Chapter One: The Waitress And The King

Copleston made a profound remark the other day, that everyone thought their own love story exceedingly romantic. I think it is a true statement, but I never thought that of ours; its genuineness and sincerity struck me more: two human souls absently rushed together because they saw there was nothing else to do consistently with continuing to exist. That was something better than romantic, was it not?
- Mandell Creighton

Don Alejandro de Silva, 439-year-old vampire and King of his kind in England, sighed as he walked into the skyscraper containing the offices of the law firm Ridley, Windham & Travers. Despite how he felt about lawyers (bloodthirsty creatures; which was ironic considering what he, himself, was) he was determined to resolve his latest problem with Dracula legally. He knew Dracula wished to trap him into doing something illegal, but Alejandro was not foolish. He had not survived as King for as long as he had by making mistakes.

He tried to ignore his hunger as he made his way to the lift on the far side of the enormous lobby, which was not easy; his stomach was beginning to cramp. It had been thirty long, torturous hours since he had last fed - perhaps that length of time between feedings was not sensible. He felt as though he would feast on the next person who came near him. Despite over four hundred years of self-control, sometimes the bloodlust got the better of him. It happened to all vampires.

There was a girl entering the lift shortly before him. She immediately took out of a copy of Cosmopolitan and began to peruse its pages, so absorbed in the magazine that she did not seem to notice his presence. Alejandro stood as far from her as he could; she smelled wonderful, of strawberries and blood, an intoxicating scent when combined. Alejandro had not eaten strawberries for hundreds of years. He rarely ate human food anymore.

As the lift began its ascent, Alejandro spent the time studying the girl. She was perhaps seventeen or eighteen and of medium height, although her heels made her appear taller and made her legs - revealed by a short black skirt - seem endless. Her hair was long and straight, reaching to the middle of her back, and was the palest blonde, almost white. Alejandro stared at it in wonder; it was like a veil of pure moonlight. Her long-lashed eyes, intent on the magazine, were a brilliant, iridescent blue, like the sky on a cloudless day in the middle of summer. Her skin was milky white, pale and flawless. Her cheekbones were high, emphasised by her pursed lips. They were the sort of lips Alejandro longed to kiss.

The thought surprised him. Although Alejandro satisfied his most basic of needs - after blood, of course - he felt no deeper connection to the women. He felt no true lust for them, and love was out of the question. But this girl...there was something about her. A purity, an innocence - and yet an inner strength that rivalled the bravest of men's - that fascinated him. He almost felt like he knew her already.

At that moment, the lift shuddered to a halt and the lights turned off.

Don Alejandro de Silva had no idea how much his life was about to change.

I narrowed my eyes as I sized up my opponent, trying to decide on the best course of action to defeat him. He was more muscular than me and taller by at least four inches, but if I was lucky, I had the advantage of speed. Maybe I could use that to my advantage - but how?

He noticed me watching him and grinned, his teeth white and straight, marred only by an impressive set of fangs that glinted in the stark, artificial light of the room. But I wasn't intimidated - I had my own set of abnormally long canines. I flashed them at him before feinting to the right, then dashing left and rushing forward to aim a roundhouse kick at the centre of his chest. He dodged out of the way just in time, aiming a blow at my chin that I blocked a fraction of a second before he hit me.

He easily caught my returning strike and guided it past his shoulder. I dropped down and swept his leg, forcing him to roll away from me before he could do anything mean. He jumped to his feet a moment later.

We exchanged feral grins and circled each other, looking for an opening. Getting impatient, I lashed out at him, but he sidestepped neatly and used my own momentum to flip me over.

I couldn't help but let out a shriek as I began to tumble towards the floor. But in a flash my opponent was there, grabbing me around the waist and twisting so that he was under me, cushioning my fall. He hit the ground hard with me on top of him. We just lay like that for a moment, breathless.

I looked down into Alejandro's face and pouted. "Fine. You win."

My boyfriend, the King of England's vampires, grinned and sat up, unclasping his arms from my waist. "You should not expect to be instantly good at this, mi amante," he said in his soft voice. His English accent still held a hint of his native Spanish in it, giving it an incredibly sexy lilt. "It has taken me several centuries to become as good as I am at fighting." He stood up and offered me his hand. I took it and he hauled me to my feet, pulling me against his rock-hard chest. My arms instantly went around his neck.

