by E. M. Moore
His face hard, Nicolai held up a small square of white paper. “You mind explaining this to me.”
Again, the same words I’d found that morning on my door were staring me in the face. I pulled it out of his hand, my face on fire. “Where’d you find that?”
“On your door.”
“Why were you at my door?”
“We were going to ask you to breakfast so you wouldn’t have to eat this junk, but never mind that.” He shook his head, his dark eyes threatening. “Who did this?”
Another voice added to the mix. “Lay off, Nic. You’re scaring her.”
I whipped around to see both Christian and Stephan making their way toward me. By this time, bodies had started to form an audience in front of the cafeteria door. I just shrugged at the guys, my face getting hotter and hotter.
“Let’s take this outside,” Stephan offered.
Nic’s voice got louder. “No, I want them to hear this. Anyone messes with Ariana, they mess with us.”
Christian shoved his brother toward the exit and we all followed, Stephan’s hand firmly on my elbow. When we got outside, he let go and stood off to the side, looking down at his feet.
“Let me see it,” Christian said, waving his hand toward me.
I gave the paper over reluctantly. His face turned red and hard, matching Nic’s.
“It’s nothing,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. If they didn’t have their super hearing, I doubted they would’ve heard me.
“It’s not nothing. This is harassment,” Nic said, still glancing toward the front of the guardian building. He looked as if he wanted to rush back in there at any moment. And from the look of him, I knew exactly what he wanted to do, but I just couldn’t believe it.
Finally, Stephan spoke up. “Leave her alone. It’s my fault.”
“Your fault?” Connor asked. His face dropped, losing all color. “Why? Did you…?”
“No,” he said quickly. “It’s my fault because they all saw us walk to her room last night. It was late. All I did was rub salve into her palms, but I’m sure they all started talking.”
Everything on me was on fire. I was so embarrassed I could barely even follow their conversation. I just wanted to dig a hole and hide inside it. They didn’t need to know about my problems with the other guardians. “I can take care of myself. It’s no big deal.”
“No big deal?” Nic spat.
“Chill,” Connor said. “She doesn’t get it. New, remember?”
I stared at each of them now, fully taking in all their expressions. Every single one of them looked as if they were in the middle of planning someone’s murder at different stages. Nic was already there, standing over the body right down to gentle Stephan who looked guilty for even thinking about it. “What’s the big deal?” I asked, trying to sound more confident than I was. “So, they called me a whore? I’ve been called worse.”
That was the wrong thing to say because all the guys stared at me now, their hard gazes eating away at me. I really wanted to go dig that hole now.
“Princess,” Connor said, coming up to me and putting his hands on my shoulders. “Honey… I love you, but please don’t say that again. Nicolai’s about ready to lose his shit and there are things you just don’t understand right now, ‘k?”
I nodded slowly.
“Good,” he said, giving me a quick squeeze on the shoulder. “Now, in the human world, being called a whore might just be a derogatory name—” A growl ripped through the air behind us and I jumped. I went to look around him, but Connor forced my chin to face him. “—but,” he said, for emphasis, making sure to throw the word over his shoulder. “A vamp whore is something far different. It’s not only a derogatory name that means exactly what you think it means, but it also means something worse. Something you do not want to be known for in this world.”
“Okay,” I said, nodding as if I understood. I kind of did. Just not all of it.
He leaned down, making sure to keep his voice low. Moreso for his brothers’ sake than for mine. “A vamp whore is also a human who’ll let a vampire drink their blood. It’s kind of…intoxicating for the girl. Addictive. To be a vamp whore is definitely a no-no in our world. We can’t have people calling you this. You understand?”
“Yes,” I said firmly. Finally getting it. They weren’t just calling my virginity into question, it was more than that. They were also calling me a druggie, I guessed, from Connor’s description. “Nothing happened between Stephan and me.”
“We know that,” Connor said. “And I’m sure whoever wrote this knows that too. Is this the first time something like this has happened?”
