DANIEL

"We'll have to reschedule the meeting with the Cordova Coven. I'm not cancelling on a Children's Home charity- Shit- Fuck-" Daniel accidentally texted his cousin what he just told his assistant Michael. In theory, having two phones was helpful. In practice, Daniel looked ridiculous and his giant dumb fingers loved making mistakes. Daniel hated mistakes. He made too many lists, came up with too many plans and detailed schedules to make a mistake. 

He planned so much, even life never surprised him.

"Your highness," Michael said warningly, but the way he usually spoke, which was void of emotions, but also somehow judgmental. The Christmas season guaranteed Daniel to be around more children than usual, so all the typical swearing needed to become a thing of the past.

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Fine, fiddlesticks. My apologies, Michael. I'm all turned around," Daniel grunted as he fumbled with his keys. Usually, everyone left their doors open and wide at the Bellerose Estate. It struck Daniel as odd that his parents would lock the doors to their small separate apartment inside the castle, but his curiosity didn't linger long. He was going through the list of tasks he still needed accomplished before he even considered going to bed.

Daniel was the crown prince to the Sagewick coven. Their family has ruled for almost 500 years and Daniel had every intention to keep that tradition going. Usually vampire kings and queens only ruled over patches of cities and countries. This was the only Coven in the world to rule across an entire island, an entire country.

Daniel struggled opening the door with his hands full of packages. He sent Michael home already, but Daniel noticed too many discrepancies on the calendar to be ignored, so he called.

Daniel didn't know much about his assistant, but Michael always answered.

No matter what he was doing, whatever it may be. Daniel didn't even have a guess. For all he knew, Michael went to the bowls of this huge castle and plugged himself in at night.

"Yes, to the Charity," Daniel started from the top. He spent too much time coming up with new responses off the cuff. "If we have time, I'll make an appearance at Aunt Mary's party and we might be able to grab a drink at the La Bella opening-"

Daniel stumbled into the dark room, tripping over something rubbery and strange. Even in the pitch black, Daniel could see well enough, but what he saw didn't quite make sense. Something or someone moved as if trying to shuffle out of view and all of Daniel's body hair stood on edge. Suddenly, the room's wrongness overwhelmed him. He let everything fall and clatter to the floor, lashing out at the shape.

His claws extended as the adrenaline kicked into his veins. His body fizzled with the rush of these feelings. "What are you doing here?" He roared, fumbling and striking his hands through something less solid than he anticipated and tripped over his own feet.

The lights flickered on and Daniel's mother appeared from the corner. "Darling? What's going on?' She asked, her impossibly dark eyes looking up at the high ceiling. Daniel followed the look to see a cluster of silver, gold, and white balloons floating. They lightly tapped the antique coffered ceiling. At Daniel's feet were the remnants of the golden strings that originally kept them on the ground.

His mother realized the scene and laughed behind her hand. "What a fearsome vampire."

Daniel let out a tired sigh.

Even his skin felt tired. His eyes itched to close.

"You're home late," his mother commented, her voice crisp and accented like a lovely London bird. She had the voice of a sweet older woman reading her favorite passage out of a children's book.

Daniel was made of the same stuff of his mother, the same cool onyx skin and sharp angular features. Her usual mane of black curls were stuffed inside a silky red headwrap that matched her long robe with soft feathers covering the cuffs and the collar.

However, a small curl peaked out from the silk. A curl unlike the rest, silver and coarse. Daniel's mother stayed away from the cameras lately, kept herself away from the public's scrutiny. The white stripe was more than odd, it was alarming. Vampires aged, but at such an incredibly slow rate, slower if their diet consisted of the freshest blood of the human variety. So, what did it say about their coven that they couldn't keep their Queen healthy and full? What did that silver lock say about her son?

Nothing about her diet changed.

And yet, her hair was turning gray and crow's feet appeared beside her eyes.

