Bitten – Episode 26

Chapter 26

 

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“Emily. Emiiiily! Em! Wakey-wakey!” A pair of gentle but firm hands gripped my shoulders, lightly shaking me. “Come on, Em! Get up!”

 

A low moan came from me and I tried to squirm out of the grasp of my captor. “Go away,” I ordered in a grumble.

 

Giggles came from above me. “You want more alone time with Vincent?”

 

“What?”

 

“Sebastian is coming. I hear him now.”

 

Now I was even more confused. Sebastian who? Opening my eyes sounded like the best idea, but I just wanted to sleep. So I pretended I was just hearing voices in my head and spread out further on my bed. When my leg and hand touched another body, I froze.

 

“Is Emily up ye—”

 

“Argh!” I cried loudly, shoving myself away from the body I recognized as Vincent’s. Unfortunately for me, the guest bed wasn’t large enough for me to push backwards without falling off it. My stomach flipped uncomfortably as I fell the two feet to the ground. I landed on my back roughly, screwing my eyes up, and holding in a shout of pain.

 

“Are you up now?” a female voice, which I now recognized as Fiona’s, chirped.

 

 

For a second I debated on pretending I’d stayed asleep through the ordeal, but I figured she’d be able to tell I was awake by my heartbeat. The next thought I had was to kick her in that face. That one was also dismissed swiftly. If I tried that, chances were I’d break my foot, not her face.

 

“Emily?”

 

My eyes shot open and automatically met bright green ones. It took me a second to register the rest of Sebastian’s face. When I did, I immediately sat up, nearly bashing our heads. “Sebastian!”

 

He chuckled, holding out a hand to me. “Good morning, Emily. Or should I say afternoon?” “Sure! Ignore me!” Fiona protested grumpily.

 

“What time is it?” I inquired, looking for any type of clock in the room. It only took a few seconds for me to realize there were no time-telling devices in the room.

 

“It’s time for you guys to shut up and get out.”

 

Fiona pursed her lips at Vincent, who was now glowering at all of us. “I see sleeping in the same bed with people makes your morning grumpiness rub off of them.” Her eyes twinkled in amusement. “I bet it’d rub off more if you two—”

 

“Get out,” Vincent repeated in a hard tone. “I’m sleeping.”

 

“It’s noon,” Sebastian stated, half answering my question, half informing Vincent. “You should get up. It’s not healthy to sleep this late.”

 

Vincent snorted, burrowing himself under the comforters. “For humans. Vampires are different and you know that.”

 

Without warning, I threw myself at Sebastian, wrapping my arms around him in the hug I’d been holding back. “Don’t argue! I want to have a nice day where we all get along!”

 

“I didn’t realize you were trying to perform a miracle,” he responded with a deep chuckle, returning my hug.

 

“Sebastian.”

 

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“I didn’t say I wouldn’t try. Although I’m not the one who does his best not to get along with his family…”

 

Vincent flipped over to glare at his brother. “It’s normal for brothers to argue with their siblings, Sebastian.”

 

“Well actually, Jake and I get along pretty well,” I pitched in, cocking an eyebrow at him. “I think we’ve only fought seriously like four times in our lives.”

 

“Yeah, and you haven’t lived with your brother for a million years—”

 

 

My eyes bulged. “A million years?”

 

There was a moment of silence before Sebastian and Fiona burst out laughing. Even the right corner of Vincent’s mouth lifted up in amusement. “Not literally,” he notified me.

 

“Oh,” I said lamely, ducking my head.

 

Sebastian put a hand on my shoulder. “You should go get ready. If you take as long as Fiona takes to get ready even as a vampire, we’ll be here for the next few hours. And don’t you have to go to the hospital at four?”

 

Reluctantly, I nodded. “That only gives us four hours… Will you be around after I get out?” “I have to go back,” he admitted unenthusiastically.

 

Nodding in acknowledgement, I stepped around him, heading for the door. “Okay, I’m going to hop in the shower really quickly then.”

 

“Take Vincent with you!” Fiona called after me. “He probably needs one as well. You guys slept in the same bed, so why not shower together?”

 

My head snapped toward her and I glowered, my cheeks heating up in embarrassment. “Fiona! No!”

 

She cocked her head to the side, her green eyes wide and innocent. “Well why not? It’d save on water.”

 

“Fiona,” Sebastian said reproachfully. “Stop… Can’t you see she’s too embarrassed to admit it’s a splendid idea?”

