2. A natural beauty

2

A NATURAL BEAUTY

W hen we eventually arrive at the estate, my stomach is in knots and my heart races faster.

What if my grandfather doesn't like Damek? Would he do something to stop the wedding? A few weeks ago, I might've been okay with any political marriage being sabotaged, but now I don't know how I feel.

Dad leads us inside and through a maze of hallways that I used to find confusing. Eventually, we end up in the formal sitting room—a room I've only seen a handful of times during my stay. Damek and Julien are both standing by a window, talking about some car that they both like. And Eden is sitting on a chair, ringing her fingers together. When they hear the nose, all three look our way.

Damek smiles widely, making his way over toward us. Julien looks at his mom who is looking at my mom.

Yikes, this is going to be more uncomfortable than I imagined.

When Damek gets over to me, I decide to introduce him to my family. Maybe I can cut some of the tension.

"Grandpa, Mom, this is Damek," I say to them, then turn to Damek. "This is my mom, Sasha, and my grandfather, King Bennett."

Damek bows to Grandpa. "It's a pleasure to meet you, King Bennett."

Grandpa slaps him on the shoulder. "No need for formalities. You are, after all, part of the family. Call me Grandpa."

Damek looks at me so I nod to let him know it's okay. He turns to my mom. "Princess Bennett."

Mom grins at him. "You can call me Sasha."

Damek looks between my mom and me. "I always thought you looked like your dad, but wow, you look exactly like your mom."

My eyes widen.

He thinks I look like my mother? I don't believe I've ever been told that before. Most people are surprised when they hear that we're mother and daughter, though most believe my mom is too young to have a child my age—succubi age well.

Julien, who had crept over to us during the conversation, takes the opportunity to introduce himself.

"I'm Julien, Maddie's very good looking younger brother." Julien grins, oozing all the charisma of an incubus. If I didn't know better, I'd think he was the one who was a hybrid, but no. He's all vampire.

Grandpa looks at Julien. "A prince, huh? Are you betrothed? If not, I have many granddaughters. They're all very charming."

"Grandpa!" I step up next to a smirking Julien. "He's my brother. You can't have him marry one of my cousins ."

"Why not?" Grandpa asks. "It's not like any of them are related to Prince Julien."

"Yeah, Maddie. Why not?" Julien teases.

I just know that Julien is going to remind me of this moment for the rest of our lives.

"Julien is still twenty one," Dad says from behind us.

We move slightly, so Dad and Eden can join the conversation. Eden keeps her head down, not making eye contact with anybody. I hate seeing her like this, so out of her comfort zone.

"Do vampires have a certain age where it's appropriate to get married?" Grandpa asks.

"No." Dad glances at Julien. "Julien, however, isn't at a point in his life where he's mature enough for marriage."

I try to hold back a chuckle, but it comes out anyway. Everybody turns to look at me and Julien smirks.

"Dad's right, I'm not ready for marriage quite yet. But we can talk again in a couple of years," Julien says, then winks at my grandfather.

I shake my head at Julien.

No—it's absolutely not happening.

Once the introductions are through, one of the servants shows my mom to her quarters. Eden quickly flees, not that I blame her, and Dad and Julien follow her. Damek and I stay with my grandfather because he says he wants to talk with us.

"This marriage—it is consensual between both of you, correct?" Grandpa asks.

"Yes," I say, my cheeks growing warm.

Damek slips his arm around me. "Yes, we both want this."

Grandpa nods. "I just wanted to make sure. I know that sometimes these political marriages can be forced. I got lucky with my wife—she turned out to be a wonderful woman and I've been happily married to her for forty six years, but not all are as lucky as me."

Damek's eyes widen. "Forty six years?"

"Do vampires typically not stay married that long?" Grandpa asks.

"Yes." Damek nods. "But I wasn't shocked over the length of time you've been married, I am more shocked that you're old enough to be married so long. You look young."

Grandpa grins. "Incubus genes. We are blessed to age very well. My wife still looks as young as she did when we married."

My heart melts when I hear him talk about my grandma. The two of them are sweet together. Though she definitely doesn't look as young as she did when they married, she does look extremely young for her age, even for a succubus.

I hope someday that I have a love like them. Will Damek and I be in love after forty six years? My grandparent's marriage was arranged too, so they didn't love each other when they got married. But they did grow to love each other very deeply. I hope that we can get there.

"Since Madeline is so dear to my family and to our community, I would like to throw the two of you an engagement party," Grandpa says.

‘Dear' to my family? I nearly snort at the thought. If anything, I'm certain that my cousins are glad to be rid of me. They've always hated my presence at work. If anything, they miss me bringing me coffee every morning.

"Grandpa, you don't have to do that," I quickly say, hoping to avoid this.

"I insist." His tone is light, but I can see on his face that this isn't something I can get out of.

I sit up straighter. "I don't want to be rude, but are you sure this is a good idea?"

Damek's arm tightens around me and I wonder what he's thinking. Does he think I'm ashamed to introduce him to my cousins? Maybe I should explain it to him, but I won't in front of my grandfather.

"Your cousins miss you," Grandpa says.

I raise an eyebrow. "Yeah, right. I'm sure Henry threw a party to celebrate my departure."

He looks away, confirming my suspicions.

Of course Henry threw a party to celebrate that I was gone—what a puke.

