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Sean
“WOULD YOU LIKE SOME hot cocoa, Sean?” Princess Alessandra asked me with a smile.
“Uh, sure,” I replied with a small nod. Hot cocoa was the last thing I really wanted, but I was going to do everything I could to stay in the princess’s good graces.
“Okay. I’ll be right back,” she replied with a small smile. She walked across the room and through another door.
I was no longer restrained, but I couldn’t walk out of the room I was in even if I wanted to. There were guards standing post in the hallway, guards who were ready to take me down at the first sign of rebellion.
No, whether I liked it or not, I was stuck between these four walls.
I was stuck as Princess Alessandra’s slave.
She hadn’t broken the news to me just yet, but I knew enough about this world to understand exactly what was going on. And I didn’t like it, not one bit.
I still had a goal in mind: get Lila the hell out of Deadwood and get her back home.
Even though Lila didn’t seem to think it was a feasible goal, I wasn’t about to lose sight of it. I didn’t care how long it took, what sacrifices needed to be made or how unrealistic it really was. I would do it.
The truth was that I didn’t care if I ever made it back home. I had come here on a mission, with a purpose, and that was only to ensure Lila’s safety. That was the only thing that actually mattered to me. I didn’t care if I died in the process. Getting her back home where she belonged was the only thing I wanted.
The only problem with returning Lila back to the human world was that I didn’t even know where she was. When I had woken up in the dungeon, her cell had been empty.
I knew there was always a chance she was dead, but I didn’t want to think that way. I wanted to think that she was very much alive, that if Prince Sebastian was going to kill her, he would’ve done so already.
No, I was going to stay positive about everything. Lila was alive somewhere within this castle, and I was going to find her again... somehow. I just needed to figure out some sort of way to get past the princess.
The worst part about it all was that I was completely defenseless. The guards had taken away the sword and stakes Peter had given me to protect myself from the vampires of Deadwood. I was going to need to find a way to get past them and to Lila.
At that moment, the door opened and Princess Alessandra stepped back into the room, carrying a mug. “Here you go. I added some extra whipped cream. You do like whipped cream, don’t you, Sean?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, I like whipped cream.”
“Good.” She handed me the mug and then sat down on the sofa next to me. She crossed one leg over the other and smiled at me. “So, I imagine that you must have had a long journey.”
“Actually, it didn’t take that long to get here.” Falling through the portal was what I imagined was the equivalent of through the rabbit’s hole to Wonderland. It had been really dark and flashes of color had surrounded me until I’d ended up in the ocean with a big splash.
“You must have been so scared, though.” Princess Alessandra reached out and touched my hand. Her skin felt so cold against mine.
I shrugged. “Yeah, a little.”
It probably sounded crazy, but coming to Deadwood hadn’t scared me—not even a little bit. I probably should have looked at it as the scariest thing I’d ever done, but it wasn’t.
When I’d stepped foot inside the portal in Peter’s closet, I hadn’t even needed to think twice before allowing myself to fall into it. There hadn’t even been the slightest doubt in mind that coming here was exactly what I’d needed to do.
As scary as Deadwood had sounded, there was something that scared me more—and that was the idea of losing Lila forever.
“You have nothing to worry about anymore, Sean,” Princess Alessandra said, shooting a reassuring glance in my direction. “You’ll be safe here with me... as long as you’re cooperative. Do you think you can do that?”
I nodded. As much as I didn’t want to be cooperative, I knew I really had no other choice. Being made Princess Alessandra’s slaves was one of the only things that stood in the way of me getting to Lila.
“Very good,” she replied with a smile. “I think the two of us are going to get along quite well. At least, let’s hope so, for your sake. If you do anything to upset or anger me, I could rip your throat out in a heartbeat. We wouldn’t want that to happen, now would we?”
I shook my head.
“Do you know what I am, Sean?”
I swallowed hard. “Yes.”
“Oh? And what am I?” Amusement swirled around in her eyes.
A monster, I thought to myself. I knew I couldn’t say that out loud, though—not if I wanted to keep my throat intact. So, instead, I told her what I knew to be true. “You’re a vampire.”
“Impressive. How did you figure that out?” Princess Alessandra asked with raised eyebrows.
“Just a lucky guess,” I lied.