 

“Sebastian!” I cried in betrayal, whipping my gaze to him. “No!” He patted the top of my head. “Go on, admit it.”

 

I opened my mouth to protest, but Vincent decided to speak up at that moment. “All of you stop being idiots and get out.”

 

“Aww,” Fiona cooed, sounding highly amused. “Vivi is embarrassed! Seb look at him!”

 

“This is new,” Sebastian mused, his eyes sliding over my head to the bed where Vincent was still lying.

 

Interested, I twisted on my heel to look at him. To my surprise, he did look embarrassed. Sheepish too. He was glaring, but there definitely was a faint blush on his defined cheeks. In turn, this caused me to grow more embarrassed. Why was he acting like that? He should be the one smirking smugly at me and saying it was a great idea! Why wasn’t he doing that? What was he thinking?

 

“I-I’ll go take a shower downstairs. Vincent, you can use the shower upstairs,” I blurted finally, wrenching my gaze away from him. “Sebastian, Fiona, you guys can go wait in the den or something. Make yourself at home.”

 

 

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“Sure!” Fiona chirped happily. “I’m actually kind of hungry.”

 

“Then go eat,” I told her, starting for the door. “I’ll be about fifteen minutes. Try not to mess up the house too—”

 

Suddenly a body appeared in front of me, causing me to run straight into the owner’s chest. A startled gasp left my lips and I stumbled back, looking up to see a familiar blonde. “Hey!” Joel greeted me.

 

My hand flew to my heart. “Joel! What are you doing here?”

 

“You thought I’d miss out on a day of fun in the human world?” he asked rhetorically. “Vivi’s right. You are stupid.”

 

My response to his comment was cut off when Vincent appeared out of nowhere at my side, shoving Joel roughly in the chest. “Get out of the way.”

 

Joel winced, staggering back a few feet. “Ouch, dude. You need to control your force.” “I did that on purpose, idiot.”

 

I escaped by the two, deciding not to listen to their bickering. There was only about four hours before Sebastian had to go back to the manor. It wasn’t in my best interest to dilly-dally with anyone. My plan was to hop in the shower, hop out, and be on the way. That could easily be done in ten minutes. After stopping in my room to snatch up a fresh pair of clothing, I hastened to the downstairs bathroom. All the while I was in the shower, I was half-expecting someone to burst in, but, fortunately for me, that didn’t happen.

 

After I finished cleaning myself, I speed-dried by body, pulling on my clothes as quickly as I could. With a towel around my damp hair, I exited the bathroom, heading for the den. When I entered, a confusing sight met my eyes. My brother was there, lying on the ground on his back, his face screwed up in frustration while Joel was on top of him, pinning him in place easily. Fiona was squatting by my brother’s head, poking him in the cheek, grinning widely. Hachi was next to her, waving his tail excitedly. Vincent was sitting on one of the dark brown leather couches, his arms crossed, looking incredibly bored. Sebastian was next to him, the very same expression on his face. It was the first time I’d ever seen them seem so similar to each other.

 

“Okay! Okay! You win!” my brother suddenly cried, thrashing around under Joel. “Geez, man!”

 

Joel laughed triumphantly, easily pushing to himself to his feet. “Geez what? Geez, I knew you were incredibly strong?”

 

“You have like, super human strength,” Jake muttered, ignoring both Fiona and Joel’s hands and easing himself back up. “You’re like a freak of nature.”

 

Now I decided to interject. “What were you guys doing?”

 

 

Jake’s eyes snapped to mine. “There you are! You didn’t tell me you were throwing a party.” “We’re leaving,” I informed him, crossing my arms. “Why were you two wrestling?” “Obviously to see who is stronger,” Joel responded with a mysterious smile.

 

I rolled my eyes. There was no question about the answer. Everyone in the room, aside from Jake, knew Joel would be the stronger one. Why even bother testing it? “Okay, well we’re leaving. Come on you guys.”

 

“Hold up,” Sebastian said, springing up from the couch. Taking the towel from around my shoulders, he covered my head with it, and began to dry my hair energetically. “You’ll catch a cold if you don’t dry your hair properly.”

 

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Trying to shove him away, I grabbed his arms, attempting to hold them in place. “Sebastian! I just brushed it!”

 

“You are her boyfriend!” Jake stated accusingly. “I knew it! You lied to me!” “He’s not my boyfriend.”

