Opulent (The Opalescent Collection Book 1) (9 page)

I
looked up into the sky, foggy with dark ash clouds. A white dot appeared on the horizon. One of Pete’s black dragons lifted off and flew towards the white object in the sky. Pete was asleep. It was late and feeling restless, I came to gaze at Earth and Catastrophe from afar. The dragon roared and came plunging down, as did the white object. It drew closer until it was clear in the sky and I ran from it, realizing it was about to crash. It was a dragon. A figure sat on its back, commanding its every move.

              Pete’s dragon suffered a bite from this huge white one and sliced its wing, causing them both to plunge down. The black dragon, paralyzed, simply fell and collided into the hard ground as the white one struggled to fly, barely glided down, and crashed as well. The figure flew off the dragon and collided into the ashy ground, sending up a cloud of smoke.

             
Is this an intruder?
I thought, slowly making my way toward the figure.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

“No.” The figure said and sat up with some difficulty, one hand clutching his injured, bloody arm. The color of his blood was dark, a clear sign that he was of some royalty.

“Let me help you.” I tried to take his hand, but he quickly turned. “Let me help you,” I repeated.

“Who are…are you…Chenille East?”

“Yes, I am, now if you could just let me-,”

“Chenille? Chenille where are you? Get over here!” It was Pete.

              The boy froze, sat as still as a statue. Even his breathing stilled. “Who are you? What is your name?” I whispered.

“I am…Lucian, Fitzray’s cousin.”

             
There is that name again.

“Chenille!”

“I can’t leave you here, you’re hurt.”

“Don’t worry about me, just go. Meet me here when Pete is asleep.”

“But your arm-,” I began.

“Go!”

              Slowly I made my way over to Pete, resisting the urge to look over my shoulder at Lucian as I did so.

“Where were you? I heard a loud noise and-,”

“That was thunder, nothing to worry about.” I pushed him back through the doors of the palace.

“It didn’t sound like thunder, it sounded louder.”

“It was thunder.” I struggled to make my voice sound convincing.

              He laughed quietly. “You look so shaken.”

“
You
look so disheartening.”

              He smiled and pressed his lips to my neck. “Must I make you begin the Ceremony?”

              I laughed. “You can’t make me drink your blood. It won’t happen.”

“How about Fitzray? How was
his
blood?”

“Who
is
Fitzray?”

“No one important,” he grumbled.

“Well, whoever he was, I’m sure his blood was
delicious
compared to
yours
.”

“Why you-,”

“I have no trust in you and I don’t
want
to drink your thick, acidic blood. That’s why I don’t
like
it. I don’t
like
you
.”

“Of course you do. I am all you have.”

“That’s not true! And I would prove it to you if you took me to Catastrophe-,”

“I will
never
take you to Catastrophe. Everything you would ever need and want, I can give to you,” he spat.

“Well, I
want
to go to Catastrophe.”

“Except
that
.”

              I crossed my arms impatiently. “I want to be left alone for the rest of the night.”

              Just as I turned, his hand grabbed my arm.

“Why must you be so difficult,” he scorned. “I only do what I do out of love,” he chimed, practically mocking. I realized,
remembered
, that those were the last words my brother said before he was killed. “I do love you.”

              I looked away in disgust from the vampire. A part of me wanted to echo his words, but another part of me would have pierced my heart if I had. His poison had control over me, which made me echo these words repeatedly without me realizing it. Each time I had said them, he kissed me and gave me the poison I craved, but in doing so, he lost more of his poison to control me. At the same time, he became more and more powerful from the sense of the fake love he was receiving from my words.

              I broke away from his grip, this time refusing to echo his words. This was a first, the sense of my independence from him, and he growled loudly at my rebellion. My gaze focused elsewhere, to the stairs, and I made my way toward them.

“Come back.”

              Tossing my head, I swaggered up the stairs. As I proceeded away from him, he angrily ran after me.

“You cannot disobey my wishes, Pete.”

“And you cannot disobey
mine
.”

              Once I made it to the top of the stairs, I settled my feverish glare over him.

“I am Queen of the vampires. Not even
you
can overpower
me
.”

“Oh yes I can. Since I am King and you are mine, I can easily overpower you in every way.”

              He prowled up the stairs like a tiger, like a beast, stalking prey. I dug the heel of my shoe into the hardwood floor and the stairs disintegrated, splitting beneath Pete’s feet. He plummeted down, now that the stairs were gone, and landed flat on his back.

“As I said, leave me be for the rest of the night,” I called down to him.

              He yelled, but I knew he was not hurt. He probably had no more than a bruise. I walked quietly down the hall with a smirk and entered the master suite. Alone at last, I took a seat on the edge of the bed and marveled at the sight of the huge moon Clesta with its deep yellow-orange glow beside Catastrophe.

             
Is Lucian a threat to me? Should I trust him? How does he know my name?

              An icy hand wrapped around my throat as the bed sagged from the weight of my Eternal Mate.

“I am sorry for the way I acted,” I said quietly, frightfully, hoping the grip around my throat would loosen.

“Don’t let it happen again.”

“Pete.”

“Hmm?” His hands moved to my shoulders, slowly wrapping around me.

“Are you tired?”

“No.”

              I rubbed my eyes. “I am.”

