The Demon Princess and the Vampire Princes

Chapter VIII
I Can Take Care Of Myself

My hand shook as I knocked on the wooden door, hoping within the very deepest part of my faintly beating heart that he was home. He was. He opened the door with a glare on his face, wearing absolutely nothing but some plaid boxers. His jet-black hair was tousled, letting me realize that I had interupted him. His black eyes softened, though, as he realized who I was.

“Tobias, I need your help.” My voice was hoarse and raspy as the sun hit my back.

“Come on in.” He opens the door wider, ushering me in. “Hold on a second. I’m almost done.”

I nod as he walks away, and wasting no time in making myself comfortable. A girl’s dead corpses were thrown in front of me. “What is this?” I ask, looking up at him.

“I already had one. You need to eat.”

“I am fine.”

“You smell like a decaying corpse. When was the last time you ate?”

“Over a week ago.”

“Phoenix Seraphina, you know you can’t go that long without eating.”

“I promised I would not.”

“To who?”

“To Abel.”

“Yeah, well, eat the girl. Then you’re going to tell me why you’re here. Alright?”

I nod, picking up the dead girl’s arm. Then I ate.

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“Alright, so, what’s wrong?” Tobias asks as I finish.

“I met the Vampire Prince.”

“Which one? You know there’s four, right?”

“Prince Blaze.”

“Ooh. I heard he was bad news.”

“He is not that bad. This story starts with him. I met him at a club. He bit me —”

“He what?!” Tobias growls furiously.

“Let me finish,” I snap, “Now, he brought me back to his palace while I was unconscious. He had obviously never met a Demon before. He feeds me blood to keep the cravings away. He takes care of me. Only his brother, Tyrone, knows of my existance in the castle.”

“How does he ‘take care of you’?”

“He feeds me, he buys me new clothes, he makes sure I am well. He stayed with me when Tyrone had accidently put me into the sun. Tyrone did not know. I was semi-paralyzed for two and a half weeks.”

“He sounds more like a boyfriend!” Tobias says teasingly, smiling at me.

“We are just friends.” I roll my eyes. “He keeps me company.”

“What about that Abel guy you mentioned?”

“Abel is a six-year-old human boy. I had killed his father, and the only parent he had left, just a week ago. Blaze and I have cared for him since.”

“Are you sure you’re not hiding some romance going on between you and Mr. Bad-Boy-Prince.”

“We are just friends,” I growl fiercely, “Nothing is going on between us.”

“Yeah, but what are his parents saying about all of this?”

“They do not know about me. Blaze has kept me in secret. But, he has told his other brother, Adam, that I am his ‘fuck-buddy.’”

“And you didn’t slap him across the face?”

“Those were the words Adam spoke. Not Blaze.”

“Prince Adam? I think I heard that he was a bigot about anyone outside of the Vampire race.”

“Yes, I am aware.”

“Well, if the Queen and King ask why you smell like a Demon, tell them that you’re a hybrid. A human-Vampire. They always have different scents.”

“Thank you.”

“Anytime. You, umm, staying awhile?”

“Yes, please.”

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“How was your sleep?” Tobias asks, smirking as he reads the newspaper.

“Okay, I guess.” I shrug indifferently. “I will feed tonight. Then I will have to go back.”

“Why? Are you sure there’s nothing going on?”

“No, we are not dating,” I snap angrily.

“Then why are you going back, Phoenix Seraphina? I seem to recall you saying that you ‘do not belong anywhere!’”

“Because he is my friend.” Tobias rolls his eyes. “He offers for nothing in return.”

“That sounds more like the girl I know.” Tobias grins as I roll my eyes.

“I am not a little kid anymore, Tobias, I can take care of myself.”

“You’re still seventeen, and a little naïve,” Tobias says, rolling his eyes, “Your dad —”

“Do not … mention him,” I growl, looking away.

“Anyway, he’s been planning war against Vampires. If he hears that you’ve been staying with one of the Princes then you know what will happen.”

“Vampires are just as strong as us.”

“No, they’re not. They’re weaker. We know all of their weaknesses. They know none of ours.” Tobias studied me for a moment, and I tried to keep a nonchalant expression. “Right, Phoenix Seraphina?”

“I might have told him a few.”

“You just betrayed your own race!”

“I do not want this war to start. Blaze will not betray me.”

“You think he won’t. They don’t care about anyone but themselves, Phoenix Seraphina, and the moment a Vampire gets hurt he’ll tell everyone.”

“No, he will not!”

“How do you know?!”