 

“I’ll be in the car,” Vincent announced, leaving the room briskly. “Hurry up or I’ll leave without you.”

 

I managed to throw the towel off my head. “You don’t have my keys…” I trailed off when he dangled them from his pointer finger. “Okay, never mind.”

 

“Where are you going?” Jake demanded.

 

“Out,” I replied, grabbing Sebastian’s hand and leading him out of the den. “Fiona. Joel, let’s go!”

 

“Coming!” they chorused cheerfully.

 

“Wait!” Jake cried after us. “Tell me!”

 

I ignored his calls, hurrying outside. The air was pleasantly warm when it met my face as I opened the front door. Definitely warmer than the past few days had been. It almost felt like summer. The sun was shining high in the sky and there was virtually no wind at all— just a small breeze now and again. Not bad weather for the beginning of November.

 

Vincent was already in my car and had the engine running. After a five-second fight between the three vampires, it was decided I would ride shotgun since it was my vehicle. Agreeing, I slipped into the seat, snapping my seat belt. As soon as it was secured, Vincent pressed on the gas, jolting everyone inside.

 

“Where are we going?” he asked.

 

 

“Look Park.”

 

He glanced at me briefly. “Really?”

 

I furrowed my eyebrows at him. “Yes… Why?”

 

“Never mind.”

 

“Are we going to go on the paddleboats?” Fiona inquired, leaning forward in her seat so that her head was in between Vincent and my headrests.

 

Joel moved forward in seat as well. “Are we? Really?”

 

I nodded. “Sebastian has never used them before, so yes.”

 

“Did you bring money for the park fee and paddleboat fee?” Fiona asked, a frown adorning her face.

 

“I have money,” Sebastian interjected before I could respond. “I don’t mind paying if it costs money.”

 

Shaking my head, I turned in my seat so I could grin at them. “My dad helped build all of the establishments in the park, so I get in for free. That includes all of the amusements too.”

 

Joel looked impressed. “I’ve never met your parents.”

 

“That’s because one, you’ve only been to my house twice, and two, they work a lot. My dad’s a contractor and architect and my mom is a nurse. My dad doesn’t really like guys either, so you might not want to meet him.”

 

Vincent scoffed. “Doesn’t really? That’s the understatement of the century.”

 

“He really doesn’t like Vincent,” I informed the trio. A smile crossed my face at the thought of my dad’s reactions when Vincent was around. Brief, rude, and sarcastic. It was actually highly amusing.

 

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“It’s probably because he’s a bad boy ,” Fiona giggled.

 

“Or maybe it’s because Vincent sleeps in the same bed as Emily,” Joel said suggestively.

 

I shook my head at him. “This was the first time that ever happened! And it wasn’t even the whole night. It was only like, four hours.”

 

“And she counts the moments spent in that bed,” Sebastian commented in a dramatic tone.

 

“Knock it off,” Vincent and I demanded at the same time.

 

Snickers filled the back of the car. As much as I tried to be annoyed with them for teasing us, I found I couldn’t be. It was hard to believe these were the same people who kidnapped me. Well,

 

 

indirectly kidnapped me. Still, it was basically the same thing. And here I was today, acting like they’ve been my friends for forever when in truth I’d only known them for over a month. A month and I felt as close, if not closer, to them as I felt to Alli, Leah, and Kai. It was crazy.

 

The park was only a few miles away from my house, so we arrived quickly. Vincent slowed down by the tollbooth, after the park’s gated entrance. “It’s closed,” he declared.

 

“Doesn’t matter,” I responded, gesturing him to go on. “That just means nothing will be open.”

 

“But if nothing is open then how are we—”

 

“Just go,” I ordered, shaking my head at him. “I know what I’m doing.”

 

He grunted in response, pressing down on the gas and heading down the hill that led to the main parking lot of the park. Following my directions, we traveled through the park on the paved roads until we reached the other side, where the lake was. Some straggler ducks were floating around in the stream before it, looking around for something to eat. Vincent parked in the paddleboat parking lot, cutting the engine. All of us piled out of the car and headed toward the wooden booth that usually collected the money you had to pay to use the boats. Today, however, it was boarded up and locked. Ignoring it, I moved toward the gates leading to the lake. They were also closed and locked.

 

“Now what?” Fiona asked in a disappointed tone. “I thought you knew what you were doing?” I turned to cock an eyebrow at her. “Do locks really keep you out of places?” “Yes?” She blinked.

