Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 57184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
“The Blood King did this to you, not I, and he paid with his life.”
Ah yes, Benicio. The prior ruler of Monsterland and king of the Blood People. This used to be his dark, dismal, windowless palace. Now it’s mine. Rest in hell, motherfucker. He snubbed me out, but obviously that wasn’t the end of my journey.
During the fight for my life, Benicio’s sister, Uhrn, came to my aid and also suffered a fatal injury. So there we were, the three of us dead in the middle of the great hall. But little did everyone know that Uhrn had given me her blood earlier in the day to heal me from several bites, compliments of Benicio’s own bloodlust. When I woke, I wasn’t only a vampire, I was the new ruler of the Blood People.
Turned out that with my royal blood, and Benicio and Uhrn dead, I was next in line for the throne.
Add to this mess that I was already married to Alwar—a very long story—and that made me queen of two of the most powerful kingdoms in Monsterland. And that’s how I ended up the unwilling ruler of Monsterland, more or less.
“Benicio may have ended my human life,” I say to Alwar, “but you’re the one keeping me like this. We both know if I went home, I could be human again.” The doorways between our worlds are connected by a bridge that acts as a filter—a clever safety feature that keeps out living monster matter from the human world. If I go home, the bridge will filter out my vampire genes.
Alwar stares with his vivid blue eyes. “You know I cannot let you return to River Wall Manor, Lake. Monsterland would fall into civil war between all kingdoms. You are the only thing keeping the peace.”
“That’s too bad, because I refuse to be your pawn, which means I won’t be doing anything but sitting here, drinking whatever I can get my fangs on.” I leave out the part about having plans of my own, just as soon as I get this bloodlust under control. But I won’t be their prisoner for long. I will not quit until the wall between our worlds is sealed for good and those bridges are shut down. There are ten trillion monsters and only seven billion of us, not including the countless animals that would be wiped out should the inhabitants of Monsterland ever manage to take down the wall and bridges.
Humankind has already come close to extinction several times, never the wiser. But I know. I know that everything here wants to eat everything back home. At the moment, so do I. Yet I’m the only thing standing between these ravenous creatures and the end of an imperfect world I love.
If I can cut the link between Monsterland and home, even if for only a year, everything here will die. Simple truth is that everyone has a weakness, and theirs is that they need our water to survive. That water happens to flow from River Wall Manor on my family’s estate through some underground bridge built into the wall.
If I can find a way to shut it off, seal the bridges, and keep the wall intact, this world will end. For good.
Alwar sets me on the ground and tells my man-snack to piss off. The giant steps over the wall of the private courtyard and disappears into the neon trees of the surrounding forest, where a large group of War People have made camp.
“I’ll take my leave as well.” Gabrio gives me a disapproving glance before entering the palace. It doesn’t faze me that he’s upset. I won’t allow him to make me feel bad. They want to keep me as a vampire and use me as their political puppet.
Alwar’s gaze instantly softens. “Lake, I understand better than anyone how you feel. But this is what it means to rule. Your wishes take a back seat. You must put the people first.”
He means the War People. Well, humans are my people. Every dog, cat, lizard, bird, bug, and fish back home are my people, too.
“I don’t give a fuck about anything but blood,” I lie. “Drinking it, bathing in it, looking at it. So if you’d like to take my place on the throne of Monsterland, be my guest. Rule all the kingdoms. That’s what you wanted anyway, right?” He used the be the ruler of Monsterland but was overthrown by Benicio. Okay, maybe overthrown is the wrong word. The process of taking power here is infinitely more complicated than your average coup.
Either way, Alwar remains king of his people, but he lost the big throne over a hundred years ago and has been trying to get it back ever since. At great personal expense to me and my family, I might add. History I prefer not to think about.