They would freak.
Bernard would be overjoyed that I liked school, of course. Caleb would be suspicious. Maybe suspicious enough to move us again, even without the little 411 on my failed ability to bewitch the masses.
I cleaned up my plate and ornate silverware, knowing that Bernard would scold me for it. But even if I was a Princess, their Princess, most days it felt like I was just a girl living with my two… uncles, or older brothers or something like that.
We were not royalty and subjects. We were family. No matter how much they protested when I said it, it was true.
They took care of me, but I didn’t need to be waited on hand and foot all the time. That day would come soon enough. When we reclaimed my throne, I would elevate them from the ranks of soldier and captain to official royalty. Dukes. Or Princes.
Then people could bow to them, too.
I ran up the stairs and the illusion of normalcy was shattered. Anyone looking could see that I wasn’t mortal. I was too fast for a normal girl. If someone had been watching, they probably would have only seen a blur.
It was a constant battle to hold back my strength and abilities. I had to remind myself to go slow and be cautious in front of others. I pulled my clothes off carefully, turning the shower up as hot as it could go. I had always torn fabric easily, especially when I was a younger. I really had not known my own strength.
And I happened to love my ancient t-shirt from a long-ago rock concert. It was one I’d found in a thrift store, a habit that Caleb had put an end to as soon as it began. Princesses did not skulk around looking at vintage clothing apparently.
I laughed, recalling Bernard’s stories of trying to keep me in diapers back in the castle. Apparently, I’d liked to run around in the nude, making a ruckus. A naked ruckus. It was years after we escaped that I’d discovered party dresses and princess costumes.
It was funny, right? An actual Princess yearning for a Halloween dress up costume? But it was funny in a sad way.
I sighed. I still loved pretty clothes. I just didn’t get to wear them. Instead I dressed in dark, drab colors. Nothing too tight or sexy.
Nothing fun.
Not that I liked the over the top sexy look either. But give me a tulle skirt and a pair of heels, and I was in paradise. That was my jam. Board games in front of a roaring fire. Sundresses and wildflowers. Long walks through the countryside.
I loved that stuff in theory, anyway. I had yet to experience anything like that in real life.
Basically, I was a frustrated romantic.
Someday I would wear whatever I wanted. A Princess could do that. I’d free my father and start living my life in earnest. We would both be free.
I would wear dresses when I wanted, and jeans when I wanted. No one would ever tell me what to go again. To blend in, or keep my head down.
I eased into the shower, sighing as the warmth from the steaming water washed over me. I wasn’t cold blooded, like most Vampires, but I still craved warmth. It seeped into me and stayed there for hours. But if I was outside in the cold long enough, I absorbed that too.
It was a survival technique, according to Caleb. But unlike him, I could feel it. And I really did not enjoy being chilled.
I loved to be warm — even hot. I worshipped the sun. I would probably be happiest living in a beach shack, with my buns in the sand.
That’s one of the reasons we were slowly moving south again, down the eastern coast of North America.
Maybe we could go all the way to Argentina or Patagonia.
I highly doubted the New Leaders were looking for me there.
The water started to cool down and I realized I’d wasted all of it. I hoped no one else wanted to shower tonight. I had a bad habit of long showers and forgetting where I was.
It was easy to lose myself in there, to forget the reality of my life. Most bathrooms looked the same after all. I could have been anywhere.
More importantly, I could have been anyone.
All the same, I felt like a jerk as I toweled off. Even though I knew neither of my keepers would ever complain about something like me hogging all the hot water our ancient boiler could churn out. They put my needs above their own, even when I tried to get them not to.
I stared at my hair in the mottled glass of the medicine cabinet. I exhaled and made a face, wondering if I should bother blow drying it. It was wavy and bright red, with a tendency to look wild. It was a little too noticeable au natural, even though I preferred it that way.
Plus, I was lazy.
I compromised with myself, deciding to dry it most of the way with the blow dryer and then letting it air dry the rest of the way. It was getting long again, even though I’d just cut it just a week ago.
My hair grew super-fast, especially when I was drinking blood regularly. I wondered if I stopped for a long time if I’d have better luck doing something to my hair. I could survive without blood, but it supercharged my powers.
Actual, fresh human blood would make my abilities even stronger. Not that I’d had it more than a handful of times, and only with willing victims that Caleb glamoured and then left alive, but with no memories of what had happened.
Oddly enough, some humans seemed to want to be drank from. If done right, they experienced a sort of ecstasy during the exchange. Caleb said after a while you could tell that kind of human from the kind who would be psychologically scarred, though I couldn’t imagine how.
I was a complete novice when it came to hunting on my own. The strange part was, I would never get a chance. Once we went to battle, I would either have humans brought to me, or I would be gone.
If we failed. Better not to think about that particular possibility. Not late at night, with nothing but four walls for company.
I pulled on a pair of soft PJ bottoms and a t-shirt, crawling gratefully into bed. I wasn’t tired but I had a stack of books that Caleb wanted me to read.
