The Vampire’s Servant
Chapter 134

"Where is the spell buried?" Talia asked.

"I don't know." My father replied.

"Do not lie to me, elf. I have no tolerance for it." She growled.

He looked around, but would find no help here. None of us were on his side. He was a traitor to our people.

"Fine. It's in the park at the center of the neighborhood." He answered.

"Take me there. We will bring the spell back and I will contact a witch to find out how to destroy it. You had best not be playing me false. You really wouldn't like me when I'm angry." Talia warned.

My father headed toward the front door. Talia followed after him. I couldn't believe that he'd helped with the curse. He couldn't remain king.

"Mother. He needs to be deposed." I said once the door closed.

"I will talk with your sister. It's time for her to step up if he's gone to these lengths to harm our people. Your father isn't the man I fell in love with anymore. I've been seeing these changes over the last two hundred years. I'm so sorry Rosario. I thought he would go back to how he was before if I had another baby. It was stupid." Mom sighed.

"It wasn't stupid, mom. You were hoping to have your mate back. I understand. It was his own stubbornness that did this. I'm glad I'm here for you while you're dealing with this. The curse might have stayed if I didn't exist." I told her.

"We still have to talk about my favor. I'm healed now. I want to become a fae." Sean said.

"Sean?" Echo whispered. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm Rosario's true mate. I want to be by his side forever. Being fae will ensure that. I don't want to wait. You shouldn't wait with Victor and Gray either. I've heard that you're waiting for school to be over to get marked by them. We can have Harmony help with clothes and makeup. We can hide their marks. You should do it as soon as you can." Sean urged.

I looked to Echo. She seemed sad. I understood. She was dealing with a lot. Being unmarked by her mates wasn't what she wanted. I knew there was no hiding a wolf's mark. It would make her a target for hunters. "Sean. Don't pressure her. We all do things in our own time." I whispered.

"Fine. I will grant you this boon in return for my debt being wiped clean. I'll be right back." Mom said and got up to go to the kitchen.

Sean took off the remains of his shirt. I ran to my room to get him one of mine. I didn't like him being bare chested in front of so many people. I was feeling a little possessive.

When I returned to the living room, Sean and Echo were talking quietly. I smiled at them. They really were very close. You could see how much they cared for each other.

After a few more minutes, mom came in holding a small cake. She handed it to Sean. He looked at the little pastry curiously.

"The magic works better with digestion. We found long ago that ale or cakes make the best vessel for the magic. Once you do this, there's no going back. Do you understand, Sean?" Mom asked.

"I understand, Queen Maeve. I appreciate this so much. I know I'll be stronger once I'm fae. Then I can protect Rosario." Sean grinned.

"You protected me without being fae, Sean. You didn't need to, but you took my father's attack for me." I said.

"I did need to. I told you I wouldn't let him hurt you again. I meant that. Your father will never hurt you as long as I'm around. I don't break my promises." He replied.

"Then you already have some of the traits of the fae. Eat the cake and you will change while you sleep tonight. In the morning, you will wake as a fae. You can choose to eat the cake now, or save it for later." Mom told him.

Sean looked at me and started eating the little cake. I couldn't believe he was actually doing it. I thought there would be more time with him as a human.

I loved Sean, no matter what species he was. Seeing him so intent on becoming fae had me worried. I hoped he wouldn't regret his decision. I never wanted him to regret the choices he made for our relationship. Sean was my whole heart.

When he was finished, he complimented my mother on her baking skills. Mom loved it when people enjoyed her foods. It made her very happy to receive compliments.

Suddenly, I remembered the shirt in my hands and handed it to Sean. I couldn't believe I was just sitting there, watching him. I must have looked foolish just standing there with the shirt.

Sean slipped it over his head. I was bigger than him, so it was a little loose, but I felt like it suited him. I sat on the couch and put my arm over his shoulders again. This felt so comfortable and so right. I was starting to become giddy about him changing. The front door opened again. We turned to see Talia come in, talking on her cellphone, with my father trailing behind. He looked flustered. I could imagine that Talia probably scolded him the entire time they were together.

"Thank you, Lila. I'll take care of it." Talia said into her phone and hung up. "Is there a bathroom I may use, Queen Maeve? I need to get rid of this spell bag and this portion of the curse will be released."

"Down that hall, second door on the right." Mom told her.

"You have my thanks. I shall return."

My mom glared at my father. He seemed embarrassed. Did he really think he wouldn't be caught? Did he actually think he'd gotten away with it?

I balled up my fists. My anger at him didn't seem to dissipate. It only grew. He had harmed our people and my mate. I didn't know which actually pissed me off more.

