you will.”
I watch him walk away before going into my new room and shutting the door, locking it for good measure even though I’m aware a vampire could break the door in seconds to get in here. Sunlight beams through the window in the small room, which has a double bed, a dark wood cabinet with a glass lamp on top of it, and a wooden wardrobe with silver handles. The window has no curtains, and nothing about this room is personal, which I almost like. I can pretend no one lived in it before and died, because I know someone must have. I slide my boots off, noticing how my arm is fully healed. Even my feet have no more cuts on them. Vampire blood heals quickly, and I’m slightly thankful for it, even while being disgusted that the Mad Prince’s blood is in my system. I lie down on the bed, and even though I don’t feel safe, and never will on this island, my exhausted body gives into sleep quickly.
Chapter Eleven
“She’s pretty enough, but I still don’t get the uproar over her.” Waking, I blink at the female voice and sit up, staring at two women standing at the foot of my bed. They stare down at me, and one of them tilts her head to the side, her long black hair falling like a wave around her darkly tanned skin.
“There must be something in her blood, something that makes her tasty,” the woman replies with a wistful sigh. “At least he will be distracted with her for a little while.”
The other woman, who is younger and I would figure near enough my age, blinks once. She has freckles all over her pale skin, and blonde hair so light it looks like snow. Both of these women are absolutely beautiful, and there is no doubt they are human. Their dresses? Well, they are old and strange, much like the one I am wearing. Cross and that other prince seem to be the only ones in the twenty-first century. “Maybe he will kill her and we don’t have to explain everything once again. It gets boring after a while.”
“Who the hell are you two?” I demand, having enough of their debate over me.
The blonde laughs, and it’s a sweet sound. Sweet but filled with a vindictive bitterness I don’t like. “I’m Marcella,” she introduces herself and lifts her hand, looking at her nails. “Cross sent us in here to wake you up and hand you some clothes. He will meet you in the kitchen, don’t be late.”
With that, they turn around and walk to the door, not looking back once.
“How am I meant to be on time when there is no clock?” I shout, but the only reply I get is the door slamming shut. I climb out of bed and pause, lifting my arm and feeling how it doesn’t even ache anymore. After touching my neck and finding nothing but smooth skin, I try not to freak out. I mean, I’ve read about vampires in books, but they aren’t nearly as dark and deadly as they are in real life. And I can’t just shut the book on my life.
A mixture of my parents’, my brother’s, Arlo’s and Sophie’s faces come into my mind, and I wonder what they are each thinking right at this moment. Are my parents and Sophie looking for me and possibly my brother? They must be thinking the worst, I know I would be right about now.
Then there is Arlo, who has no one but his adoptive mother to look out for him, and she worked abroad so much Arlo was always alone. I doubt she would notice him missing for a long time, I didn’t ever think they were close. But my parents would notice. They have always loved Arlo like their second son, which makes their pain so much worse. A small part of me is in Denial Town, pretending there is zero chance Austin is on this island, and the rest of me, the part that isn’t stupid, knows he has to be here somewhere. One thing my parents taught us was to survive even when everything feels lost. I never thought much of their advice until now. Until everything is more lost than I ever thought imaginable.
Back to my plan. The only thing keeping me going. I climb out of bed and walk to the window, looking at the sun high in the sky and realising I must