Crimson Flame ~ Book 1 - The Royal Blood Collection

Chapter 7

The pink coffin that Alaric had ordered was, in fact, white on the exterior and had a pink satin interior. It was in the bedroom with Alaric's coffin as well as the blue one which was on the other side of the room. If there was a crazy chance that Hendrick managed to get through the bolts on the main door, we'd use the excuse that I was trialing the coffins to ensure that they were worthy for our children.

When we returned from the trip to Chinatown, the four of us set about searching every room in this section of the building. It was a mansion at the edge of town and Alaric had been granted the use of the guest quarters until he was made the leader.

That day was just around the corner. All he had to do was have a permanent love interest that was willing to have lots of children with him. He had the fake version of that, now all we had to do was clock some time together to show everyone that this was totally legitimate.

And then there was the other thing that Alaric wanted to do. He wanted to show the humans that being with a vampire was okay and that venturing out their doors of a night could be done. When he was the leader, Alaric planned on showing the world how easy it was to be around a vampire, showing me off to the world.

Except, there was a flaw in his plan. I wasn't completely human. He turned me into a hybrid because of Hendrick but I suspect that Alaric didn't trust himself either.

I sighed and rolled onto my side, unable to find comfort in this thing. And, I couldn't fall asleep either. Frustrated, I lifted the lid and peeked out. The sun filtered through the room, shining over the polished floorboards. Alaric always kept the curtains closed but they weren't enough, slivers of light shone through the gaps.

At the back of the room, it was relatively safe. Pushing the lid up, I climbed out of the coffin and tiptoed over the wood floor. As I squatted in front of Alaric's coffin, I gently tapped on the wood. I didn't know what was appropriate in this situation.

Hearing a huff, the lid slowly lifted.

"Hey."

The unamused vampire looked at me.

"I can't sleep and that coffin is terrible. I wouldn't recommend it for your children."

"Duly noted," Alaric said with a yawn.

"So, is there something I can do to fall asleep? I've been staring at the darkness for an hour now."

"I know, I can hear you every time you fidget, every time you turn and every time you complain, even if it is a whisper."

Super sensitive hearing, I didn't know that but I would definitely remember it.

"I need one like yours. How come they're so different?"

"I have no idea. Perhaps we can take the others back and you can trial ones in the store tonight."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

I wasn't entirely thrilled about sleeping in a coffin but the idea was growing on me. Yesterday I had slept really well so it had its bonuses. As for tonight and the horrid pink coffin, I wasn't happy about it.

"Maybe I could sleep on the bed."

"That's not a good idea. The sunlight is pouring into the room and you would risk too much."

"Why do you have a bed in here anyway?"

Alaric looked at me with a wolfish smile, I flushed and looked away.

"Oh," I said softly.

So, sleeping on his love pad definitely wasn't a good idea.

"I guess I'll go back to bed then."