The Vampire's Bride # The Dark Council Series (Book 1)

The Vampire's Bride -11

Alina

"What on Earth is this?" I asked while holding up the red knee-length dress in my hand that Erick had just handed over to me.

"Your wedding dress, of course!" Erick answered without even looking up from his tablet.

"What the hell!" I screamed, turning every customer and salesmen's attention towards me.

"Sorry," I mouthed before turning to glare at Erick.

"Alina, there you are! Oh! What a lovely dress!" Kenna passed the fabric through her hands. "This'll be perfect for the binding ritual after the wedding! Don't you think so, Erick?"

Binding ritual? Why don't I like the sound of that?

Of course, you wouldn't. Erick smirked and placedthe ten point one inch screen of the tablet in front of his face. I glared at him anyway. What was with giving me only half the info?

"Oh, dear! I almost forgot what I was here for!" Kenna gasped. "Come on, Alina. I have just the dress for you."

With that, she grabbed my hand and tugged me behind her effortlessly towards a counter at the back where several dresses were being altered.

The dress did surprise me, though. It was a white and gold lace dress with full sleeves and a long silk train embroidered with gold. The veil was long. It was up to my waist, and the designs were extraordinary. What's more, I had a feeling that the golden embroidery all over the dress was real gold threads. All in all, it was gorgeous and totally fit for a royal wedding. It was my dream wedding dress. I sighed. Too bad I was getting married to my nightmare.

"It's beautiful," I said, unable to resist touching it.

I felt him before I heard his voice. The hair at the back of my nape stood up at the static. "It is."

Erick leaned in closer and craned his neck from behind. My back was against his chest, and our cheeks almost touched. "Mother, this is grandma's," he stated as he moved away, leaving me feeling empty.

"Not the same one, but I had one made exactly like hers with some slight modifications. I think it will fit her perfectly. It suits her structure as well." Kenna smiled at me.

"Hmmm..." Erick hummed and walked away towards a salesman who held up a suit bag.

"Go ahead. Try it on." Kenna urged, taking the dress out of the bag and placing it in my hands.

I tried it on in one of the spare rooms. Of course, the dress fit perfectly. Only a couple stitches and it would be ready. I really needed to find out how everyone seemed to know my size. It was starting to creep me out a bit. I dressed in my previous attire and walked out of the trial room to search for the Staytons. It was three in the afternoon, and I was really hungry.

"No, I haven't done it for... Of course, I know! I'll tell her...."

Erick?

I looked around at the isles of clothing but didn't see anyone. That was weird. I swear I heard Erick's voice from somewhere.

I spotted the men's trial room up ahead and walked up to it as quietly as I could. Vampire hearing could be a bitch sometimes.

"I heard you from a mile away, Alina." I heard his exasperated voice before I was pulled inside a stall, the door slamming shut behind me.

"Why were you eavesdropping on me?" he asked and leaned against the wall. He was now wearing a charcoal grey shirt and black dress pants.

"I wasn't. I came looking for Kenna because I was hungry. Then I heard your voice and came to you instead," I answered truthfully. It was actually why I came towards his voice, but eavesdropping would've been a plus, especially if I could get my hands on something to use against him.

"Fine. There's a restaurant around the corner. I'll take you there." He pushed off the wall and walked towards the door, but I blocked it. Since we were alone, why not take advantage of it? Okay, that came out really wrong. "What now?" He frowned.

"What did you do?"

"What did I do?" he asked, confused.

"How can you suddenly read my mind, Erick? We've been in the same room for hours before, back when you used to drink from me, but you couldn't read my mind then. It's just not adding up, Erick," I said firmly. "You even hid it from your mom!"

"There's nothing to hide, Alina. I explained that to you earlier. Move out of the way or I'll pick you up and throw you out," he said in a very calm voice while trying to sidestep me, but I blocked him again. I was lucky that he hadn't thrown me out just yet. It gave me hope that he wouldn't go that far, not if he truly was trying to redeem himself.

"Erick!" I snapped. "What did you do?"

He braced his hands on the door on either side of my head, trapping me in. Then he stared at me with intense eyes. Trying to be intimidating, are we? Well, two can play this game. So I folded my arms across my chest and glared back at him.

I didn't know how long we had our staring contest, but if he didn't stop soon, my eyes would pop out of skull. They had to be red by now since tears were already streaming down my face. I narrowed my eyes to clear my vision but didn't blink. Erick, on the other hand, seemed to be just fine.

Finally, when it was getting impossible for me to keep my eyes open any longer, he blinked and sighed. He brought his hands closer to my face so he could wipe the tears from my cheek, and I didn't fight it.

Opening my eyes, I saw that his jaw was set in a hard line as he removed his hand and took a step away from me. I prepared myself for what was about to come because if Erick, the cocky, arrogant, Vampire Prince, was trying to hide something from me, it was bound to be something big.

That was when he looked me in the eyes and said...

"I gave you my blood.

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