Fade Away

18.

I woke up to someone hugging me tightly, kissing my neck lightly.
I opened my eyes, smiling when I saw my mate's pained blue-grey eyes. I returned the hug, kissing his hair.
'How're you feeling?' I asked him, pecking his chapped lips lightly.
He groaned quietly. 'I've felt better.'
I smiled sadly, kissing him again. 'I have to clean you up... And change the bed.' I said, peering under the covers at the pale red sheets that were stained with Angelo's black blood.
'But first...' I sat up, pulling my hair up into a ponytail and tying it with a hair tie that was on the dresser.
'You need to feed.' I said. 'But... How's the pain?' I asked him, contemplating whether or not to help him to sit up or to lean down and offer my wrist.
'Bearable .' He murmured. He was lying. I could tell.
I sighed. He'd get more blood from my neck than my wrist.
I stood up on the bed, walking behind him.
'This is a nice view.' He chuckled, looking up my nightshirt.
I shook my head at him. My mate is such a pervert.
I sat down, my legs on either side of him. I put my hands under his arms and began to slide him upwards, towards me.
He whined slightly, making me wince. I hated people being in pain, never mind my vampire.
I stood up slowly, leaning him against the headboard.
I made my way over to his front and straddled him, but sat on my knees, rather than his thighs, not wanting to cause anymore pain.
'Come here, love.' I cupped his cheeks, kissing them, before leaning forward so that my neck was level with his mouth.
He attempted to pierce my skin, but he couldn't.
I brought my hand up to my neck and slit it open with my nail. Angelo mumbled an embarrassed thanks, before beginning to suck from the wound. I tried to contain my moans, simply because, A) This isn't the best situation and B) We had guests staying over.
He continued drinking for around 10 minutes and I knew I was getting weaker. I hadn't realised how much blood he had lost.
'Angie... I think that's enough.' I said, as he dug his fangs deeper into my neck and it was quite sore.
I tried to move out of his grasp, but he wrapped his arms around me, clutching me to his chest. Just then, I heard the door open.
'Guys?!' I heard Balz call.
'Angelo... Get off of me... You're hurting me...' He didn't pull away.
'Angelo?!'
'Balz! Chris! Help!' I called, struggling against my mate's hold, but, as a Dom, he was stronger.
The door burst open and Chris, Brandon and Balz walked into the room.
I tried to turn to them. 'Help! He won't get off-'
'We can't really-'
'I'm serious! He's hurting me and he won't let go!' I snapped at Balz who was trying to be funny, but this REALLY wasn't the time.
They rushed to my side and tried to pry Angelo's strong arms off of my waist. When that didn't work, Chris decided to bite Angelo's arm, inserting venom.
When Anglo fell limp under me, I glared at Chris. 'Are you trying to kill him?! Venom from another vampire can be fatal-'
'Only if I give him too much. I only give him enough to knock him unconscious.' He told me, as Balz helped me to stand up.
'Nice PJs, Mads.' Balz and Chris smirked. I rolled my eyes, trying not to release the tears threatening to fall.
Ghost walked into the room, but before he could say anything, I jumped on him, hugging him, wrapping my legs around his torso. Out of all the guys (not including Alyssa), I had always been closest with Ghost and Angelo, and since I couldn't get comfort from my mate, I decided to use my alternative. He hugged back slowly. He was confused but didn't question my actions. That was one of the main reasons that we connected so well. We understood each other. If one didn't want to tell the other their problem, they didn't try to push them. It was like a silent agreement we had had since we first met. We were the quiet ones out of the group, so we were close.
He pulled away questioningly. I shook my head, smiling slightly. 'Why're you growing a beard?' I asked jokingly. He smiled sadly, averting his gaze towards Angelo, who was still lying unconscious. I bit back tears and smiled softly.
'We have guests. There's no time to freak out.' I said, leaning down and kissing Angelo's cheek and lips, before descending down the stairs.
Jazmin was downstairs, alone. I smiled at her.
'Hey.' She mumbled, returning my smile.
'I'm sorry we haven't managed to talk properly-' I started. She shook her head.
