Kidnapped By The Vampire Prince

When Vincent finally drove us home, I felt a lot better about the whole ordeal than I had at first. The movie was awesome- definitely more fun than school could ever be. I didn’t even care that I skipped anymore. In fact, I had no qualms about skipping school for the rest of my life. Well, no. That was a lie. I wanted to do something with my life. But I wasn’t against skipping every now and again with Vincent.

“I’m home!” I shouted as Vincent and I walked through the front doors.

My brother appeared out of nowhere, leaning against the kitchen doorframe, his arms crossed. “Where did you two go?”

“Movies,” Vincent responded the same time I said, “Walmart.”

He shot me an amused glance while I scowled at him.

My brother frowned. “Emily, you’ve never skipped school before, so you obviously weren’t the instigator here. Which means…” He narrowed his eyes at Vincent. “You’re the problem.”

“Guilty,” Vincent said flatly.

“You can’t force Emily to skip school!”

“How did you even find out?” I interjected, furrowing my eyebrows.

His narrowed eyes turned to me. “Why aren’t you more upset about this? And the reason I know is because we have study hall together, remember?”

Oops. That had totally slipped my mind. “Uh…”

“You can get suspended for this, you know,” he continued, talking to both of us now.

Vincent snorted. “I don’t care.”

“You should! If you don’t clean up your act, you’re getting sent back to California!”

“No I’m not.”

My brother looked at him in disbelief. “Who do you think is allowing you to stay here?”

“Allow? I think you mean forcing-”

“We got it, Jake,” I snapped, sending Vincent a warning look. “We won’t skip again.”

Jake still didn’t look satisfied. “I’m worried about you, Em. This guy seems to be a bad influence.”

I stole a glance at Vincent. Seems to be? More like is. “Er, well…”

“I’m disappointed in you.”

“I tricked her,” Vincent told him in a hard voice. “She let me drive and I decided I didn’t want to go back to school. It wasn’t like she could stop me since I was driving.”

Jake gave him a disapproving look. “I knew you were no good.”

“Oh my god, Jake, shut up,” I said, putting my hands on my hips. “What is your deal?”

“My deal is that I don’t want my little sister being hurt by some jerk,” he replied, turning back to me.

I softened my look. “I’m not little anymore… And Vincent wouldn’t hurt me.” I hope, I added silently. Who knew what could happen with him. Joel had lost control before. Couldn’t Vincent?

“Whatever. You still don’t trust guys like him.”

“Like me?” Vincent repeated, looking half amused, half annoyed.

Jake nodded. “Handsome? Jerk? A suave voice? Your sense of style? You have the makings of a total player.”

I covered my mouth to hide my smile. “Wow, Jake. You think he’s handsome? Should I be worried you might fall for him?”

“No!” my brother cried, looking repulsed at even the thought. “No way!”

Vincent smirked. “Sorry to disappoint, Josh, but I like girls.”

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“It’s Jake!”

“Jake, Josh, whatever.”

“No, not whatever!”

I shook my head, sighing. If they kept it up I was going to get a headache. While they continued to bicker, I headed for the kitchen. When I entered, a familiar brunette was sitting at the table, eating a bowl of Count Chocula. I blinked at her for a few moments, taking in the scene. “Fiona?” I finally spoke.

She grinned at me, waving her spoon. “Hey, Em!”

“What… What are you doing here?” I asked, moving toward her slowly. “And why are you eating my cereal?”

“I couldn’t help it. I had to taste Count Chocula,” she told me with a giggle. She held up the box. “A vampire turning into a bat? That is such a myth. I wish we could do that!”

I eased myself onto one of the stools at the island, watching as she lifted a spoonful of the chocolate cereal into her mouth. “Do you have a reason for coming here?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I have to tell you and Vincent something.”

“I didn’t see your car. How’d you get here?”

“Joel dropped me off,” she informed me. “He’ll pick me up later. Where’s Vincent?”

Using my head, I gestured toward the front hallway. “Squabbling with my brother… By the way, does he know you’re here?”

“Vincent?”

“No, my brother.”

She nodded. “Yeah, he’s the one who helped me find the bowls.”

“I see…”

My brother and Vincent chose that moment to join us in the kitchen. Jake looked annoyed while Vincent held a smug expression. He sent me a superior look. It didn’t take a genius to figure out he had outsmarted Jake. His eyes travelled next to me, landing on Fiona. They widened a fraction of an inch. “Fiona? What are you doing here?”

