6. Old maid

6

OLD MAID

M y head aches as I make my way up the stairs toward my bedroom.

I thought succubi politics were bad, but there is so much more to vampire politics. I'm not sure that I'll ever be ready to take over as heir. After today, I have more of a vested interest in seeing Lucien come home. It wouldn't surprise me if he had run away—not with Kaine as his advisor.

Just as I'm about to walk into my bedroom, I hear footsteps behind me. I turn to see Julien walking my way. His bedroom is right across the hallway from mine.

"Hey, Maddie."

I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear. "Hey."

He tilts his head to the side, watching me carefully. "You look…" his voice trails off.

"Too tired to carry on?" I suggest.

"Just what did Dad do to you today?"

"Not Dad. Well, it's kind of his fault. He stuck me with Kaine."

Julien nods. "Say no more." He motions for my door. "Want to talk in your room?"

"Sure." I open my door and walk inside. I leave the door open for him to follow. I go into my closet to change into my pajamas and when I come out, Julien is sitting on my bed. I collapse beside him, face first.

Julien chuckles. "I should have warned you, but I didn't realize Dad was going to leave you with Kaine all day."

"He's the worst," I mumble, my face still pressed into my mattress.

"What happened?"

I sit up so that I can face Julien. "He accused me of murdering Lucien so I can have the throne." I pull my knees up my chest and hug them against me. "Can I abdicate so you can be heir? I promise to support you."

"Not on your life." He makes an ‘X' with his fingers toward me. "Do not curse me like that, Maddie."

I chuckle, shaking my head. "What am I supposed to do about Kaine?"

"Use your succubus charm on him and make him fall in love with you." Julien wiggles his eyebrows at me.

I wrinkle my nose. "Gross. No thanks."

"There isn't a lot you can do about Kaine," he admits. "He's super loyal to my brother. To be honest, he doesn't like me much more than he likes you. Though he's never accused me of murder. I'm not sure how he thought you could kill Lucien—Lucien is almost a foot taller than you."

"Great." I lower my head letting my hair curtain my face.

"It'll work out." Julien puts a hand on my arm. I look up and see him smiling at me, his dimples showing.

"I bet you have a lot of girlfriends," I say.

His grin grows wider. "I'll have you know that I am very single."

"And by very single, I'm going to assume you are talking to at least ten girls."

He laughs. "Maybe."

I frown. "Great. My little brother has a better dating life than I do."

"Hey, you could still woo Kaine," Julien teases.

"Or I could just accept the fact that I'm going to eventually be an old maid because nobody ever wants to date a hybrid." I try not to sound bitter, but I'm sure Julien can hear it in my voice.

"You know that we look alike, right?" He scoots up my bed, lying beside me. He rests his back against the headboard.

"I've noticed—we both take after our dad."

He nods. "And you probably didn't notice because I'm your brother, but I'm kind of hot."

My lips curl up without my permission and I find myself laughing. "Is this your idea of cheering me up or something?"

He rolls his eyes. "No. I'm trying to point out that since we look alike and since we've established that I'm drop dead sexy, you're not going to be an old maid. You're kind of pretty."

Julien's words warm my heart. "Thank you, Julien. But it doesn't matter what I look like. You don't understand because you're fully a vampire."

"What's it like, being a hybrid?" Julien adjusts a pillow behind his back, getting more comfortable.

I smooth my hand over my comforter. "I'm not charming like a succubus and I don't drink blood like a vampire. No matter who I'm with—vampires or incubi and succubi—I'm alone. There is nobody like me."

Julien puts a hand on my arm. "You're not alone anymore. You have me. You're my sister and I'll be here for you no matter what."

I lean over, giving him a side hug. My eyes sting with unshed tears. I blink them away before looking at my brother.

"Thank you."

He smiles warmly—not the smirk that shows off his dimples, but a soft smile that lights up his eyes. It hits me that he's right. I'm not alone anymore. No matter what, Julien will be by my side.

I squeeze my brother a little tighter as a warm feeling settles in my chest. "Are you sure you don't want me to abdicate?"

"And leave me to deal with Kaine? No, thank you." Julien snorts. "He hates me probably more than he hates you."

I pull back from him. "I didn't know that was possible."

Julien grabs something from one of my drawers and I look curiously at him as I realize he's holding up a remote. He pushes a button and part of the wall slides open to reveal a television. He goes to a streaming service and starts some movie. I relax into the bed, getting comfortable.

"Thank you," I tell him.

He grins at me. "I'm still not becoming heir for you."

Kaine is waiting for me in our office, but I'm stalling.

I don't want to go inside. I don't want to face him.

Wanting to prolong my stalling, I stop by the kitchen to grab some coffee. When a servant offers to make me a latte, I request an extra one. Maybe I can bribe Kaine into liking me with coffee.

Eh, it probably won't work. I've been getting coffee for my cousins for years and they still don't like me.

When I walk into the office, Kaine is glaring at his watch. His glare moves to me and I hold out a coffee toward him. He sniffs it, giving me a suspicious look.

"It's hazelnut—with a dash of blood," I say. "Barbara said it was your favorite."

He takes a sip, still warily eying me. I notice the way his shoulders slightly relax.

I take a sip from my drink. "Wow. This is good."

"Barbara makes the best coffee," Kaine says, his voice sounding softer than it did the day before.

