The Vampire Ambassador
Chapter 15

We drove for nearly 4 hours before I felt my eyes becoming heavy with sleep. I leaned my head against the cool window and began to doze off with the gentle movements of the vehicle.

We hit a few hard potholes that jarred me awake. I grabbed the seat with my left hand to steady myself against the rough terrain. When the vehicle came to a stop I peered out the window to see nothing but ocean on the right and a lighthouse on the left.

The door to the vehicle opened and I slowly stepped out as the cold wind hit my face. The door shut behind me as I heard footsteps coming from the other side of the truck.

"I hope you brought some warmer clothes," uncle Harry chuckled as he grabbed my bag from the driver. I turned my head around quickly to look at him with a confused look.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, "And where the hell am I?"

"Just come with me," he said, walking to the dock where a ferry was waiting, "I'll explain everything." The ferry got louder and smoke filled the air, smogging up the sunlight trying to peek through the clouds.

"Answer my question!" I growled, still confused as to what was going on.

He sighed and turned to look at me. "You know I wouldn't do anything to put you in harm's way. You've trusted me this far, right?"

I gritted my teeth as the cool wind kept blowing and forcefully moved my feet forward. Once we got on the ferry I kept my distance and remained in the open area watching the waves lap against the boat.

“Here,” uncle Harry said as he draped a jacket around my shoulders and handed me a cup of hot coffee. I took a sip and shivered when the warm liquid spread throughout my chest.

“So where is this place I’m being taken to?” I asked, keeping my eyes on the ocean.

“You still think you’re going to an institution?” He chuckled.

I shot my gaze at him and narrowed my eyes. “What are you talking about? That’s what the council sentanced me to.”

“It was a front,” he answered with a stern look on his face, “Melody there is a war coming. The council feels like you are the best hope in stopping that war.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” I asked, shifting my body to face him completely. He kept his sight on the blue water. “There are vampire territories pushing closer and closer to human boundaries. If a war breaks out between humans and vampires, it will be the end of our kind.”

Only certain human territories know about us, mainly those who have ground adjacent to those ruled within a kingdom. Of course the government knows we exist, but they keep it hushed up for the most part. The majority of the human race is unaware of our presence as long as we maintain peaceful interactions with those who know we live among them.

“When things like this would almost happen in the past, the council would turn to your mother for answers,” he continued, “With her being the next kin of Queen Iris alive, they felt she was in the most control over most kingdoms; she could sway a ruler to do as she asked with a simple conversation.

“This time things are different. This has escalated farther than just a conversation held between rulers. Not to mention Johnathan is doing everything in his power to keep you off of the throne.”

“So I basically have to do my mother’s work since she has passed,” I replied. Uncle Harry nodded. “We are heading to a place where your mother and father visited frequently when they needed to get off the grid to plan something big. They didn’t visit much for business, but their allies here are big supporters of your family and will help you.”

“Where exactly are we going?” I asked, “And why do we have to keep Erik out of the loop on this?”

“We call it Lashae Isle,” uncle Harry answered, “It’s about 70 miles off the coast of New Jersey, which is where we just left.”

I nearly spit out my coffee I was sipping. Erik’s kingdom was northern West Virginia, whereas mine was in the northeastern part of Virginia. We had traveled hours and I didn’t even realize it.

“Lashae comes from your mother’s name,” uncle Harry continued, “If that surprises you. And the reason we cannot let Erik know is because I know you don’t want to put him in danger.”

Uncle Harry put his left hand on my shoulder. “This could be dangerous, Mel. I have all the confidence in the world that you and the people of the island can pull it off, but it is going to take some guts.”

I remembered what I had promised Iris and realized that this might be what she meant when she told me to unite the kingdoms.

“So not only am I supposed to keep our people safe,” I whispered, “But the human race too.”

“I agree,” uncle Harry said, “I believe Iris is wanting you to keep the peace between our kind and theirs.”

“Starting with Johnathan,” I growled, “Surely he is behind this.”

“From what I have been told,” uncle Harry replied, “I believe you are 100% right.”

We drove for another few minutes until a small, mountainous island came into view. The sunlight was still trying to peek through the clouds in the sky, and the island was beautiful when it did. There were small houses built into the sides of the hilly terrain with some serious tree cover.

My guess is to keep them hidden.

We pulled into the dock slowly before uncle Harry grabbed my bag and put it into a small silver car. I got into the passenger seat and he began to drive us up the largest mountain, twisting and turning the whole way up.

Everything was so modernized here; the houses were made with updated brick work, all of the stores and eateries looked brand new, and everyone waved as we drove by.

Once we made it to the top we pulled into a cobblestone driveway up to a beautiful two-story house. The bricks were painted white with black shutters and doors, the greenery was deep green to match the tropical plants surrounding the area, and there was just enough light let in to brighten everything up.

We pulled into the garage area and I grabbed my bag before we went to the front door. Everything on the inside matched the outside colors; the walls were white with minimalistic art scattered throughout, dark furniture, and white woodwork with shiplap on the accent areas.

The front door opened into a formal lounge area, then we took two steps down into the living area. There was an open concept to the house with the kitchen on the left and a staircase next to it. There was a hallway that went past the staircase with some bedrooms and bathrooms, or that was my guess.