 

“Not me,” Joel interjected with a grin. “I think I know what you’d do in a situation like this.” To show what he meant, he moved toward the tall, black gate. In one swift, graceful movement, he vaulted himself over it, landing on the other side without a sound.

 

Fiona stared after him for a second. “Ohh! I can do that.” Keeping true to her words, she also hopped over the fence.

 

“Sebastian, go on,” I urged, turning to him.

 

He looked a little hesitant. “This is breaking human law…”

 

“You’re a vampire. It doesn’t count for you.”

 

The corners of his mouth lifted into a tiny smile. “You’re a bad influence, you know that?”

 

I returned his smile. “It’s okay to be bad every once in awhile.”

 

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“Very true,” he replied, stretching out his arm so he could reach the top of the gate. Smoothly, he cleared the fence.

 

 

Vincent watched me with apprehensive eyes as I moved toward the cool metal, putting my hand to the top of it. When I noticed him staring at me, I nodded for him to go over. “It’s easy.”

 

He rolled his eyes. “I can do it. I’m more interested in seeing you do it.”

 

“I do it all the time,” I told him confidently. Albeit Kai or Alli always helped me over, but it couldn’t be too much harder without them. “Watch and learn.”

 

Placing both my hands at the top of the fence, I used my upper body strength to lift myself off the ground.

 

Or let me correct that.

 

Try to lift myself off the ground.

 

Groaning in strain, I managed to get myself a foot up before my arms gave out and I dropped back down. Joel covered his mouth to hide his laughter. I glared at him, then at the black fence. Kai and Alli barely helped me over! Kai lifted me up while Alli helped pull me over… A grimace crossed my face when I realized how much they did actually help me.

 

Suddenly a pair of cool hands was placed on my hips. I jerked in surprise, twisting my head to see Vincent behind me. His expression was flat, but his eyes were smug. “Need help?”

 

“I… No,” I said defiantly, standing a little straighter.

 

He moved his head closer to mine. “Liar,” he whispered in my ear.

 

Before I could protest, he hoisted me into the air. Automatically, I reached for the fence, gripping the top bar of it. He kept raising me until I was able to get one leg over it. At that point I could do the rest myself, so he let me go. Not so elegantly, I jumped down, stumbling a little bit as I landed. Seconds later Vincent landed next to me with a dull thud.

 

“Now what?” Joel asked, turning toward the lake. “Do we just take the paddleboats?” He gestured toward the small pleasure boats at the side of the lake.

 

I followed his gaze, nodding. There were ten of them, about as long and wide as a small car. They came in four different colors: blue, red, green, and yellow. A small dust of rust covered the bottom of a few of them, showing their age. We moved toward the plastic vehicles, debating which ones would be the best to use.

 

“Should we just use two?” Fiona asked. “We could have two on one and three on the other.”

 

“I’m going with Emily alone,” Sebastian stated quickly and firmly.

 

I stared at him in surprise. “Huh?”

 

“Is that okay?” he said hesitantly.

 

“Um, yeah, but…”

 

He smiled gently at me. “I just want to talk.”

 

 

“Then Fiona, Vincent, and I—”

 

“I’m going alone,” Vincent declared flatly, interrupting Joel. “You and Fiona share one.”

 

Joel shrugged. “Sure.”

 

I glanced at Vincent as he moved toward the closest paddleboat. He didn’t seem to share the same idea of getting along as I did. Shrugging, I turned to Sebastian. “I’ll show you what to do; come on.”

 

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Moving toward the boat behind Vincent’s, I demonstrated how to step onto it without falling into the water. Of course seeing as how Sebastian was a vampire, he didn’t really have to worry about balance. He got on more smoothly than I did. By the time I was seated on the boat, Vincent was already paddling out. It was kind of a funny sight. Usually I didn’t see him doing anything active.

 

“So what do I do?” Sebastian asked, looking down at the pedals at his feet.

 

“You paddle,” I instructed him, putting my feet on the pedals at my feet. “Just like on a bike.”

 

He raised an eyebrow. “That’s pedaling.”

 

“No, paddling,” I corrected him, pressing down on one of the pedals so we could start going. “Use it like a bike. And use the wheel in the middle for steering.”

 

“Sure,” he responded slowly, moving his feet in a circular motion to keep up with me. “Let’s go the opposite way than Vincent. I know he’ll be listening.”

