The pink coffin that Alaric had ordered was, in fact, white on the exterior and had a pink satin interior. It was in the bedroom with Alaric's coffin as well as the blue one which was on the other side of the room. If there was a crazy chance that Hendrick managed to get through the bolts on the main door, we'd use the excuse that I was trialing the coffins to ensure that they were worthy for our children.

When we returned from the trip to Chinatown, the four of us set about searching every room in this section of the building. It was a mansion at the edge of town and Alaric had been granted the use of the guest quarters until he was made the leader.

That day was just around the corner. All he had to do was have a permanent love interest that was willing to have lots of children with him. He had the fake version of that, now all we had to do was clock some time together to show everyone that this was totally legitimate.

And then there was the other thing that Alaric wanted to do. He wanted to show the humans that being with a vampire was okay and that venturing out their doors of a night could be done. When he was the leader, Alaric planned on showing the world how easy it was to be around a vampire, showing me off to the world.

Except, there was a flaw in his plan. I wasn't completely human. He turned me into a hybrid because of Hendrick but I suspect that Alaric didn't trust himself either.

I sighed and rolled onto my side, unable to find comfort in this thing. And, I couldn't fall asleep either. Frustrated, I lifted the lid and peeked out. The sun filtered through the room, shining over the polished floorboards. Alaric always kept the curtains closed but they weren't enough, slivers of light shone through the gaps.

At the back of the room, it was relatively safe. Pushing the lid up, I climbed out of the coffin and tiptoed over the wood floor. As I squatted in front of Alaric's coffin, I gently tapped on the wood. I didn't know what was appropriate in this situation.

Hearing a huff, the lid slowly lifted.

"Hey."

The unamused vampire looked at me.

"I can't sleep and that coffin is terrible. I wouldn't recommend it for your children."

"Duly noted," Alaric said with a yawn.

"So, is there something I can do to fall asleep? I've been staring at the darkness for an hour now."

"I know, I can hear you every time you fidget, every time you turn and every time you complain, even if it is a whisper."

Super sensitive hearing, I didn't know that but I would definitely remember it.

"I need one like yours. How come they're so different?"

"I have no idea. Perhaps we can take the others back and you can trial ones in the store tonight."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

I wasn't entirely thrilled about sleeping in a coffin but the idea was growing on me. Yesterday I had slept really well so it had its bonuses. As for tonight and the horrid pink coffin, I wasn't happy about it.

"Maybe I could sleep on the bed."

"That's not a good idea. The sunlight is pouring into the room and you would risk too much."

"Why do you have a bed in here anyway?"

Alaric looked at me with a wolfish smile, I flushed and looked away.

"Oh," I said softly.

So, sleeping on his love pad definitely wasn't a good idea.

"I guess I'll go back to bed then."

As I turned, Alaric reached out and grabbed my arm.

"Emmeline, get in the coffin."

The other hand gripped the edge of the lid, pushing it up.

"Oh, I don't want to be a bother."

"Having spent the past hour listening to you in the other coffin, I'd say that you're not being a bother. Get in before I go crazy because I'm tired."

Alaric shifted over, lifting up as he pushed the lid higher. Unlike yesterday, he was dressed in just a pair of long pants. They were thin bed pants, amusingly they had skulls all over them. Last night he must have been too tired to get changed. Maybe he thought it was inappropriate to be so underdressed when he knew we'd be sharing a coffin.

I stood, ensuring that my nightdress was covering as much as it could. Nisha had picked this one out, stating that she always found the soft cotton dresses to be better in the warmth of a coffin. Closing the lid on the pink and white monstrosity, I turned back to Alaric and stepped into the silky black.

As I settled down onto the soft cushioning, Alaric lowered the lid, encasing us into the small space. He'd showered before getting in, the heavy scent of his aftershave surrounding me. It was a gorgeous scent, which was lucky that I liked it otherwise I'd be moving back to the pink coffin.

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

"Trust me, I appreciate it much more than you do."

I giggled, feeling the warmth of his body as he laid down beside me.

"About earlier, I don't want you to think I was mocking you." He whispered.

"It seemed like it."

"I didn't mean it to sound like that, I think it's cute."

Cute. Not the word I would have picked. Anyway, moving on and all that.

"Did you hear something?"

"No."

Alaric shifted his arm under my neck, pulling me closer to his body. Highly inappropriate considering that we weren't wearing much but I wasn't about to complain.

"I like that you want to save the world, Emmeline. It's a good quality for a leader's partner."

His hand smoothed over my leg, lifting it over his that had shifted between my legs. Slowly the hand rose, taking the hem of my dress with it. My arms were wrapped around his neck, closer than I'd ever anticipated that we'd get. Just as his hand moved over my backside, the lid to the coffin lifted and the lights were turned on.

"What the hell?" Alaric snapped loudly.

Hendrick was standing over the coffin, an unimpressed look on his face.

"Just confirming that all is moving well. Carry on."

With a flick of his hand, the lid was dropped and the heavy footsteps began to move out. Alaric lifted the lid, angry and almost ripping it from its metal hinges.

"How dare you come into my bedchamber while I'm resting. Emmeline could have been naked."

Hendrick turned and smiled at Alaric.

