The Vampire Prince by Lissie (online e book reading .TXT) 📖

continued to shake.
“It’s your turn” Talor said again, more quietly this time round.
Elliott nodded very slowly and glanced again at the girl, his all time best friend. He was a traitor, and they each knew it.
He extended a hand to her and she eventually took it, allowing him to lead her. She eased down on the bed and closed her eyes tightly.
Gradually, she released all control of her personal self and wept uncontrollably until it was all over.

The blue waters roared and roiled around and above Jayce, and he opened his eyes once again. He felt his restraints give way slowly, and he soared to the surface of the lake. His lungs filled with air and he was suddenly on blessed land again. He gulped in more air and staggered to his feet, straightening his shoulders one crick at a time.
He knew that Talor had finished what he wanted to complete and that it was mostly over now. Then he glimpsed the two far off figures walking slowly towards the castle doors. The taller figure was carrying something. Someone.
Jayce took off at a dead run, his soaked form covering more ground than he ever had in his past years. As he came up nearer to the two, he could see that Talor was carrying Elliott’s bloodless limp body in his arms. Around his brother’s right wrist was a chain and trailing behind him, attached to the chain, was a defeated Elara. Her eyes were dead, her skin ashen pale. She looked ill, more so than after their wedding night.
Jayce glared at Talor and stopped in front of him, his hands on his hips.
“What did you do to Elliott?” he demanded.
Talor stared at him, blank eyes fathomless and frightening with their depth.
“He’s dead, brother” he replied absently.
He glanced casually behind him at his prisoner, but she didn’t raise her head. Her gaze was cast down at the ground, and her slow steps had faltered. She knew Jayce was there with them.
“How?” Jayce asked then.
Talor nodded at Elara.
“Ask her; she did it to him. Afterwards, she bit him and drank him dry. Said it was better for him than to be alive anymore” he replied, sounding normal.
Jayce gaped at Elara, but all she did was sway where she stood and keep her eyes closed.
“He deserved a decent death and I couldn’t give it to him. But I could relieve him of whatever Talor had in store for him. He was my best friend, Jayce. I couldn’t just let him go like that. Like nothing had ever happened” Elara said quietly.
Jayce slowly nodded, understanding her well.
“But I fear I have done you a disservice” Elara continued slowly.
He glanced at her face, which was now upturned. He was shocked at the nothingness in her eyes, the pallor of her soul.
“I’m scared, Jayce. I’m…sorry. So sorry. Don’t…hurt me” she added.
And then her brown eyes rolled back into her skull and she crumpled to the ground like a leaf.

