Free The Vampires' Birthright by Aiden James Page A

that night, or I would’ve needed to change my wardrobe. But if I could wear her genuine tears on my dark burgundy sweater for the night—which I intended to do—it was a burden worth carrying. Especially since she seemed revived after her cry had ended.
    She wiped her cheeks with her hands and saw the blood. Hunger and revulsion in equal measure filled her eyes. I put my hand on her chin, lifted her eyes to meet mine, and gave her a small smile, which she returned as she pushed the monster back into some dark closet of her soul.
    “What will I do when you get old and gray?”
    That’s the ultimate question that seems to haunt all immortals when faced with the loss of those they’ve cared most for while still human. Raquel once mentioned how the first such deaths are always the worst to endure.
    “You’ll make her into a vampire and call it a day!” Armando inserted himself into our conversation quite literally.
    He floated beneath us and popped up his face between ours. His comical expression and timing were impossible to resist, and both Tyreen and I laughed a little. It felt good. Really good.
    “But I suggest you not wait so long to do it.” He continued his playful rant, after somehow disappearing from between us and reappearing next to Tyreen’s right shoulder. “Sometime before Txema turns into an old, craggy witch of a woman. Maybe when she’s thirty, no? Unless you two keep chit-chatting tonight away. If you’re not careful, I’ve seen how Chanson’s great, great, great, grand-niece gets when she hasn’t received prompt nourishment―and you have too, Tyreen. Txema might become that craggy witch much, much sooner and be completely ready to become a vampire this very night!”
    “Only if you’re eager to experience the ‘true death’ from Gustav, since that would happen long before the bearer of the last birthmark of life gets turned into one of us!” said Chanson, sort of playfully, sort of not. She appeared in our midst out of nowhere. “In the meantime, I have a little surprise for both Txema and Tyreen tonight!”
    My extremities were numb from all of the vampires gathered close to me, along with the arctic air pouring in through the gaping hole still present in the window. It, and our door, wouldn’t be fixed for a few more hours, since suitable lumber wasn’t easy to come by. I envisioned little Chinese orphans chopping wood in the dead of night, while their lazy vampire overlords told Gustav ‘our window and door repair crews are working diligently around the clock to get your issue taken care of promptly!’
    “What kind of surprise?” I didn’t wait for the answer, anxiously digging out my coat and some gloves since the room’s temperature had dropped to where my breaths rose in progressively longer mists.
    Chanson motioned for Garvan to bring over a long dress box to me. At the moment, I was wearing jeans and the sweater I mentioned earlier. Since arriving at the palace the month prior, fashion had become far less important to me than warmth. I should’ve known something was up, since they all were dressed up more than usual. While the guys were wearing semi-formal Pierre Cardin, all the girls had these amazing evening gowns that bore only slight differences in design despite different colors―all the latest fashion.
    In fact, I had seen the same designs on some starlet at a premier for Cosmic Smash 2 or something like that just last week. Don’t judge, I had a lot of time and nothing but some magazines I had taken off the jet when we landed. Raquel always looked splendid no matter what color or style she chose to wear, and went for a fuchsia evening gown. Tyreen’s gown was almost hunter green, but it was softened with some other hue to where it matched her eyes perfectly. Chanson wore traditional black, but there were slight ruffles along the neckline and lower hem. I seized upon the minute details of each dress, drinking in the normalcy of them and pretending for a moment