Chapter 90: When I Hold You

Chapter 90: When I Hold You
The cool breeze rushed over Betty’s heated face as she rushed through the quiet Legion camp. She’d made it out of the house. They’d finally let her go.

Panting, she slowed and stopped a few castles away from Vlad’s place and leaned against a tall tree.

Swallowing hard, she stared at his place as the entire interrogation replayed in her mind. She had barely managed to convince Aurelia that the Princess was behind it all.

Vlad hadn’t believed her, Betty could tell. But there wasn’t really anything she could do about that right now. She hadn’t even been here when Ava was born; of course, she didn’t know how deep her relationship with Vlad and his brothers went.

The best she could do right now was use this chance wisely. If she did nothing, then she would be found guilty in a matter of days.

She was mostly a kitchen and cleaning servant in the royal castle, so she barely ever laid eyes on Princess Ava, but Betty had to make it happen. She had to somehow see Ava in private and tell the Princess everything she wanted her to think.

No matter what, Betty would not let Aurelia beat her. Having the Queen and the Legion on her side meant nothing.

Betty would humble the girl. Nothing but a mere slave, and she’d dared to take the opportunity to be a Housekeeper away from Betty? She’d dared to flaunt herself about the place and seduce Bronan?

Very well. Everything that was about to follow wasn’t Betty’s fault. It was all Aurelia’s karma, which she earned with her own actions.



Aurelia was politely returning every chair to its place, trying her best to ignore Vlad’s heavy stare. He was probably burning to call her insane for letting Betty go.

“Wonderful weather we have today,” she dared to comment.

“You’re freezing cold,” he muttered. “Don’t lie.”

Pursing her lips, Aurelia cleared her throat. “Well. You… don’t know this, but my homeland was a very sunny place. Onyx being a cold and grey kingdom makes sense, however, since you’re all vampires.”

“Creatures.”

“Yes—” She paused. With the last chair in place, she turned to face him. “No, no, remember what I said? Not everyone. Just you.”

He was unaffected by the comment and watched her calmly. “Why did you ask me to let her go?”

She sighed. “Well… we struck a deal. I’ll wait to see what the Princess does, and if it’s consistent with Betty’s claims, I’ll know she was telling the truth.”

“You possess the discernment of a newborn duckling.”

Her mouth fell open. “Wha—! I do not. I have some of the most impressive street smarts!”

“Yes, enough to buy miraculous snake oil.”

She blinked in awe. “What? What is that? Where can I find it?”

Sighing, Vlad uncrossed his arms and walked over to pull out a chair and sit. She stood before him, his parted legs nearly on either side of her.

Aurelia was suddenly distracted by his stretched-out legs and the comfortable-looking seat of his lap. Blinking hard, she snapped out of it and dragged her gaze back up to his face.

He was already staring at her, making Aurelia tense.

Oh, drat, this was why she’d decided to avoid being alone with him. She’d never met anyone who blatantly disliked her and yet made it a sport to scramble her brains the way Vlad did. And he did it on purpose, didn’t he?
He knew exactly what his lingering stares did to her and how frazzled her nerves became when his body was in close proximity to hers.

Even now. There was no contact between them, but the thickening tension in the tiny gap between his knees and her legs was nearly too much to bear.

Vlad was watching her the entire time.

She was thinking of moving away when he spoke again.

“Stop thinking.”

Aurelia looked at him, her brows rising. “What?”

“Your mind,” he rasped. “Whatever you’re thinking is wreaking havoc inside me. Stop it.”

Aurelia frowned. “I… What? How do you feel what I’m thinking?”

Vlad stared up at her, unable to give her an answer. How did he explain to her that her thoughts affected him? That even though he didn’t know exactly what was on her mind, he knew it had something to do with how he affected her. And how much she liked it.

And that it was all because of the accidental soul tie he’d created between them. That they weren’t her real emotions.

He swallowed hard. “Never mind.”

“No, tell me!” Aurelia eagerly said, eyes bright. “Because I thought I was going insane. I could’ve sworn I felt you get angry a few times. I thought it was only because you’re a Vamp and can spread out your aura like a tree spreads its roots, but—”

His hand grabbed her wrist and yanked her toward him. With a yelp, Aurelia landed right on his lap. Breathless with shock and glancing about as though someone would catch them, she was unable to stop Vlad from swiftly pulling her against him until she was perfectly held on his lap.

Like it was made for her.

“What are you doing?” she whispered, glancing over her shoulder. “Let me go!”

When she turned back to face him, his face was only inches away. Her heart dropped instantly, taking with it her ability to think straight.

“That,” Vlad murmured. “I felt it. Does it excite you when I hold you like this?”

Gooseflesh skittered instantly over her skin, his words giving her chills like the slightest caress of a silk scarf along her spine.
The blush sprang into her cheeks with record speed, her wide grey eyes staring at him.

Oh, no, she had to keep her wits together.

“Th-that’s…” She swallowed. “That’s what I was asking. Why am I feeling you, and why do you feel me? Is it because you’re a Vampire?”

Vlad slowly lowered his gaze, faced with that question again. He breathed in deeply through his nose and, raising a hand, absently lifted the end of her long ponytail for his inspection.

Aurelia frowned at his silence. “Cr— Sir?”

He looked at her, caressing the silky ends of her hair between his fingers. “You call Zen and the others by their names.”

The statement was tossed unceremoniously at her, and Aurelia tilted her head, not sure what to do with it.

“I… Would you like me to call you… Vlad?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he grumbled, like he really meant the opposite.

“I already have, by accident,” she confessed. “Did it offend you?”

“What offends me,” he began, unable to hold back any longer, “is your decision to go with Syre. Over me.”