Chapter 11
“Elle!”
Elara groaned and opened her eyes, staring up, wide eyed, at the spinning ceiling above her. It gradually came to a halt and the colours came back into focus. Someone was holding her hands; she looked up and saw that it was Jayce, his dark eyes filled with concern for her.
“You fainted” he said cautiously.
She nodded and struggled to a sitting position.
“I know” she mumbled, glancing back at his face.
Jayce didn’t look particularly angry, but his eyebrows were drawn together as if he was.
Elara looked over his shoulder and saw Talor trussed up and leaning against the far wall. His bonds were made of toughest spider silk, the knots almost entirely impenetrable. She raised her eyebrows.
“You tied him up?” she questioned curiously.
Jayce shrugged, looking not sheepish in the slightest.
“I had to do it. He kept running away” he replied calmly, shooting one quick glance back at his brother.
Elara nodded thoughtfully.
“What have you done with Elliott?” she asked then, her gaze suddenly sharper and intent.
Jayce winced and sighed lightly, but he answered her nevertheless.
“He’s lying in an open grave out in the field. I didn’t cover him up yet because I thought you would want to see him once more before you said goodbye for good” he said quietly.
Elara closed her eyes, concentrating on the faint patterns on the insides of her eyelids.
“I said goodbye to the minute he robbed me, Prince. But I shall say it again” she told him, squeezing his hands slightly.
Jayce nodded and helped her up to her feet. He held her hand as they walked toward the bedroom door. He kicked Talor in the head as they passed by him, and he slumped over, his chin hitting his chest.
Elara looked up at Jayce.
“You can knock out vampires? I didn’t know that” she said slowly.
Jayce laughed humourlessly and led her onward.
“I’m afraid you wouldn’t be able to, my love. You are not strong enough” he replied, holding her hand tighter.
Elara snorted, but accepted it as known truth. She knew she wasn’t strong enough, would never be. She kept walking and they eventually came out the back of the castle, onto grounds she hadn’t seen before. The grass was shorter here, because she had never set foot amidst the blades, but as she walked through, it grew taller and greener. She couldn’t help smiling as she went, watching the foliage spring up and bloom with abandon.
“I thought he should be buried in a place you hadn’t seen before, so it wouldn’t be soiled by good memories in terrible circumstances. The hole is just over here” Jayce murmured, gently guiding Elara over to the left a way.
They reached the edge of the grave hole and looked down into it. Elara covered her sharp intake of breath by pretending to cough, but Jayce wasn’t fooled. He just didn’t say anything. He helped her to kneel down on the grassy edge and held onto her as she gazed downwards.
Elara reached out a hand toward her lifelong best friend, then let it drop back down next to her on the grass. He looked so peaceful, though she knew he was entirely empty. There was nothing left inside him that she could mourn, whether it be life blood or a good heart. He had lost it all when he agreed to ruin her, when he agreed to help Talor break his brother’s heart. Break her husband’s unbeating heart.
But, she had saved him from himself. Saved him from her brother-in-law, guessing the damage he could do to Elliott and his family. Kimberly would miss her brother undoubtedly, but at least she had the good fortune to never know how it had happened.
Jayce placed a hand on the back of Elara’s head, the coolness of his skin salving her mental wounds. Self inflicted wounds. She bled, but no one could see.
“I’m sorry, Elliott” she whispered softly. “I’m so sorry you couldn’t be brave enough to save me when I could never save myself. You broke my heart even though I always loved you. Just not how you wanted. Fly now, friend. Fly and never grow up.”
By the time she had finished, the tears were pouring out of her eyes and down her pale cheeks, dripping down onto the jewel green grass below. As she started to fall forward slightly, Jayce grabbed her and pulled her back away from the grave’s edge.
“It’s not your time, Elle. You’re not going anywhere just yet” he told her, stroking her hair.
Then he got back up and fetched a black shovel that had been lying on the ground nearby. He began throwing the upended dirt back into the hole in the earth, the dark clods landing with a mighty thump each time one landed on or around Elliott’s body.
Elara covered her eyes and wept, feeling her heart splinter into many more small, jagged pieces than before. She stood up, staggering slightly for a few steps. Jayce heard her and turned round, leaning on the handle of the spade. He raised an eyebrow at her and waited in total and complete silence. He was so perfect at doing that.
Elara took a deep breath in, then slowly expelled it in a long gust.
“I’m pregnant, Jayce. Again” she said, trying to be bold.
Jayce sighed again, leaning more heavily on the shovel.
“I know that” he muttered, half to himself.
“How?”
He pointed at her stomach.
“I could hear it when you were sleeping, Elle. Not much because the baby is basically human, but I could hear it nonetheless. I think it’s going to be a boy” he said, attempting to sound as calm as possible.
Elara stared at him.
“What do you mean by ‘basically human’?” she asked, all of a sudden nervous.
“You aren’t entirely human anymore, Elara. But Elliott is, or rather, he was. He’s dead now, of course. The baby is mostly human, so don’t panic. He’ll be able to survive in either of our worlds” Jayce explained, dropping the shovel and heading towards her.
Elara nodded and dropped to the grass again, wrapping her arms round her knees. She batted away Jayce’s hands and gestured him back to the grave. She watched him shovel dirt into it until the moon rose in the dark blue sky and the stars emerged to wish them a good night.

Chapter 12
Cleo rapped her knuckles on the front door of the Turner residence. She could feel them starting to bruise from the beating she was giving them. Nobody was opening the door, but she wasn’t going to give up.
At last, it swung open a bit and she could see Kimberly standing behind it, partially hidden by shadow. Cleo cocked a hip and glared at the younger girl.
“Well, finally! Far out, girl. Where is your horrible, lying, good for nothing older brother, Kimmy? He owes me a pretty fantastic apology! Or an excuse, at the very least!” she half shouted, raising her voice to above its normal decibel level.
Kimberly pulled the door further open and Cleo saw her parents standing a little distance behind her. She raised her eyebrows insolently, but she was beginning to feel uneasy, as if there was something she didn’t know and she perhaps shouldn’t be there, yelling at them.
Kimberly sniffed and swiped away an errant tear from her cheek.
“None of us know where he is, Cleo. Elliott’s just gone and he hasn’t come back. He’s been away for a week already and none of the neighbours know where he is either. Do you? Oh, no, obviously not” she said quietly, digging the toe of her boot into the scuffed blue hallway carpet.
Cleo stared at her, her eyes wide. She shook her head and moved forward, opening her arms. Kimberly walked into them, wrapping her own arms tightly around Cleo’s neck.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know” Cleo whispered, gently stroking her hair.
Kimberly started to cry, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably. Cleo shut her eyes, feeling her own tears building up behind her eyes. They were unwanted, but they were there. She shouldn’t be here, a part of this. She had led their son and brother away from his rightful future: her sister, Elara.
‘Oh, I’m so sorry, sis’ she thought sadly, wishing with all her might that there was a way Elara might hear her.
“Would you like to come in, Cleopatra?” Kimberly’s mother asked her, stepping forward slightly.
Cleo shook her head again and smiled faintly at the woman. She felt for the entire family at this point; her own parents didn’t care that their other daughter had been missing for weeks now, and Alexander was no closer to seeing her again either. But the Turner