 

My eyes wandered to the other man’s back, which tensed at Sebastian’s words. Growing even more curious about what he wanted to talk about, I nodded, steering the wheel to the left so we could go to the other side of the lake. For a while Sebastian stayed quiet, focusing on the nature around us.

 

“It’s nice here,” he commented casually.

 

“Mhm…”

 

“Quiet.”

 

“Yep.”

 

“Do you come here a lot?”

 

I turned to look at him now. “Yeah, but that’s a different topic. What do you want to talk about?”

 

He sighed lightly. “Well there are actually two things. One is pretty casual, and the other is more serious. Which one would you like to hear first?”

 

 

“Serious,” I responded, feeling my gut shift uncomfortably.

 

“I figured you might. You don’t have to look so nervous though. It’s not that bad…” He hesitated, pursing his lips. “Well, actually, I’m not sure if it is or not.”

 

“Well what is it?” I inquired.

 

A scream cut the silence around us and both Sebastian and I snapped our heads around to see what the problem was. My heartbeat increased tenfold as my eyes searched the immediately area. They finally landed on Fiona, who was laughing hysterically at something while trying to grab onto the back of Vincent’s boat. I figured the scream must have come from her.

 

“What is that girl doing?” Sebastian muttered, his gaze never leaving her form. His eyes showed half amusement, half concern.

 

“Umm Sebastian?” I said after a moment, putting a pause to my paddling so I could get his attention.

 

He snapped out of his trance. “Sorry,” he apologized quietly.

 

I laughed. “It’s okay. But I’m starting to feel sick. What do you want to talk about?”

 

“Oh, you know, just the whole Blue Blood situation. It seems like there will be problems in the near future…”

 

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“Why’s that?”

 

“Yesterday we received a letter… Or rather I received a letter,” he clarified, furrowing his eyebrows together. “My father was expecting this.”

 

“Expecting what?”

 

“Well the letter said if I didn’t step down from the thrown there would be a death…”

 

My eyes widened. “You’re being threatened?”

 

“If I was being threatened, why would I be talking to you about it like this? It wouldn’t be any of your concern. I wouldn’t want to make you worry unnecessarily, Emily.”

 

“Um, well…” At that moment, I realized why he was telling me this. “It’s me, isn’t it?” My heart sunk as I said these words.

 

He nodded, a frown developing on his face. “It’s Ashton and his goons. They think they have the upper advantage since they know you’re a Blue Blood.”

 

“I should have guessed.”

 

 

Sebastian chuckled. “It wouldn’t have been too hard. Blue Bloods are rare, so of course they would think that.”

 

“Does it run in families or what? Are my parents Blue Bloods?” I asked him, cupping my elbow with my hand.”

 

He shook his head. “It’s completely random. Luck of the draw.” “Figure,” I muttered. “Have you figured out how Ashton knows?”

 

Sebastian shook his head. “I’m afraid not, I’m sorry. My father and mother believe it was someone from the kitchen help. I wouldn’t be surprised about that. But that’s not what we should be talking about.”

 

“What exactly did the letter say?”

 

“It was long,” he explained. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much at the moment, I just wanted to give you a heads up. I won’t be stepping down from the throne, but I won’t let any harm come to you either. Neither will Vincent, or my mother, or my father, nor anyone else who knows about you. Ashton isn’t nearly as powerful as he thinks he is.”

 

I bit my lip. “Are you sure? I don’t want anything to happen to any of you because of me.”

 

He brought his hand to my face. “Thank you for your concern, Emily, but you really shouldn’t say that. Vincent was the one to drag you into this mess in the first place.”

 

“It’s not his fault!” I protested.

 

“I didn’t say it was,” Sebastian replied, dropping his hand and cocking an eyebrow. “He is just the one who brought you into the vampire world. You didn’t come in willingly.”

 

I brushed my hair away from my face, starting to paddle again. “Sebastian? What does Ashton look like?”

 

“Why?”

 

“I saw someone strange at the bowling ally the other night…”

 

“I highly doubt Ashton would be at a bowling ally,” Sebastian responded slowly, “but he has the same form as Vincent, height, weight, and body structure. He might have grown taller though. It’s been at least half a year since I’ve seen him last. He also has black hair, the natural kind.”

 

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Relief flooded through me. The guy from the ally had white hair, and it looked pretty natural to me. “What about eye color?”

 

“Grey. That’s probably where he got his name from.”

