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Sean
“DUDE, ARE YOU HUNGRY?” Eric, the only one of Alessandra’s slaves who had been awake when I’d arrived, asked as we sat at the kitchen table.
I shook my head. “No, but I could use a drink.”
With a nod, he rose to his feet. “We have milk, orange juice, water, and coffee.”
“No beer?” I joked.
Eric shot a confused look over his shoulder at me. “Princess Alessandra has us on very strict diets. Beer and other alcoholic beverages affects our ability to produce blood that’s adequate enough for her. You wouldn’t want to consume anything that won’t benefit our mistress.”
Shit. I knew I hadn’t known this Eric guy back before he’d been held captive, but it sounded like someone had him brainwashed. Was that how I was going to be if I stayed here for too much longer?
Lila hadn’t been here that long, and she was already acting like that.
It was just another reminder of why I needed to figure out a plan to get her—and hopefully myself, too—the hell out of here.
“I’ll have some OJ,” I told Eric.
He nodded and grabbed the carton from the fridge. He poured some into a tall glass and carried it back over to me.
As I took a sip, I glanced over at him. “So, what’s it like, anyway?”
The blank look on his face told me he had no idea what I was talking about.
“For a vampire to drink from you, I mean,” I explained.
“Oh. That.” He ruffled his dark brown hair, a serious look on his face. Pausing for a few moments, he looked as though he were trying to figure out a way to put it into words. “It reminds me of getting a massage, but better. There’s nothing quite like it.”
“Really? It’s not painful at all?” I asked with raised eyebrows. It wasn’t that I was afraid of a vampire drinking from me. I just wanted to know what to expect.
“It depends on whether Princess Alessandra is in a good mood or a bad mood,” a voice said from behind me.
I glanced over my shoulder to find a guy with caramel skin leaning against the doorway. The look in his light gray eyes as they locked on mine was anything but friendly. “Who are you?”
“I’m Sean,” I replied.
“You a new arrival, Sean?” the guy asked.
I nodded.
He took a few steps closer to me. “There are a few things you should know about living around here. For starters, all of the chores of the house are given to the newbie. So, that means... you.” He smirked. “You’ll be responsible for cooking, cleaning, dishes, laundry—the works. You’ll be responsible for all of those things until the princess decides to get a new slave. And don’t go complaining to Princess Alessandra that this isn’t fair. I’m her favorite slave, which means I get to call the shots around here. You understand?”
“Yeah, sure,” I replied with a shrug.
“Good. My name’s Vernelle, by the way.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” I lied. The reality was that I could tell right away that this guy was an asshole.
“So, tell us your story,” he said. “How did one of the Seekers find you?”
“Seekers?” I asked.
“You know. The things that bring us here,” he explained. “Let me guess. You were at a club and some hot chick wanted to dance with you. She slipped something into your drink and you woke up here.”
“Vernelle, isn’t that how you got here?” Eric asked.
“Indeed it was, my friend,” Vernelle agreed with a nod. “But right now, my story isn’t relevant. I want to hear Sean’s story.” He turned his attention back to me.
I hesitated for a few moments. Even though I hadn’t wanted Princess Alessandra to find out the truth, I had to tell someone the truth about how I’d gotten here. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep this bottled up for.
And maybe I could use their help. Maybe we could all figure out, together, how to get out of this place. It was worth a shot, anyway.
“Can you guys keep a secret from Princess Alessandra?” I asked.
“Sure. I love secrets,” Eric agreed.
Vernelle shrugged. “Yeah, sure. Your secret’s safe with me.”
“No one brought me here. I wasn’t kidnapped or anything like that. I came here willingly.”
“Wow,” Eric whispered.
Vernelle studied my face. “Why? What would make you do a stupid thing like that?”
“Someone I know was brought here. I came here to rescue her. I came here to bring her back home,” I explained.
“Wow. What a fool you are,” Vernelle murmured.
“I don’t think it’s foolish to try to save the girl you love.”
“I should have figured you did this for a girl.” He shook his head. “How do you know if she’s even still alive?”
“She is alive. I was locked inside the dungeon with her.” She may have disappeared, but I was still convinced she was alive.
