Hunting Love

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Sabrina's POV

This shouldn't be as hard as it feels.

I'm standing at the border of the forest and the castle. Taking another step would mean the roof guards seeing me and alerting the royal family about me. There's a small chance they'll let me past seeing as I'm technically still the hunter but I've been gone for a while and no doubt that my absence has been noticed by at least one member. I mean, I was the one hunting their food for them.

"Just go there and do it," I mutter to myself, rubbing my hands together. "You've got nothing to lose. Just go in and accept your fate."

So far, the idea that I have nothing to lose is the only thing that's giving me the strength to even come back to the castle. It's the truth. Sarah and Jack are gone as far as I'm concerned, all but one of my family is dead, and Drew will never see me the way I see him.

It's time for me to stop living in fantasy land. Drew and I would never work out, even if he does know what I am. It's illegal, it's forbidden, and there's just no way a relationship between us can work. The throne means so much to him and for him to risk it all for one mess of a soulmate is too much. My loss would only be beneficial.

With that thought, I push through and walk across the field towards the castle. The second I'm out in the open, I'm immediately thrown to the ground and retrained by a guard whose hand is wrapped around my throat. "You've really been the trouble, haven't you?" he hisses out, shoving me further in the dirt before letting me go.

I cough and raise myself slightly with my elbows. Red spots on the ground and a wet feeling in my forehead means that he probably messed up the wrap I had around. I hate human speed healing. "Let go of me!" I groan, trying to rip my arm from his wrap but he just squeezes tighter, making me hiss and tightly seal my lips shut as I feel my fangs pop out from the pain.

"The king and queen want to see you. Move it before I kick you there!" he snaps, shoving me forward and I close my eyes before moving where he tells me to. I stay silent and move fast so that the guard has no reason to push or kick me.

***

When I go inside the throne room, I'm immediately shoved to my knees so that I'm kneeling. I hiss through my teeth but otherwise say nothing. I don't need to give him any more reason to hurt me further. I look up through my lashes and frown when I see Layton with some kid arguing with the king and queen. Why does the kid look so familiar?

"I already said that I was sorry!"

"Why would you turn a child into a vampire! Layton, that's dangerous and will scar the child for life!"

"He doesn't look scarred to me!"

"He's only five!"

"Actually I'm-"

"Layton this is highly irresponsible for you!"

"That means I can't be king, right?" Layton starts to smile at the idea before he immediately sets his mouth in a straight line at the glares his parents are throwing his way.

"Is that all you care about now?!"

Layton glances over before doing a double take when he sees me. "Sabrina?" he asks, walking closer.

"Who?" the king asks, looking towards me. "Oh, the hunter. Take her to the dungeon," he says in a bored tone.

"What? Why?" Layton asks, helping me up so that I'm not kneeling anymore and glaring at the guards, who back away from him. For someone who doesn't want to be king, he still has a lot of power over the guards around here.

"She hasn't done her duties for a while. We don't offer second chances, you know that. We'll send the twins to get a new hunter by tomorrow. Now hurry up and take her to the dungeon. Layton, come back here, we're not done discussing this matter," the queen says, standing up as Layton starts to pull me along.

"I'm taking her to the dungeon," he says in a strong tone, looking at the guards and then to his parents. "And you might not be done with this discussion, but I am. Levi is staying a vampire, and I'm going to make sure that he doesn't become a murderer. Besides, you should really keep track of what your other children are doing."

"You can't just talk to the king and queen like that!" I whisper to him, as he starts to gently lead me out of the room. "They're your parents."

He shrugs. "What are they going to do? Banish me? They care too much about their reputation to do that. Now enough about me, where the hell have you been and why isn't Drew with you?" he asks. I stay silent and he sighs. "Sabrina, you can tell me."

"I needed to get away for a while," I reply, deciding that it was the simplest answer that I can give him. Something then pops into my mind. "But why would you ask if Drew is with me? Where is he?"

Layton clears his throat. "Um, I have to tell you something."

***

"YOU TOLD HIM WHAT!" I exclaim, grabbing the bars separating us. Layton spent the walk to the dungeon explaining, in unnecessary detail, what I missed. Of course he chooses the precise moment there's strong metal separating us to tell me that he just exposed my biggest secret to Drew. "Layton, that wasn't your secret to tell!"

"What was I supposed to do Sabrina? He was so miserable. He's my brother you know, I had to tell him. I couldn't stand to watch him go insane."

"You're exaggerating," I say, rolling my eyes. There's no way Drew acted the way Layton just described him to act when I left.

"No I'm not," he argues back. He starts to pace back and forth before stopping and looking at me with a sly smile. "You know what? I'm going to prove it to you." With that, he leaves me alone in the cold, dark dungeon.

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