Page 127 of Vampire Kings Box Set

“You understand?”

Lorien nodded beneath the palm. He could smell Henry so strongly, that rich animal human musk, the smell of raw muscular power.

“You’ve got class. When you keep your mouth shut. When you’re not talking, you’re the most elegant guy in any room. There’s something about you that makes it impossible to take my eyes off you. But the second you open your mouth, you sound like a whiny little whelp.” Henry pulled his hand away to let Lorien speak.

“You can’t take your eyes off me?” Lorien smiled.

He got a shrug in return. “You’re a good-looking kid.”

“I’m older than you by at least three times. I should be giving you the speeches about being a good-looking kid.”

“You don’t know anything about me,” Henry said. “Including how old I am. Age doesn’t matter. You can be a thousand years old and be an immature brat.”

“True,” Lorien admitted. “Anyway,” he said, changing the subject to avoid what was starting to feel very intense. “We’re here. This is the Library. You should be able to find anything you need here.”

“Thanks,” Henry said. “I can take it from here.”

“Sure you can,” Lorien said. “Do let me know if I can be of service again. I’ll wait. In case you need any help getting back or want to go elsewhere.”

While Henry looked at books, Lorien was trying desperately to keep his cool. There was something about Henry he found absolutely magnetic, and he was not usually into wolves, or dogs, as he privately referred to them. Henry had a natural dominance. That made sense, he was an alpha after all. He probably couldn’t help dominating everybody he came across. Lorien was not going to make the mistake of thinking Henry was interested in him. Henry seemed like the sort of guy who wanted to straighten everybody out around him — probably because he thought having out of control creatures around reflected poorly on him. Or maybe because he just couldn’t tolerate it. Lorien didn’t know, because the last five minutes represented the most interaction he’d had with Henry since they met.

Henry was a long time among the books. Lorien was surprised. Mostly because of his own preconceptions that people who were covered in tattoos didn’t read, which he now realized was a fairly stupid prejudice. Just because Henry looked like he’d rather rip a book in two than read it didn't mean he wasn’t intelligent.

“Do you smell dog?”

Ringford was minor vampiric nobility, one of the librarians. His position remained constant no matter what happened among the royals. Legend had it he’d traveled the Oregon Trail several times just for the fun of it. He missed the old kind of human suffering. He had a long handlebar mustache in the finest hue of ginger and long hair to match tied back behind his head. He was wearing a cowboy hat even though the Library was devoid of steers.

“No,” Lorien said.

“The odor appears to be emanating from your friend. Either he has smuggled a filthy chihuahua in with him, or he is the dog himself.”

“Leave him alone,” Lorien said. Ringford ignored him. He approached Henry with an offended look on his face, as if simply being in the presence of one of Henry’s kind was so disgusting, he could barely contain himself.

“You cannot be in here, sir.”

Lorien stepped in between Ringford and Henry. “Maddox sent him. Lay off.”

“I don’t care if the god emperor of the sun sent him, the Library is a place for vampires and on occasion, their blood pets. We do not allow animals here.”

Apparently Will hadn’t tipped that radar, probably because last time he had been here he’d yet to be properly turned on to his wolf side by eating human flesh. The next royal audience was going to be interesting and deeply scandalous.

“It’s fine,” Henry said. “I have what I need.”

“I’m going to have to wash all the books,” Ringford sighed. “They’re going to smell for weeks.”

Lorien felt a flash of temper unlike his usual flashes of temper which came from feeling abused in some way. This time he was outraged on behalf of someone else, and that sensation was as powerful as it was strange.

“You will show some respect,” Lorien hissed.

“Or what, fledgling?”

Nobody besides Maddox and Chauvelin knew that Lorien was the one who had ended the reign of the previous kings via the medium of murder. Lorien did not command much in the way of native respect. Maddox had told him he had some status, but vampires were simple creatures of hierarchy very much based on age.

“Or I will make you regret every decision you’ve made since you first opened your mouth.”

“Alright,” Henry said, putting a hand on Lorien’s shoulder from behind. “That’s enough.”

“It’s not enough,” Lorien insisted, his green eyes narrowed to two slits of venom. “We are here on the orders of the king. You may not respect me. You may think you are better than him, but you are nothing compared to Maddox.”