"But that's the point Alaric, we have to ensure that things are moving as they are supposed to. We saw these other coffins that were brought in prematurely and had to ensure that you weren't lying to us."

The bedroom door opened, Nisha and Silas looking a little bewildered as they looked around the room. Hendrick smiled and tipped his head.

"Good day to you all."

Then he carried on to the dressing room, Alaric followed him, Silas soon after. Nisha squatted in front of the coffin.

"What happened?" She said softly, giving a slight flick of her head to the pink coffin.

Because yes, I should have been in there. She would have expected me to be in there.

"It's uncomfortable."

"Oh."

Silas returned, stalking his way through the bedroom. Alaric was in the dressing room cursing rather loudly.

"I think they found another tunnel."

I got out of the coffin and walked into the dressing room. An entire panel of hanging space had been turned out, exposing a hole in the wall. Alaric was pulling and pushing on the rest of them.

"I think we need to move," Silas grumbled as he walked into the room.

In his hands were the electric screwdriver and the tub of bolts that he had bought earlier this evening.

"We have little choice, Silas." Alaric returned quietly.

He nodded, screwing shut the cabinet.

"They'll just find another way in," Nisha complained. "We checked this room, how did we miss that? How many more things did we miss?"

"She's right."

Alaric sighed as he leaned on the next cabinet, looking at Silas.

"I know she is but I have to be here. What can I do about it?"

"Bolt everything."

They all turned and looked at me, I shrugged in response.

"It will look ugly but at least we will be able to sleep easy. Start with one room for today, move all of the coffins into it so that we're all safe."

Alaric turned to Silas and gave him the nod.

"Lockdown this room, everything that might move, make sure it doesn't."

Silas smiled and continued with his task.

"Nisha, we're going to be limited for space. Find something to cover the window."

She turned, giving me a smile as she walked through the door.

"Emmeline, we need to move the blue and pink coffins out first then bring the other two in."

I nodded, following him out of the dressing room. It took a lot of effort to drag two heavy coffins out into the living room but we got there. Alaric was quiet aside from the occasional direction given for moving the cumbersome objects.

We moved Silas's coffin first, his room was at the far end of the area. When we finally got it to the bedroom, Nisha was on a chair, hooking blankets over the curtain rod. There was a pile beside the chair, ready to hang. We were lucky that the rod was a sturdy one. Otherwise, it might collapse under the weight.

Moving into Nisha's room, I made my way to the top of the coffin and bent over to pick it up. As I looked up to see what Alaric was doing, I caught sight of the mirror and the overendowed view.

"Good grief," I whispered, standing upright to adjust the low neckline.

No wonder he was quiet. The entire outfit was rather scandalous and he was probably trying to keep himself distracted rather than looking at the view in front of him. Alaric walked into the room and together we lifted the coffin.

By the time we reached Alaric's room, Silas was adding bolts to the door between the dressing room and the main room. Nisha had finished with the covers and looked like she desperately needed rest. The woman looked impeccable when she stepped out for an evening but during the much-needed hours of rest, she looked wrung out.

As soon as it was put onto the floor, she had the lid lifted. Inside the coffin was a rich red satin that was littered with stuffed toys around the edge of the base and pictures at the top of the lid.

"Later." She mumbled, closing the lid.

Silas screwed in the last of the bolts to the main door, offering a grim smile.

"Here's hoping that I got them all."

Setting the screwdriver aside, he climbed into his own coffin and closed the lid. Alaric stepped into his, waiting for me to lay down. Slowly the darkness consumed the dappled light and when we were encased in pure black, I thought back to the moments before we were rudely interrupted.

It had taken me by surprise but as for Alaric, I wasn't so sure. He had exceptional hearing and had asked if I'd heard anything.

"You heard them, didn't you?" I whispered. "Was it for show?"

"I heard something but I didn't know what it was."

Pulling me closer, Alaric shifted us so that I was flat on my back with him hovering over me. As his nose traced over the tip of mine, I wrapped my arms around his neck again.

"And no," He breathed over my lips. "It wasn't for show."

His lips pressed to mine, kissing me deep and slow. I could say that this was my first kiss but that wasn't the complete truth. Perhaps, my first kiss with a male. It was the thing to do in the orphanage when we all got to a certain age and started to become curious as to the future. Whispers started to build and pretty soon, we were all worried about being inadequate. So, yeah, I'd gone there and kissed a girl. Or two. Several. It was better than the pillow and as a bonus, we had fun.

"What happened to the business relationship and not wanting things to get messy?"

"I changed my mind. What about you?"

I shrugged, unsure of why I was reciprocating the kiss. This was not the time to dwell on the thoughts of why. It was a moment to enjoy the embrace. Alaric kissed me again. It was more intense than the last one, a soft moan escaped and suddenly I became more aware of the fact that we weren't alone and that vampires had really great hearing.

"Alaric," I whispered. "Is this a good idea?"

"Absolutely."

And to add to the mood, he shifted onto my body, pushing my legs apart. I gasped, wishing that we were alone. Regretfully, I pushed against his shoulder and lifted him from my body.

"We're not alone."

With a pained sigh, he rolled onto the padding beside me and pulled me to his body.

"I'm going to enjoy killing Hendrick."