Chapter One - Rosa
Rosa Lopez pulled her thin jacket tightly around her plump frame, shivering in the freezing wind. Her heart sunk so low that she couldn't feel it beating, tears freezing upon her cheeks as she gazed at the doors: closed and locked.
She had arrived just a few minutes too late, and now the women's shelter she lived at was closed. Her backpack, full of college textbooks, was so heavy that she felt like her shoulders were breaking, but she didn't dare put it down on the snowy ground. If her books were ruined, whatever chances she had for the future would vanish. She only had one chance to escape this city and that was to graduate with her massage therapy license.
Rosa's gaze swept up and down the abandoned street as she desperately tried to decide what to do. She had a couple hundred dollars in her pocket, but that was meant to hold her to the end of the month for food. She already couldn’t afford things like fresh vegetables or really anything other than bread and instant noodles. If she found a hotel for the night, she would have to get through her days with only the single meal the shelter provided. The buses had stopped running by this time, so she couldn’t even find refuge from the cold on public transport.
If I use my credit card, Michael will find me.
Hefting her pack higher on her back, Rosa started walking. Hotels didn't take cash, and she couldn’t risk using the credit card. If her stepfather found her… He wouldn't, so she wasn't going to think about that. Sometimes there was a homeless woman behind the theater on Twentieth that would let Rosa curl up beside her, protected from the wind by the garbage bin. It was her best bet for having a safe place to sleep until classes tomorrow.
A sleek, black car pulled up to the sidewalk right beside Rosa and she tensed. It wasn't a cop car, which was a relief. She knew a few women at the shelter would purposefully get themselves arrested on nights like this so they could have a meal and a warm place to sleep, but that wasn't a luxury she could afford. Michael Jones, her stepfather, was on the force and she just couldn’t risk it.
The window rolled down, revealing an unnaturally white-skinned woman smiling at her. "Hi there. You look cold. Would you like to get in?"
Rosa stared at her suspiciously. She knew serial killers tended to be men, but that didn't mean she should just climb into a stranger's car. "I'm fine, thanks."
"Just get in," the woman said. "You look like you could earn a little extra money… How does five hundred, plus cab fare in the morning sound?"
It wasn't the first time someone had propositioned her, but it was the first time coming from a woman. Rosa swallowed hard. Five hundred dollars? It sounded too good to be true. It was almost three times as much as what she was normally offered. Not that she had ever accepted before. Yet, there was a first time for everything, and five hundred dollars was extremely tempting.
"For you?" Rosa asked, hardly believing that she was thinking of accepting this crazy offer.
Better than freezing to death on a night like this.
The woman smiled. "Get in and we can talk."
Rosa slid into the passenger seat, her heart pounding. If Mama were still alive this would break her heart... But she's not.
The interior of the car was so warm that Rosa relaxed despite herself. She stretched her frozen fingers toward the vent, sighing as the warmth washed over her body. Even if she did come to regret this decision later, at this moment all she could feel was relief that she wasn't freezing anymore. Besides, it wasn't like she was selling off her virginity, although it was true she had never done this with a woman before.
"There's a non-disclosure agreement in the glovebox," the woman said. "Sign it and I will give you your money upfront."
"A non-disclosure agreement? For sex?"
The locks engaged. The woman turned to Rosa fully, giving her the same tight-lipped smile as before. "No, not just sex. Sex with Angelus Rex."
Rosa's jaw dropped. She looked at the woman with new eyes, and new terror. The whiteness of her skin, that almost chalky color. The way she smiled with her mouth closed. To hide the fangs? If this woman was taking her to the Vampire King, then she must be a Vampire herself.
"Why me?" It came out a plea. If she was being delivered to Angelus Rex, the Angel King, then he must be after her blood and not just her body. There were rumors of young women whisked off to his palace to slake his desires, but she never thought she would be one of them.
A deep, rumbling voice spoke from the back seat. "Because I want you."
Her heart jumped to her throat and she couldn't breathe. Rosa's eyes flickered to the rearview mirror, but all she could see was a giant, dark shape in the seat behind her. Her hands trembled. Did she agree, or did she run screaming?
"If you have changed your mind," the hidden King continued, "we will drive you to a hotel and pay for your room overnight. It's your choice."
