{Merryn's pov}

It was a new day when I woke up. I couldn’t help but be excited about the party tonight. The last day of school was last week, tonight was Saturday and the party, and next week would be graduation. Then in just a few months, I would turn 18, and Samael and I would get married. It wasn’t all that bad if I genuinely thought about it. I knew who he was and what he was capable of doing. Despite being the Vampire King and torturing his enemies, he was an excellent fiancé and treated me differently than everyone else. I got to see the sweet side of him. The charming and loving man that he could be. Not many got to experience that side of him. Not many people even knew he had a good side to him. However, I knew, and that was all that mattered.

After waking up around 6 in the morning, I took a quick shower because I knew that I would need a longer one tonight before I left. If there were something that I couldn’t stand to live with, it would be the hair growing on my legs. I am the type of girl who has to shave every day. Once my shower was complete, I stepped out and applied a small amount of lotion to my legs. Then I slipped on my favorite knee-length, teal-colored day dress with short sleeves. I also slid on a pair of kitten heels, knowing I would be doing a lot of walking this morning.

Samael had sent Astrid to wake me up and requested that I take a walk around the castle immediately after breakfast. I didn’t mind, and I was looking forward to the exercise. It was rare that I got to go outside, and if I had not been fortunate to have glowing tanned skin, I would probably be pale as a ghost. Luckily, that was not the case, but I still enjoyed the heat of the sun and the darker color I gained from being outside after an hour or more.

Finishing up my morning routine, I rushed out of my room and to the dining hall. Soldiers and servants greeted me as I walked past them, and I kindly waved back. Once I stepped into the room, Samael stood up from his chair and walked over to me. He took my hand and led me to my chair before pulling it out so I could sit down. Once we were both situated, the maids entered the dining room from the back and carried out the breakfast trays. They placed them along the dining table and asked us what we wanted to eat before serving it onto our plates. Finally, once we received our food, they all hurried out of the room, leaving Samael and me alone. A large smile stretched my lips as I adjusted myself in my chair to look directly at him. 

“About tonight,”

Before I could finish speaking, Samael lifted his right hand to silence me. Obeying, I closed my mouth and let him talk. “We discussed this, Meri. Dakota will be going with you, and you will be home before sunrise. If you are not back before the sun peeks above the horizon, I will personally come to take you home. Then I will lock you in your room, you will not be going to your graduation, and you will not be allowed out until your birthday when we are married. Is that clear?”

“Yes, mi Rey.” I sighed, frowning down at my plate. 

I had wanted to ask him if it would be alright to spend the night with Josephine. She was my best friend at school and was also planning on going tonight. Her mother had already granted her permission for a sleepover and invited me to stay the night. However, I should have known the answer. It was pointless to ask him for something as ordinary as a high school sleepover. He would never allow me to stay the night with someone else. Not unless he was there to supervise me, and that would be weird.

Breakfast passed by slowly after that. We ate in silence as I tried not to open my mouth and give him a piece of my mind. I could be stubborn when I wanted to, but I also knew how foolish that would be when there were watchful eyes around us. Samael would punish me instantly if I spoke out to him in such a disrespectful way. He may be kind to me, but he had to keep his cold-hearted facade in the public eye. Otherwise, they would see him as a weak King, which would not be suitable for his image. 

After we finished eating, he stood up and began to walk out of the room. Even though he didn’t say a word, I knew by his body language that he still expected me to follow him outside. Therefore, doing what I do best, I obeyed and followed him out to the gardens. The second we were alone and hidden behind the shrubbery, Samael turned around and grabbed my wrists, pushing me back until he trapped me between his large frame and one of the shrubs. His flaming blue eyes gleamed, and I could see his fangs growing longer.

He looked beyond pissed, and I had no idea why. It wasn’t like I had spoken my insubordinate thoughts out loud. I had behaved and kept quiet, just like he expected me to. Still, I couldn’t stop the echo of my heart pounding in my ears or the way my tears burned in the corner of my eyes, threatening to spill over. ‘Don’t cry, Merryn. Don’t you dare cry!’ I silently commanded myself, trying to stay calm and hopefully figure out what his problem was. 

However, Sam stepped closer to me until he completely crowded every inch of my personal space. I craned my neck to look up at his burning gaze and swallowed my fear. His voice boomed out, laced with venomous anger. “What did I tell you about respect, Merryn?!” He bellowed, clenching his hands around my wrists as he pinned my arms behind my back.

“Ouch, you’re hurting me, Sam.” I whimpered, wincing through the pain.

Instead of loosening his grip, he stepped closer, pressing our chests against each other. My breasts heaved up and down from my heavy breathing as a stray tear escaped my eye. Samael’s eyes widened at the sight of my tear before a scoff escaped from the back of his throat. “Now you are crying? After you ignored me when I tried to speak to you earlier! How fucking pathetic, Meri. Pull yourself together, or I will give you something to cry about!” He hollered before he released me, stepped away, and paced back and forth.

I sniffed back my remaining tears, doing as he commanded, and quickly composed myself. He hated it when I cried or when I showed weakness. Since I was very young, he has told me repeatedly that crying makes a person ugly. That beautiful people are those who are strong and smile through all of their emotions. Since I am to be his Queen, that is what I must do. I had to smile through all my good and destructive emotions. After wiping my face with the back of my arm, I straightened my posture and put on a fake believable smile. Samael stopped his pacing before giving me a quick once over. Finally, he let out a satisfied grunt from his throat.

“Satisfactory.” He nodded and stood before me, leaving a few empty inches between us. “Now, explain yourself.”

“My apologies, your majesty. I must have spaced out during breakfast. I wasn’t deliberately ignoring you. It won’t happen again, sir. I promise.”

“It better not, Merryn. Else, I will have to punish you.”