“If she was in the dungeon, that means she must have pissed someone off. She might not be alive for very much longer,” Vernelle replied.
“Prince Sebastian is the one who’s keeping her hostage. He said putting her in the dungeon was just for her protection. He seems to be very...fond... of her. I don’t think he’s planning to kill her anytime soon,” I replied. As much as I hated how close the two of them had gotten, I supposed it could have been worse. He could have killed her already.
“If Prince Sebastian is her owner, that means we probably know her,” Eric said. “Her name isn’t Natalie, is it?”
“No, her name is L—” I caught myself mid-sentence, remembering that no one in this world knew Lila’s true identity. “Julia. Her name is Julia.”
“Oh, really?” Vernelle asked, his eyes meeting me. “You don’t say.”
“Yeah, why? Do you know her?” I asked.
“I’ve only met her twice, but my lips know hers quite well. She kissed me,” he replied with a sly grin.
“No, she didn’t,” I replied through clenched teeth. Vernelle was trying to piss me off, but I wasn’t sure why. But there was no way Lila would’ve kissed him... was there?
Then again, I couldn’t ignore the fact that Prince Sebastian had kissed her in the dungeon, right in front of me. Lila hadn’t even flinched or seemed surprised, which made me think it hadn’t been the first time the two of them had kissed.
But it was different, wasn’t it? Prince Sebastian was a vampire who could kill her at any moment. Vernelle was only human.
“Ah, I can see that you don’t like hearing about that, now do you?” Vernelle asked, amusement flickering in his eyes.
“I don’t believe you,” I said firmly.
“Well, that pretty little thing did kiss me. I dare you to ask her. If she denies it, she’s lying to you, just to spare your feelings.” He shook his head. “I pity you in a way. If she tells you the truth, it’s going to crush you. If she tells you it didn’t happen, that means she’s lying and you’ll have to live with the fact that your girlfriend is a liar. Either way, it sucks to be you.”
I didn’t say anything for a few moments, allowing his words to sink in. What if he was telling the truth? What if I had come all this way to save Lila when the whole time she’d been kissing another guy?
“But there’s nothing for you to worry about, Sean. Princess Alessandra has already forbidden me from kissing Julia ever again.”
“You’re damn right it won’t happen again. If you ever lay hands on my girl again, I’ll kill you,” I growled at him.
“You’re a comedian, aren’t you?” Vernelle laughed. “We both know who would win that fight. I’m not saying you’re weak, but... I have Princess Alessandra on my side. I’d love to see what happens to you if you kill her favorite slave.” He took a few steps closer to me. “It’d be the biggest mistake of your life. Well, second biggest, really. Your first mistake was coming here to save Julia.”
“It wasn’t a mistake.” If I had to do it all over again, I would have come back to Deadwood in a heartbeat, without even a second thought.
“You say that because you’re blinded by love. Soon you will come to realize that, now, not only will Julia die here, but you will, too,” Vernelle said firmly.
“You don’t know that for a fact,” I insisted.
“Oh, but I do. There’s no way Princess Alessandra is ever going to let you go back home.”
“I figured I could try to escape,” I explained. “If I could just figure a way to sneak out of here, I could help my girlfriend get back to the human world.”
“Others have tried, but it’s no use. Princess Alessandra will find you,” Vernelle insisted.
“It’s true,” Eric agreed. “I was playing with a volleyball once in the courtyard. The ball bounced into Princess Alessandra’s personal garden, which we’re forbidden to go in. Within seconds, the princess was there, hovering over me, threatening to kill me if I didn’t get out of her garden.”
“There has to be some way we can all get out of here,” I insisted.
“You’d need to figure out how to break the bonds she has on all of the slaves she’s already drank from,” Vernelle replied. “It wouldn’t be easy.”
“I’m sure it can be done,” I murmured, just as a thought entered my mind. It was a thought I knew I couldn’t share with the others. I didn’t want to risk even the possibility that they might repeat it back to the princess.
If I wanted to save Lila, if I wanted any chance of getting out of here myself, I knew what I had to do.
I had to kill Princess Alessandra.