Royal shuffle: Vampire’s mate

ANDREA

My eyes were wide awake as my alarm blared. Not that I had gotten much sleep. I sighed and rolled out of bed. Today was the day. The day that I finally took my life back from that bitch. New determination flowed through me, and for the first time in a very long while, I found motivation to get out of bed. I jumped in the shower, and said a small prayer as I washed. I heard Stacy moving around as I got dressed.

I stared at my naked reflection in the mirror and thought of all the ways that this could go wrong. We could get caught as soon as we approached the border. The spell might not work, and Esmeralda kills us all. There were so many possibilities. I pulled out a box from under my bed and pulled out the weapons I had acquired some months back. I wore gloves and began loading the gun with silver bullets, and wrapping the silver-blade dagger in his sheath.

I got dressed in dark pants and a really large black tee-shirt. Stacy knocked once and opened my door, popping her head in.

“Hi,” she said, closing the door behind her, and came to sit on my bed.

“Hello,” I replied, sitting next to her.

“Today’s the day.”

“Yeah.”

She sighed. “You’re dressed early.”

“Yes,” I smiled. “Everyone knows you’re never late on your big day?”

Stacy frowned, “You’re not coming,” she said flatly.

“Why not? You think I’m letting you do this alone?”

She shook her head, “You’re not coming.”

“Why?!”

She looked down at my stomach and rolled her eyes.

“You’re pregnant. In case you forgot,” she said.

“And? How does that stop me?”

“Andrea…”

“I’m coming with you. There’s nothing you will say or do that will convince me otherwise.”

“Andrea-”

“Shh. Now tell me, how ready are you?”

“As ready as can be. I’ve given Savannah the potion. She would put it in her evening tea, and she would be knocked out by nighttime. And that’s when we strike, under the cover of night.”

I smiled, “Seems you already have everything planned.”

Stacy nodded, “I do. You should get some rest, we’re not ready to leave for another few hours. It’s going to be a long day.”

I nodded, and lay on my bed. I smiled as Stacy laid beside me, and wrapped herself around me. We just lay there, lost in our own thoughts. There was so many ways that this could go wrong, and I was hoping that the odds were in our favor. I sighed and thought about my daughter, it would be nice to hug and kiss her again. I’ve missed her.

I thought about the baby in my womb. I was afraid that William might find out he’s the father and…well, decide that he wants his baby. Or even worse, decide that he wants to be in his life. I took a few breath and cleared my thoughts. I needed sleep.

I rolled down the windows as Stacy drove through the town, enjoying the cool night breeze as it caressed my face and hair. I sighed and leaned back in my seat, my eyes fixated on the moon as it smiled at us. But somewhere in my gut, I could feel something dark…like there was something waiting for us. I sat up when Stacy steered off the road into a bush path in the woods.

“Is this where we’re going?” I asked.

“Not really. We’re meeting the person who’s to take us into the territory and into the palace.”

I nodded, “Oh. Who is this person?”

Stacy blushed, “You’ll see.”

“Stacy…”

“Andrea…”

“What are you not telling me?”

“A lot. But I will once all this is over. I promise.”

I nodded and smiled, even though I wasn’t settled about it. No matter how old she gets, she would always be my baby. She took one last turn and we drove into a clearing in the middle of the woods, and in the middle of the clearing parked a very familiar car. I squinted my eyes in an effort to see who was in it, but couldn’t.

“We’re here,” Stacy announced and killed the car engine.

We both exited the car and Stacy excitedly ran to the other car just as the driver’s side opened and Leopold alighted. My mouth dropped in shock as he lifted her into his arms and began to lock lips.

“Why the fuck?!!”

They immediately separated and walked over to me hand-in-hand. Stacy giggled like a school girl and Leopold had a guilty expression on his face.

“Leopold, Stacy?”

“Well, yes. That’s what I have been hiding…who I have been hiding.”

“Are you out of your mind?!”

