Filed to story: The Vampire Prince’s Bride
“No.” There were no more glasses that needed cleaning, so I turned around and wiped down the back counter instead.
“But you wanted to kiss him,” she said, continuing before I could answer. “Are you going to see him again?”
I paused, not sure what to say. That was the same question I’d been wondering since last night. He’d gone from wanting me to forget him to promising we would see each other again, so I wasn’t sure what to believe.
I wanted to believe we would see each other again.
But who knew what would happen? I especially hated that even though it hadn’t been twenty-four hours since we’d met, my time with Jake felt like a dream that I would never be able to get a proper hold of again.
“Well, I guess we have your answer,” Tanya said, amusement filling her tone.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“You’ll never guess who just walked through the door.”
Sean
S he was the first person I saw when I entered the Tavern.
Her back was toward me, and despite her hair being pulled into a ponytail, I would have recognized her anywhere.
She quickly turned around, dropping her arms to her sides when her eyes met mine.
I’d spent all morning thinking about how to remove the wormwood she carried on her so I could compel her to forget me. And so, once coming up with a semblance of a plan, I’d put on the same jacket I’d worn last night-pulling the hood over my head to avoid recognition-and had headed out of the palace. It was a relief to not have to sneak around, since I could now come and go as I pleased. No one even asked where I was going. I was grateful to have the freedom I’d longed for since being taken here, but at the same time, it felt strange-like I was doing something wrong, even though I knew I wasn’t.
The only thing that felt wrong was knowing that soon, Scarlett’s memories of me would be erased-that she would only know me as a vampire prince of the Vale. As a stranger to be feared.
I walked up to the bar, my gaze locked on hers. “Scarlett,” I said once I was standing in front of her.
Her blonde friend muttered something about checking on the customers and hurried around the bar, leaving us alone.
“Jake.” Scarlett spoke my name-my fake name-with as much curiosity and intrigue as I’d said hers. Then she glanced around and tightened her ponytail, apparently remembering where we were. “Would you like a drink?” she asked me.
“No,” I said. “I want to talk to you. Alone.”
“I’m working,” she told me, her eyes suspicious. “But I suppose I can take a break for a bit… if Tanya doesn’t mind.”
Her blonde friend-Tanya-conveniently chose that moment to hop back behind the bar. “Of course I don’t mind,” she said with a smile. “It’s always slow around this time of night, anyway. I’ve got it covered.” She looked back and forth between me and Scarlett, clearly excited for what was about to happen.
Before being kidnapped to the Vale, I guessed that Tanya was the type of girl who loved to gossip.
Once I was able to compel Scarlett to forget me, it looked like I was going to have to compel Tanya to forget me, too.
Or I could compel Tanya right now. It would be a good test to see if she had wormwood on her as well. I guessed she did. After all, the most likely place for Scarlett to have gotten the wormwood was through the place where she worked and lived.
“Scarlett and I are going to go,” I told Tanya, meeting her eyes and filling my voice with the magic of compulsion. “Once we’re gone, you’re going to forget you ever met me.”
Her eyes dilated slightly-so slightly that a human wouldn’t have noticed-and she nodded.
The compulsion had worked.
Sean
“W hat was that about?” Scarlett asked the moment we stepped into the alley behind the restaurant.
“What was what about?” I asked her.
“You told Tanya to forget she ever met you.”
“I did.” I nodded, and then I put the magic into my voice again, just in case she didn’t have wormwood on her today. “And you’re going to forget me as well.”
“I already told you I won’t do that.” She crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes. “I don’t believe you want me to do that either.”
“Really?” I asked, unable to hide the amusement from my tone. “And why’s that?”
“Because if you wanted nothing to do with me, you wouldn’t be here right now.”
“I suppose not,” I said, since she would be right-if I were a human.
“And you wanted to get out of the town square so quickly after the vampires showed up last night,” she continued, watching me carefully as she spoke. “As if you thought they were looking for you.”
“Why would they be looking for me?” I asked, since I’d always found that the best way to avoid answering a question was to respond with another question.
“That’s what I’ve been thinking about since you left last night,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense. Unless…”
“Unless what?” I asked, curious to hear her theories. Even if she guessed correctly, I wouldn’t tell her, of course. But it would be interesting to hear her ideas.
She paused, as if wondering if she should continue.
“Go on,” I told her. “I want to know.”
“It’s just a thought, and I’m probably completely wrong,” she started. “But… wolves have been getting past the boundary and into the Vale.”
“I’ve heard that.” I nodded, since of course I was well aware of what had been happening-and also aware of the limited information given to the humans. “But it was only one wolf. And the vampires quickly took care of it.”