Something Sweet, Something Sinister; The War Begins (A Vampire Novel)

Chapter 10

Cyrus threw me out of his room after unclipping the leash. What he had said about me needing to be tethered was complete garbage, and even he knew it. Nothing was going to stop me from running immediately back to Pierce's room, and I didn't need a guard to do that.

While Pierce and his side of the castle had been a dream come true, Cyrus was a complete nightmare. It wasn't worth it to try and explore anymore, collar or not. At least, not without Pierce around.

The collar was supposed to garuntee my safety, to ensure that everyone knew I belonged to Pierce and for them not to mess with me because of it. Of course, that only applied to the regular vampires that were not as high standing as he was. It didn't apply to his brother or the rest of the royal family since he was the youngest.

I had been too naive and gullible to believe that I would be safe here, in the castle with a ton of bloodthirsty beings. Pierce's words had clouded my resolve to get as far away from them as possible. I just wanted to be safe. I wanted to be able to live my life as my own, not worrying about the war raging in the background. I wanted to feel powerful, to be able to protect myself for once when things got dangerous.

Servants hurried all around me as I ran up the familiar stairs. I wiped my tears, hoping that if I stopped crying, I would be able to fit in with the others who were just trying to quickly get where they needed to be.

Blake would be searching for me, Pierce needed my help, and Cyrus wanted to use me as a spy against his own brother.

If I didn't figure something out soon, it would be safe to say that I would die regardless.

I reached Pierce's room and almost dropped the key in my panic to open his door. I took a few deep breaths and managed to get inside.

He hadn't gotten back yet, so I slid back against the door and sat on the floor, wrapping my arms around my knees.

There was no way I was going to spy on Pierce, but I had just told him that I would stay to help instead of leaving, and now I was starting to wish that I hadn't.

I must have fallen asleep, because time seemed to jump forward and it was suddenly dark outside when I picked my head back up.

The door clicked open and pressed against me suddenly. I scampered across the room, slightly crouching behind the other side of the bed to hide from the intruder.

"No welcome back?" Pierce chuckled. His face fell when he realized that I was so jolted.

"Sorry, I didn't think that I'd be getting back so late. I definitely didn't think that me simply opening the door would scare you. I'll try to remember to knock next time, though no promises, because I've never had to knock to enter my own room before."

I nodded, biting the inside of my cheek a moment to keep from spilling what had happened earlier.

Did it matter if I told him? There was nothing he could do about it, and telling him might make it even worse for everyone.

If I didn't say anything, there was a chance Cyrus might actually believe I was helping him and that would let me at least stall for some more time to think of a better plan.

Yeah, I was going with that.

"Did you get a chance to look around today? I figured you wouldn't have put the collar back on willingly if you were staying put."

"Yeah, I thought that it might be a good idea to get my bearrings."

"Well?" he perked up, interested in what I had to say about his home. Only then did I come out from behind the side of his bed, realizing how stupid I must look while still lingering over there.