I smiled up at him. "Well, do you think I'm a good student?" I asked teasingly.

He chuckled, a warm, melodious sound that wrapped around me like silk. It sent a pleasant shiver down my spine. "Lexie, you are without a doubt my favourite student."

My smile turned into a frown, my eyes never leaving his face. At least, I tried to frown at Alejandro, but it was like trying to frown at an adorable little puppy (not that he'd appreciate the analogy). I'd known him for nine months, but every time I saw him was like the first time. He was so heartbreakingly beautiful that it was like a shock to the senses every time I saw him. "Is that your way of avoiding answering the question?" I inquired suspiciously.

Alejandro pursed his full lips as he pretended to think about this, teasing me, the movement drawing attention to his high cheekbones and square jaw. His hair, a brown so dark it was almost black, curled over his ears. He'd had it cut recently so it was a little shorter than I was used to. I had to admit it suited him. Anything suited Alejandro, he was that gorgeous.

I narrowed my eyes at him. His smile widened and he beamed at me, with his eyes as well as his mouth. His eyes were like topaz, a glorious gold framed by long dark lashes. He opened his mouth to answer at last, but I rolled my eyes at him and interrupted.

"Oh, don't strain yourself thinking. I know I suck at fighting. I just thought it would be easier than this. I mean, I'm a vampire for crying out loud - fighting is supposed to be as natural to me as drinking blood. The movies never mention actually having to try." I was whining, I knew, but I didn't care. I whined a lot. Alejandro was used to it by now.

"These things take time, querida," he said soothingly. He took my small, pale hands in his much larger ones. He had the long sleeves of his crimson shirt pushed up to his elbows, and his forearms were hard and muscular beneath his olive skin. I'd been trying to get him to expand his wardrobe and wear clothes that didn't look like they belonged to Lestat (not that he knew who that was), but so far with no success. It was a work in progress. "I know you are getting impatient, and that is your problem. If you had not been so impatient to attack me just now, you may have succeeded. Do not forget that it was your idea to learn self-defence."

I heaved a sigh. "I know." I had been a vampire for eight and a half months now, but I was a pretty pathetic one. Being a vampire did not equal being evil. Just as there were good and bad humans, there were good and bad vampires too. During just my first month I had faced vampire hunters and an insane vampire - and while I had been the one to kill the crazy vampire, it had depended more on luck than anything else. I'd got sick of being the damsel in distress who always needed rescuing, so I'd decided to learn how to defend and attack. So far, I was sucking at it. It was more than a little disheartening. "Maybe I should just invest in some more pepper spray and leave it at that," I said despondently.

Alejandro frowned, probably remembering the last time we'd come across pepper spray. I had used it on him nine months ago when I'd been trapped in a lift with him. The blood lust had got the better of him and he'd attacked me - I'd used the pepper spray in order to defend myself. Needless to say, it hadn't worked, and Alejandro had to turn me into a vampire to save my life. It probably seemed pretty perverse to be in love with someone who had almost killed me, but Alejandro was a good guy - he'd just made a mistake. It had taken a while, but I'd come to accept that.

"I wish that you would not," he said. Alejandro never used contractions; I had no idea why, and I'm not sure even he knew. He just didn't. Somehow, this suited him. It went with his Old World personality. "Pepper spray is illegal in this country."

I scowled. "I knew that." Actually, I didn't.

Alejandro pulled away from me and smiled. "If you persevere with learning combat skills you will eventually succeed, Lexie. It is just a matter of time and patience. Are you ready to try again?"

"No. My bruises have bruises."

"Mi rubia..." he said cajolingly. "Do not forget that this was your idea. It is your choice whether or not you continue, but if you do not wish to be a 'helpless female,' as you frequently call yourself, then these lessons are necessary."

I sighed, admitting defeat. "Fine, let's try again."

We practiced again for another hour, but I was no better. In fact, if it was possible, I seemed to be getting worse. We eventually admitted defeat and went to take a shower together, making our way through the maze of hallways in the house and up to our bedroom.