'It's fine. It's Jason's fault that Angelo bust his knuckles. Is he okay? Alyssa said that he had beaten himself up over it.' She told me. I frowned, but then realised; this was probably the cover story for mine and my mate's absence.
'He's alright. Angelo isn't feeling well, though, so he probably won't be leaving our bed for a few days.' I told her, making us both some toast.
'Hey girls.' Jason smiled brightly at us, walking down the stairs and into the kitchen.
'Hey.' Jazmin smiled , kissing him. I mumbled a quiet greeting, smiling at Ryan who had just arrived.
'Chris told me about Angelo's...problem...' He smiled sympathetically as Brandon, Ricky and Alyssa walked into the kitchen.
'Hey.' I hugged them all, trying to take my mind off of my mate's sickness.
I exchanged a look with Ghost. He knew, or at least had an idea of what was wrong with Angelo. I nodded towards Angelo's study, where he kept his art stuff. He nodded and began walking towards it and I followed swiftly, eager to hear his theories. I quickly shut the door and faced him.
'Alright, Dev, what's wrong with him?' I asked, crossing my arms. He let out a quiet sigh.
'He was cursed.' He stated simply. I blinked.
'As in witchcraft cursed or...' He nodded gravely.
'Someone...has made him believe that you have killed his family and that you're a human. At least that's what I picked up from his mind. It happened as soon a he began to feed. He doesn't register you as his mate. He was ready to drain you dry.'
I sat down on the chair behind the desk and he took the seat opposite.
I looked up at him after a few minutes. 'Why would someone do that?' He shook his head sadly.
'He's a member of the royal family. He's a target, just like you.'
It did make sense; he was a part of the royal family- the king and queen's son, and as his mate, I am now a target.
I nodded in understanding. He quietly winced, as if feeling my pain. He made his way over to me and pulled me into a hug, which I gratefully accepted. Angelo, my mate, the man, well vampire man, that I love. He wanted to kill me.
'Who do you think did it?' I asked as he returned to his seat.
'It was-'
'Either your cousin or Jason.' Chris said, appearing from the shadows, followed by Ricky and Alyssa, who engulfed me in another hug. When she pulled away, I sent a confused look in Chris' direction.
'So you're saying that they have to be... Close? To cast the "curse"?' I asked, standing up beside Chris.
He chewed on his lip rings before answering. 'In a way. They have to be in the same building for at least 8 hours. And I don't think any of us have magic. It'd have to be one of them.' Chris stated, picking at the black nail polish on his nail.
I nodded, processing this new information. It couldn't be one of us, we're all vampires, which ruled all of us out, leaving the remaining two suspects; Jazmin and Jason.
'What do we do?' I asked, hoping they had any ideas.
Chris and Ricky shrugged, but Ghost's face lit up, as if he had just had a light-bulb moment.
'What you got, Ghosty?' I asked him hopefully.
He but his lip. 'I'm not sure how reliable it is, but it's worth a try. I was thinking that... Kylie's mum is friends with a family of witches. They could maybe help out.' He said, lifting out his phone. It was worth a shot. Everyone nodded in agreement and Ghost walked into the corner to call Kylie. I sighed. This would could either be the best idea ever or the worst. I knew how much conflict that had gone on between those with magic and vampires. Those with magic were the best vampire hunters and, since they had magic on their side, they were more powerful and deadly than the idiotic religious twits who that by spraying us with holy water, the crucifix or sign of the cross and garlic would kill us. The only thing that can kill us PROPERLY is a special type of chemical, mixed with magical blood in a silver bullet. Or too much of another vampire's venom. Either or.
Ghost turned to us again. 'She said that it was a crazy plan, but she is willing to help.' I grinned, hugging Ghost tightly.
'What're you doing?' We turned to the person in the doorway, listening to our conversation. I frowned.
'You're supposed to be in bed, Angie.' I walked over to him cautiously. He shook his head.
'I'm not tired. Where'd you go? You were in bed this morning, then... I can't remember, but I remember waking up again, like 5 minutes ago.'
I exchanged looks with the guys, before guiding my mate back to our room. We had to keep him safe. Even if it meant lying to him to make him stay away from our two guests.