My Vampire Queen
Chapter Twenty-Six

When I first meet Walter and Ester I immediately really like them. Ester is short and stocky, a woman who reminds me of my grandma and Walter is a taller man who looks completely put together. It’s the way he looks at his wife that makes me like him, the woman had him wrapped around her finger and it was the sweetest thing I think I’ll ever see. When I tell Walter my plans for the new house, well the plan that I want him to make his dream kitchen he looked like he was tearing up. The only thing I wanted for the kitchen is to help pick the color scheme, he could pick everything else. I had also asked Ester to think about where she’d like cleaning cupboards, a laundry area, and all the things she would need in them.

After we chatted for a while and got to know each other a little better, they insisted on starting work right away and left to stock the fridge and pantry. At least more than I had, granted I could have gotten a lot more. I lead Nathan upstairs where I told him to pick out some biker chic clothes. Doing my makeup while he goes through the closet I use mostly just brown eyeshadow, heavy on the black eyeliner, and black lipstick. The outfit Nathan brings me is a simple, simple black bra, white tank top, dark-colored jeans that have a detail of ribbing on the sides, a cropped red wine-colored leather jacket, and plain black moto boots with just a few studs. I only take my hair out of the bun, run my fingers through it, and put it in a high pony.

Bjorn walks out sexy as all pulling a fitted black shirt on, he’s also wearing dark-colored jeans that almost match mine. Nathan looks me over and gives me a smirk. “Are we going out?”

“We are, there’s someone I want to talk to.”

“Should I wear all black too?” He asks, Bjorn moves past to grab shoes and a jacket.

Shaking my head I tell him before laughing. “Wear what you want, you’ll probably still stick out where we are going.”

“Good or bad thing?” His smirk grows, and I laugh again. Nathan will get under their skin, but I could see them loving him within time. After all his personality is very similar to Mason’s.

After a few texts back and forth to my dad and the boys getting ready, we head out. Instead of towards the city, we head away from it. More out into the middle of the north half of Illinois, where a city turns into some corn fields and developing shops. A little farther we pass an apartment complex and then a small wooded area, right after is our destination. A two story brick and mortar bar, minimal signs on the outside, and only a few large heavily tinted windows. The outside only has a few Harleys in the front, a truck pulled up to the side of the building.

“We can’t be here,” Bjorn said looking over to the bar. “Shifters and Amina historically don’t get along.”

Pointing out the front of the window. “Park there.”

Poor Nathan who was driving looked torn, turn around and run like Bjorn wanted, or park like I wanted. He stalls the car and looks at me. After a second of seeing, I’m not worried about this one bit he pulls into the spot I pointed out and Bjorn lets out a long suffering sigh. I grab and squeeze his arm before slipping out of the car. All of them follow me closely as I walk to the front door of the bar.

Opening the door, heat, the smell of stale beer and sweat hit me throwing me back to my childhood. Going into the bar my eyes take a few seconds to adjust to the darkness, once inside the door closes behind us. The floor is a dark tile, with dark brown and red bar tables in the middle of the room, couches off to the left along with pool tables, a jukebox, and a stripper pole. To the right is the pride of the bar, a large wood bar that was the only thing ever cleaned and looked after. Photos of Damnation members and posters of half-naked girls line the walls among other Damnation things.

“Is that you pipsqueak?” I hear the voice I had grown up with like a big brother. Turning my attention over to the bar I see a few men hunched over throwing me dirty looks from where they sit. But behind the bar, with wild curly red hair and a beard that needs a trim is Mason.

“I lost weight and you gained it,” I said back to him, he lets out a laugh some might take as an angry laugh. I know it as his natural laugh, one he didn’t change to fit what people thought as a non-mocking one.