I swallowed. I’d never told them about the trouble I’d had with Zeke before. They didn’t know he’d told me they’d probably just kill me if I didn’t pass guardian training. They didn’t know the death glare he gave me when I first got here either, and they definitely didn’t know I’d found the same exact note on my door that morning when I’d first woken up. It was going to stay that way. First, I couldn’t prove that it was Zeke, and second, I was scared of what they would do if they knew it was him. I could seriously see Nic running in there and ripping Zeke’s head off. Not that it wouldn’t give me some sort of sick satisfaction, but I didn’t want the guy dead.
I shook my head, already making up the decision to keep this all to myself. “No, this is the first time.”
Relief swept through them all. They visibly relaxed. Connor let his forehead drop to mine as a whoosh of air escaped his chest as if he’d been holding his breath this whole time.
“I’m good,” I said, realizing how worried they all were for me. “I mean, I won’t be if I don’t get some food in me before training, but I’m good for right now.”
I tacked on a laugh at the end, but none of them found it funny. Christian strode forward, his grip on the paper tight as he held it in the air. “You tell us if something like this happens again, okay?” I started to nod, but he eyed me, freezing me in place. “I mean it.”
“Yes,” I said. “I’ll tell you.”
Guilt washed over me, deadening my limbs. Trainees had started to leave the building and headed toward the middle of the quad. It was almost time for our morning run. We were all silent as they walked by, none of them trying to hide their curiosity as they gawked at the five of us. Christian calmly folded up the paper and slid it into his pocket. A half second later, Zeke walked past. My gaze moved to meet his. A small smirk spread his lips. I wanted to pummel him. Not just because he disgraced me, but because he was disgracing the Ravanas too. Not such a smart move when they were the princes. I had a feeling Nicolai wouldn’t even have to deal with him if he didn’t want to. All he had to do was tell his father what happened, and The Council would deal with Zeke. I smiled back. I wasn’t so sure he had the upper hand anymore. It might just be me.
When Zeke finally passed, I realized the guys were all talking. “I don’t know, guys,” Stephan said. “I don’t know if we should go.”
“Go?” I asked, alarm immediately pulling at me. “Go where?”
“There’s an important Council meeting tomorrow. Dad wants us to go. We’d be gone for a couple days.”
On the outside, I tried to look as calm as possible, but on the inside, I was freaking out. What would I do without them for ‘a couple days’? I took a deep breath and was about to tell them to go, when Nic said, “We’re not going.”
His voice was as sharp and beautiful as a diamond. Fury simmered underneath the surface. Christian sighed, “Nicolai, we have to go.”
“No,” he said firmly.
“I don’t like it any more than you do, but what else can we do? We’re needed at the meeting.”
“Not after this morning. We’re needed here more.”
“I don’t disagree with that,” Connor said as he stepped back from me.
I looked around the circle and could see them wrestling with the decision. The last thing I wanted to be was a hindrance to them. This note w
as nothing. It was akin to petty high school bullshit and I’d certainly handled my fair share of bullies before. I could handle Zeke. There was no doubt in my mind he was all bark and no bite. “I want you guys to go.” Their attentions all moved toward me. Since I was shorter than all of them, they had to look down. I tried to make myself as tall and as confident as possible. “Seriously. I’ll be fine.”
Samuel walked from the building then. “Princes,” he said, nodding his head toward them. “Your father just called to see if you were on your way.” He tossed his hand in the air and something came flying at me. I caught it right before it hit me in the face. I looked down at a granola bar. “You,” he said. “Get to the quad. “We run three in five.”
I stopped myself from the eye roll making its way to the surface. He always said that in the mornings. ‘We’re doing our three in five.’ It meant, get ready to do our three-mile run in five minutes. I was so lucky I’d started running before I got here or else the morning runs would’ve killed me.
I looked around the group. The overwhelming feeling I was getting now was resignation. The boys were caught, and I had to go.