 

 

So they had the same eye color. But that happened with a lot of people, didn’t it? It could be some random guy from school that knows me— a person from a younger grade. Or maybe it was Samuel and I didn’t recognize him. How long had it been since I last saw him? A few weeks? Would Ashton come to the human world to find me? The guy at the ally had a lot of friends with him, and his friends were definitely human. He was the only one who looked like a vampire… at least to me. Now that I was thinking about it though, it was hard to tell the difference.

 

“I really don’t think it was him you saw,” Sebastian spoke up. “If you’re worried about that person though, stay away if you see him. It’s better not to throw caution to the wind. Also, I wouldn’t mention him to Vincent.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“He would go hunting for that person, I assure you.”

 

I narrowed my eyes in confusion. “Why do you say that?”

 

“Well, that brings us to topic two. Do you remember when I asked you if you’d ever date a vampires?”

 

“Yes…?”

 

“You kind of hesitated then. If I asked you right now, would you hesitate again?”

 

I paused, pursing my lips to the side. Would I hesitate? Sure, I had a crush on Vincent and I liked him a lot, despite his outer jerk persona, but would I date him? My gut was telling me yes, but my mind was saying no. He was still a vampire. I didn’t want to end up like Sebastian and Fiona… unable to be with the one I love and a vampire. Repressing a shudder, I looked at Sebastian. “I’d still hesitate.”

 

His famous kind smile graced his face. “I thought so. Emily, I understand your feeling about vampires. Vincent though… He’s never expressed an interest in someone as much as he has in you. He doesn’t talk to anyone like he talks to you. He would never share a bed with someone. I’m actually surprised he allowed us to ride with you two in the car today. If you looked up the word sociopath in the dictionary, Vincent’s name would be there.”

 

“He’s not a sociopath,” I objected. “He just doesn’t like most people…”

 

“All people,” Sebastian corrected me. “Especially his fancy. He’s only civil sometimes, as I’m sure you witnessed while staying with us.”

 

I crossed my arms at him. “What’s your point?”

 

“My point is if Vincent ever wanted to progress your relationship with him, would you let him?”

 

His question threw me off guard. Even though I should’ve realized it was coming, it still shocked me. Why was he questioning me about my relationship with Vincent? Did it matter? Did he know something I didn’t? He couldn’t. Vincent didn’t seem like he would ever talk to Sebastian about things like that.

 

 

“I know my brother,” Sebastian continued, noticing my silence. “It may sound like a cheesy line from books and movies, but the way he looks at you—”

 

“Stop,” I interrupted, holding my hand up. “Sebastian… I…”

 

“Emily…”

 

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I dropped my head. “Can I be completely truthful with you?”

 

“Absolutely.”

 

“Will you judge me?”

 

“No… But I may try to change your mind if I don’t like your way of thinking,” he added after a moment.

 

I grinned for a second, but it quickly disappeared. “I kissed Vincent today.”

 

“Really?” He sounded impressed.

 

“It was one of those fireworks kisses. You know?”

 

“I definitely know.”

 

“Yeah. However, there was still that sick feeling in my stomach. My gut telling me Vincent is a vampire. That I shouldn’t be doing that. It’s not right, Sebastian. You guys are different…”

 

Sebastian stayed quiet for a moment. “But did it feel right?”

 

“Yes,” I confessed, turning my head back up. His eyes smoldered into mine and I held his gaze. “I like him, Sebastian… But I have this stupid gut feeling that won’t go away, no matter what.”

 

He nodded understandingly. “It’s okay, Emily. It’s only natural. You were afraid of vampires your whole life until now, weren’t you?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“There you go. One day that feeling will go away.”

 

“There’s another thing too.”

 

“Let me take a wild guess,” he said, smiling again. “You don’t want to be a vampire?”

 

I stared at him in surprise. “H-how did you know?”

 

“It’s obvious, Em.”

 

“Sorry,” I murmured.

 

 

“Don’t apologize. I’m not going to look down on you for it. I wouldn’t want to be a vampire either.”

 

My eyes finally shifted away from Sebastian, back to the other side of the lake where Vincent was now by himself, drifting by the rocks. “I’m human and always will be. Vincent is a vampire and always will be. If my crush ever turns into something more, I know how it will end. Heartbreak.”

 

Sebastian shook his head. “That’s not true, Emily.”

 

“Yes it is.”

 

“It could work out. You have to try.”

