28-2

"You're pretty good at this, considering the fact that you don't wear any," I told her. Miaka giggled. "I might not wear any, but I'm still a girl. Now, don't move so much, it'll ruin my work." "Okay." I stayed still as she put on my veil and the pendant my great grandfather had given me. "It's a special pendant. It's mage enchanted, and a strong one at that," Miaka said. "Yes, my great grandfather said it's been in the family for centuries." "Aaron?" "Yes, you know him?" I shouldn't have been surprised. Miaka seems to know everything. "An acquaintance." She looked thoughtful. "What is it?" Her expression was suddenly sombre. It worried me. "Alina, there's something I need to tell you," she said seriously. "You and Erick have to be very careful from now on. He's the chosen candidate for the next king, but Emiel isn't dead yet. He'll try to kill Erick in every way possible. At first, his motive was to hurt Erick indirectly by hurting you, but now, he's desperate. I have a suspicion that it's not really Emiel who's behind all this. I don't know who... but I just know it's not Emiel. He's as much a victim as Erick." "How?" How did we come to the exact same conclusion? "You know something, don't you?" Miaka sat down on a stool opposite to my chair. "The day Erick was attacked outside my apartment... I saw something. Emiel, he... he seemed to have a split personality. It's like one moment he's this childish person who doesn't want to hurt humans because they were nice to him, and the next, he completely flips and becomes this guy who only wants to kill and hurt people," I said. "And I cannot forget his eyes. They... they were glowing red." "Red? Are you sure?" Miaka's eyes went wide. "Yes, why—" "Alina! There you both are!" Kenna barged in at that exact moment. "Oh, dear! You look gorgeous! Oh! And Miaka, darling, it's time to change. Erick and the others are dying to meet you." "Yes, Aunt Kenna. I'm leaving." She stood up with all the grace of a ballerina. "I'll be seeing you, Alina!" With that, she dashed out the door. All questions that I had about her relationship with the Stayton family vanished into thin air. She must be like a sister to Erick if she just called her Aunt Kenna. "I'm so sorry, Alina. You must be really hungry, but you can't eat until the wedding is over. You can drink something light instead." She clapped her hands twice. Instantly, two vampires dashed into the room at high speed, carrying two huge glasses of what smelled like mango juice in silver trays. Wait... how could I smell them so clearly from so far? "Kenna?" "Yes, dear?" I accepted a glass from the tray. "Papa once told me that vampire blood hastens healing power in humans. What else does it do?" "Well." She took a sip out of her glass. "It does heighten your senses a bit. You can see clearly, hear things better, and smell better. Your emotions also get a bit heightened. Each and every emotion will be stronger: anger, sadness, and even nervousness." She gave me a knowing smile. "But if it's too small an amount, you have nothing to worry about." Yeah, I knew my heart was pounding a million times an hour, but it wasn't because I'm thinking about the wedding night or something. In fact, it had everything to do with what Miaka just said. Liar, liar, skirts on fire. I almost choked on the mango juice I'd just taken a sip of. Erick! How long have you been here? I never left, was his simple answer. I tried again. And for how long have you been eavesdropping on my thoughts? Since you started wondering if I'd slept with Miaka. "What? I never thought that!" "Excuse me?" I stared with wide eyes at Kenna who looked both amused and confused. "I m-meant, I had never thought of that." I laughed nervously, mentally cursing Erick when I heard him chuckle. "You see... Erick gave me some of his blood to heal me during that incident.So... I was only wondering if vampire blood had any side effects." "Other than the one you're facing now? None."Kenna got up from the stool she'd been sitting on. "I'll come back to check on you when it's time. Till then, have a nice conversation," she said with a bright smile as she went out of the room, shutting the door behind her. I let out a huge right of relief. Busted. You're having loads of fun doing this, aren't you? The fun part hasn't even begun, Alina, but you'll find out soon. His voice was full of sexual innuendos. Shut up! Your mom just disappeared with that weird smile on her face, and who knows what she's thinking! Don't add fuel to the fire. Great! Perfect timing! Stupid Vampire Jerky! There wasn't much time left before the wedding, and I really wished Dad could be here. I was not worried about Mom because I had this feeling that she was already here with me and watching over her daughter. On top of that, Miaka just gave me the biggest history lesson in the world! However, the way she told it like a story made it really easy for me to understand. Well, it was surely a lot to take in, but thiswas my life now. I didn't know what the future held, but I had a feeling thatit was going to be something we had never faced before.