The Vampire Prince goes to High School (Book 1)

Reasons

The Prince wasted no time in leading me out of the warehouse. He practically dragged me across. I hung limp at his side. My legs refused to work properly. How was I to come to terms with all of this? The contract had been nullified. So, why was this happening? Why was I here? All the while, the Prince didn't say anything.

He took us outside. I looked away, feeling my eyes tear up. Yellow dots flashed across my vision. We were walking before my vision cleared. Through half-closed eyes, I took a glance around. All around us there were rusted buildings, overgrown grass, and pebbles.

"Wh-where are we?" I whispered.

It almost looked like where Carlos took me to meet Pat and the others. Could it be the same place?

"Is that what you're concerned about?" the Prince finally asked.

I shot him a glare. Now, he decided to talk?

"Excuse me if that's my only thing I'm saying right now," I retorted. "How else am I supposed to react? I just got kidnapped. How do people react in these situations?"

I pushed away from the Prince but he didn't release me. He tightened his grip on me and forced marched towards wherever he was going. We turned the corner of the building.

"Why are you here?" I asked him.

"Did you want me to leave you there?"

"This is your fault to begin with. Why did you have to involve me in your problems? What did they mean by -?"

The Prince dropped me. My legs gave out from under me and I fell. My butt hit the ground. I sucked in a deep breath as sharp rocks stabbed into my backside. Suddenly, I was on my feet again.

"I'll just take you home."

This time, when I pushed away from him, I didn't fall and he released me. "Just like that?" I asked. "You're not going to say anything?"

"There's nothing to say. Do you want to go home?"

That's right. My parents were probably freaking out. "Fine. But how are we going to get there? At you going to fly? Teleport?"

In response, the Prince turned his back to me and knelt down. "Hop on."

My eye twitched. "What?"

"I'll carry you there, hop on."

I looked around. I half expected someone to jump out of the bushes with a camera crew. This had to be a joke right?

"Don't you want to see your parents?"

I bit my lip. He was making a convincing case. Then again, why was he acting like this? This was something from a rom-com or something. And why was he kneeling down? I crossed my arms.

"You didn't bring your car? Don't tell me that you just rushed over here without anyone back up and if the mafia wanted, they could literally kill us."

His silence perturbed me.

"Wait," I said. "Please tell me I'm not right."

He remained kneeling, silent like before. A small part of me died. This was making no sense. Why was he acting weird all of a sudden? Why wasn't he answering any of my questions? Better yet, why wasn't he threatening me with death if I didn't keep my mouth shut about what I heard?

"I'm waiting." That's all he said.

Frustrated, I hopped on to his back. Not my best move but I did want to get home. Plus, it was strange. Usually, he would force me to get on his back or something. But he was actually being decent. He scooped me up easily.

"Don't get any ideas," I forced out. "Just take me home."

We started moving effortlessly. The trees and buildings rushed past us. I kept my face pressed into his shoulder. It shouldn't take him long to take me home. It wasn't like the mafia had taken me far away or anything. Had they?

No. That would be complicated. Then again, why did they think I would appropriate for bait? They couldn't possibly know that the Prince was trying to get me to pledge my loyalty to him. The Prince wouldn't have told anyone. He could never admit that someone wasn't drooling at his heels. I sure as hell didn't tell anyone either.

And yet, as I thought about it, nothing made sense. Maybe they thought it was about the contract and he had to keep me alive. But if they truly were the mafia, wouldn't they know that the contract had ended. Just thinking about it made my head hurt.

"Why did you come?" I muttered. "Why did they use me as bait? Does the mafia really have that much control of the Royal family?"

It took me a moment to realize we'd stopped. I looked around. We were on an open road with grass all around us. Where were we? Suddenly, I was on my feet and the Prince stood before me.

"What?" I asked. "I thought you were taking me home."

"I am," he answered simply.

"Then why did we stop?"

"I hope you don't get the wrong idea," he said.

I frowned. "What idea would that be? You're not making any sense right now. You're acting really weird you know."

"I didn't come to save you. You just happen to be there."

My mind went blank. Is this his way of explaining things. I was so done with him.

"Whatever," I muttered. "If you're going to be like that, fine. I don't care. Keep your secrets."

Before he could say anything, I started walking. I didn't know where I was going or how far it was to get home. Why did he have to be like that? He owed me an explanation and he hadn't even given me that.

"Rin," the Prince said.

"What do you want?" I asked him, without stopping. "Ready to tell me what's going on?."

"That had nothing to do with you," he said.

I didn't look back. His voice never faded. If I looked back, he was probably walking behind me.

"They took you to get to me."

"Why?"

"They know of my interest towards you," he replied. "They took advantage of that."

"Maybe you shouldn't have an interest in me. I mean, isn't this going a bit too far? Shouldn't you be getting bored right about now?"

"You must not know me as well as you think. I don't give up that easily."

I shook my head. "Being stubborn isn't a virtue."

"Maybe not but it saved your life."

"You're the one who put me in danger to begin with."

"They weren't going to harm you."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I would show up no matter what."

I swirled around. The Prince was standing a few inches away from me. How did he get so close? No, that didn't matter.

"Stop saying dumb stuff," I stammered out. "Don't pretend you care about me. You never have."

"I do not pretend. I am interested in you."

"Well, stop. I don't want you to be. Everything got so complicated with you around. You don't even make any sense. What do you want? Hasn't this gone too far?" I sighed. "Just take me home."

The Prince didn't move. I stared down at my feet. Why did I feel so bad? Was I wrong? Everything he did made my head hurt. It was better if we cut all ties with each other.

The Prince walked past me. "Just dont say anything about what you heard back there."

I turned on my heel and walked after him. "I'm not stupid," I retorted. "Unlike most people, you can trust me."

"Why would I make that mistake?"