“I figured you were a smart cookie when I first laid eyes on you. I just didn’t realize how smart,” she said. “Since you know what I am, what do you think that makes you?”
“I’m not sure.” I shook my head, deciding to play dumb. She would become suspicious if she thought I knew too much. I was pretty sure that the less she thought I knew, the better. I didn’t even want her to know I knew Lila.
“Oh, come on. Just take a guess,” Princess Alessandra insisted. “It’s really a no-brainer.”
“You’re a vampire, so I guess that makes me... your next meal?” I asked, trying my hardest to pretend to be clueless.
The princess smiled. “Actually, you’re the next of many, many meals to come,” she replied with a giggle. “You’re my slave now—the newest member of my harem. Being my slave comes with a number of responsibilities. For starters, you will allow me to drink your blood, any time I want, anywhere I want. Do you understand?”
I nodded, even though the idea made my blood boil with anger.
“You will also serve me in other ways, too,” Princess Alessandra went on. “My slaves all do whatever chores or handy work needs to be done, and they make sure my needs are being met.” Her dark eyes flicked over to meet mine. There was an intense look behind her gaze as she said, “I have many needs, Sean. The better you’re able to satisfy my needs, the more likely you will to become one of my favorite slaves and the more privileges you will be granted while you are under my ownership. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” I replied, swallowing hard. I was pretty sure I knew exactly what she was hinting at, but I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. There was no denying that the princess was inhumanly beautiful; she had curves in just the right places and I almost had to fight the urge to reach out and touch her bare, endless legs.
But Lila’s face was the first thought that came to mind. How could I ever truly satisfy this woman who planned to own me when Lila was all I could think of?
“Perfect,” Alessandra whispered, her lips twisting into a smile again. “As much as I’m just dying to drink from your neck right now, I understand how overwhelming all of this must be for you. So, instead, the first thing I do is sample your blood another way.” She rose to her feet and walked across the room.
I watched her rummage through a cabinet and then come back over to me. She was carrying a needle, syringe, and some vials.
“I’m going to draw some of your blood so I can sample it later,” she explained as she sat down next to me again.
As she began to feel my arm for a place to draw the blood from, she said, “You have beautiful veins, Sean—quite possibly the best I’ve ever seen. It means your blood will flow really well. You’re the perfect candidate for a blood donor. And I mean that as a compliment.”
“Um, thanks,” I replied. That was one hell of a compliment.
As she inserted the needle and my blood began to flow into the vial, I saw her bite down on her lip.
She must have noticed me staring at her, because her eyes flicked over to meet mine. “Your blood smells divine. I’m fighting the urge to drink it right now,” she explained. “But I’ve only just drank from another one of my slaves and while I could drink all day, I try not to be a complete glutton.”
I forced a smile.
She continued to fill a few more vials with my blood. As she twisted a lid on the last of the vials, she glanced over at me with a smile. “All done. I’m just going to store these in the fridge.” She walked across the room and opened the refrigerator door.
From where I was sitting, I could see that the fridge was filled with hundreds of other vials containing blood of all colors. Just seeing how much blood a vampire required to live made me feel sick to my stomach.
As she came back over to me, she said, “I’ll walk you to my Slave Chambers now, where you’ll join my other slaves.” She must have seen the nervousness that swept across my face, because she quickly added, “Don’t worry, it isn’t a prison. It’s more like an apartment.”
I nodded as I rose to my feet to follow after her.
As she stepped out into the hallway and we moved past the guards, she glanced over her shoulder at me. “Oh, and Sean?”
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Don’t even try to escape this castle. The moment I drink directly from your neck, our souls will become linked. After that first sip, your emotions will become my emotions—and mine will become yours. I won’t be able to see everything, but I’ll be able to feel everything, and I have excellent intuition, if I do say so myself. It might take me a little while to figure out your whereabouts, but I will always be able to find you,” she said proudly. “Do you understand?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I murmured.
A smile crossed her face. “You’re so adorable. You have such good manners. I couldn’t have chosen a better slave.”
As she continued to lead the way to the Slave Chambers, I couldn’t seem to ignore the bad, stomach-dropping feeling that had settled upon me at her words.
For the first time, I began to mentally accept that Lila was right.
Well, she was almost right.
Getting out of this situation and past Princess Alessandra was going to be a lot harder than I thought it would be, but I wasn’t going to give up.