens and Victoria was just taking the last bite out of her sirloin hamburger.

“That was good. Damn good.” Victoria said with a shake of her head. “Tell your friend that she can cook. She can
definitely
cook.”

“You can tell her yourself.” Harper said with a grin. “Here she comes.”

“You enjoying yourself, ladies?” Kierra said with a pleasant demeanor. “Anything else I can get you?”

“You got any of that delicious apple pie left?” Harper asked.

“Sure, I do. Two slices coming up.”

“Don’t forget the scoop of ice cream, Kierra!” Harper said with a giggle.

“You know I
never
forget the ice cream.” Kierra chuckled as she sauntered away back to her place in the kitchen.

Victoria and Harper were silent for a moment. They both reflected on the past few hours. How they had gone from somewhat disliking each other to feeling a closer bond.

“You’re lucky to have friends like that, Harper.” Victoria said softly.

“I am.” Harper said as she took a sip of her Diet Coke. “I’m blessed. I am truly blessed.”

“And you call yourself the Realest Divas?” She said with a smile. “That’s so cool how you have your own little name for your group.”

“First of all, it’s not a ‘little name.’” Harper said with a swish of her head. “And although we’re all buddy buddy now, and I sincerely appreciate that, I think we’ve been dancing around the topic at hand.”

“And what topic would that be?” Victoria said with a tone in her voice.

“That topic would be what’s going on with Bryce. Where is he and why can’t I get in touch with him?”

“He’s at the Elder Islands. It’s off the coast of Romania. In the Black Sea. He had to go. The blood thirst was growing too strong.”

“The blood thirst?” Harper asked with trepidation. That sounded scary to her. It shocked her that someone so handsome and dignified could suffer from something with such an ugly name.

“Bryce is very strong. One of the strongest. He only needs to feed once or twice a year. He’s not so dependent on the blood as others. That’s why he’s been so successful. He’s not as preoccupied with finding the perfect feeder to give him that blood that he needs.”

“I’m sorry. It’s going to take me a minute to digest all of this.” Harper said, leaning back into the booth.

“Get over it, Harper.” Victoria said scornfully. “The faster you accept how things are, the better it will all be.”

“Fine. Then keep going. And don’t talk to me in that tone. This is your first and only warning.” Harper said with a joking voice. But she was serious. Dead serious.

“I’m beginning to believe that Bryce ‘marked’ you. When a vampiric male finds his soul mate, he sends a bit of his aura to surround her. A form of protection from other vampires, but also a way to mark his territory.”

“He did that? I don’t feel different at all.”

Victoria shrugged. “I don’t have the ability to detect it as I’m a female. Only another male could tell.”

“That must be why Roman is so interested in me all of a sudden. He knows I’ve been marked.”

Victoria nodded. “He’s always been painfully jealous of Bryce. He’s the third in line to the throne. That’s always irked him.”

“To the throne? You mean Bryce is some kind of royal?”

“Yep. He’s a prince. His father is still ruling.”

“Wow, a prince.” Harper said dreamily. “That’s pretty out there.”

“Don’t get any big ideas, Missy. You may be marked, but that doesn’t mean that you’re to become a princess any time soon. You have to go through the blood rite to allow our spirit guides to either allow or disallow the mating pair.”

“Mating pair. That makes it sound so…animalistic.” But the very thought started to turn Harper on. The thought of getting down and dirty with a vampire prince, one as sexy as Bryce, was something that she couldn’t help but visualize in her mind.

“It’s hardly animalistic. It’s one of our most elevated spiritual practices. We actually connect to the spirit dimension and allow our ancestors to come through the fold in the time-dimensional space, to allow us to honor them and their choices.”

“Apple pie for you ladies.” Kierra said as she sat the two plates down in front of them. She raised her eyebrows at Harper. “You okay, girl? You look kinda…wigged out.”

Harper laughed nervously. “Oh, I’m fine. Just…thinking about refinancing my home. You know, lots of decisions.”

Kierra nodded, understandingly. “I know all about those real estate pressures. If you need any help,  talk to my tax guy.”

Harper bit her lip as she watched her friend walk away. She’d tell Kierra and the other divas in time the truth of what she was going through. She told Lola and she handled it okay. Hopefully the others would, as well. The vampires, the hot guys, the algorithm. All that will be shared eventually. But right now, she was still trying to process exactly what was going on.

“And when would I…become a vampire?” Harper asked with trepidation.

“That’s between you and Bryce. There are pros and cons. That’s something the two of you will have to talk about.”

They picked at their apple pie as thoughts raced through Harper’s mind.

“How often do you drink blood?” She asked.