Samuel walked away, thankfully. Voice still hard, Nic said, “I left something for you on your dresser.”
I started to nod, then stopped. “You were in my room?” I grimaced, wondering if I’d put away my bras and underwear from that morning. It wasn’t like sport bras were all that sexy.
He smirked—finally. “Yep.”
Connor moved in front of me once more and grabbed the back of my head, once again placing his forehead on mine. “Keep yourself safe, Princess.”
He moved out of the way and Stephan was there. “We’ll be back as soon as we can. Put that salve on your hands, I mean it.” He took my hand and flipped them so they were palms up. He frowned down at my new rope burns but didn’t say anything.
Christian was right behind him. “I don’t think whoever did this will do it again. Nicolai probably put the fear of God into them.”
Nic chuckled. “I sure as hell meant to.” Christian walked away, leaving me and Nic. He pushed me in the arm. “Sorry if I scared you this morning. I didn’t mean to.”
“It’s fine,” I said, still taken away by how angry he got.
Then, he stared at me with a gentle expression. It wasn’t Nic that I was afraid of. It was what he might do to someone else that frightened me. He gave me an apologetic smile. “Eat that bar and go kick their ass in that run. I know you have this in you, Ri. Show them.” He looked around to make sure his brothers weren’t within hearing distance and then dropped his voice. It was almost too low for me to hear, but we were dealing with superhuman vampire hearing. “If you show them, maybe they’ll cut you a break.”
I nodded, wishing I could do it for him.
He tugged on my ponytail braid and then spun on his heel and joined his brothers. They walked across the quad without me. Panic and sadness started to swarm me, but I pushed it aside and steeled myself. I was Ariana Stuart, used to being on my own. I sure as hell could get through a couple days without the Ravana princes.
I hoped.
11
Maybe it was Nic’s words, maybe it was the fear of having my vampires away from me, or maybe it was the fact I was super pissed about the note left on my door, but I kicked ass that day in training. I finished neck and neck with Zeke when we ran our three miles that morning. While he hunched over afterward, trying to regain his composure, I walked on ahead even though I was dying inside. I couldn’t breathe in enough air, but I kept upright and breathed through my nose like Samuel was always telling us to do.
During calisthenics, I made sure to push myself just as hard as Zeke, keeping up with him as we grinded out push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, and my nemesis—burpees. I told myself I could relax later, seeing as how the guys wouldn’t be around tonight, I wouldn’t be getting that extra training session in. I could leave it all out on the floor now, show everyone what I was made of.
After that, lucky me, we worked throws on the very same mat I’d just worked them on with Connor. Seeing as how he was riddled with muscle, and the rest of us weren’t, I threw the other trainees around easily. Shannon gave me a thumbs up. Even Evan raised his eyebrows at me in admiration.
By the time lunch came around, I was feeling the effect of just having a bar for breakfast. I hurried and was first through the line with a heaping pile of chicken and vegetables on my plate. I sat down at the back table where I usually sat, giving me more than enough time to finish my entire lunch and relax afterward. Shannon sought me out and sat down across from me. Her fiery red hair was all over the place today, sticking out the side of her head. “Hey, girl. You kicked some major ass today.”
I smiled, relieved someone noticed. “Thanks.”
She started eating her lunch but kept looking up at me periodically. Her body language was telling me she wanted to say something or ask something, but she didn’t.
When I couldn’t take it anymore, I said, “Spit it out, Shannon. What’s up?”
She chuckled into her fork, put up a finger in the air while she chewed her vegetables, then swallowed. “Sorry for being a creeper. I was just wondering what all that was about this morning. Nicolai Ravana looked like he wanted to take someone out. All the trainees were scared to death. He kept asking us where you were.”