He moves from behind the bar, I hadn’t moved very far in just out of the way of the door. Bjorn and the guys were hovering very close around me, I could feel their tension. When he’s in front of me I could feel it, something completely different that I’ve never felt before. It was like an energy around him, it felt like blades of grass as it brushed over me, and smelt like a forest. Mason’s head tilts in a way that reminds me of a dog, his eyes skipping over the men behind me and he lets out a low whistle looking back to me. “Things have changed a lot.”

“Yeah, surprise,” I said throwing my arms up in a weak attempt at being funny. It at least hits when he gives me a smile, one dimple showing and I’m pulled into a hug.

Mason pulls back enough to see my face and asks. “Did you know?”

“What I was? Or what you are? Cause no to both.” He pulls me back into the hug, pulling me off the floor. A little laugh is pulled from me when he starts walking to where the door to the back rooms are.

“Momma is gonna shit bricks,” Mason said, he only slows to look back at my Blood. Bjorn has the best confused look on his face. “They can come, as long as they don’t fuck around.”

I wave them along as Mason starts back up. I hit his back. “You smell like stale beer, put me down.”

“Too late, you already smell like me,” Mason says, he drops me to the floor anyway in the doorway and yells back. “Tank take over the bar!”

Mason leads all of us down the hallway, down into what they call the meeting room. It’s a large wood table with the Damnation crest and name stamped in the middle, and chairs spread around it. There’s a couch and a bunch of biker stuff hanging around, it’s a purposeful mess. I had only been here twice that I can remember as a child, it wasn’t somewhere I was supposed to go unless I was sent to find Keith or Laura. Masons parents.

“Your dad texted me and told me you were stopping by, is that what you wanted to talk about?” Mason waved his hand over my Blood indicating them.

“In a way that has to do with what I wanted to talk about,” I said and shake my head. “I don’t know who’s in charge, do you guys have like an Alpha or something?”

Mason’s face breaks out into a grin and he laughs. “Of course we do! Pops is in charge, of course. There’s the Alpha, the Alphas mate, and everyone else is just on a scale on the way down.”

I shake my head because I should have known Keith would be in charge in every way. He’s a big man with a big personality. Mason lets out another chuckle, turning serious he looks off to where the bar is and looks at me. “Pops will be fine with you coming into our territory, we’ve known you before.” He waves his hand over my Blood again, they weren’t quite as tense as before. They were more than happy to let me carry the conversation though. “Most shifters wouldn’t be though, our kinds haven’t gotten along in the past... or the present really.”

Well, that was something I could have guessed. “Where is your dad?”

“Oh right.” He throws me a dimpled smile before turning. He leads me across the room to the main office, the Damnation’s president’s office. Mason knocks before opening the door and waves me in. The office itself is spacious, with a two-person couch, a few chairs, and a large desk piled with papers. I’m pretty sure most of those papers have been there longer than I’ve been alive. Keith the big man himself sits in the peeling leather office chair, hands folded on his big gut.

“Well well well.” He says, his voice just seems to boom around us. If I hadn’t grown up with him as an uncle, I would be scared of this man. Keith and Laura were my dad’s best friends, Laura babysat me constantly when my dad couldn’t be bothered to watch me. Keith when he was around always played with me as a kid, always included me when he did stuff with Mason. Keith’s eyes move behind me as I feel my Blood move into the room behind me, staying along the wall. “I was not expecting that.”

“Turns out I’m adopted.” I try to force a joking tone into the statement, it just turns out a little bitter. “I’ve only known a few days, but I’ve learned a lot about a lot of things.”

“Is that why you’re here?” Mason asks. “You figured out what we were and got mad?”

Now that he brings it up I put my hands on my hips. “No, but now that I think about it.”

Mason grins as a booming laugh comes from Keith. I shake my head at both of them. “I loved vampire and werewolf movies and yet you never told me they were real? I’m so mad about that now.”

“The Vampire thing is not ours to tell,” Keith said and waves me closer. “Sit and we will talk. Mason go find your mother, she will be so happy to see Emma.”

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