“I understand, sir,” I muttered, bowing my head.

Samael took my hand gently in his, placing a soft kiss on the back of it before leading me out of the gardens. The rest of the morning and afternoon, we spent our time walking around the castle and even stopped in town to grab a quick lunch. There was a beautiful diner that Samael and I both enjoyed visiting from time to time. The locals knew of his status, and they treated him with proper respect. 

After we finished our meal, he walked me back to my room so that I could get ready for the evening. I took a long shower, washed off the day’s activities, and shaved my body. Then I stepped out of the shower, applied vanilla and lavender scented lotion to my skin, and got dressed. The outfit I chose was dark blue lace undergarments and a slim-fitting black dress with long, lacy sleeves and a lacy back. The dress hugged all my curves, accentuating my hourglass body quite nicely. The bottom of it reached the middle of my thighs, revealing my long tanned legs. I also slipped on a pair of black converse so my feet would be comfortable throughout the evening. I applied a deep blue eyeshadow, red blusher, gold highlighter, and dark red lipstick for my makeup. With one last glance in the mirror, I snatched my cellphone and purse off the counter and walked out of the castle. 

Dakota was already situated in the driver’s seat of his car and had the passenger door left open for me. I grinned at him before jogging over to the car and climbing into the passenger seat. He wore dark jeans, black sneakers, and a light gray v-neck t-shirt that fit his toned muscular frame. Kota also styled his wavy brown hair in a messy way that gave him a sexy, rugged look. A few pieces were hanging in front of his gunmetal blue eyes, which made him look a little mysterious. I couldn’t help but laugh as I glanced at his entire appearance. He was trying to act more bad-boyish versus his typical easy-going goofball style.

Deciding to tease him, I asked. “What did you do to my best friend? Who are you?!” 

Kota rolled his eyes, snorting at me. “Ha, ha. Hilarious, Eryn.” Shaking his head, he reached out and messed up the stylish bun on top of my head. I gasped, slapping his hand away before pulling down the sun visor and checking my appearance in the mirror. “Relax, gorgeous. You look great.” He chuckled before twisting the key into the ignition and sliding the shifter into drive. Then he sped off down the road and headed to the location.

“You’re lucky Sam isn’t here right now. He’d have chewed off your head for calling me that.” I laughed.

“I would like to see him try,” Kota laughed. I could feel his eyes glancing over at me as I lifted my butt off the seat and tugged the end of my dress back down into place. He let out a low grunt, shaking his head. “Does his majesty know what his fiancé is wearing tonight?” Kota asked after a moment of silence.

I smirked, shaking my head. “Nope. He’d never allow me to leave the house like this. Not unless he was there to keep me wrapped up in his embrace.”

Kota chuckled, shaking his head, and returned to focusing on the road. After a few minutes, I heard him mutter, “You better hope he doesn’t find out.” Then, he turned on the radio and drove the rest of the way to the destination.

After a few hours of driving, we emerged from the trees and in front of a large clearing. We saw about a hundred cars parked on one side of the clearing and a large group of people laughing and hanging out on the opposite side. Dakota found a spot to park the car before we climbed out into the warm breezy air. It was the beginning of summer, which meant the temperature was at least in the 80s. Dakota walked over to me and outstretched his hand before we intertwined our fingers and walked to the large gathering. Everyone appeared to either be swimming, dancing, or mingling with each other. And those who weren’t swimming all held a plastic cup with some alcoholic beverage in hand. 

I squealed excitedly, pulling Dakota over to the tables of food and drinks. I scanned over each type of alcohol before my eyes landed on the bottle of patrón silver tequila. “I’ve heard that this stuff is pretty good with sprite,” I told Kota. 

Kota cocked an eyebrow at me, smirking brazenly. “Eryn, that’s because it will fuck you up after only drinking half a cup.” He laughed, grabbing two plastic cups for us and filling both halfway with ice. Then he poured about two inches of alcohol into the cups and added sprite until they filled to the top. “You are not leaving my side, but here is to having an exciting, wild night of fun!” He cheered, raising his plastic cup in the air for a toast before we bumped our cups and chugged the cold liquid down our throats.

Even though there wasn’t much alcohol to start with, I could feel the smooth burn of it slide down my parched throat. My nose wrinkled from the weird sensation as a goofy grin stretched across my lips. Kota busted out laughing at the scrunched look on my face. He shook his head, placing a kiss on the top of my head and pulling me away from the table. 

My eyes immediately searched out the lake, spotting a handful of students splashing around in the water and having fun. I have always loved to swim ever since I was a little toddler. My mom had me take lessons after realizing how much I enjoyed taking baths. She used to tell me stories about the times we would go camping when I would take off running toward the lakes. One of my favorite nicknames that she would call me was her little waterbug.

Smiling at the fond memories, I pointed to the lake while pulling my bikini out of my purse. “I want to swim. Did you bring your suit?”

Dakota nodded, pulling the hem of his pants down to reveal the swim trunks he had on underneath. “I had a feeling you were going to want to swim.” He grinned down at me. Then he pointed to the left, and following his directions, I spotted the porta potty that someone must have rented for the occasion. I squealed, bouncing up and down on my heels, making Dakota laugh and shake his head at me. He released my hand and motioned for me to go. “Go on, gorgeous. Get changed. I will be waiting for you.”

I ran over to it, stepped inside, and quickly changed out of my clothes and into my swimsuit. Once I had finished changing, I stepped out and felt a sharp pain from my jaw to my chin. Gasps echoed all around as silence filled the air. For a moment, I was stunned, having no idea what had just happened. My head turned toward where the pain had come from, spotting Josephine holding her right hand. She caught me staring as a satisfied smirk appeared on her thin lips. And for the first time in my life, all I saw was red.

“Merryn, wait!”