"I will keep Henry in check," Grandpa promises after a long pause.

Like you kept him in check all those years I worked for you? I keep the thought to myself, wishing I were brave enough to say it out loud to him.

"Do not forget, Madeline, you are a princess on both sides." He meets my eyes. "You have a duty to more than just the vampires, but succubi as well."

I lower my head, not sure what to say. I've never felt like a princess, only an outsider. But I do know that I can't deny my grandfather's request—not only is he my grandpa, but my king.

"You know what the succubi and incubi will say, even my family." I don't make eye contact as I say it.

Damek keeps quiet, but I'm sure he's wondering what we're talking about.

"It matters not what anybody says about you," Grandfather says. "You are special and they all know it."

I shake my head. "Special is just your kind way of saying that I'm ugly compared to my non-hybrid cousins."

Damek takes a step closer, putting himself between my grandfather and me. "I am willing to go to this engagement party of yours, but I am unwilling for Maddie to be treated poorly by her family while we're there. If that is what this is about, we will not be coming."

My eyes widen as I look from Damek to my grandfather. Damek keeps his eyes on my grandfather, not breaking eye contact for even a second. Grandpa looks… amused.

Is he smirking?

"That is not what this is about. I can assure you that I love Madeline very much. If her cousins make fun of her, it is only because they are jealous," Grandpa says. "She is the kind of natural beauty that a full succubus could never be. Her cousins are all aware of it, too."

I stare a him, wondering if he's just saying that to make Damek and me feel better, but it doesn't feel like it. It's like he really means what he's saying.

But he couldn't, could he?

I've never felt beautiful. How could I be when I was constantly reminded that I wasn't a full succubus?

"I don't understand," I say.

Grandpa looks at me. "You've always been beautiful. Why do you think your female cousins treat you like they do? Succubi and incubi are vain, they can't stand anybody to be more beautiful than them."

More beautiful than a succubus? Impossible.

Damek turns to look at me for a moment, then nods to my grandfather. "We will come, but I won't tolerate any of them treating my fiancé rudely."

Grandfather bows slightly to him. "Of course, Prince Damek. I will make sure all of my grandchildren behave."

I nearly laugh at the idea of any of my cousins behaving. But I do know that none of them would cause a scene, not at a place like that. I have handled their jeers and insults for twenty three years, what's one more night?

"I will have my secretary get in touch with you for the dates," Grandpa says, smiling at me. "I look forward to seeing you again soon and I'm excited for what your betrothal means for both of our communities."

I wonder what he means by that. Succubi and incubi don't marry outside of their species. That is part of the reason that my existence is such a big deal. I am one of a kind.

After that, Grandpa leaves, getting a ride to the airport from our driver and I'm not sure what to make of anything that's happened, but Julien is in a really good mood as he throws my bedroom door open, without knocking, of course.

"Do you ever knock?" I narrow my eyes as he saunters into my room.

He smirks. "I wanted to make sure you and your boyfriend were behaving."

I lift an eyebrow at him referring to Damek as my boyfriend. "Damek left about an hour ago—you know he never stays this late. And he's never been to my bedroom."

"Good," he says, his tone very subdued.

Julien may be younger than me, but he is very protective of me. It's really sweet, even if unnecessary when it comes to Damek.

"How is Eden doing?" I worry my bottom lip between my teeth.

Tonight was hard on her—even harder than the night she met me. Part of me still can't believe she's being so welcoming to my mother. If I were in her position, I'm not sure that I would be so kind to the woman who had an affair with my husband.

Julien takes a step closer to me. "My mom will be fine. She and Dad worked through their issues a long time ago. It was hard for her to see your mom, especially seeing how pretty she is."

I sigh, running my fingers through my hair. "My mother is a beautiful woman, but so is Eden. She has nothing to worry about when it comes to my mother."

"She trusts Dad now," he says. "Or else their marriage never would've lasted this long. Everything will work out."

"I just feel so bad. I don't want to force your mom to be uncomfortable. This is her home."

Julien shakes his head. "No. She is doing this for you, Maddie. Because you need your mom here to help you plan for this wedding."

Still, my heart aches when I think about Eden's face today. She looked completely crushed. It's one thing to forgive your husband for his transgressions, it's another to invite the woman into your home.

"My mother is a strong woman," Julien says.

He's right. Eden is strong—probably the strongest woman that I know. She's a great queen and wife, she's a great mother to Julien, and she has been a great stepmom to me. I know she can handle anything, I just wish I could somehow make it up to her.

"Enough about my mom." Julien wiggles his eyebrows. "Let's talk about your grandfather, who looks young enough to be your dad."

"What about Grandpa?" I gaze curiously at him.

His smile turns into a smirk. "He's very, uh, good looking."

I roll my eyes. "He's an incubus—of course he's good looking. You should meet the rest of my perfect family—you'll see why I don't fit in."

"Maddie, Maddie, Maddie," he says my name as if it pains him to even utter it. "I've told you already—you and I look alike. If I call you ugly, I'm calling myself ugly. You and I are hot."

I gently bump my elbow into his gut. "And you're so humble too."

He chuckles. "You have no confidence, I have too much confidence—we balance each other."

I laugh at his thought process, but I will let him win the argument tonight. "I love you, you know that?"

"What's not to love?" he teases, but then his smirk turns into something warmer. "I love you too, Maddie. I'm glad you moved here."