The Art of War was half open, waiting for me. I’d read it several times over but he said I would glean new information every time I reread it. The best books did that.
I didn’t argue, even though I remembered every word of it. I had realized long ago that he was right. I did have a different perception of the meaning as I read the book, huddled under the covers.
I set it aside after I finished and picked up The Republic, by Plato. I read it in Greek, which was not easy to find. It took slightly longer too, and was more likely to make me fall asleep.
Even though we travelled light, Caleb still managed to bring trunks full of books and artifacts with us. He refused to leave them behind, though I knew if there was an immediate danger, he would. We’d come close a few times, certain that our cover was blown.
I fervently hoped it never came to that.
Not just because we weren’t ready to fight. I was eager to, even if I knew waiting until I was eighteen was the smart move. But because I knew it would break Caleb’s heart to lose his precious old books and the mysterious objects he never let me touch.
Around dawn I finished the book and closed my eyes. I drifted lazily for an hour or so, partially conscious of my surroundings. I never fell completely asleep, never lost the awareness of danger. It was always that way. Another survival mechanism, I had no doubt.
I still loved to sleep. I wished I could really pass out. Even vamps slept more than I did, but nothing like humans. It was one of the few things I envied of mortals. I floated, sinking deeper into slumber.
Chapter 3
Hands held me down, pressing me to the cold gray and white marble floor. Above me a high ceiling lifted to gracefully arched beams. Ornate hand —painted patterns decorated the walls and ceilings. Two huge stone fireplaces crackled with heavy logs on either side of the raised dais.
I’d been here before. Many times, in fact. But it felt alien somehow. Unfamiliar.
I was in the throne room.
I had not been there since I was a small child, when my father had been seated on that throne.
&
nbsp; But I was there now.
I stared up at my captors, their cold faces and black eyes staring at me with unconcealed hunger. I did not recognize their faces, but I knew without doubt who they were.
The traitors. The New Leaders. My enemies.
And somehow, without me knowing how, they had won.
All at once, they attacked, their fangs sinking into my arms and legs. One for each of them.
I screamed as I felt them draining me, sucking my power away, along with my life. I realized that the stories were false. There was no pleasure in being fed from. Not like this.
For me, there was only pain.
I was still conscious when they tore my limbs free, tossing each part of me into the fires as they crackled merrily. The flames mocked me, as did the looks on their treacherous faces.
I saw them smile as the flames engulfed me. The pain did not stop. I screamed in agony as my body started to smoke and char.
“Sash.”
I shoved against the flames and encountered cold, hard flesh. I roared and fought. I heard someone hiss in pain.
The light clicked on.
Caleb stared up at me from the doorway.
“Well, that’s new.”
I was against the ceiling, with my legs against the wall above my bed. My hands gripped the peeling paint. Caleb was right. This was new.
But my ability to climb walls was not what had my attention.
Bernard was on the floor, holding his shoulder. He grimaced in pain. I dropped from the ceiling into a crouch beside him.
“Are you alright? I’m so sorry, Bernard.”
He smiled at me, but it didn’t hide the pain. Oh no. I’d hurt him when he’d tried to wake me from my nightmare. Guilt tore through me, leaving me feeling raw.
“You are getting stronger. That’s good.”
“No, it’s not. Not if I hurt the people I love.”
He shook his head.
“You forget, Princess. We aren’t people.”
He stood and I watched him leave. He would heal quickly I reasoned, he just needed blood and rest. I stared at Caleb.
“You will give him extra rations today and let him sleep. Make him if you have to.”
He nodded once, in agreement. I exhaled in relief, then my eyes widened as Caleb didn’t move from the doorway.
“What happened?”
I sighed, sinking to the bed.
“I don’t know. I was there, in the throne room. And they were there. The four. They…”
I trailed off, shivering at the memory. They’d fed on me endlessly. Wild and cruel and ravenous.
I now knew exactly what it felt like to be a steak. And it was awful.
“They what?”
“They drained me. And then they finished me with fire.”
My eyes were full of tears. I was supposed to be brave. But I didn’t feel brave right now. Not even a little.
“I felt it. Every single second of it. It was so real.”
“It was not real.”
“What if it was though? What if it was a prophecy —”
“None of our kind have ever possessed the ability to see the future. The present, perhaps, but it is rare. It’s not possible. Not even for you, Highness.”
I nodded, suddenly weary.
“Get some rest. We will speak about this tomorrow.”
I climbed back into the bed, pulling the covers to my chin. It was already getting light out but I wanted every second of sleep I could get.
Caleb gave me a rare smile.
“Try to stay in the bed this time, not the ceiling.”
I nodded sleepily, one thought following me down into sleep. Three unusual occurrences in one night. First was my horrific, but hopefully not prophetic, dream. Then the shock of waking up on the ceiling, i.e. my new ability to cling to walls like a spider. But most surprising of all, was the last one.
Caleb had made a joke.
Chapter 4
“Meatloaf?”
I shook my head at the lunch lady. For a minute, I thought she was going to give me a slice of congealed meat and gravy anyway. She looked like she was half asleep and bored to tears, not that I blamed her.
