CHAPTER FIVE

I had to walk carefully and slowly behind the Mistress to avoid falling, although she was striding as fast as her long legs could go.

My eyes were still trying to close from my desire to rest, and I wanted to just lie down there and sleep, but I dared not to. The blood loss was making me weak, too, and I was continually chasing away the dark spots in my vision by shaking my head and pinching myself.

Hence, I was a bit behind and struggling to keep up.

At that moment, I cursed Julian one more time, wishing the moon goddess would cause him immeasurable pain for putting me through this life.

The hallway we were walking through was dreary and old, which was odd considering it led to the kitchen. But then, on further thoughts, Vampires aren't really eating human food so the kitchen wasn't necessary. Their blood vessels, i.e. humans, all lived down that hall as well as different parts of the castle, depending on how important they were.

They were treated terribly or a little bit better depending on their blood group so the O positives are all the way up as they were specifically for the royals, while the ABs were down there, to be drained with a syringe and deposited in the blood bank for ordinary vampires to buy.

I learned all of this because I used to be a nurse in the human town close to our pack. After all, they paid better than the werewolf hospitals who rarely ever had to treat anyone. If my wolf was with me, I would have tried running away from here before all of this chaos ensued but here I was, stuck again with no means of escape.

Sometimes I hate my life, but then I remember I have a purpose, finding my sister, and I strive on. Hopefully, she's doing alright wherever she is right now.

Julian took all of my salary, though, so it didn't really matter what I earned. But while working there, I heard gossip and whispers from the other supernatural nurses on how the system ran.

The passageway gave in to a staircase that winded up all the way to the top and I sighed before I began climbing.

By the fifth floor, I was close to fainting. I was still having blood loss and the only thing I've eaten in about two days was that soup the kind woman down there gave me in the morning. Yet I continued climbing because I knew I didn't have any other choice.

Suddenly, someone rammed into me, knocking my shoulder out of the way and nearly knocking my frail form off the ground.

“Hey!” The vampire yelled at me, “Watch where you're going, mutt!”

He was dressed in a black trenchcoat, covering a white tie and blue shirt. He looked pale, and from the energy coming off of him, he was hungry.

“Sorry, but you should also watch where you're going; you nearly knocked me over. There's enough space for you to walk by,” I replied as calmly as possible and sidestepped him to walk away.

“Who the fuck do you think you're speaking to in that manner, slave?!” He yelled, dragging me back by my top.

“Ah!” I yelled as I tripped, crumpling to the ground, my eyes woozy.

“Dorian!” I heard the Mistress yell as I regained my bearing. “Let her go. The Princes asked for her, and I don't think they'll want anyone to ruin their property,” she finished, dragging me off the floor and away from the seething vampire.

“Well, then, keep her out of my sight,” he grumbled, disappearing down the stairs.

Something tells me he's not going this way for any good; the human feeders lived down there, too.

“If you want to survive one more day here, stay close to me. I have no patience for laziness,” she snapped at me and began walking again.

“I'm so tired,” I murmured as I began moving again, trying really hard to keep up with her.

Finally, we got to the last floor and we headed towards their door.

“You did well with the bathroom the other day, so I won't punish you for your insubordination. Besides, the Princes already saw to that so make sure this time around, you focus on your job and nothing else, do you understand me?” She commanded.

“Yes, Mistress,” I replied to her, remembering her rules from the last time I was here.

As she walked down the hallway that probably led to the King's lair, considering how decorated it was, I noticed she kept looking over her shoulders at me.

‘Don’t worry, I have nowhere to run to,’ I muttered under my breath and headed to the storage room with the cleaning supplies.

It was just as small as the small room Theodora slept in when she wasn't cooking for all the humans in this huge palace.

I brought the items and came back to the door.

Then I knocked and stepped back.

I was expecting to have to wait for as long as I did the last time but the door opened up almost immediately.

‘Hm, maybe I didn't come here on time. Better to get started with my work,’ I thought as I walked in.

“Good day, Your Majesty,” I said to the vampire who was staring at me with a predatory glint in his eyes.

“What is your name?” He asked in response.

“Lucien!” His brother barked at him, as though he'd done something wrong.

“I'm just asking for her name, chill,” he snapped back at his brother while I stood at the door, confused by the entire interaction.

I had the instinctive feeling to run away from them but something else was screaming at me to run into their arms.

‘Stop being a weirdo, Violet,” I scolded myself and walked into the room, wheeling the cart ahead of me.

“I asked you a question, young lady,” the first Prince, Lucien snapped at me as I walked past him, making me tense up in fear. “Or are you suddenly deaf? You definitely weren't yesterday when you were interfering in something that was none of your business.”

“I apologize, Your Majesty, I should have controlled myself better. And my name is Violet,” I answered with a nod of my head, staring down at his feet.

Even that part of him was beautiful.

Wolves were beautiful, trust me but Vampires had an unnatural, ethereal thing going on with beauty, especially when they just recently fed and they were of High Blood. And these two had me in a chokehold.

But then I remembered they were literal bloodsuckers who killed people on a whim, and I took back my admiration. It doesn't matter if they were glowing, they were terrible people and I would try to find a way to get sent to another place to clean. I didn't want to be here.

“Violet,” he repeated after me, as though tasting the name to find out all of the flavors in it. The vowels rolled off his tongue beautifully, just as his eyes hovered all over me.

I nodded and quickly moved further into the room, away from his twin who was staring at me like I had stolen from him or something.

‘I hate you too Mister,’ I thought as I began doing my job.

And through it all, they stood around the room, watching me like creeps.