“No. We love each other,” Stacy said, holding in to Leopold’s hand tighter.

“He has a mate somewhere. What are you going to do when he finds her?”

“I’m right here, y’know,” Leopold said, scratching the back of his head.

“Oh, I know. I can see you. What do you think you’re doing? You’re going to hurt her!”

“I won’t, I promise.”

“And your mate? Will you reject her when you find her? Or will you discard my sister like a used rag?!”

Leopold scratched the back of his head and groaned. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I didn’t want to believe. I was hoping that anytime soon, one of them would tell me this was a prank.

“I love your sister.”

“You didn’t answer any of my questions.”

Stacy sighed. “I think we should just get this done. We can all talk about this later.”

Leopold nodded, and headed back to his car. Stacy turned to me with tears in her eyes. I shook my head, I thought she would know better.

“I thought you would support me,” she said.

“No. Not on this one. You’re going to get hurt. He’s going to hurt you.”

“He’s not your mate that threw you to the wolves.”

“No. But he has a mate that he would most likely not reject for you.”

Leo returned and handed clothes to us.

“You’re going to change into those. They are maid uniforms. It would be easier to sneak you in.”

I grabbed the uniform from him and went behind my car to change, making sure that my knife and gun were well hidden underneath the gown. By the time I came out, Stacy was dressed and in a warm embrace with Leopold.

“Are we going to do this or not?”

We both got into the backseat of Leo’s car and began the journey to the palace. The silence that filled the car was quite loud and suffocating, more like we were all ignoring the elephant in the car. Leo drove into the palace and around it, parking his car in the backyard. We alighted the vehicle and in the distance, I could make out the silhouette of Savannah.

“Is she ready?” Stacy asked as we walked up to her.

Savannah nods, “Yes, she is. The potion worked, she’s out like a light. C’mon, be sure to keep your head down.”

“This is where I leave you guys,” Leo said, “You girls should be careful.”

I watch as he kisses Stacy on the cheek, and leaves. Savannah mutters something under her breath and unlocks the back door, leading us inside. We walked through the palace, keeping our heads down whenever a palace staff walked past us.

It didn’t escape my notice that Esmeralda’s pictures and portraits now graced the walls of the palace, and I couldn’t help but feel a little bitter and wonder in what capacity. Savannah leads up flights of stairs, and up to my floor…well, Leo’s floor, leading to my momentary confusion.

“Why are we here?” I whispered.

Two pairs of eyes looked at me confused.

“To kill Esmeralda.” Savannah replied.

“Oh, I know. That wasn’t what I meant. I mean why are we here? On this particular floor?”

“Um…Esmeralda moved in with Leo after your banishment.”

My heart fell into my stomach, and I quickly blinked tears away from my eyes. It wasn’t supposed to hurt, but it did. I like to tell myself that I have gotten over it, but apparently I haven’t.

“Are you okay?” Stacy asks.

I smile at her, my cheeks aching from the effort, “Yes. Just confused, that’s all.”

Stacy nods and we continue the journey. We stop right in front of my chambers…well, Leo and Esmeralda’s chambers, and Savannah bring out a bunch of keys from her pocket.

“Here we go.”

Savannah unlocked the door and walked us into the parlor. All traces of me had been erased. My pictures, my decor, everything. Everything that was remotely mine and as removed. That stung. Savannah unlocked the door to the bedroom, and led us into the room, and there she laid. The little bitch. She slept so peacefully all dressed up in Leo’s clothes.

A little too peacefully for someone who has been responsible for the destruction that had befallen me.

I clenched my fist beside me, the insane urge to wrap my hands around her neck and squeeze the life out of her. I wanted to stab her repeatedly, and enjoy watching as life left her eyes.

“Andrea…are you okay?” Stacy asked, taking my hand in hers.

I smiled at her. “Yes. Let us begin.”