“Oh.” I kind of thought it was about the princes, but I’d forgotten he’d made such a scene this morning. I thought it was going to be some lame comment about how hot they were. “This morning when I got up, I found a note taped to my door that said something…well, not nice on it. I tore it down, but then I went for a walk to clear my head—” Lie, but I didn’t want anyone to know I was putting in the extra work. “—and when I got back, Nic had—”
Her eyebrows raised. “Nic?”
“Yeah,” I said, my cheeks turning pink. “Nicolai. He’d been at my door and saw a piece of paper that said the very same thing that I’d found.”
“It must have said something awful on it. He was staring at all the guys as if he wanted to sink his teeth into them.”
I shrugged. “It said vamp whore on it.”
Shannon gasped, and pushed away from the table. Her expression told me this was way more serious than I was making it out to be. It practically matched how enraged the Ravanas were.
“What?” I asked. “I don’t understand. The guys said it meant something worse, something about girls giving up their blood willingly to vampires…”
Wary, Shannon nodded. “Not just girls. Guys can do it too. I can’t believe someone would say that to you. That’s messed up. And so not smart. I can totally understand Nicolai Ravana’s reaction now. I’m surprised he didn’t start biting and asking questions later. Someone has a freaking death wish.”
I put my fork down next to my plate. “Explain, please.”
“Being a vamp whore isn’t just taboo, it’s against about, oh, five different laws in our world. Calling you a vamp whore puts you at risk and whoever this vamp is that they think is taking your blood. It has serious consequences. It’s called bloodletting. To be called a vamp whore is to be called a… I can’t even think of a human term that is just as nasty. It doesn’t exist.”
My mind whirred around this new information. “Stephan walked me to my room last night…”
“I noticed,” she said.
No wonder why he said all of that was his fault. “We didn’t do anything,” I said, feeling as if I had to speak up for him.
She held her hands in the air. “It wasn’t me. I would never think that, anyway. Someone has some major balls to go this route just to get to you.” She leaned in and lowered her voice. “If I were you, I wouldn’t tell anyone else. What with all the rumors surrounding The Council meeting tomorrow, just, please, for your own safety…”
“What are the rumors surrounding The Council meeting? The guys left to go there.”
She sat back in her chair and pulled her hair over her shoulder to pl
ay with it. “I’m not surprised their father called them back. They’re saying the meeting is because of a vamp-guard relationship. It has to be someone higher up for a special meeting to be called.”
“So, vampires and humans can’t be together?”
“Vamps and guards can’t be together. Do you remember what I told you your first night here? We can look at the vamps, but we shouldn’t touch. Any real relationship with a vampire is strictly forbidden. Someone’s gone rogue if that’s what they’re trying to pull off.”
I thought of the hugs, the massages, the small touches that all the Ravanas had given me and a little piece of my heart shattered after the memory faded away. Guards couldn’t have real relationships with their vampire masters or any vampires for that matter. “Why?” I snapped, indignant that anyone should tell anyone else how to live their life and who they could love.
Shannon shrugged, thankfully dismissing the vehemence in my words. “It causes a whole bunch of problems. First, the vamp-guard relationship is special. Bringing those kinds of feelings into it causes stupid mistakes. Guards must think with their brain, not with their heart. Second, vampires can’t reproduce, but humans can. That just brings in a whole other can of worms if a male vampire lays with a female human. We’re talking whole families wiped out by a jealous woman vamp. Even when she okays it, so they can bring a child into their family, lots of times the human mother doesn’t make it. Vampires are extreme creatures. They love forever, feel forever, and their emotions are amplified just like some of their other powers, like speed and strength. The Council strictly forbids vamp-guard relationships and heavily police the other relationships. It’s nothing to play around with, Ariana.”
I swallowed. The princes had only given me half-truths earlier. This issue was even bigger than I thought. I nodded, letting her know I’d heard what she’d said, and then went back to eating, my mind lost in thought. There was one thing she was for sure correct on: Whoever put that note on my door had a serious death wish. The Ravanas weren’t likely to let that go.