CHAPTER 12

Alessandro pushed open the kitchen doors, he could perceive her exotic scent from outside the door, it was a mixture of flowers, sunshine and a scent that he couldn’t quite place his finger on. He saw her go rigid as she noticed him walk in, the smile on her face disappeared, she looked like a lost deer, so...”.

Aunt Marie sneaked up on him before he knew. It was almost impossible to take any vampire unawares, especially one of his calibre but he had been completely focused on her.

“You deserve to be outside in the scorching heat of the sun", Marie whisper yelled, “How could you?”

“Marie please...”

“You should never have done what you did Andro, you’re not that kind of person and now you’ve scared her to death...”.

“Marie!”, Alessandro interrupted, “ I lost control...”

“Does she not remind you of your mother?...”

“She does”, Alessandro answered gravelly, “She reminds me of her that’s the only reason I spared her life". He kissed Marie on her forehead in an attempt to stop her gruelling question.

He moved further into the kitchen, closer to Isabella, he noticed she had abandoned her food. His eyes trailed to her neck where the barely evident scar as a result of his actions rested. Kieran had healed her. “We leave now”

She stood up and followed him without uttering a word, he pushed open the doors to his chambers, “Sit", he instructed pointing at the bed. She sat down avoiding his gaze, “You crossed your limits the other day", he studied her expression, “I want you to never forget your place.  You’re a pet, my pet"

Her eyes slowly looked up at him. He was almost lost in her blue depths, his eyes studied every inch of her face, she was indeed very beautiful. His eyes trailed her luscious lips and an overwhelming need to kiss her enveloped him. 

She tucked her long dark curls behind her ears, he long to do it for her. He mentally cursed himself, just the day before he wanted to rip her apart now he longed to kiss her. What in the devil’s name was wrong with him.

He wasn’t ignorant of the fact that she was extremely beautiful, when he had attended her ball, he had expected to see an uptight blonde, who was too prissy and too fake to be true. 

When he saw her he was speechless but it wasn’t just her beauty that left him awed it was her uncanny resemblance to his mother. It was like they were mocking him, he had thought it was the wine he had drank but he had approached her and there she was. If anything his hatred for her and her family had increased when he looked at her, hatred for what they had done to his mother.

However, looking at her now without all the hatred in his heart and without them having one of their incessant arguments, all he saw was a beautiful girl who had been crushed and was scared to death, “We wouldn’t like a repeat of yesterday’s event would we?”.

He wasn’t expecting a reply but she shook her head in response, “Good. Henceforth you’ll do as I say. You’ll be by my side like every other vampire pet. I do not want to have to use a leash on you or have to apply force for you to do my bidding".

She stared at him, she was terrified of him, he could tell from her thoughts, “However I would use a collar on special occasions, it will have my family's insignia on it. It would state who you belong to"

She nodded in understanding.

“I’ll have Cecily come over, alongside the royal dressmaker, we have a ball to attend. For starters we will be having dinner with my father soon". He stood up to leave.

“Prince Alessandro?”, her small voice called out to him shakily. He turned to her.

“I’m sorry about your mother, I don't know what happened, may never understand why it happened. I shouldn’t have made those insensitive comments”.

He was stunned, he was not expecting an apology. He nodded in her direction and left.

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“Why is it taking so long, we should set our plan in motion Shadow", Louis said.

Deathly Shadow smiled, “Son, you have to be patient".

“Patience is a virtue I don’t have”, Louis replied angrily.

Shadow rubbed his palms, “I’m not called Deathly shadow for nothing. I take my victims unaware, I like to lurk in the shadows and sneak up on them", his thumb move from side to side signifying beheading, “And kill them. We would have them in our grasp soon"

“And the vampires?”, Louis asked impatiently.

“The best weapons are being prepared. Every arrow and swords will be laced with silver. We will have to weaken them before we drive a stake through their hearts, we could even decapitate their heads, they are not so immortal after all", Shadow explained.

Louis smiled, “There aren’t immortal after all”

“I told you not to bother. I have a great plan in motion.  However we cannot go after those blood suckers half-assed”, Shadow said, he drummed his fingers on the table, “We can not fail, we cannot let them have an advantage over us".

“When do we strike?”, Louis asked. 

“Oh soon, my dear son soon. We need the sorceress by our side when we attack. However she has a very important mission to complete, when we have her we will strike. Then we will be sure they would not have any leverage over us"

Louis walked over to the table and poured himself a glass of wine, he raised the cup in his hands, “To my father and all that have been slain fighting this cause"

Shadow clinked the bottle with his glass , “For the emancipation of the human race and fall of the blood suckers”.