Stacy brought out a large book from her backpack, and opened it. She began to chant some words in a strange tongue and I watched as her eyes changes to red. The dark room darkened even further, and dark smoke swirled in a circle at the top of the ceiling. I watched as Savannah placed a rather large and wine shaped crystal glass on the nightstand next to the bed and uncorked it.

“What is that for?” I asked.

“Savannah walked over to stand next to me, “For her to send the spirit into.”

“Oh,”

We both stood in the corner of the room and watched Stacy. Her voice had gotten considerably deeper, and her eyes had taken on a deep red color. Esmeralda’s eyes suddenly snapped open, and her eyeballs were a light purple color.

“Was she supposed to do that?” I asked.

I didn’t get a response and Stacy began to chant even harder and sweat was gathering at her forehead and rolling down her face, her voice had gotten much louder, and even deeper. I slid my hand under my shirt, and held on to my gun, ready to use it if necessary.

“Is this supposed to be happening, Stacy?!”

She didn’t respond. Esmeralda sat up on the bed, and Stacy fell to the ground, panting and gasping. She turned her head to Stacy, and began laughing.

“You stupid fool, you really thought this would work?”

She looked over at Savannah and smiled. We both took several steps back as Esmeralda stood from the bed, and began to walk towards us. She smiled as she closed in on us, her gaze on Savannah.

“You dared to poison me?”

She grabbed Savannah by the neck and lifted her up. I gasped and took several steps back, surprised by her strength. Esmeralda’s eyes were still a light purple color. I walked along the walls of the room to Stacy’s side, and squatted next to her, checking her pulse.

“C’mon, wake up…” I whispered and shook her gently. “We still have work to do…”

I could hear Savannah choking from Esmeralda’s hold in the background and it broke my heart that there was nothing I could do. I could shoot her, but the being was still there, so she would just come back and that would put all our lives in even more danger. I shook Stacy even harder, and sighed when she opened her eyes. They were blank and unfocused but as soon as they focused on me, she gasped and tried to get up but fell back down holding her head. I heard Savannah begin to cry and I peeked over the side of the bed to see that Esmeralda was digging her other hand into her chest. My eyes opened wide in shock and disgust as Esmeralda pulled out what appeared to be her liver, and began to eat it.

“Stacy? I’m afraid we don’t have much time. Savannah…”

“I know,” Stacy said and handed me the book. “I’m going to continue. Your job is to go to the farthest part of the room and follow my words-”

“What? Why?”

“In case I go down again, you will need to finish the ritual,” she replied

“But-”

“Look at her eye. The being is already up on the surface, if we stop now we might never be able to do this again,” Stacy replied and got back on her feet.

Stacy stood a few feet behind Esmeralda and began chanting again. Esmeralda dropped an almost lifeless Savannah to the ground, and turned around to face Stacy. She slowly advanced on Stacy with a menacing smile on her face. She let out a high screech and lunges at Stacy who dodged out of the way, still chanting.

Stacy makes a eye contact with me, and I go back to following the words in the book as she chants. Esmeralda screams and grabs her by the throat, throwing her across the room. I gasped as she landed with a sickening crack on the floor. Esmeralda turned to me, her eyes burning a bright, angry red, and her breathe coming in hot pants. I looked down at the book, and continued the reading the spell, refusing to let all of our efforts here be in vain.

There were just ten lines left, I just needed to survive her. I tore the page out of the large book, and pulled out my knife. I continued the spell and she began to screech. Her eyes refocused on me and she advanced towards me. I gripped the knife harder and waited for her to get close enough to me.

I stayed still as Esmeralda tried to grab me by the neck, and I went underneath her arms and sent the knife into her abdomen, twisting it until she fell to her knees in pain before pulling it out. I read out the last line of the spell, and Esmeralda let out a scream so loud that her lungs must have hurt. She fell to her knees and I watched as a large black smoke come out of her mouth, and enters right into the bottle, and Esmeralda fell to the ground.

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