Maybe vampires like coffee more than incubi and succubi because my cousins never chilled after taking a sip.

I take a seat in my chair, putting my coffee cup on the desk in front of me. "What torture do you have planned for today?"

He huffs, sitting down across from me. "This is serious—I'm teaching you important things."

"It's a joke, Kaine. Relax." I take another sip of my coffee, trying to remember to keep calm. Losing my temper isn't going to give Kaine the non-serial killer vibes I'm going for.

"You're just…" he waves a hand at me. "Ignorant to all things vampires. My work is cut out for me when it comes to you."

I sigh. "I offered to abdicate so Julien could be heir, but he all but threatened me for suggesting it."

Kaine groans, his head lulling back. "Please don't do that. You may be ignorant, but at least you're taking this seriously. Julien doesn't do serious—everything is a joke to him."

I start to argue in Julien's defense but then I realize that Julien is right. Kaine does like me better than him.

Huh.

"You know I'm a hybrid, right?" I ask.

He rolls his eyes. "Yes, I'm well aware of the fact that you're a hybrid."

"And you'd rather have a hybrid heir than Julien?" I ask.

He lifts an eyebrow. "Who do you think was stuck tutoring Julien in vampire politics while he was in university?"

I can't help but grin at the thought of Julien annoying Kaine. I bet it was a sight to behold.

Kaine groans. "No, no, no. None of that."

"None of what?" I ask.

He waves his hand wildly at me. "You and that mischievous smile. It reminds me far too much of Julien—one of him is enough. And worse, you're half succubus. You can't just flash that smile around. It's inappropriate."

"Smiling is inappropriate?" I cross my arms over my chest.

"It is when you use your succubus charm," he says, very matter-of-factly.

I snort. "I don't have succubus charm. Did I not explain this to you already? I may be a hybrid, but I didn't get any succubus traits. I'm more of a vampire than anything, but I'm hardly even that."

He stares at me for a few uncomfortable moments. "Whoever told you that was lying."

I swallow hard.

"Though I have a feeling you already know. Is that how you killed Lucien? You charmed somebody else to do your dirty work?" he asks.

I roll my eyes. I guess that means he still thinks I murdered my brother. "I didn't kill him and I didn't charm anybody else to do it. Trust me when I say, I'd rather be doing about anything else than being in here with you."

"What's wrong? Being heir isn't as good as you hoped?" He narrows those icy blue eyes at me.

"I don't want to be the heir. Can't we just, I don't know, focus on trying to find Lucien? Once he's back, we will only have to see one another in passing."

"You want to help find Lucien?" he asks.

Wait, help find him? Does that mean he's trying to find him? For some reason, that makes Kaine fifty percent more tolerable to me.

"Yes," I answer after hesitating for only a moment. "I do want to help you find Lucien. I vow to do whatever I can to assist."

"That surprises me." He sits back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest as he studies me.

"Why would it surprise you? I already told you that I don't want to be heir. I told my father that too." I don't break eye contact as I say it and I pray that he believes me this time. "I don't want to be a queen—I don't even want to be a princess. I just want to be… Madeline."

" Just Madeline?" He quirks an eyebrow. "You realize you're a princess on both sides, right?"

I play with the handle of my coffee cup. "I've never felt like a princess. You asked me what I did for my grandfather and the truth is, I got coffee for everybody in the office. I ordered lunch. I took notes in the meetings. I kept my mouth shut because my family thought it was better for me to be quiet. I think they preferred to forget the fact that I exist. And maybe I liked it that way too."

"You didn't like it," Kaine says.

I jerk my head up. "You don't know me."

He shrugs. "No, you're right. I don't know you. But I do know you're too smart to fetch coffee and take notes. You were born to be a royal. Don't let anybody, your family included, make you feel inferior."

His words cause my breath to hitch.

Isn't this the same guy who was just accusing me of murder yesterday?

"I will accept your offer to help me find Lucien," Kaine says. "But even when he's back, I will still tutor you and get you caught up on vampire politics. No matter what, you're still royal. And even when Lucien returns, you'll likely be queen anyway—not of this clan, but another clan."

I freeze. "What? How would that work?"

"You'll likely marry into another clan." He shrugs. "That's how these things work. King Scott has been at a disadvantage because he doesn't have a daughter to offer in a marriage alliance. You solve that issue."

A marriage alliance?

"Come again," I say, my voice sounding flat.

Kaine ignores me and opens up his notebook. "Where did we leave off yesterday? Ah, here we are. Rules for succession."

I sit up straighter. "Shouldn't I not be in the running for succession? Since I'm illegitimate and a hybrid."

"Normally that would be the case, but there is a law that makes exceptions—you are an exception," Kaine explains.

"What are the exceptions?"

"Death of an entire line." He holds up a finger. "Fertility issues." He holds up a second finger. "And, in your case, an exception is made when the child comes from royalty on both sides of his or her family line." He holds up a third finger before letting his hand drop. "You'd be surprised how often that loophole is used in vampire politics. Though, usually, it's between vampire royalty."

I lean forward. "Oooh, scandals. Do I get to learn about those?"

He taps my still closed notebook. "Not yet. You've got to learn the boring stuff first."

I grumble under my breath but I open my notebook to begin taking notes. I have a feeling there will be a pop quiz on this stuff.