 

“But…”

 

His eyes pierced into mine. “Why give up before you give it a chance? You’re better than that.”

 

I chewed on my bottom lip. “You guys are royalty…”

 

“That doesn’t matter. I’m serious when I say Vincent doesn’t act the way he acts around you around anyone else.”

 

“Why do you care so much?”

 

“Vincent is my brother. While he may not care too much about me, I love him very much. I dislike seeing him alone all the time. I’m sure you would feel the same way if Jake was like that, right?”

 

“Right,” I agreed. “I can definitely imagine that. I can’t promise you anything, Seb, but I will try… If anything happens.”

 

Relief flooded his face. “Thank you, Emily.”

 

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“Don’t thank me.”

 

“I just did.”

 

I gave him a sarcastic look. “No really. But hey.”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Promise me you’ll try to fix things with Fiona,” I demanded, giving him a serious look. “Okay? Promise me.”

 

He gave me an uncomfortable look. “I don’t know…”

 

“What do you mean you don’t know? You love her don’t you?”

 

 

“Yes—”

 

“Then that’s all that matters. Sebastian, you’re going to be king. You can do whatever you want. Who cares if you’re in love with someone that used to be human? You can’t help who you fall in love with.”

 

The expression on his face was blank for a few moments until he finally smiled gently at me. “You’re right. If worse comes to worse, I can just drop the throne. However, Fiona…” More Stories @ generalloaded.com.

 

I shook my head. “Fiona still loves you too.”

 

“How do you know?”

 

“I’m a girl. I just know,” I told him, shrugging.

 

He laughed. “Okay. I guess I’ll have to trust you. I’ll talk with Fiona. You should talk with Vince too, Emily.”

 

The corners of my lips lifted into a tiny smile. “Maybe…” “No, not maybe—”

 

“Fine, soon,” I snapped, ducking my head in embarrassment. “Paddle me back. We’re switching.”

 

He chuckled and obeyed my order. We closed in on Vincent’s boat and he turned to glare at us.

 

Obviously he wasn’t having too much fun. Sebastian moved our boat as close as possible to his.

 

“I’m switching over,” I informed them both, grabbing onto Vincent’s paddleboat. “Try not to rock the boat.”

 

Sebastian nodded while Vincent stayed quiet, keeping an eye on me. Carefully, I pushed myself off my seat, leaning more onto Vincent’s boat. His arm shot out to steady me as I half jumped, half fell into the back of his. My left foot went into the water, sending freezing water through my shoe. I yanked it back quickly, letting out a squawk of surprise. This caused both men to laugh. After scowling at them, I climbed into the front of the boat next to Vincent. Sebastian started paddling off to join Fiona and Joel, who were by the waterfall.

 

“What did he want?” Vincent asked after a second of silence.

 

“Umm, just to ask me how you are doing,” I made up… Well sort of. He was worried about Vincent.

 

Vincent rolled his eyes. “And what did you say?” “That you cry of homesickness every night.” His eyes widened. “What?”

 

 

I laughed at his expression. “I’m kidding! I said you were fine and that you were doing great in school.”

 

He automatically scowled at me. “That wasn’t funny, stupid.” “To me it was.”

 

“Whatever,” he responded, turning his head away from me. “Do you want to just sit here or go around the lake?”

 

“Let’s go around the lake,” I decided, starting to paddle. “Since you spent the whole time wallowing here you’ve missed out on a lot of the nature.”

 

“I wasn’t wallowing.”

 

“Sure, okay.”

 

He turned to me, leaning over so our faces were only a few inches apart. “You’re being awful complacent lately.”

 

I had to remind myself to breathe. Letting out a small breath, I did my best to smile smugly. “No. You’re just referring to the fact you can’t kiss.”

 

“I can! ”

 

“Apparently not.”

 

“You’re stupid!”

 

“You’re a bad kisser.”

 

“So are you!”

 

I didn’t find this offensive at all. “You didn’t say that last night, so I’m assuming you’re saying that just to try to make me angry, which isn’t working.”

 

He narrowed his eyes at me. “You know what…” “No, I don’t know. Tell me.”

 

A huff of anger left his lips. I couldn’t stop myself from laughing again. If this is what he felt when he teased me, now I knew why he did it. He was adorable when frustrated. If there ever was that chance of progressing our relationship, I now knew what I would choose.

 

Come hell or high water, I would definitely give it a chance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bitten☺

 

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