Alejandro's house, which he had lived in for well over a hundred years, had burned down eight months ago. We'd spent three months living in a hotel in London with the rest of his retinue before finding a suitable house in the countryside. Our new home was a Tudor mansion that was roughly the same age as Alejandro himself. It was a little smaller than his previous house but had two wings attached: the east and west wings. Alejandro and I shared the west wing, affording us some privacy.

The house, a large grey-brick structure, came complete with a sweeping driveway and expansive grounds. On the thousand acres of land that belonged to the property was a swimming pool, stable (which had been converted into a garage), maze and orchard, as well as garden after garden of plants. I'd found it on a website and showed it to Alejandro immediately - we'd both agreed it was perfect and had moved in a week later.

Alejandro and I had been living together for the same amount of time we'd been dating. I'd had a serious argument with my parents and moved out of their house, only to move in with Alejandro. It was occasionally a strain living with someone I'd technically known for so short a time, but we dealt with it well. We loved each other - more than that, we were soul mates. We were meant to be together forever.

But right now I had somewhere else to be. After my shower I dressed in a pair of bootleg cut black trousers and a button-down white shirt, and pulled my shoulder-length blonde hair back in a ponytail. I attached my name badge to my shirt and was ready to go.

I turned to Alejandro, who was lounging on our king-size bed. He was smirking, having watched me get dressed. Ever since the psycho vampire, William "Dracula" Murdock, had met his maker last summer (I'd beheaded him...it hadn't been a pretty sight), Alejandro had been much happier. He didn't brood as much and laughed more. It was nice to see that side of him.

"Can I borrow the Aston Martin?" I asked pleadingly. I needed a car and I'd sold mine, a silver VW Beetle, last year. My parents had paid for it so the money should really have gone to them, but that was a technicality. Fortunately for me, Alejandro had several cars. His newest one was a black Aston Martin Vanquish. I didn't really know all the fancy details about it, except that it went from 0 to 60 in four seconds and was a very pretty car.

Alejandro frowned at me. "Could you perhaps borrow a less expensive car? One that you are less likely to crash?"

Last December I'd borrowed his current favourite, a black Porsche Carrera GT. I was driving too fast and had skidded on a patch of ice, and the car had ended up colliding with a tree. Thanks to my vampire healing I'd been fine, but the car had fared less well. Alejandro hadn't let me forget it.

"Are you ever going to get over that?" I demanded, hands on my hips.

Grinning, Alejandro stood up and sauntered over to me. He placed his hands on my shoulders and leaned down to murmur in my ear, "I am certain that with the right incentive I could be made to forget about it."

My legs turned to jelly and my brain melted into a gooey blob for a second before I regained control. I firmly pushed Alejandro away and said, "I really need to go. I'm taking the Aston Martin; I promise not to crash it." I stood on tiptoes to kiss him on the lips briefly before turning and walking out the door.

I was Alexandria Elizabeth Amelia Windham, vampire and consort of the King of England's vampires...and a part-time waitress.

I'll admit that it was a less than glamorous job, but someone had to do it - and I was desperate. Before getting a job I'd spent six months living with Alejandro, having nothing to do when he was busy with businessman and King stuff, and it had driven me crazy. I didn't like being bored. I'd scoured the local newspapers, realised how limited my job choices were when I could only work at night (vampires can go outside during the day, but it means we have to drink more blood afterwards to replenish ourselves, so it wasn't really worth the effort), and settled on a job as a waitress in a nearby cafe. On the plus side, it gave me something to do as well as providing me with my own source of income (not that I particularly needed it; Alejandro was richer than God, and he was more than willing to give me all the money I wanted). On the minus side, I had to deal with people spilling food on me and perverted men pinching my arse.

I'd been working at La Maison Bleue for two months now, and to my surprise I actually enjoyed it (mostly). Although I had grown to like being a vampire, I still had the occasional moment when I missed my human life. After all, I'd spent eighteen and a half years as a human and only nine months as a vampire - it was going to take a while to adjust. Being a waitress helped to remind me of my human links.

La Maison Bleue was located in a large town ten miles from where I lived with Alejandro and his retinue. It was open from eight in the morning to twelve at night. It served an eclectic mix of food from various cultures and wasn't French in any way except for the name. The owner had thought La Maison Bleue sounded appealing and that was that.

