Sitting next to an almost dead girl for hours is no fun at all. Even more so if you're the reason her body is jumping the ship cell by cell. The smell is mortifying. Dead and rotten is one thing, dying and clinging onto the last bits of life is a whole different shebang. My gut twitches when I look at her white, bloodless skin.
I know that vampire blood can heal humans, but Rick's wolf, Erin is human – I think. She doesn't smell like vampire. – and I won't ask for Klaus's help. Which would leave me. Hell, I never tested what my blood did to humans. For all I know, it could turn her into a unicorn. So I weave my fingers through hers and hope she hangs in there for the last few miles. It's not that far, right? People have fought through worse than being sucked dry by a monster, right? I need that to be right.
By the time the car stops, Stella's breathing is so shallow, even I have my problems hearing it. One after another, the car doors pop open, so I swing my legs out and let my feet slap against the pavement. The air's sensibly different here. New Orleans is so unlike the comatose Maine small town I was tucked into for the past fifteen years. It smells of sweat, spices and a whole lot of vampires.
"Get the boy to his room and get rid of the girl," Klaus barks orders to no one in particular, but immediately two buff vampires flank me and Rick throws Stella over his shoulder.
I fill my lungs with hot air and square my shoulders, announcing in my most regal tone, "I want to keep the girl." It still sounds pathetic in my ears but everyone hesitates in mid-step anyway. I swallow. "If I'd meant to get rid of her, I would have killed her hundreds of miles ago. – To tell you the truth, she's delicious." God, I'm a terrible actor. But as soon as Stella is back in the saddle, I'll grab her and run like hell. There is no fucking way I'll stay here. The supernatural in this city is crawling under my skin.
I might be a monster genetically but most of my morals are still intact. As long as I'm not desperate for blood, at least.
"I guarantee you, you will have more than enough girls to choose from." Klaus seems annoyed with my immediate power over his people. So am I. It means they acknowledge the connection between him and me. A connection I'd rather see torn apart than acknowledged.
"I like this one. Have for quite a while. Rick-Richard and Erin are my witnesses. I thought it would be shameful to waste months of my life for one single snack in the back of your car."
"Well, then… Find a room for the girl. Make sure she stays there. Same for him. He's in no position to give orders just yet. Not when his mother's ludicrous rules are still stuck in his head." Klaus passes me by without another glance in my direction and disappears into a three story building. The balconies are swarmed with curious onlookers, none of them human. Even as we pass through the doors into a square courtyard with a massive fountain in the middle of it, above are the observing eyes of Klaus's loyal subjects. I wonder if the falling night has lured them out or if it was the chance to see the one and only son of their leader.
The guards by my sides lead me up to the third floor and down a blue hallway, at the very end of which is a single door. Two meaty hands shove me into the big-ass room. It's painted a terrible yellowish white, but the ceilings are high, the windows are huge and I seem to have all the essentials here. Including my clothes. On the kingsize bed sits my blue duffel bag and spills my clothes onto the sheets.
They were in my house. In my room. If they so much as lay a finger on Mom, I am going to trash every bit of decency I have left and rip the bleeding hearts out of their chests.
"Got everything you need?"
I spin around to see Erin leaning in the doorway, wrapping an orange curl around her finger. Traitorous bitch. I give her my backside to look at and march towards the windows. Behind them waits a narrow balcony. The windows are unlocked, so I swing them open but as I want to take another step, I run into a wall. Except there is none. I try again and am stopped – again – by a barrier. "What the…"
"Oh, we made sure you had no chance to run off into the sunset with your blonde little princess. We spelled the room. There's no way out. Well, not for you, at least."
"You spelled it?" I draw my eyebrows together but still refuse to face her.
"Guilty as charged."
The bitch is a witch.
A low rumble escapes my throat. I don't know where that comes from, but from the corner of my eye, I see Erin flinch, so I'm glad I can produce that sort of sound.
"I'm gonna leave you to it, then. Make yourself a home. I bet I'm needed to make sure poor, dear Stella isn't dying right now. I didn't think you had that in you, Khan."
"Yeah, I prefer to keep that part of myself buried deeply."
"You shouldn't. It's pretty hot."
"You're fucked up, Erin."
"Maybe."
She's still standing in the doorway, hasn't stepped inside. Maybe whatever spell is keeping me caught in here, would keep her, too. Someday I am going to use that to my advance, more than I'm about to, but for now, I just throw the door shut in her face. It bangs into the frame and I hope it hit her nose.
Sitting down is impossible, nervous thoughts running through my head make my feet tingle and my hands tremble, and I can't stay still for even a minute. I pace the room for any sign of an emergency exit. I mean, if someone torched the house, I'd die in here. There has to be some hatchet or hidden door. I run my fingertips over the wallpaper for hours, check behind the fugly paintings and crawl on the floor, digging my fingers into the carpet. I'm just stretching my arm into the narrow space beneath the bed, when the door swings open again. I see a pair of high-heeled, black leather boots first. Ending just above the knee, they give way for black leggings and a loose fitting black shirt that leaves everything to your imagination.
"Whatcha trying to find under there, little prince?" The girl asks and looks at me through wide, brown doe eyes.
"A way out," I answer, not even bothering to lie.
"Huh…" She kicks the door shut behind her and plops down on the mattress. "Tell me when you find one."
I sit back up and sigh. She swings her legs back and forth, her ponytail rocking in the same rhythm. It's hypnotizing. If she didn't smell so strongly of vampire and fresh blood, I could consider getting those clothes off oh her and wrapping that brown hair around my hand to pull on it. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I'm your teacher. Well, one of your teachers."
"What would a sixteen-year-old teach me?"
"Oh, you're a feisty one, aren't you? First of all, I'm 271 years old, and I was turned when I was seventeen, not sixteen. And – I'm here to show you how to use your fists and feet and fangs. Apparently you haven't had combat training of any sort in your life."
God, how long has Klaus had me watched? Ever since we left New Orleans? The anger started bubbling up inside me.
"My name's Adrianna, by the way."
"You're a dwarf in high heels – are you sure, you're not here to give me cooking lessons?"
"What would the future king of vampire New Orleans need cooking skills for?" She muses, ignoring the hostility of my words and it drives my rage upwards.
"Adrianna." I spit her name out like a spoiled fruit. "I'm nobody's fucking king. And I won't ever be. In case you haven't noticed: I'm not here voluntarily."
"Oh, I noticed. But one can be forced to rule, you know."
"There's no need for me here. I was born and grew up. I breathe. I will probably die in sixty or seventy years. Klaus is immortal."
Adrianna clicks her tongue and with a smirk on her slim lips, she shrugs and jumps off the bed. "I'm not here to talk politics." She backs up towards the door.
"Why did you come, then?"
"Oh…" She purses her lips and opens the door. "You know…I just wanted to see if you really were as cute as the girls were saying. Turns out you're even cuter." She winks and closes the door behind her.
Great. Just great. Stella is almost dead. Erin is a witch. I'm stuck at my lunatic father's place. And a hot vampire midget is hitting on me. Best birthday ever.