Rosa let out a deep breath. She needed the money. There were worse things than allowing a Vampire to bed her and drink her blood, weren’t there? She pulled out the agreement and signed it. Then she closed her eyes, already imagining what she would do with five hundred dollars.
***
The room was ornate. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling and the walls were trimmed in gold. A delicately patterned carpet lay beneath the throne-like stuffed chair that Rosa sat upon. She felt all the more grubby in this beautiful space she suddenly found herself in.
What have I gotten myself into?
"I have been watching you for a long time."
Angelus Rex was more awe-inspiring in person than he was on the news broadcasts Rosa had seen. His body was impressive, the white dress shirt tailored to his muscular chest and arms. He was taller than she expected. His dark hair had a slight curl around his ears and the back of his neck. There was something extremely alluring about him. Knowing that he wanted her in his bed had Rosa's heart pounding. She knew she should be more frightened than she was, but she didn't care. The sooner those full lips were on her body the better.
Their fingers brushed when he handed her a glass of wine. The ice-cold shock made her gasp. She didn't drink the wine, too absorbed in the King.
"You believe that I asked you here as a prostitute," he continued, settling in the chair opposite her. His dark eyes were locked on hers, unblinking. "That isn't entirely accurate."
Rosa finally made herself move, gulping down the wine. She set the empty glass down, twisting her hands. "You want to drink my blood."
The King's lips twitched. "No. Well… yes. But that's not what I really want from you."
He stood so quickly that Rosa flinched. He crossed the room and returned with a pile of papers, which he set on the table beside her. All the time his gaze never left hers, and she was unable to look away. If he told her to expose her neck to his fangs, she didn't know how she could refuse. She wouldn't want to refuse.
"This is a contract. It states that in exchange for an apartment here in the palace, a house in the city, and private tutoring for whatever university degrees you wish to have, as well as a stipend of a hundred thousand dollars every year, you will carry and give birth to my child. You will be my mistress until such an occasion arises that you desire to end the agreement."
Rosa gasped. Heat flooded her body, leaving her shocked by how good it sounded. A hand drifted to her stomach and she swallowed hard, scrambling to come up with an answer to that. The King was asking her to have his baby? To be his mistress? But how could this be possible? She was just a twenty-something, homeless college student. Why would Angelus Rex watch her… want her?
The King refilled her wine glass and sat down, his gaze piercing. "You are under no obligations, Rosa."
She shivered at the sound of her name spoken by his voice.
"If you decide not to sign that contract, you will be given a place to sleep tonight. Then, you will be dropped off at your college tomorrow and that will be the end of our relationship."
Rosa picked up the contract and tried to read it, though she kept being distracted by the powerful presence of the Vampire King. He had claimed the Americas as his Kingdom before she was born. Her mother remembered the times before Angelus rose. Back then, there was considerable bloodshed between Vampires and humans. Packs of Vampires would roam the land, killing at will. Angelus wasn't the King of the humans, only ruling over the Vampire kind as a separate nation within the various countries of the Americas. Even so, he had made life better for both walks of life.
Could she really agree to be a mistress, though? Especially since she would essentially be a prostitute. Call girl. Escort. Whatever. She would still be selling her body for her education, a place to live, food in her belly, and a hundred thousand dollars a year. It was far better pay than any job she qualified for. Besides, if she would be safe inside the Vampire King's palace, there was no way her stepfather could find her.
That decided it for her, and she flipped to the end of the contract, signing it. Her heart pounded as she laid down the pen and gulped down the fresh wine. She hadn't eaten all day, and the two glasses went straight to her head, making her thoughts swirl.
"I didn't know Vampires could procreate," she blurted out.
"We can, in the right circumstances… with the right partners." Angelus put aside his wine glass and stood, offering his hand to her. His pupils were dilated and he smiled–the first smile he had given her. Rosa's heart nearly jumped from her chest.
She put her hand in his and he pulled her to her feet. An arm snaked around her waist. She was pulled firmly against his body and his lips were on hers, hungry and demanding. Rosa's eyes widened. Heat flared through her body as though countering the coldness of the vampire's embrace. She couldn't stop herself from returning his passion, throwing her arms around him as his hands roamed her body.
But there is so much more I need to know, her brain protested, but she pushed it aside and kissed Angelus back, abandoning thought and just letting herself feel.