Kidnapped by the Bad Boy Vampire Gang Leader

Chapter 20

I frowned, confused and underwhelmed. "What, like 21 vampire years?"

Ruby scoffed. "We live according to the same years as you. We have birthdays just like you do."

"So...Liam is 21,000 years old or something?" I asked, still not comprehending the significance.

"I didn't say that, did I? I said 21," Ruby said. "As in, born in 1997."

1997. As in, 4 years before my own birthday. My eyes widened. That couldn't be possible. 

"But...isn't he an ancient being? Like, been alive for centuries or whatever? He told me..."

"Nope! He lies about his age to make himself seem more powerful. Actually, though, he and I are the youngest ones here. I'm...well that's not important. The point is, Liam's just a baby. And he'll hate me for telling you. Now," I felt the door hit my back as it creaked open all on its own. "You go tell LiLi to talk to me, okay?"

"Yeah sure," I said, blinking as my eyes adjusted to the sunlight in the hallway. 

The door slammed shut behind me, without another word from Ruby. I stared at her strange, shiny black door for a minute, thinking. 

What should I do with this new information? What could I do? From the sound of it, Ruby wanted me to tell him, wanted him to know that it was she who'd exposed his secrets. But I didn't exactly want that. There was surely a smarter way to go about handling this.

I decided to keep my knowledge a secret, at least until I knew what that smarter way was. I turned away from Ruby's door. 

When I got back to Liam's room, the first thing I noticed was the discarded mug in front of it, tea spilled all over the floor. Oops. Not my problem, though. 

I entered the room, looking around through new eyes. Maybe I was imagining it, but where before I'd seen an elegant and sophisticated room, I now saw the overload of accessories favored by people who want to seem older than they are. Much less intimidating.

I sat on his bed. He wasn't in his room, so he must have still been working out with Helena. Happy to not deal with Liam just yet, I reclined on his bed.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang to my right, jolting me back upright. There was Liam, closing the door to his closet. 

We stared at each other. He looked different from before. Calmer, maybe. Definitely less hostile.

"What were you doing in your closet?" I finally asked, not knowing what else to say.

"Not important. How's that arm doing?" Liam asked, sitting down next to me.

"I...it's doing better," I said, trying to lift my arm. It worked! "Wait a minute, answer my question."

"I did answer your question-not important," Liam said quickly. "What is important is my apology."

I rolled my eyes. "Not important isn't a good answer-Wait, apology?" I asked, his words finally sinking in. He nodded. 

"I've been acting rather...strangely since I came home. Some of the things I said and did were completely uncalled for, and I believe I owe you an apology for them. So I'm sorry," Liam said, not looking at me. 

"You're serious?" I asked, too confused to really be suspicious. He nodded, finally glancing my way. 

Liam looked...hesitant. Uncomfortable, even. Like he didn't quite know if he was saying the right things. 

"And Helena? You apologized to her?" I asked, eyes narrowing. Liam shrugged. 

"More or less. I don't really apologize to subordinates, but I think my message came through. Helena's fine," He said, giving a half shrug.