The Vampire Prince goes to High School (Book 1)

A New Kind of Deal

To my surprise, Carlos kept his word. Almost a day later, Pat sent me a message. It didn't come in a pizza box like before. Instead, I found a note outside my window. How they managed to do this I wasn't sure. I never left my room except to eat, shower, etc. but when I returned one evening from eating dinner, the note was there. I had been on the lookout for any sort of response from the Purists. The only thing that had surprised me was the fact that they had replied so quickly.

I made sure my door was locked and the curtains were drawn before I opened the note. The message was typed up on basic printer paper. Nothing fancy. It read:

'One of ours told us some interesting information. A great risk comes from our participation. If this is true. We decided to see if it holds up.'

That's it? Couldn't they have given me more to work with? How were they going to see "if it holds up"? what did that even mean? They couldn't possibly think that Micah was going to confirm anything, right? 

I tore up the paper before tossing it away. What help were they if it was going to take longer to get things done? So far, Mr. Keys hadn't said anything about a trial coming up. Despite trying to avoid it, everywhere online, people had their own opinions of why it was taking so long for the Prince to get a court date. Not to mention that the Prince hadn't been moved to a secure location. Then again, where would you hold a vampire?

I wasn't sure exactly how the law dealt with vampires. I'm sure we had gone over it in class but I didn't remember. Plus, this did have to do with royalty and a vampire so maybe the judges didn't know how to handle it.

The last couple of days had been nothing but waiting. It seemed so long ago since I last saw Alexander. Was he being fed properly? Had his family come to visit? Better yet, had he been replaced? I couldn't help but think back on the imposter who pretended to be me during the press conference. What if the King had sent a replacement for Alexander?

Then again, there was a good chance that he hadn't done that. He had been clear that he wasn't going to help. Not to mention that during my trip to the precinct, that had been Alexander. I was sure of it. Even if I didn't want to, I would wait. I really couldn't do it by myself.

I stayed up late that night. I had to force myself to work on my homework. My mom was going to drop off what I had completed at school and bring back more. My teachers loved to give out work. That's the only way I could explain the mountain of work I had to finish.

Halfway through watching my math lecture, there was a sharp knock at my window. My heart lurched. Had Alexander broke out of jail just to see me? I immediately rejected that thought. He would probably do that but he wouldn't knock on the window. He would just come in unannounced.

Frowning, I grabbed the nearest textbook and approached the window. When I got closer, I heard a voice.

"Good evening, Miss Borek," said an unfamiliar voice. "Fancy a small talk?"

"Do I know you?" I asked.

The voice chuckled. "No," it answered, "you don't. Call me Camellia if you wish."

So far, Camellia hadn't barged into my room. It was a safe bet that this Camellia was a vampire.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"Are you not going to invite me inside? It's strange to talk like this."

"No. I don't even know you or why you're here. I'm not going to invite a stranger into my home."

"I gave you my name, didn't I?"

"So?"

"It means we aren't strangers."

"Yeah, that's not how it works. Now, tell me who are you and what do you want? Why are you here?"

I gripped the book tighter in case a fist came flying through the window. But that didn't happen. Instead, a tabby cat dropped down onto the window sill.

'I hear you like cats. Do you mind letting me in?'

I stood there unable to speak. My face burned. Someone had definitely spied on me. Had she been sent by Micah?!

"No."

'I was sent here by a certain group of individuals that you've met before,' Camellia said. 'A little bird told us what you plan to do.'

The Mafia. It had to be them. I placed the textbook on my bed and opened the door. The cat scurried inside. I peaked outside to see if there was anyone hiding but I didn't see anybody.

'Thank you,' she said.

I crossed my arms. "Talk."

Carmella jumped on the bed and sat. 'We know what you're planning on doing,' she told me. 'It's not a bad idea but we would prefer it if a vampire wasn't the one to blame.'

"Are you here to stop me?"

I doubt I would be able to defend myself if Camellia wanted to attack me. A part of me wasn't afraid. The other part was so done with people trying to forward their own polity agenda.

'We both want to save your Prince,' she said.

"I doubt that. Look, I know Micah was behind all of this. He needs to pay. And I'm not going to frame innocent people."

'Are Carlos and his friends really innocent?'

I didn't answer. "Tell me what you want."

'We've decided to help you,' she replied.

"What's the catch?"

'We are going to be the ones to deal with Micah in our own way.'

"And the public?"

'We'll deal with them.'

As she spoke, my gut twisted. This wasn't what I had thought was going to happen. What did the mafia get from all of this? Honestly, it was probably leverage but was I really in a position to refuse?

"Alright," I said. My heart lurched. "We have a deal."

'Good. Someone will contact you.'