CHAPTER 10: Telling

"Bastien," My palms go up, "put down the knife."

"I told Brendan to stay away from you!" Bastien yells. "You and he told everyone you were just friends, but I knew better. I saw the way he looked at you. I told him to break it off–that dating you would only bring him trouble—but he never listened! He loved you more than he loved to live, and that's why he's dead!"

Tears stream down my eyes. "I didn't kill him. I cared about him too!"

"No, he was just a doll you played with! That's how you, rich people, treat everyone else–like your lives are more valuable than ours. He may had been entertainment for you, but he was my brother! He was valuable to me! To our family! And you took him away from us!"

"No! You're wrong! I loved Brendan! He was everything to me!"

"Then you should have stayed away from him! You knew how the court would react if they found out about you two! That's why you kept the relationship a secret! But you couldn't stay away, could you? It was his life on the line, not yours, and you were too selfish to protect him."

My head shakes. "No, no, I didn't kill him! No one killed him because of our relationship!"

"Then why did the cops hose down that alley after the murder? They spent more time cleaning off the evidence than investigating it! The killer wouldn't have been unknown if they tried to solve that case! But they didn't try to solve it because they didn't have to. They knew who killed Brendan that night; they just didn't want the public to find out. They didn't want anyone to remember that the cops could only do something that big if one powerful person was telling them to do it: the king."

I gape. The king and my half-uncle, Davian, couldn't have ordered Brendan's death! He may be a bastard and the biggest classist I know, but he couldn't have found out about my relationship and killed my boyfriend to end it.

Could he?

"You know it's true," Bastien's steps come my way. "That's why you paid off my family. Not just out of pity but also out of guilt. The same reason you started the foundation—as if helping poor people would make what you did forgivable. You can lie and make all the excuses you want, but we both know the truth: Brendan would still be alive if he never loved you. But he did love you, so now he's gone. Forever, because of you."

I shield my eyes and fall to my knees. I can't even deny what Bastien is saying because it's true. I've found it strange that the cops were doing what looked more like a cover-up than an investigation into Brendan's murder. I've also found it strange that they weren't reprimanded or criticized for it. They were just doing their jobs.

And I did have a feeling something bad would happen to Brendan if he and I continued to date. I even thought about breaking up with him, so we wouldn't ever find out what. But Bastien is right: I didn't want to leave Brendan. I didn't want us to break up and have him find happiness with another woman. I wanted him to be happy with me—build a future with me.

But he died while I was still a princess, and a princess is powerless against a king. Powerless against her grief. Occupied with escaping her grief so much, she never considers uncovering the truth for herself.

Until now.

I yelp when something slashes my hand. My right hand covers my left as I back away. "Bastien, stop!"

"The cops didn't tell us who killed Brendan but did tell us how he died: beaten, stabbed, slashed, and choked. And the worst part is that Brendan had been alive for most of it. He lived his whole life as a good person, but because of you, he died in the worst way. So, to make things right, I'll make sure you die the same way."

"Bastien, you don't want to do this."

"Watch me."

I leap out of the way before Bastien could cut me again. I grab his wrist and knock the knife out of his grasp, which is an opportunity for him to punch me in the face and shove me against the concrete walls.

"Bastien," I cough, "let go! I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't hurt me," he hisses. "You won't hurt anyone again."

I slam my head into his and kick him backward. He lunges for me as soon as he recovers, but I evade his charge and glide to his back, where I knock and pin him to the ground. This would have been much harder as a human since he's bigger than me, but I'm a vampire now. If my combat experience makes me hard to defeat as a human, then I'm unstoppable as an apex predator.

"Bastien, stop it! Brendan wouldn't want this."

"Brendan would be alive if it wasn't for you!"

"I loved Brendan! I was about to make him a king when he married me!"

"Then you're a fucking idiot. The court will never allow a poor person to be royal. You're delusional, and that may have killed him too."

I slacken just enough for Bastien to shove me off and hold me down. My nails dig into his fingers as he squeezes my throat. "B-Bastien, please. I'm sorry."

"Say that to him when you see him again. You better hope he forgives you because I won't."

I knee his stomach and strike him back down. I've been holding back because I'm stronger and faster than before. But if he's intent on killing me, I'll have to use force to incapacitate him.

"I miss him every day," I wipe my bloody nose. "I blame myself every day. I'd bring him back to life if I could. I'll do anything to make it happen! But killing me won't do it, Bastien. Think about your family, the ones you have left. Think about what will happen if they lose you too."

"A jail cell won't stop me," Bastien grunts. "And if I'm sentenced to death, my ghost will curse you forever. I'm not a coward like you. I'm going to stop you from hurting other people. If I have to die to make that happen, then so be it."

Bastien stumbles back to his feet. True to his words, he charges for me. My tongue clicks, and I prepare to wrestle him.

But then Bastien stops moving. The whites of his eyes expand in the darkness while the rest of his body stands frozen. "What's happening? Why can't I move?"