“Just some of the veggies, please.”
She gave me an odd look, then shrugged, piling my tray high with broccoli and string beans. It took a second before I realized why she was confused.
It was because I’d said ‘please.’
“Oh, so you’re a vegetarian.”
I smiled tightly at the blonde girl standing beside me. She’d cut the line, squeezing in to stand beside me. She was definitely not a natural blonde. In fact, with her layers of makeup and what looked like highlights combined with synthetic extensions, she looked like a living Barbie Doll.
“Not exactly.”
I smirked to myself, wondering how she would feel if she knew the truth. Not only was I not a vegetarian, I actually preferred my meat to be still alive.
And human.
That was about as non-vegetarian as you could get.
But I did not do mystery meat. Heck no. Not even if I was starving.
The girl next to me made a dismissive sniffing sound. I rolled my eyes, moving down the line. I decided to ignore her, not like I had a choice.
Low profile, Sash.
What I’d really like to do was slash her neck and drink her until she was blue. But that wouldn’t be very nice of me. And it would be one heck of a mess to clean up for Caleb and Bernard.
Particularly if I killed her in the middle of the cafeteria.
She had been giving me dirty looks for days. She was very pretty, even with all the goop. Every single time I’d seen her before now she’d been surrounded by a gaggle of girls.
I didn’t like to judge, but knew the type, instantly. There were some in every school. The popular, plastic ones who moved in a pack. Usually the mean girls left me alone. But everything in this school had been different so far.
Why not this?
I spotted him as soon as I paid and turned to face the dauntingly crowded lunchroom. Mr. Blue Eyes was watching me. He waved at me, gesturing to an empty seat at his table. I was about to shake him off when I noticed the blonde’s eyes narrow.
So that’s why she was mad.
It was hard not to notice that Dylan was popular. Maybe even the most popular guy in school, not that I cared about that kind of thing. But she certainly did.
If Dylan was the de facto Prom King, blondie here was definitely de facto Prom Queen. Maybe they were even an item, or one of those eternally on —again, off —again sort of couples. She definitely didn’t like that I was unintentionally pissing on her turf.
I smiled widely and walked right over to him.
Yeah, I was perverse. And asking for trouble. But I just couldn’t help myself.
I didn’t respond well to passive aggressiveness or bullies. It would serve her right if I glamoured him into following me around like a puppy dog. I was tempted to do just that.
Though, in the two weeks since I’d been here, he’d definitely made his interest known. And I hadn’t used a bit of magic on him. He was just hooked, the old-fashioned way.
No wonder blondie was pissed.
He stood as I came over, grinning at me. He was so happy. It looked like he was a housewife and I was Oprah.
And I’d just given him a car.
“Hey Sophie.”
I cocked my head, giving him a small smile.
“Hey.”
“Sit down.”
I shrugged and slid into the seat beside him. I wasn’t used to being told what to do. Usually I did the telling.
But these were human interactions, not vamps and vamp —princess. Or Vampress, as Bernard called me sometimes.
Dylan was only being polite. And he was gorgeous. So what if it was superficial of me? A little handsome went a long way.
Or in Dylan’s case, a ridiculous amount of handsome.
“No mystery meat today?”
I
stared at him. How funny. I had just been thinking the same thing.
“Maybe later. As a treat.”
He laughed and took a big bite of a sandwich he’d obviously brought with him.
“That looks good.”
“Want half?”
I raised an eyebrow. “You’re a growing boy. You need your vitamins and minerals.” He leaned in closer to me and flexed his bicep.
“I think I’m pretty well grown.”
I exhaled shakily, strangely effected by his nearness. I forced a teasing smile onto my face and reached out to squeeze it.
“Yes, you are.”
I could feel blondie getting ready to explode. I looked up and she was practically hissing at me from across the lunchroom. She tossed her hair and said something to her cronies.
Something that looked mean.
They all laughed and I felt it in my stomach. Yep, they were being mean. Fantastic. Not that I cared.
“Ignore Janelle. She’s a bitch.”
“Ex —girlfriend of yours?”
“No.”
“Current girlfriend?”
“Definitely not.”
“She’s very pretty.”
He made a face.
“She’s okay. If you want to get eaten alive.”
I almost choked on the sip of iced tea I was having. I’d been thinking about biting him since he’d leaned in close and given me a whiff of his delicious smelling neck.
If he was worried about being literally eaten, he was sitting at the wrong table. Or I was. Either way, that was my cue to exit.
I spotted Karen sitting by the window in our regular spot. She was alone, eating quietly. She was probably wondering where the heck I was. I stood and grabbed my tray.
“Hey, where are you going?”
“I was supposed to meet someone for lunch, sorry.” I flashed him a smile, unable to help myself. “You’ll have to share your sandwich with someone else.”
I walked across the room, only marginally surprised that he was following me. Especially since I was still not sure if I’d accidentally semi —glamoured him or not.
Vampire Princess Page 3
