"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU NICHOLAS DRAKE!" I yelled as I beat on the door.

"I'm sorry! I had to do it! I couldn't be worrying about you and trying to fight at the same time! If I hadn't known you were safe, I wouldn't have been able to leave," a voice from the other side of the door said.

"Let me out right this instant, you stupid, selfish, ignorant, little undead chicken!" I screamed at him.

"No way! You'll break my nose again!"

"So? You deserve it!"

"I think you're going to stay in there for awhile until you calm down…"

"NICHOLAS CHRISTOPHER DRAKE!" I knew I might as well stop yelling. I could hear his footsteps walking away.

Damn it. Stupid, Nicky.

So for those of you who don't know, my name is Lucy. I am sixteen and my best friend, Solange Drake, is a vampire. She also has seven vampire brothers, one of which happens to be my boyfriend. Anyway, Solange and her brothers are in the Drake clan. The Drake clan is one of only three clans in which the vampires are born. When they are sixteen, they go through the bloodchange. It almost killed Solange because Lady Natasha (the self-appointed queen of the vampires) wouldn't let her drink the vampire blood she needed to survive. But, it's okay because Kieran (Solange's boyfriend) got the vial of vampire blood to Solange and gave her some of his blood, so she lived. Plus, Solange's mom, Helena, killed Natasha, which is a major plus! However, now Helena is the new queen and Liam (Solange's dad) is the new king. Montmarte, an evil vampire who has created his own species of vampires and has diluted himself into thinking he's dating Solange, is trying to kill Helena so Solange can become queen. So far, he hasn't had much luck. Anyway, Isabeau, a Hound, got her tribe to help us fight him, but he still isn't dead yet. And I'm super pissed at Nicholas because he locked me in a freaking closet when they went to fight! Oh, and Isabeau and Solange's brother Logan fell in love, even though they're from different clans, but I can't say anything since I, a human, am in love with Nicholas, a vampire.

I've been in here for almost three freaking hours! I'm starving, I'm tired, and I just want to get out of here. When Nicholas comes back down here to let me out, damn right I'm breaking his nose!

About ten minutes later, I heard footsteps, but it sounded like more than just one person. I heard someone putting the key into the lock and the sound of the lock clicking. As soon as I heard the lock, I opened the door as fast and as hard as I could, hitting someone in the face in the process.

"OW! Shit!" I heard someone yell.

"Oh! Sorry, Kieran! I thought you were Nicholas!"

I stepped out of the closet and saw Kieran holding his nose. It didn't look broken though, just swollen. I also saw Solange standing next to him, looking at him worriedly, making sure I didn't hurt him too bad. Damn it. They knew I would hurt anyone who let me out besides these two. Oh well. Nicholas can't hide from me forever!

Solange looked up at me and, seeing the unmasked fury on my face, winced and pointed up the stairs. I gave her my most sadistic smile and turned to run up the stairs.

"Try not to hurt him too bad," she called after me. I just laughed and kept running.

When I got upstairs to the sitting room/library, I saw six of the seven Drake brothers, Isabeau, Liam, Helena, Hyacinth, and Geoffrey all sitting on the various chairs and couches.

"Where is he?" I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest. All six Drake brothers grinned and pointed upstairs. Isabeau, Liam, and Geoffrey all winced in sympathy.

I turned and continued my journey upstairs. I figured he was in his room, so I headed directly there. As I opened his door, I heard Nicholas say, "Three, two, one. Right on time." He was sitting on his bed, in sweatpants and no shirt, I might add. He looked up at me and crossed his arms.

"Why the hell did you do that?"

"I-"

"DON'T INTTERUPT ME!" I screamed at him, "You know that I hate not being in the middle of the fight. I hate not knowing what's going on. I had no way of knowing what was happening! If you ever do that again, I will personally murder you with my own bare hands!"

"I only did it to protect you," he said gently, "I couldn't be worrying about you. I had to know you were safe. I would've had to stay with you. I couldn't leave you if there was even the slightest chance that you would get hurt. I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you because of me."

"I don't give a damn! What if something had happened to Solange? She could've died and I wouldn't have been able to do anything. What if something had happened to you? How do you think I would've felt?" I said helplessly and desperately.

Nicholas got off his bed and walked over to me. He gently put his hands on either side of my face, brushing away tears I hadn't even realized had fallen.

"Lucy. I would never let anything happen to Solange, and you know it. I would die before I let her get hurt."

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of, you rash, reckless pig," I said as more tears fell. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close against his bare chest.

"I've got six older brothers and a mom who thinks she's a ninja; do you really think they'd let anything happen to me? Besides, I'm a prince; I've got hundreds of people that would do anything to protect me."

Nicholas leaned back just enough so that he could kiss me gently on the lips.

"Don't think you're off the hook," I grumbled.

He laughed and let go of me.

"C'mon, let's go downstairs," he said, grabbing my hand.

"So… next time we have a battle, I'm gonna be there. End of story," I said, attempting to be casual.

Nicholas stopped dead. "No way in hell are you going to be there."

I yanked my hand out of his, and put my hands on my hips. "Excuse me?" I said in my most bitchy voice, "I am going and there's nothing you can do about it."

"You absolutely are not going."

I smiled at him innocently, "If you go, I go. You're not going without me, and you're definitely not going to lock me in a closet."

"There is no way in hell I am letting you go fight a battle. I hate to break it to you, but you're not a vampire! You can still get killed a hell of a lot easier than the rest of us. You may hate me for it, but I will lock you in a closet if I have to!" His voice seemed to get louder and an octave higher with every word.

I gave him the dirtiest look I could manage. "We'll see about that," I said before stomping angrily down the stairs.