"Mother..." Daniel shook his head, readying himself for a lecture. Picking his fallen packages, he told Michael, "I'm sorry about this, but I'll have to call you back." He hung up and pocketed both his phones so he could drop the packages onto the one of the button tufted velvet sofa. Everything about this place was stuck in the 18th century with its grand designs, lush colors and fabrics, but also its lack of practicality.

Daniel narrowed his brow at his mother. "What are you doing out of bed? Where's father?"

The closer he approached, the more he could see the flaws, which to vampires was like smelling blood in the water. She wasn't old enough to be crumbling, to be decaying already. Only the family and one doctor knew something was wrong and just that. Something wasn't right, but they have no cause or a name for the sickness, so there was no cure. All they had was the fear of losing her too soon.

His mother smiled softly. "I wanted to stay up to see you."

"See me?" Daniel shook his head, unable to wrap his head around the odd night. He closed his hands around her arms, a part of him thinking he could manually make everything alright and fix the problem. It was in Daniel's job description to fix everyone's problems.

Daniel said, "You could've seen me tomorrow morning-" Then, he remembered. "Well, actually brunch. I need to step out at-"

His mother's smile didn't falter. She raised to her tiptoes and placed a small kiss on Daniel's cheek. "My sweet, I stayed up to tell you two things." She reached up with her elegantly long fingers, only bogged down by her shimmering wedding ring. "First, I've cancelled your meetings for the morning. You're mine until the afternoon. I know you hate surprises, but I swore Michael to secrecy. Your father and I have something very important to discuss."

Again, Daniel felt flipped around.

He blinked. "Is everything alright?"

"We'll explain in the morning."

"And what else? What was the second thing?"

"Happy Birthday, my sweet."

She smiled and brought him into a hug, an embrace that wasn't as tight as it used to be. By his mother's touch alone, Daniel could be coaxed to sleep. Lately, a full night's rest was a luxury he couldn't afford. Not that he could sleep if he wanted to do it. Every time he closed his eyes and stilled, his mind remained restless. And if he couldn't sleep then there was no point of lying down and doing nothing. Most nights, he put himself to work.

Leaning away, she smoothed her thumb over his cheek and admired his face, maybe remembering that night twenty-four years ago. With a tired sigh, she let him go and walked back the way she came. She didn't glance back to say, "Remember you're ours tomorrow morning. If you reschedule your father and I again, I will not forgive you."

"Yes, your majesty," Daniel said, tinged with sarcasm.

She glanced back for that with her old devious smile that lately, she was too tired to make. Then, she disappeared and left Daniel in the dark, surrounded by all the balloons and confetti. He walked about the room and admired the decorations for his birthday party and a cake that went uneaten. He snatched one of the strawberries covered in chocolate, but quickly lost the taste for it and dropped it back into the icing. He found his pile of presents, reading the glittering tags. The cousins came. His parents were there. A few friends from college.

He looked around the room.

They were all here. Together.

"Waiting for me," Daniel whispered, surprised by the sound of his own sadness.

 He couldn't remember the last time he saw them all together. He probably wouldn't get another chance until Christmas. He debated going to bed, melting inside his sheets, but he doubted he could even remember the way. Eventually, he found himself in his office and worked until the hours slipped away and he dragged himself to the couch to steal a few precious hours of comfort. Those hopeful hours crumbled into a mere two and he was up again to hear the bad news. 

#

Author's Note

So, I think updates will be on Mondays! It's working out for my schedule right now, but that might change, but for the time being, it's gonna be a Monday Fun Day kind of thing. 

And now we got Daniel's first POV, that dork forgetting his birthday and loving his mom. What a dork. He's a YOUNG vampire. He's twenty-five and he's ACTUALLY twenty-five for important book reasons ;)))) I'm so excited for the next chapter. Blake and Daniel are going to get the whole family curse spiel. It's written in kind of a fun/weird way and I hope it comes across well! I'll see you guys next Monday <3

What did you think about Daniel? First impression! Go! How does he compare to Blake? Are you interested to see how they'll interact? Have you ever forgotten about your birthday? Any comment is appreciated! 

If you like this book, be sure to check out my other romances!