I was a part-time waitress so I only worked four hours a night, from eight to midnight, four days a week. Having been brought up a spoiled brat who got whatever I asked for, I'd never had a job before and I'd found it hard to adjust. Fortunately for me, my colleagues were lovely people and had helped ease me into it.

It was a Tuesday night and the place was dead. Only two tables were occupied. Sometimes it barely seemed worth keeping the cafe open so late, but it meant I had a job so I wasn't going to complain (much). There were three waitresses who worked the night shift: me, Lucinda Barrymore, and Megan Kane. We were all under twenty-five and all bored as hell of our jobs.

Lucinda, at eighteen, was the youngest of us. She'd been living with her rich, older boyfriend until three months ago, when she'd arrived home to find him screwing her best friend. Now she was stuck working in a crappy cafe for minimum wage in order to keep herself afloat. She had short and spiky brown hair and cornflower blue eyes. Ever since her last, disastrous boyfriend, she flitted from guy to guy like a hummingbird went between flowers.

Megan was twenty-two, and slim with long dark hair she kept pulled back in a bun. Her eyes were large and brown, her nose was small, and her lips were pouty. She had the highest number of pervy men pinch her arse every night. I came in a close second. The only thing that kept me from biting the guys was the comforting thought that Alejandro would probably rip their arms off if he knew what the men did to his girlfriend. He was kind of overprotective.

Personality wise, Megan reminded me a little of my best friend, Thea Miller. They were both quirky and hyper. Thea had been bitten by Dracula last summer in order to send me a message - which I had received loud and clear. She had recovered but was still a little wary. She wasn't as bubbly as she'd been before she was attacked, and I didn't blame her. Thea had started at Cambridge University last September - I was supposed to have gone with her, but my plans had changed. I'd become a vampire and fallen out with my family: university no longer factored into my life, at least not in the immediate future.

One of the two tables occupied had three men at it. They were the middle-aged, fat, hairy sort that was most likely to try something with one of the waitresses. They were leering at Megan and muttering lewd suggestions to each other about what they'd like to do to her. Unfortunately, as a vampire my hearing was ten times better than any human's, and I could hear every word they said.

"...but Ryan thinks it might be a good idea to seat her as far from the bar as possible, since she has a tendency to get completely hammered if no one watches her," Megan was telling me, ignoring the men. She was getting married in a week and a half and had yet to finalise the seating arrangements. I was one of her bridesmaids (unfortunately for me), and I was being forced to wear a dress the same colour as Barney the Dinosaur. It wasn't a pretty sight.

"Mmm-hmmm," I said absently. We were standing just inside the door to the kitchen, talking. There wasn't really anything work-related for us to do right now. Slow nights were so dull.

"Are you listening to me?" Megan demanded.

"Yes." Actually, I was trying to work out why I was so ghastly at fighting. Maybe it was because I was uncoordinated? But you'd think that, as a vampire, coordination would be an inherent ability. Apparently not.

Megan narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to ask me something, but was distracted by one of the men making suggestive gestures at her. She rolled her eyes and said, "Hang on, let me go sort them out." She stalked across the room and leaned down to whisper something in the man's ear, her voice so quiet even I couldn't hear her. His face visibly paled and he scrambled backwards in his chair, desperate to get away from her. A moment later Megan walked back over to me, smirking.

"What did you say?" I asked curiously.

She shrugged. "I told him that if he didn't shut the hell up, I was going to castrate him with a butter knife and make him eat his own balls. Apparently he thought it was a threat I'd go through with."

I was both horrified and impressed. "That's disgusting," I said, but I was laughing as I said it. Megan would make a good vampire. Probably a better one than I made, anyway.

Most days I wondered why I stuck at my job when I didn't really need to. Then, occasionally, something like this would take place and it would make the whole thing seem worthwhile.

I arrived home, exhausted from being on my feet all night and smelling of ketchup that Lucinda had accidentally spilled down me. I wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed with Alejandro and sleep, despite the fact that it was only just after midnight - still pretty early for a vampire. I went straight to the west wing, not seeing anyone else on the way. The west wing was in darkness. I frowned, but didn't bother to turn on a light because I could see perfectly well in the dark.