We went up the stairs to the balcony area over the kitchen that looked over the living room. There were about 3 doors on this hallway that were all closed. We walked right down the hallway to a large metal door. There was a keypad and fingerprint scanner to the door, which uncle Harry typed in a code and scanned his finger. The latch on the door unlocked and he opened it.

When I walked in I nearly fainted at how different this room was. There were computers lined up on either side of the room with about 10 vampires scattered about. There was a large metal table in the middle where a man stood up and walked over to us smiling.

The man bowed, which caused everyone else in the room to do the same. I smiled back and nodded.

“This is Gael,” uncle Harry said as the man reached out his hand.

He was huge and muscular, like what you would think a body builder looked like. He had tattoos all over his arms, was a bit taller than Erik, and had deep red colored eyes. His hair was a sandy type of blonde, and pulled into a bun on the top of his head. He had a beard too, which was very uneven and needed some serious shaping.

“It’s an honor to finally meet you, your Majesty,” he said as we shook hands.

“Likewise,” I replied, “I’m looking forward to working with everyone.”

“So I take it that Harry gave you the spill?” He asked as he walked over to the middle table. I slowly nodded. “He gave me the run down, but I’m not sure of any details.”

He tapped on the table and a huge digital map popped up in the air. "You can see the river here that separates vampire lands from the human ones."

"Uh-huh," I said, putting my finger on my chin.

"This is King Johnathan's land," he said, drawing the outline of his kingdom on the far left, "King Kalani has the space in the middle, and King Elias on the right."

He zoomed the map out and drew the outlines of the other two. He then drew another color for the boundaries closer to the kingdoms.

"This is where they used to be 3 months ago," he sighed, "It appears they are expanding nearly 50 miles every few months."

"There is only about 50 miles left until the river," I said, stepping closer, "If they keep pushing forward they will be on human territory in no time."

"Exactly," Gael replied, "And we don't need a war between humans and vampires breaking out, so we have to stop them somehow."

"And that's why I'm here," I said, "To help you and the council stop them."

"Bingo," he chuckled, looking over at me, "Your mother was always so good at making leaders change their minds. But I'm worried that this will take some force to stop. Johnathan is the one who has convinced these other two to push forward. I'm afraid that he is unwilling to budge on his decision so we will need to push back and keep the peace between us and the humans."

I sat there staring at the map when a realization hit me. The whole reason he wanted my powers was to expand his kingdom and use what he gained from me to destroy the human territories.

"That's why he tried to take my powers," I whispered. Gael looked between me and uncle Harry.

"What you talking about girl?" Gael asked.

I shook my head and sighed. "Johnathan kept me for who knows how long and tried to take my powers somehow. He didn't succeed, but he sure as hell tried. He said that the reason for that is because he wanted to be the most powerful king there is."

"Ah," Gael replied, "Makes sense. I'm glad he wasn't able to take them, because we are gonna need them."

"So what do you think we should plan on doing?" I asked, "I'm thinking we figure out when they will reach the river and be waiting on them there to stop them."

"That's what I was thinking," a woman said, walking over to us. She had long strawberry blonde hair, deep hazel eyes, high cheekbones, and a tribal tattoo on the right side of her neck running into her hairline. She was super tall, maybe even six foot tall. She crossed her arms and looked at Gael.

"This is Luna," he said, "She's one of our best."

"Only next to Gael, of course," Luna chuckled, bumping into his shoulder and smiling.

"Could we tap their phones?" I asked, "To get an idea of when they plan to expand."

"I believe we can," a short older man said from the back of the room. I turned and looked to see him standing. He had glasses on the bridge of his nose, a long brown beard, messy hair, and headphones around his neck.

"I should be able to track the IP on their phones and hack in to listen," he continued before sitting back down and typing away on a computer.

"That's John," Gael said as the man put his headphones back on, "He's a little different, but the smartest tech person I have ever seen."

"Sounds like we can get a handle on this for sure," I replied confidently.

"Here," Luna said, grabbing my bag, "I'll show you your room. I'll have your uniform sent down once we get your size in. Small?"

"That will work," I replied, smiling.

"We will meet back up tonight," Gael said, "Once we get a tracker put down on the land. I have a few men out there working the perimeter to make sure they don't get a head start without us knowing."

"Sounds good," I said, "I'll be there." Gael smiled and nodded as I followed Luna to my room down the hall. It was the last room on the left, and it was simple but elegant. The walls were white with some shiplap accent on the right side where the headboard of the queen bed was. The bathroom was to the left and followed suit with the decorations of the rest of the house. Everything was white with a small walk in shower that was made of glass.

"I'll leave you to unpack," Luna said as she stood in the doorway, "Let me know if there is anything I can do for you."

"Thanks," I replied, "I sure will." She then smiled and left, closing the door behind her. I walked over to the large windows that opened to a small balcony. I gently opened them and stepped out into the sunlight that was now shining bright.

A ping of sadness hit me as I wished Erik was here. Being away from him felt like a piece of my heart was gone. I sighed as I looked out at the waves lapping against the rocky coast.

I decided that once I finished my task, the first thing I was going to do when I went home was wrap him in my arms and never let go.

As much as I miss him, I am going to be fine here.

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