“Coming to talk to you!” she chirped.

My brother stared between the two, wrinkles appearing in his forehead. “Whoa, you two look a lot alike.”

“That’s because we’re-”

“Cousins,” I blurted, interrupting Fiona. “They’re cousins. That’s why they look so much like each other.”

Jake gave me a suspicious look but shrugged it off. “Oh. If she’s his cousin, why isn’t he staying with her?”

“No room,” Fiona replied before I had the chance. “But um, anyway. I’m in the mood for a walk! Emily, Vivi, care to join me?”

“No,” Vincent grumbled.

“Good! Let’s go!”

I laughed at the pair, but quickly sobered up with the look Vincent was giving me. Fiona hopped off her stool and I followed, glancing at her leftover bowl. “Jake, will you pick that up?”

“Sure,” he responded with a sigh. “Just leave it to me, Jake, the house keeper.”

“Thanks!”

“I was being sarcastic!” he called after me as I ushered Vincent out of the kitchen, Fiona on my tail.

I decided to pretend I didn’t hear him. Fiona, Vincent, and I went out the front door, and into the cool air. The sun would be setting soon. “Let’s go this way!” Fiona suggested, leading us to the right.

“Sure,” I mumbled, following her.

“What do you want to talk about?” Vincent demanded, getting straight to the point. “It’s cold out here.”

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Fiona pursed his lips at him. “Get over it, you baby.”

“Fiona,” he started in a warning tone.

She sighed. “Fine, fine. Sebastian called me earlier and told me an interesting little fact.”

“Interesting how?” I questioned, already getting a bad feeling about the answer.

“I’m sure you remember the name Ashton, right?”

“The guy who had his friends attack Joel,” I stated, the corners of my lips turning down. “And the guy who wants the kingdom.”

“Right,” Fiona responded.

Vincent glanced at her, his jaw set. “Don’t tell me what you’re about to say has something to do with him figuring out we have a Blue Blood.”

She smiled sadly. “Bingo.”

He growled. “How is that even possible? No one outside our immediate family knew this!”

“Exactly.”

An uncomfortable feeling washed through me. “Does that mean someone in your family betrayed you?”

“That or we have a spy,” Vincent stated, crossing his arms. “Joel would never tell anyone a royal secret, so we don’t have to worry about him.”

“It must be the same person who told everyone we had a human staying with us,” Fiona said, picking up a piece of her hair and twirling it in her fingers. “I don’t believe anyone has betrayed us… Neither do our parents.”

I shuffled my feet. “So what does this mean?”

Vincent gave me an impatient look. “You can’t figure it out?”

“Obviously,” I snapped, taken aback by his condescending tone.

“That means you’re in trouble,” Fiona explained, sounding tired. “As of now no one knows where you are, so you’re safe.”

I blinked at her. “Trouble like…?”

“I don’t think you understand this whole Blue Blood thing,” Vincent started, coming to a stop, and turning to face me. “Remember what we told you about the poachers? Those still exist, Emily. They’ll want to use you for you blood, be it killing you, or kidnapping you to use your blood over and over again. Either way, it won’t be a pleasant experience.”

Grimacing, I let my eyes drop to the cement sidewalk. “I understand,” I mumbled. “So does that mean everyone will be coming after me? All the poachers, or whatever?”

Fiona hesitated. “I’m not positive, but from what Sebastian knows, no. Only Ashton’s group knows about you. I think they’re keeping the secret because they want you to themselves.”

“Well that’s kind of good, right?”

She shrugged. “I guess, but Ashton is pretty powerful. His rule may not be, but as a person he is.”

“This is unbelievable,” Vincent muttered, clenching his fists. “You really are a troublesome human.”

“Well sor-ry! It’s not my fault I was pulled into this mess if you remember, Mr. I-will-drink-your-blood!”

He shot me a mocking look. “Oh, very clever, stupid.”

“Calm down,” Fiona ordered in a very un-Fiona like tone. She gave us both serious looks. “Emily, you’re still safe. Vincent, you don’t need to get your panties in a bunch over it at the moment. As long as no one finds out where Emily is, we’re all good. Sebastian just wanted to let us now in case something ends up happening.”

“Something ends up happening?” I echoed.

She nodded. “It’s our job to protect you, Em. We won’t let you die. Even if it means taking on Ashton’s group.”

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