Kidnapped By The Vampire Prince

He ignored me. “There’s a few of these closets around and each one has a stake in it. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, I don’t want you use them.”

“You mean I don’t get to carry one around?”

“No,” he said firmly.

I frowned, but nodded anyway. “Okay…”

“Emily,” he started, sounding unexpectedly serious, “I want-”

“Wait!” Joel interrupted, clapping his hands to his ears. “Wait until I’m gone. I don’t want to hear any of that mushy crap! I’ll be heading back to the ball now!”

Vincent scowled after him. “Good. Now scram.”

“You’re so cold to your best friend,” he sighed dramatically before scampering down the hallway at an impossibly fast pace.

I pushed my hair behind my ears, facing Vincent again. “What do you want?”

“Just to kiss you,” he murmured, placing his cool hands against my cheeks. “I’ve controlled myself all evening.”

“You think I haven’t?” I retorted, pushing him against the broom closet’s door. “It’s not fun having people around. If I so much as look at you they might think something weird’s going on between us.”

He brought his face closer to mine. “I wouldn’t mind.”

“I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble,” I whispered, our lips barely brushing.

“Trouble’s my middle name,” he told me, pressing his lips firmly to mine.

This was a gentle kiss, slow-paced and soft. I clung to him, enjoying the proximity between us. Knowing this would probably be the only chance I got to kiss him for a while, I put all my feelings and effort into it. He seemed to be thinking the same thing as well.

“Hey,” he murmured, pulling away for a second before quickly pressing his lips to mine again. “I have a favor to ask of you.”

“What?” I asked between kisses.

“Stay away from me after this.”

I froze, my eyes snapping open. Vincent pulled away, furrowing his eyebrows. Unable to speak, I just stared at him. What was he talking about? Stay away from him? “What do you mean?” I finally demanded.

“If were together, that’s probably what Ashton wants,” he clarified. “It’d be better if were in separate places, that way he can’t make threats against us in front of each other.”

“Oh,” I breathed, letting out a relieved chuckle. ” That’s what you meant.”Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

“What’d you think I meant? Stay away from me for forever after this?”

“Kind of.”

He rolled his eyes. “That’s stupid. Of course I wouldn’t say that.”

I grabbed the collar of his suit jacket, smiling at him. “That’s good,” I said, pulling his head down to me so I could kiss him again. “You taste like garlic, by the way.”

“Kind of ironic, since I’m a vampire,” he returned, grinning. “It was a dish someone made. I got hungry. Have you eaten?”

“Not yet.”

“You should grab something before midnight.”

I nodded, my heartbeat starting to speed up. The nervous feeling was back. This normal chatting wasn’t stopping it like I’d hoped it would. Holding onto Vincent tighter, I tried to calm myself. “Promise me you’ll be careful tonight.”

.

.

He flexed his muscles. “I should be saying that to you.”

“I will.”

“Then I will too,” he promised, sealing it with a kiss. “Now, lets…”

“Let’s?” I prompted.

He narrowed his eyes. “I have to go. Stay here.”

“What? Why? What’s going on? Did you hear something?”

“Joel’s on his way, stay here,” Vincent ordered sternly, pushing me away from him. ”

“Vincent!” I called as he raced down the hallway. “Wait! Ugh! Stupid vampire!”

The silence that filled the hallway after that unsettled me. Agitated, I glanced at the closest. Vincent had told me not to grab a stake unless I absolutely needed it, but… What would it hurt to have one on me just in case? It was better than just going with solely the holy water. Glancing around the hallway, I swiftly opened the closet door and struggled to open the black box inside it. In it were beautiful wooden stakes- was it weird to call them beautiful? The polish on the dark wood was mesmerizing. It was hard to believe such a thing could be used to kill.

Closing the black box and the closet, I slid the stake down the front of my dress, hiding it carefully in-between the space between my chest and stomach so it didn’t stand out.

“Emily!”

“Joel!” I cried, twirling around, my heart jumping into my throat. Had he noticed? Judging by his look, he hadn’t.

“Come with me,” he requested, holding out his hand. “Ashton’s made his move.”

Baffled, I allowed him to lead me down the hallway. “Already? It’s not midnight though!”

“Some of the guests have started leaving,” he explained in a rush. “I guess Luca got impatient and broke into the ballroom to look for you. Luca, if you didn’t know, is one of the rogue vampires you learned about before. You know, the kind of vampire the counsel wants to throw in jail, so he wasn’t invited. Now the counsel’s hounding him and everyone is leaving.” He suddenly laughed. “You should’ve seen it! One of the girls tripped and face planted in her haste to get outside!”

I grimaced. That was mean. “Where’s Ashton?” I asked.

Joel shook his head, still grinning widely at the memory. “I don’t know. You have to stay with me though until I can trade you off to Sebastian. It’s not safe to have you by yourself.”

I nodded. “Okay, sounds good. Where are we going?”

“Out back.”

“Is outside really safe?”

“Stupid question. Luca is inside… the other two are inside. So where’s Ashton probably?”

“Inside?”

“So wouldn’t it be the safest outside?”

I blinked. “Huh, I guess so.”

He snorted. “Now I see why Vincent calls you stupid.”

“Hey!”

“Do you have your holy water?” Joel questioned, glancing over his shoulder at me. “Make sure you have it ready.”

I gripped the glass bottle in my left hand. “Okay.”

We reached the back doors that led to the dark forest. Preparing myself for the cold, I held my breath as Joel opened the door. It was freezing, like I expected. Goosebumps erupted on my skin immediately and I shivered, crossing my arms over my chest in an attempt to retain some body heat. Being outside in a dress was a bad idea.

“This way,” Joel said quietly, guiding me toward the back yard, which was lit up by the moon. “Sebastian will be here soon…”

“Wait, Joel,” I responded, forcing him and myself to a stop. “We shouldn’t be back here…”

He cocked his head to the side. “Why?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know.” I really didn’t know. An overwhelming urge to run away had randomly washed over me. Like I knew it was dangerous out here. “Joel, we have to go back.”

“Emily…”

“Joel, please. Let go of me.”

He shook his head. “I can’t.”

“Why not? Sebastian will be able to find us somewhere else, I’m sure of it!”

“That’s not it,” Joel told me, his grip on my hand tightening. “Actually…”

Our gazes met. I knew at once something was different about him. His eyes weren’t bright like they usually were. His teasing smile was dropped, replaced by a wicked smirk. His entire playful demeanor was gone.

“Ah, Emily.”

My whole body tensed, my breath stopping short. There was no way… It couldn’t be…

“You’ve done well Joel”

Ashton!!