“Because he would not want someone to hurt me.”

“Sounds like someone has a crush on the Princess of Hell.”

“Oh, please! Blaze does not like me!”

“Alright, how much does he know about you?”

“He asks a lot of questions. He knows my favorite colors, my favorite flower —”

“How often does he stare at your chest?”

“Umm … twice. But, that was before we knew each other.”

“Where were you when he stared at your chest?”

“At a bar, and at a club.”

“Oh, those are completely acceptable places to stare at a girl’s chest. He’s just looking for a fuck-buddy.”

“He knows I am a virgin.”

“Which makes you all the more naïve, and all the more easier to fuck.”

“Fine. I will leave.”

“Now, now, Princess. No need to get temperamental.”

I growl at him, standing up. “You listen to me, Tobias, I am not that tiny little Fiend that could not kill. I could kill this entire city, and make it rain blood!”

“Prove it.” I smirk when he says that, putting on my locket.

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“So, are you gonna kill someone or what?” Tobias asks impatiently.

“Will you shut up?” I snap grouchily. I wasn’t in the mood for Tobias’ complaining about how I took too long. I roll my eyes at him, already heading out to the dance floor. Tobias followed shortly after me.

I started dirty dancing with the first boy that came up to me. He started dragging me away … and I think you know what happens next.

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“Blaze?” I ask, poking my head into the familiar room. Nothing. No one. I sigh. I should’ve figured as much. After leaving him for the second time, I’d be lucky if he ever spoke to me again. Well, in four years he’d have but no choice to talk to me. Because I will be Queen of Hell. The first born Queen of Hell without a husband. My father had told me that when I was just a baby Fiend.

“Shh!” Blaze hisses from behind me. I spin around, fire burning brightly in my hands. Blaze jumps back, obviously not expecting me to have overreacted.

“Had nobody told you to never scare a Demon?!” I hiss angrily.

“Didn’t anybody tell you not to run out on a Vampire? Where’d you go, anyway?”

I looked to the side, hearing the faint sound of footsteps down the hall. Blaze apparently heard them, too, as he murmured, “Play along.”

Then he kissed me. I wanted so badly to scream and yell at him, call him every dirty name imaginable for kissing me. I wanted to slap him, run away, and never come back. But, maybe it was just the way that it felt, so sweet and soft and gentle, that made me wish that it never stopped. It felt like I was surrounded by fiery ice — if that made even the slightest amount of sense. It was magical. That was the only way to describe it.

Then it hit me like a smack in the face — my first kiss was stolen by a Vampire. Just as war would tear us apart.

“Blaze, mom and dad want you.” I felt a growl forming in the pit of my throat at hearing Adam’s voice. Prince Adam the Narrow-Minded, as most know him. He absolutely hated anyone that wasn’t a Vampire — he even despised the Vampire Hybrids.

Blaze pulled away, looking at his brother, practically growling, “I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Why not just bring your girlfriend?”

I roll my eyes, saying quietly, “I am fine.”

“Alright.” Blaze sighed once, before grabbing my hand. His hand was freezing in mine, my heart beating so wildly that I knew he could hear it. “You need to calm down,” he murmurs quietly.

“I wish I could,” I whisper back to him. I tried to steady my breathing. Blaze gave my hand a little squeeze, glancing at me quickly before we entered the familiar room. There sat the King and Queen of Vampires. I didn’t make eye contact. I kept my face hidden in Blaze’s shoulder, which is commonly confused with shyness.

“You needed me?” Blaze asks with an indifference that I could never even fake.

“Well, we did. But, I would like to meet the young lady on your arm?” The Queen says with a gentleness that I’ve never heard before in my entire life.

I looked up at her, feeling like I’d be better off if I just died. “Phoenix Seraphina,” I say, curtseying in my respects. I could hear their murmurs plainly, and I knew my cover was blown. Oh, crap.

“What a … unique name,” the Queen says with excessive kindness.

“I had … umm … exhibited an odd possession with fire,” I say with forced shyness. I had never been surrounded by so many people before. It was making me edgy.

“Really? What a coincidence! Blaze can also control fire!” The Queen says, smiling.

I give Blaze a You could have told me glance, which he smirked at in reply. Looks like his cockiness will never fade. Until I have a knock at his ego.

“Well, Blaze, your brother, Kenton, will be coming back from Hell later on today. Maybe you should introduce Phoenix Seraphina to him,” the King says with a firm authority. It was so unlike the growling voice of my father that I had to look up to make sure he was the one who spoke.

“Alright, come on, Pixie.”