"You should've left when you had the chance."

I still as Drew's silhouette approaches us, his hand raised at Bastien. With a flick of his wrist, he throws Bastien to his knees without touching him.

"D-Drew?" I gape, "Drew, what are you doing?"

Drew snarls. The cool and collected man I think I've known is gone. This is the Vampire King; this is the one everyone is afraid of.

"We'll talk about what you did later," Drew sounds more beast than man. "He needs to die."

"No!" I clutch his arm. "You can't hurt him. He's Brendan's brother!"

"He hurt you."

"And I hurt Brendan," I sob. "One man is dead because of me. Don't let another one die too. I'll never live with myself. Please, Drew, please."

Drew doesn't move. His breathing is so heavy, he's practically growling. I can't see his expression, but I feel him relax under my hands.

Then, Drew releases his hold on Bastien and lets him fall to the ground. "You move, and you die."

Bastien heeds his warning. No movement comes from his end after that.

"Thank you," I croak, turning Drew's attention back to me.

Drew cups my face. I flinch when he touches a sore spot.

He pulls back. "Rosenfield."

A tall figure comes into the alleyway. "Yes?"

"You know what to do."

The figure strides and yanks Bastien off the ground. Bastien is so frightened, he doesn't struggle as the assistant drags him away.

"What is he going to do to him?" I mutter to Drew.

"He won't die."

That doesn't answer my question. But if Drew keeps his word that Bastien will live, then I'll take his word for it. Imagine that. Drew has almost killed a man, and he's comforting me.

Or maybe I'm just so tired and overwhelmed, I'm letting whatever happens happen. At least Drew won't hurt me. I've learned a lot of things about him tonight but I'm still sure he won't hurt me.

Drew guides me back to the sidewalk. The street lamps are on, so I can see the road better. Drew's car is parked on the asphalt. The other drivers have to maneuver around it. No one honks nor protests the inconvenience, though, especially since Drew is standing nearby.

I remember Brock's shudder—the way Max and the others speak about the Vampire King in hushed tones. Everyone really is afraid of Drew, and Drew has found me. I don't know why or how.

But now that my senses are coming back to me, I search for a chance to escape.

Drew opens the passenger door at the front of his car. "Get in."

I step back. "Where will you take me?"

"Back to the villa."

"Why?"

"Because you're hurt."

"I can take care of myself. I was winning that fight before you intervened."

Drew grunts and clutches my arms. "Why won't you listen to me?"

"Because I don't have to." I stare right into his emerald eyes, proving how unafraid I am.

I should be. I've seen how people react to him. He had just manipulated someone's body by sheer will, for fuck's sake! Still, I'm not afraid–just careful. Now that I have a new objective, I have a new motivation to survive.

"Are you angry with me?" Drew thumbs circles on my shoulders. He's back to his gentler side, and it melts me. Damn it. "Do you hate me for what I did to you? For turning you into a vampire? For saving you from that man?"

It's my turn to be frustrated. Not just at him but also at myself. "I am angry with you; But…I don't hate you."

"Even after learning what I am? What I'm capable of?"

Drew knows. Drew knows that I'm wary of him and why. The question is, how does he know? Has he been spying on me? Listening in on my conversations?

"You're learning not just about vampirism but also about me. And tonight, you've seen firsthand what I can do to keep enemies in line. I'm a monster, love. A danger. Is that why you refuse to leave with me? Are you afraid of me now?"

I bite my lip and release it when it stings. Cars drive past us, and none of their passengers can resist watching what's going on. But I don't care who watches anymore. Not when Drew of all people is speaking with me. "I should be afraid, but you know I'm not. We both know I'm not."

"You should be. There's something about me I've yet to disclose to you, love. Something that may frighten you."

"Are you going to hurt me?"

"Worse, I'll make you cry."

My eyes go wide as he brushes my cheeks. His touch is deceptively delicate, like a feather.

"I want to see tears stream down this lovely face. And when you've soaked the bed with your pain, I'll make you soak the bed with your pleasure. I want to fuck you until you can't move and then come inside you. That way, anyone with a sense of it will know that I've taken you. That I've possessed you. That you belong to me."

I shudder as Drew places a soft kiss on my neck. I lean to him without thinking, beckoning for more.

"You'll like that, won't you?" Drew chuckles in my ear. "You want me to hurt you."

"Do it," I dare. "Do your worst. I can take it."

Drew growls again, and I can't tell if it's out of anger, desire, or both. All I know is that it's music. Why deny it any longer? I want him to keep growling at me. I want him to show me what a monster he truly is. And in the end, when he has his fill of me, I'll still be whole. Ready for him again.

This time, when Drew asks me to get in the car, I do it. I strap myself in as he settles onto the driver's seat. His free hand captures my knee as the car steers into traffic. I place my hand over his, and he entwines them together, locking us into one.

There's no escaping now. I'm heading back to the villa, hand in hand with the monster. My monster.

The Vampire King.

Drew.