“Not often. Not often at all. Women don’t require as much as men. Only once or twice every few months.”

Harper put her hand up to her neck, thinking about Victoria biting into her.

“And fangs. You have fangs?”

“Yep, but they’re kinda hidden until it’s time to get the blood. They’re like cat’s claws - hidden until it’s time for action.”

Harper smiled. That didn’t sound too bad to her.

But suddenly a stirring loneliness, an unavoidable agony, filled her very being. She missed Bryce terribly. She needed to be with him. She thought of his beautiful face. Those muscles. His kind words. His rich scent, so masculine and delicious.

She needed to be with Bryce. No matter where he was.

“How difficult is it to get to Elder Island?” Harper asked quickly.

“Seeing as its a secret island that no human has ever been to before, I’d say it’s pretty darn difficult.”

“Difficult things haven’t stopped me before.” Harper said assertively.

“Well, if you’re going to go, you’re going to need a little help.”

Harper smiled at Victoria but didn’t get her hopes up.

“You’re willing to help?”

Victoria leaned back and crossed her arms. “I’ve dedicated my life to helping out Bryce. If you’re the one he wants, I’m not going to stand in your way. Even though it does hurt a bit.”

“What do you  mean?”

“I’ve loved him since I met him. In my life, he’s always been
the
prince. The one that all girls want. I did whatever it took to get near to him. And to have him not choose me as his mate…it hurts. A lot.”

“I’m sure there’s someone out there for you.”

“Whether there is or isn’t, that’s not what we’re talking about right now.” Victoria said coldly. “I’m going to help you get to Elder Island, but once we’re there, it might be a bit difficult getting back.”

“Difficult getting back? How?”

“Despite the fact that Bryce is the prince, no humans are allowed there. If they find out that you’re there, you might jailed or worse.”

“So you taking me there is kind of a trap, huh?” Victoria said as she raised one eyebrow.

“I’m not trying to trap you. I’m merely informing you of what the risks are. And it’s also risky for me. Bringing a human to Elder Island? I could get the same penalty for breaking the rules that have existed for thousands of years.”

“Okay, then.” Harper said getting up. “I’m ready to leave when you are. I just gotta go tell my mother.”

“I’ll make the proper arrangements.” Victoria said as she plopped down a hundred dollar bill on the table. She strutted past Harper and out of the restaurant.

Kierra was watching like a hawk from behind the bar. She walked over after Victoria left. “Everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine.” Harper said. “But I’m going to go out of town for awhile. I’m going to go visit Bryce.”

“So you two finally figured it out.” Kierra said with a smile. “Finally realized you have feelings for each other? That’s sweet.”

Harper shrugged, a nonplussed expression on her face. “Something like that.”

After saying goodbye to Kierra, Harper walked out into the cool night air. She pulled her shawl around herself tighter, surprised at how cold it suddenly got.

“Hi Harper.” Said a menacing yet sexy voice behind her.

“Oh my God.” Harper exclaimed. She turned around quickly and saw Roman standing there. “Roman. What the hell are you doing here?”

“I’m here to try to talk you out of whatever that little succubus wench just convinced you to do.” He took a few steps forward. In the dark of the night, he almost looked exactly like Bryce.

“What’s wrong with going to Elder Island? I need to see Bryce. I need answers.”

“The man is nothing but trouble. Sure, he’s royalty, but his family didn’t get there through the proper channels. They’re impostors.”

“I don’t need a history lesson right now.” Harper said, trying to brush him off. “I trust him more than I trust you.”

“Forgive me if you think my little…stunt was less than appropriate. But there was no other way I could’ve talked to you about those very serious manners.” His voice was dripping with sensualism. Harper forced her mind to repel his psychic intrusion.

“Get out of my mind.” She said. She narrowed her eyes at him and clenched her hands into fists.

“Fine.” He said. She suddenly felt her mental state go back to normal.

“If you want to do me a favor, you’ll tell me what I need to do to heal my mother. You said that was a possibility.”

“Yes, but it’s nothing that Bryce can help you with.”

“Why not? He seems like the type who would do anything to help.”

“His side of the family had sworn to never interact with humans. The fact that he’s been in the human realm all these years starting his business is something of an open secret, but one that is barely tolerated  by the most important people of the vampiric chain of command. They want to keep him on Elder Island to prepare to rule.”

“But how could he…mark me…if he wasn’t allowed to interact with a human?”

“Oh, is that some silly little lie that Victoria told you?” He snickered. “She’s bad news. She’s just trying to lead you into a trap.”

Harper was so confused by all the differing information she was hearing. Was Bryce good or bad? Was Roman really the villain she thought he was?