All the people who had lost their families. The ones who couldn't use their glamour and were forced to live in the village instead of with the people they loved. They popped into my head. I had a friend in the village who always wanted to go to human school, but couldn't use glamour and was stuck in the village. He grew bitter and stopped talking to me.

"I did what was best for our people." He murmured.

"You did what you wanted and used the excuse that it was what was best for our people." I replied. "You only thought about what you wanted. You didn't even think of them! I'm ashamed that you're my father. You're a terrible king and a terrible man."

"Hollis, unless there's something else the Traveler needs from you, I want you to leave my home. You are not permitted back on my lands until you've given up your title. I will make sure our people know what you did to them. I can't imagine they will take kindly to you ruling over them when you don't even think of them while making decisions." Mom said.

"Our people aren't safe here. They need to be in our home." My father insisted.

"No. They need to know their rulers are there for them no matter where they choose to live. The whole reason we started this neighborhood was so we could take care of those who chose the human world over ours. You harmed them. You didn't even care that you were harming them. That makes you as bad as some of the human rulers we've seen over the centuries. You are over seven hundred years old, Hollis. How could you do something so childish and selfish?" Mom cried.

She really was crying too. Tears had welled up in her eyes. He hadn't only betrayed our people, he had betrayed her. It made me even angrier. I hated when my mom cried. I stopped telling her when he beat me because it made her cry.

Talia came out from the hallway with a smile on her face. I took it that the spell was destroyed. She walked over to my father and looked up at him.

"That's taken care of and I've passed the information you gave along to one of our witches. I will share with the other once I get home. I do hope you'll take my advice, King Hollis. No one will trust you after this. Show me that your glamour is working again and go home. I'm sure your wife needs time to process this offense." Talia said.

"Maeve?" My father looked at her like he was sad too. "Please. I was trying to do what I thought was best for everyone."

"Get out of my lands, Hollis. I will contact you when I'm ready to speak with you again. Make sure you tell people in the village that this spell was broken and families can be together again. Go." Mom replied sullenly.

He sighed and walked through the house and out the back door. I wanted to follow him and try to kick his a*s, but, when I tensed to go, Sean put his hand on my arm and squeezed. I couldn't leave him after he'd just eaten a magical pastry. It wouldn't be right. What if he had side effects?

"Mom. Are you okay?" I asked.

"I will be. I'm just thinking over all the signs I missed. I should have realized that he would try something like this." She sighed.

"This wasn't your fault. As men get older, no matter the species, they change. He may have actually thought he was working for the sake of his people. In the beginning at least. He probably saw the harm it was doing and felt better when he started blaming it all on Grigori. The sad part, was that he saw all of this and could have ended it for your people, but chose to stick with his stubborn decision." Talia told her.

I watched my mother accept comfort from an ancient vampire. My life had become a little weird. I didn't entirely mind. That was what made it interesting as well.

"You should get going, Rio. I'm sure you would rather be with your friends right now." Mom said.

"I can stay here. I don't want to leave you alone after all this." I told her.

She smiled. "More than anything, I want you to be happy. This arrangement isn't forever and now I know you have a powerful vampire looking after you, I won't be as worried. I need some time alone. Some time to process all this. I need to get in contact with our people and let them know they can use their glamour as much as they want again and go settle the glamour over our neighborhood so humans will stop encroaching. I have a lot of work to do. I won't just sit here moping. Go on. Go have fun and try to break the rest of this curse."

I got up from the couch and went to her. I knelt in front of her chair and put my head in her lap while wrapping my arms around her waist. She stroked my hair like she always did when I was little. It made me feel much better.

"My darling Rio, you have shown me today how much you care for our people and for your mate. You are a born leader, my son. When I hand all this over to you, I will know that I'm giving my people the best possible king. One who learned from the mistakes of his father and grew up compassionate and caring." Mom murmured.

"I'll do my best to never let them down, mother." I promised.

"You will be held to that. You know never to make a promise you cannot keep. I know you would never break an oath. Go. I have much to do and the day will not last forever." She said, patting my head.

I got up and went to help Sean stand. He was looking at me with a goofy sort of smile. Echo got up and walked over to Talia.

"Let's go. Victor will be waking up soon and I want to tell him about what happened." Echo bounced.

"Are you sure you have enough energy after traveling and healing?" Talia asked.

"I have tons of energy! I'm so excited, I can barely contain myself. We broke part of the curse and got a lot more information! We're going to save Victor, Talia!" She squealed.

"Alright. We'll see you boys back at the house. Travel safely." Talia said before she and Echo disappeared.

We grabbed my things, and the cutting of my grandfather, before I put my glamour back on and headed to the car. Once we had everything loaded, I gave my neighborhood a look. Soon it would be bustling with all sorts of creatures in their natural forms. I couldn't wait to come home and see that.