There was a faint glow coming from the living room. I went in to find the room filled with candles, almost every available surface covered in them. They glowed like little fireflies in the darkness of the room. Red and white rose petals had been scattered over the floor, filling the room with their fragrance, and the stereo was playing classical music softly. The whole effect was beautiful. "Wow," I breathed, turning to look at Alejandro as he came up behind me. "What did I do to deserve this?"

Alejandro handed me a glass of red wine. He was wearing an olive green shirt and black leather trousers. He looked like a movie star. "Everything," he replied, smiling. His fangs were out, the light from the candles shining on them. His golden eyes gleamed with desire.

I grinned back at him. Suddenly I didn't feel the least bit tired any more. "What about the others?" I asked. I didn't want to be disturbed by one of his retinue/groupies. I took a sip of wine, my eyes never leaving his face, and almost spilled the crimson liquid down me.

"They have strict instructions to leave us alone," replied Alejandro.

I gasped, but it came out half a laugh. "You didn't!"

"I did. We have the night to ourselves, with no interruptions," he said. He leaned forward and kissed me gently on the lips. I laughed into his mouth and kissed him back, basking in his wonderful male/vampire scent. His arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me against his chest. I put an arm around his neck, careful not to spill the wine. Our minds linked without us even having to think about it, something that happened every time we got intimate. It was a soul mate thing. We were working on toning it down because, although it was incredible to be inside Alejandro's mind and vice versa, occasionally it got in the way.

I was in the process of unzipping Alejandro's trousers one-handed when the phone rang. I groaned, reluctant to leave Alejandro's embrace. "No interruptions? Really?" I said dryly. I pulled away from him and headed for the phone on the other side of the room.

He grabbed my hand and tugged me back towards him. "Leave it. Whoever it is can wait."

"It might be important," I pointed out.

"Then they can leave a message," he said sensibly.

The answerphone picked up and Frances Watts' panicked voice came on. Frances and her twin brother, Patrick, had moved to the area a couple of months ago. They didn't live with us but visited a lot. They were genetic vampires - they had been born that way, rather than being bitten like most were - the only two genetic vamps I'd met so far. "Alejandro? Are you there? It's Frances. Patrick is missing. He hasn't come home from work yet. I called there, and they said he didn't turn up to work earlier - "

Alejandro lunged for the phone, picking it up and pressing the On button at the same time. "I am here, Frances," he said smoothly, slipping easily into King mode. He sounded in control, his voice calm and soothing. "Are you certain Patrick is missing?"

I could hear her reply clearly thanks to my vampire senses. Her voice was shrill and panicked. She was breathing heavily into the phone, practically hyperventilating with worry. "Y-yes. No one's seen him since this morning. You know he keeps to human hours at the law firm so he should have been home seven hours ago. I've checked everywhere he could be, but he's vanished. I couldn't even smell him anywhere! Where is he?"

I was not the most sympathetic of people, and I was tempted to tell her to just calm down and shut the hell up. But Alejandro was much better at this sort of thing than me. That's why he was King of the Vampires and I was a waitress. "Frances, there is no need to worry," he said in his most comforting voice. But he cast me a worried glance. He was more concerned than he was letting on to Frances. "I am sure Patrick simply decided to take the day off work and forgot to tell anyone. He may be sitting in a pub or club somewhere, not realising the worry he is causing you." I didn't know Patrick that well, but I knew it wasn't like him to take off and not tell anyone where he was. Alejandro was just trying to stop Frances from having a complete mental breakdown. "Do not panic."

Frances took a deep breath. I could tell that she was trying to get her sobs under control. "O-okay. What should I-I do?"

Alejandro sighed wearily, rubbing his face with his hand. "Call anyone else you think Patrick could be with. If he has not arrived home by sunrise, call me again and we will visit his work and question his colleagues."

"Thank you," said Frances gratefully. "Goodbye." She hung up and Alejandro pressed the Off button on the phone before setting it back in its cradle. He turned to me, his eyes troubled.

"You know something," I said. It was more statement than question.

He inclined his head in a slight nod. "Patrick is not the first vampire to disappear recently. There have been two others that I know of. But those two were less reliable than Patrick. I thought that they had simply left the area. Now I think something more sinister may have happened to them."

I opened and shut my mouth a few times before being able to form a coherent sentence. "What...what do you think has happened to them?"

He shrugged his broad shoulders. "I do not know. But whatever it is, you can be certain it is not good."