“Shhh,” the male voice purred. “It only hurts for a second.”
I could feel the blood drain from my face and a cold sweat breaking out. “Are you alright?” I asked quietly, pulling my dagger.
“We’re fine. Leave,” the boy commanded.
“I don’t want to do this,” the girl said and shoved through the stall door. The boy caught her arm and spun her around. Then he looked at me and to where my eyes fell to the two blood droplets sliding down her neck.
“Vampire,” I breathed, my leer lifting to his face.
The girl was younger than me, probably fifteen. She wiped the blood with her hand and frowned.
“Hurry to your next class,” I said and blocked the vampire’s way.
He was Collweyan by uniform, tall, dark-haired, pale-skinned and had an allure about him I couldn’t quite put my finger on. “You ruined my fun.”
There was no sense of fear or trepidation that I caught him biting a young girl. Perhaps he’d lie and say it was an accident while making out, if the girl wasn’t too embarrassed to tell anyone. “You call taking advantage of a young girl fun, vampire?”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Interesting that a Delhoon girl knows what I am.”
In a blur of movement, he had me by the neck and pushed my back into the wall. His nose dragged along the skin of my neck. “Magic-born always tastes so much better.”
I struck, blade driving into his side and he flinched but didn’t let me go and a wild growl rumbled. “That hurt.”
“Get away from me,” I choked out, bringing my knee hard into his family jewels and whispered, “denoo achera.”
Hissing through his teeth, he let go and stumbled back, his eyes would be burning like they’d caught fire, and I darted for the door. When I pulled it open, I was drug back and I let out a scream. A warm hand wrapped around my mouth cutting off my cry for help.
“Just for that,” he growled in my ear, “I’ll take more than I need.”
Every instinct in me screamed to run, even though I’d been trained not to. I thrashed in his arms, and elbowed him hard in the side of the face. When I broke from his grasp, I turned and I threw a blast of ice at him. He put up his arms and… shielded it. That’s when I saw the chain around his neck; not only was he a demon blood drinker, he had a magic stone.
The door flew open and male voice said, “What the hell is taking—”
I whipped around. A Collweyan boy stood there. “Princess Visteal.” His face blanched and his onyx eyes darted back and forth between the boy I’d been fighting, who at this point looked feral, and me.
He grabbed my hand and I gladly let him tug me out the door. I was relieved that this mystery boy showed up but—what was he doing looking in the girl’s bathroom? And by his question, he’d been looking for someone… wondering what was—taking so long?
The halls were empty aside from us and I swear my pounding heart echoed off the walls. I jerked away from him. “You… you knew what he was doing... what he is.”
“You wouldn’t understand,” the boy with silvery blond hair and black eyes said.
I slowly backed away. “You’re one of them too.”
Firm hands grabbed my shoulders from behind and I jumped.
“Don’t ever touch her again,” silver hair growled at the blood drinker holding me. “She’ll draw way too much attention. She’s the Delhoon Princess.”
“Oh but I want her,” the vampire said.
“No,” he shot back.
That’s what my so-called rescuer cared about? Me drawing attention, not my safety? When I was about to fight, my magic surging hot in my blood, the silver-haired boy grabbed my chin and I couldn’t move. Panic shot through me. I was completely paralyzed, helpless in the hands of two vampires.
He met my eyes. “Sorry, beautiful, but you can’t remember what we are.”
∞∞∞
My eyes fluttered open to bright lights, and the smell of tinctures, herbs and the distinct scent of healing salves wafted to my nose. Quiet voices chattered all around me, and I bolted upright. What was I doing in the infirmary… the last thing I could remember was hurrying off to the bathroom after I’d slammed Zyacus into the wall.
Ugh, my head pounded, and my watering eyes were super sensitive to the light. Through somewhat blurred vision, I spotted Vyce standing beside another patient’s bed. I cleared my throat to get his attention and he turned.
He handed a small glass to the girl he was helping then hustled to my side. “How are you feeling?”
I pressed my fingers to my temples. “I have a headache, but otherwise I’m fine. Why am I here?”
“You passed out in the hallway.”
That didn’t seem right… I searched my memories and something was there just out of reach but I couldn’t get to it. Like someone’s name you know but can’t for the life of you remember it. “Who?”
His finger tapped his chin. “Your guardian, Bindy. She found you outside one of the girls’ bathing rooms.” He sat down in a chair beside me. “There’s nothing wrong with you but Healer Jondo thinks you just need to eat and get more rest.”
“Oh,” I said lamely. “I guess I didn’t eat breakfast.” But I’d never fainted from skipping a meal before. “How long have I been here? And where is Bindy?”
“Just a few minutes. She went to the dining hall to grab you something to eat.” He briefly touched my forehead with the back of his fingers. “You’re late for the next class but we’ve already sent a note to your professor explaining your absence.”
I set my feet on the floor and stood.
Vyce watched me. “Perhaps you should wait for Bindy.”
“I’m fine. I’ll meet her in the dining hall.”
With a quick wave of his hand, a glass floated over from a nearby table. “At least drink this, it’s sweetened cranberry juice. It should help you feel better.”
Bringing the lip of the glass to my nose, I sniffed. It smelled like cranberry and I drained it then set it on a nearby table. “Thanks Vyce. I’ll see you at dinner.”
When I was halfway to the dining hall, Bindy rounded a corner, with a tray of food floating beside her. Her stern eyes narrowed on me. “Didn’t they tell you to wait for me?”
“It was suggested but I’m fine.”
“What happened?” Bindy asked, handing me an apple from the tray.
I searched through my memories again, and found nothing after I’d pushed the door open to the bathroom.
She took my silence as an answer. “I try to keep an eye on you as much as possible but I also am not your shadow. You need space too, but when I peeked into your classroom and found you missing, I did a location spell. You were unconscious when I found you, no signs of harm and the Healer suggested you’d fainted due to not eating.” She looked me over. “Is there a reason you are skipping meals? You’re plenty thin, Visteal.”
“No, it’s nothing like that,” I said, rolling the apple in my hands. “I was running late this morning and didn’t have time to stop and eat.” But I couldn’t shake the feeling that my lack of memory and unconsciousness was due to something else. I kept that to myself in case I was mistaken. Concerning Bindy over nothing wasn’t what I wanted.