In the Dark

Chapter 11

Leon hadn't realized how comfortable he was getting with Riccardo until he was alone with other vampires again. He watched the prince's back as the servants that had been called to tend to him swooped in, but Riccardo didn't look back at him as he joined his family.

"Let's go," one of the vampires who'd swooped in at Riccardo's command said, pulling at Leon's arm to get him to walk forward.

Leon stumbled forward and instantly blinding pain shot up from his hurt leg in a dizzyingly overwhelming way. He thought he may have cried out from it, but the pain was loud in his ears and overwhelmed all other senses. Then, suddenly, there was nothing.

"He passed out when we tried to make him walk," a voice - the same one who'd commanded him to start moving - was saying, floating through blackness.

Passing out explained the darkness, and the almost out of body warm and floating sensation he was suddenly feeling. But he couldn't have been out that long. It felt like a mere few seconds ago he'd taken that step that had hurt him. In fact, it was hard to believe he'd passed out at all.

"He shouldn't have been walking on this leg," another voice - a child murmured. "I'm not surprised he did pass out."

"Fucking hurt," Leon said, thickly as he forced his eyes open. Spots swam in his vision, but it was immediately clear he was no longer in the courtyard.

The room around him was dimly lit - something he was resolving himself to putting up with when it came to the nocturnal nature of vampires. It was just lit well enough for him to see the richness of the decor around him from the details of the crown molding and baseboards of the white walls to the well-polished stone flooring that looked possibly very slippery under the right circumstances. Even the mattress he was laid upon felt softer than anything his family had ever been able to afford growing up and he could say about the sheets and blankets as well.

Despite the lavish decor, it was clearly some sort of clinic judging by the set up, though. There were four beds to the room, the other three of which were currently empty. Metal frames with linen curtains hung between the beds for some semblance of privacy when they were drawn closed.

Among these tell-tale signs of this being a clinic, Leon could see an IV stand next to his own bed, and a small, rolling cart on top of which were shiny metal tools he couldn't exactly give the names of, but that he knew doctors always set out bedside to their patients.

Two vampires - including the one who'd impatiently tugged at him to get moving before he'd passed out - were hovering over him. He hadn't paid them much attention earlier, but now that he was taking in his surroundings, he noted they were in some kind of uniform, both donning grey coats over navy-blue pants. Embroidered over their left breasts was a silver deer with a crown over its head that Leon realized he'd seen pinned over Riccardo's heart as well. The symbol of the Tenepri house, he had to guess.

There was one other person hovering besides him where he laid. He'd been right about hearing a child's voice earlier. A blonde haired boy who looked barely ten years old stood besides him as well. He wore a powder-blue button up shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows and tucked into brown pants. He had on a pair of suspenders clipped to his pants. The boy had the tell-tale long ears and bright-red eyes of a vampire, Leon was also quick to notice. Up to seeing Riccardo's brother, he hadn't known vampires could have children, and he was just as surprised now as he had been to see the younger prince.

The boy chuckled softly at Leon's comment whereas the two adults just sort of scowled at him. "Well, I'm glad you're back with us already," the boy went on to say. "How are you feeling? I gave you something for your pain while you were out."