Hyesung woke up and found the note that JunJin had left for him. He smiled and got out of bed and slipped his robe on and went to shower and headed back to his room. The other servants in his room were already up and dressed. They had various feedings with the kings court and soon he was left alone. He dressed in a pair of simple linen slacks and a light blue sweater. He went out to eat and as he sat at the table in the main hall he noticed that there was a glass of wine and a book at one of the seats. He walked over and looked at it and looked around. He had remembered that the queen was the one who had been reading this book and he wondered where she had gone and deserted her belongings. He finished his meal and went to explore the castle. Everyone had left to do their own thing and probably wouldn’t be back until sunrise. He headed back to Jinnie’s room and laid on the bed and read a book he’d pulled off the shelf until he fell asleep.

“So let me see the tattoo I did on your wrist”, Ric said to Dongwan as him and the others walked into the shop. Dongwan pulled his sleeve up and showed him, the ink was still as vivid as it had been when it was done. Ric grinned at him, “Wow, it really worked. I can’t believe it. Maybe you could see if there are any vampires that wanna get inked. We would be the only place that could do it”, he said proudly.

Andy patted him on the back, “I’ll ask around and send anyone that is looking your way.”

Su-yeon took a seat by Amber at the front desk and they sat and talked about clothes, music and movies. Amber showed her some of her favorite music videos and together picked out a few outfits online and Amber bought them for Su-yeon.

“So what’s going on? Has Minwoo found anything out?”, Ric said as he filled in the outline of one of Dongwan’s old tattoos from memory.

“Nothing yet, he’s with Jinnie at the cafe checking out the new vampires in town. I’m sure he will let us know if he finds anything out”, Andy said as he watched the two women at the desk together; their heads were close together and from here they looked like mother and daughter.

“Do you think she will stay after everything is over?”, Dongwan asked his boyfriend softly. Andy looked at him and smiled.

“I hope so. Amber needs someone like her in her life. And I think it gives Su-yeon some peace to know that her last descendant is doing well”, and said and patted Dongwan’s free arm gently.

The door to the shop flew open and Minwoo strode in with Jinnie close behind him.

“Is Lapis here?”, he said as his eyes scanned the room, “She isn’t at the castle and I don’t know where else she could have gone. And she isn’t answering her phone”, his voice had a desperate fear in it and Ric shut off the tattoo gun.

“I saw her in the hall as we were leaving tonight”, Amber had gotten up and went to stand with the others; Su-yeon looked hesitant but she too joined the group.

“Did she say if she was going anywhere tonight?”, Minwoo asked her.

“No, she was dressed in jeans and a sweater like she didn’t plan to leave”, Amber said and tried to remember everything that the queen had said to her but it wasn’t much.

“The last time the security team has her on camera she was in the main hall. And then there’s nothing”, Minwoo said with obvious worry.

“Your Majesty”, Daehyun said as he walked into the shop, his phone to his ear, “the security team just informed me that the cctv system has been compromised. It was set to a loop that made it seem like she never left the hall. They also found a breach in the castle security. One of the air vents was accessed”, he said as he went to stand in front of the king.

“So there’s a chance someone has taken her”, Minwoo said in a low dangerous tone.

“It’s not unlikely but we need to look into it more”, Daehyun said and looked at Su-yeon.

“Did the vampire that had you say anything about Lapis? Like did he know that Minwoo had taken a queen?”, Daehyun asked her gently, he could read the fear in her eyes.

“No, no he didn’t say anything. I didn’t even know that she existed until I got her”, Su-yeon said softly, her eyes on Minwoo. She stepped closer and took his hand carefully. The look in his eyes at her contact scared her. They were dark blue, like the sky just before a storm. He must be thinking back to when she herself was taken from him.

“Su-yeon”, Minwoo said softly, “I need to see what you have seen. Maybe you saw something and didn’t realize how important it was at the time”, he turned her hand in his and looked at her wrist. She gave a small nod of her head and he brought her wrist to his lips and broke the skin with his fangs and closed his eyes as he drank from her. Su-yeon’s knees started to feel weak and she fought the urge to moan and felt the others move around her to keep her on her feet. He pulled away slowly and sealed the wound. The look in his eyes was dif