“You should be. You destroyed the stairs.”

“Are you hurt?”

“No. I am not harmed from your childish mistakes.”

“Forgive me?”

“As always,” he said with a kiss.

              I felt my head ease, my memory erase, but kept the thought of Lucian. I knew the loss of his poison would weaken him and soon cause him to fall asleep as if under anesthesia. To my relief, he fell asleep within a few short minutes. I made the slightest movements as I rose from the bed and walked out of the room. Even if he woke up, he would be too weak to chase after me.

              I grabbed my cape on the way out and shrugged it on while the chilled air struck my face. I didn’t have to travel far when I saw Lucian and the white dragon. They were not alone.

              A vampire with long red hair ran up to me and hugged me tightly. “Chenille, you’re ok.”

“Who
are
you?”

“I’m Amelia…remember?
Amelia
?” She spoke to me as if I was a child, but I could see she knew me well.

“No, no I don’t.”

“What about Caspian?”

              A vampire with striking blue eyes walked up to me. “I am Caspian. Do you remember me?”

              I shook my head. I was also introduced to Calvin, Prusaious, Pearl, and Taj’.

“These are your friends,” Lucian said. He paused, an anxious glance shooting toward the palace. “Is Pete asleep?”

“Yes, he’s asleep.”

              Friends
. I bounced the word around in my head for a moment.

“Why are you here?”

“We have come to take you back to Catastrophe.”

“Really? You would really take me there?”

“We are going back tomorrow since everyone is tired from the long trip here.” Lucian replied, answering my question.

              The large group of vampires separated into small groups where they formed circles around constructed fires. I sat next to Lucian and the snake, Taj’.

“Can you tell me…who Fitzray is?”

              Lucian took a deep breath before he began. “Fitzray was my cousin. He loved you very much, believe it or not. He was killed by Pete.”

“You don’t remember him?” Taj’ asked, surprised.

“I don’t. I wish I could but my memory has faded.”

“How?”

“Poison, I have been poisoned.”

“Poisoned by Pete?”

“Yes, the poison in his fangs is so wonderful. It’s so addicting that I can’t help myself, but I lose some of my memory as soon as it hits my lips.”

“We have to keep you away from him.”

“How did you get here? How did you find me?” I sat on Lucian’s lap and looked up at him as a child eager to hear a nursery rhyme. He did not seem bothered by it, so I remained where I was.

“We flew on the backs of dragons and I found you. I saw one of the black dragons and suspected there would be something there for it to protect. I was right. The beast nearly killed me.”

“Is that your dragon? The big white one?”

“Yes, that’s Jasper.”

“You know, we do have someone that has been waiting to see you,” Taj’ said, diverting my attention away from Lucian.

“Who?”

              Taj’ slithered away and came back a few moments later. A dragon with icy blue scales stood next to him. A blue jay was perched on one of the dragon’s light brown horns. A smaller orange colored dragon was at his side.

“Who are you?”

“This is Minx,” Lucian said gesturing toward the blue dragon.

“Who is the bird?”

“Valiant,” the bird chimed and flew to my shoulder.

“We have found that Valiant is not a blue jay,” Amelia said. She paused for a moment to see if I was confused or if I had remembered what a blue jay was.

“What is he then?”

“He is a phoenix.”   

“He doesn’t look like a phoenix.”

“You should see him in the morning, that’s when he changes. He is a blue jay a lot probably since he can’t mimic when he is a phoenix.”

“And this is an old friend of Fitzray’s.” Lucian added as he showed me the beautiful white bat that flew to him. “This is Charlene.”

              The bat swelled up nearly twice her size and side- stepped from Lucian’s hand over to my shoulder to perch beside Valiant.

              The smaller dragon clung to my cape and nuzzled me beneath my chin. I looked at its brilliant orange scales with its pink wings the color of a grapefruit. Its veins resembled the inside of an orange, thin and filled with sweetness.

“Who is this?”

“That is Citrus,” Minx said.

              I looked up at the blue dragon, unaware it was him who had talked, and moved my fingers down the tiny yellow spikes that ran down Citrus’s neck.

“Citrus was found as an egg. She also would have belonged to Fitzray,” Minx said, flicking out his tongue to speak.

              I looked up at Lucian; the flames from the fire’s luminous glow danced in his golden eyes. It was surprising how much he looked like Pete with his black hair and shining smile, but all at once, he appeared as his total opposite. I rested my head on his shoulder, allowing a sigh to escape.

“So is this how my old life was? Surrounded by friends?”

“I’m sure it was.”

              A haughty girl came over and sat across from me, smiling boldly.

“So you are Chenille, Queen of the vampires?” She asked in a sweet, elegant tone.

“Yes, I am.”

              She gathered her black hair in her hands and began to tie it up with a piece of dilapidated leather. “I’m Prusaious.” She chimed, resting her weight on her elbow to examine me, probably disregarding the fact that she had introduced herself to me already.

              A loud pulsing noise echoed in my ears, not my own pulse, for mine was so faint it was barely audible to me. This pulse belonged to someone else.

“Do you
smell
that?”

“Smell what?”

“It’s so sweet,” I snuggled closer to Lucian. “What are you wearing? Did you bathe in honey? You smell almost…sort of like a…like a
mortal
.” My head swelled with dizziness from the scent.