The Vampire Prince's Servant

Chapter 8

I still stood in the middle of the floor, watching him. He ran his hands through his golden hair. "I guess no one mentioned that to you before." he sighed heavily. I stared at him, while he looked at the ground.  

"Why aren't you a prince as well then?" I looked at him, puzzled.  

"Sit down." he gestured to the leather-clad seat across from him. I moved towards him, and sat there, waiting for what I hoped would be an explanation. "Although I am the oldest, Julian is still the Prince. When the time came, a long time ago, he was willing to do whatever it took to do to become Prince. That meant killing innocent people and creatures." he looked away. "I could only do so much. But Julian..." he trailed off. "He didn't care. He became unhinged. There was no stopping him. It was like he just wasn't even himself. It was as if something possessed him." he looked me in the eyes. "Power does crazy things to a man, Melody. Things that they wish they could take back."  

I wished I could do something, but I couldn't. I just nodded. "Don't get me wrong, sometimes killing people isn't so awful, but I try to limit my killings to only those who deserve it. The ones that are on death row anyway." he shrugged. "So now I'm the Duke of a larger region of this place." 

I thought about it all for a minute. "Can you ever become a Prince?" I asked.  

"Only if I were appointed one my the King." he laughed. "And I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon." 

"Why not?" I blurted out before I could stop myself.  

"Because, during the 'Judgment Period', the time when the king decides who will be next in line for the crown, I messed things up between us. He has 'disapproved' of me since." Jared rolled his eyes.  

The two of us sat in silence for a minute or so. "Well that sucks." I leaned back in my chair. I would hate it if my parent didn't like me.  

He didn't seem to upset about it. "It's not so bad." he shrugged nonchalantly. "It means I can do things like this." 

He leaned forward in his chair, and I did the same. I felt his hand wrap around my neck, bringing me closer to him. I realized I didn't know what to do with my hands. I stopped thinking about it for a second, and placed them on his chest. I grabbed onto his shirt, grasping at it in my fists. In those seconds, I had time to think. I had never been kissed before, and this was my first one. And it was with a gorgeous vampire that wasn't to moody, or to soft, but just right.  

I felt him stand up, so I followed, I craned my neck up and stood on my toes to reach him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and I felt his arms roam across my back. I didn't know how I managed to not gasp for breath for so long, or maybe it had only been a few seconds. I didn't know anymore. I didn't know about anything anymore.  

I didn't know about this place, my family, my friends, myself, the man who was my forced employer, or the man with his lips locked on mine. I didn't know about anything for sure anymore.  

I pulled back first, but slowly. I needed to breath. More than just physically. The ironic part, was that in the time I was kissing him, I thought more than I had managed to in the past few weeks.  

"See? Being a Duke isn't so bad." he leaned his forehead against mine.  

I smiled. "Not bad at all." 

He put his hand on my bruised cheek. "Now, let's see what we can do about this." He laid his lips on my cheek, I squinted hard. It hurt to be touched, but I felt a warm sensation across my face. He moved away, and I felt ten times better.  

"Thank you. That's much better." I replied gratefully.  

"I have to leave today. But I'll make sure to mention to Julian about Jessica. And don't worry, I won't say your name." he winked.