Xavier was seated at a booth in the coffee shop, chatting with the waitress. Xavier was dressed in a thin, long sleeved black sweater, black pants, and black shoes. He looked amazingly dark, treacherous, misunderstood, and everything that made up a bad boy. Everything I constantly looked for in a guy. Except Xavier, for some reason or another, made her want a steady, reliable guy. Xavier made me second guess what I wanted.

Xavier would flash his fangs at the waitress, but she either didn't notice or was too busy being entranced by his red eyes to notice. Poor girl, I thought, she doesn't know what he is. But she probably did and that just made Xavier more exotic. I approached the table, clearing my throat.

"You may go now, Mindy." Xavier said in his accented voice. His voice was almost musical in a way. But isn't that what drew humans to his kind? Vampires needed to look good as well as have a voice that it'd be hard to disobey. That was probably why I hated them so much.

"Explain, now." I commanded, sliding in across from Xavier. I glared at him. "Why the hell does it say I have to marry Justin? Why does it say I have a totally different last name?" I slammed the book on the table, but no one around us seemed to notice my rising voice or the book. They seemed oblivious to our presence entirely. Xavier opened the book to the second and third pages, the family tree. He pointed to the first name, Vladimir Canta.

"Vladimir Canta created our clan. He was a visionary back in the day. He dreamt of a vampire clan so powerful and exclusive that all clans, children of the moon, wizards, and vampires, would bow to them. At the time, he was but a noble vampire prince overshadowed by his older brother. His clan was at war with another clan, the Blackwell clan. The Blackwell clan had a half-blood princess by the name of Rosaline. She was half Blackwell and half Ravenwood. Vladimir, having known his brother would give up in the war, slayed him in his sleep. Vladimir took his place as king and suggested a compromise. The Canta, Blackwell, and Ravenwood clans would combine and there would be peace between them as long as a pure blood king or queen still existed. Vladimir suggested that the clans would keep their pure blood, making them stronger. No outsiders are allowed to become and official member of the clan, only a soldier.

The Ravenwood clan was always the outsider of the Canta clan. The Ravenwood clan was both a strong wizard and a strong vampire family. But these are always the strongest and most talented leaders. The children are divided up. Some are wizards, while others are vampires. You, Alexandria, are the vampire of your generation. The catch is, once you become a vampire, you must marry a Ravenwood wizard in order to insure that the magical traits of your clan are passed on." Xavier explained. His eyes had a sparkle in them as he recounted his family history.

"But why Justin? Why a distant, distant person that I'm not related to?" I asked, not grasping why I had to be with Justin. The whole vampire thing was okay, I suppose. It's not like I haven't dealt with worse things.

"Justin showed great promise in wizardry, even as a 5 year old child. Vladimir didn't want to rid the child of such marvelous gifts. You, Alexandria, also showed promise. You were a natural in magic. A true, pure blood Ravenwood wizard. But the Ravenwood elders wanted you specifically as their princess. They claimed that all great Ravenwood leaders were naturals at magic. This gave them better leadership skills. The reason they chose Justin as their prince was simply his gift in magic. That, and we had to pair you with someone who was related to you. There are no Ravenwoods, Cantas, or Blackwells that are not related in one way or another. So why not pair you with someone who could possibly carry on the best genes?" Xavier said simply. He shrugged and looked down at the book questioningly.

"Did you even open this past the first two pages?" He asked. I shook my head sheepishly. "You were not kidding about not reading." He mumbled. He opened the book to the third page, where a handwritten note was written.

"This is from Vladimir himself. Seeing as you should rise to power soon, you'll need our help. I advise that you read it." Xavier huffed. He seemed mad that I hadn't respected 'our heritage'. Sometimes, he reminded her of Justin. He pushed the book across the table to me. The note was written in large script.

Dear Alexandria,

I fear that your years as a normal adolescent are over. It is time that you grew up and took your rightful place as princess. You will face many challenges in the next weeks and, possibly, months. Xavier is my newest protégé and I hope that you would help him integrate into the routine of school. I have signed him up in order for him to get to know the human way of life. Alexandria, there will be many hard decisions for you to face, but I know that you will be up to it. When the time is right, Xavier will introduce you to the vampire way of life.

I cannot stress enough how important it is that you trust Xavier and I. Family is everything in the vampire world, as you will learn, and I wish to ensure that you grow into vampirism. People will want to take your spot, so you must listen to Xavier. He is not as naive and foolish as he looks. I would love to meet you soon, but I fear that cannot be allowed. I have many people watching me at the moment, so I have sent Xavier as a replacement. Have faith, young fledgling.

Immortally and Forever Yours,

Vladimir Canta

I put the letter down on the table. Xavier nodded, as if he understood the swirls of confusing emotions I was getting. But maybe he did understand. What if it had been him in my position some number of years ago? What if Vladimir had told him that he was a vampire and that his life had been a lie? But, no, that couldn't be possible. Xavier was a pure blood Canta. He would've been born immortal and powerful. I, on the other hand, had to grow into my power. And I knew that meant one thing, completing the horrible, painful change.

That meant having a vampire stick their fangs into my neck, drink some of my blood, and then I would have to drink theirs. Talk about gross, right? But now, I felt this bubbling anticipation. I wanted to drink the blood. I wanted the power that came with being a vampire. What was wrong with me?

"Uncle Vladimir can be quite tricky in his explanations. From what I see in the letter, I'm your new cousin, Cousin." Xavier smirked, showing off his fangs. He would have to quite that. If he showed any humans, he would get us exposed.

"Uncle Vladimir?" I asked. "And since when did you become my responsibility? Vladimir only said that I had to help you get used to school. It's not like you need a place to stay or anything." Xavier smiled knowingly.

"Vladimir is the great uncle of my father, so yes, he is my uncle. And now that you mention living arrangements. . ." He trailed off. I groaned. So I not only had to help a vampire prince act, talk, and look normal, but I also had to find a place for him to stay!

"So, like a hotel? Aren't you rich or something?" I huffed. Xavier nodded.

"Normally speaking, yes, but now Vladimir wants me to live with you. Something about me being unpredictable and not trustworthy. I swear, the old bat doesn't know what he's talking about half of the time." Xavier mumbled like a spoiled child. I suppose that in this case, he was.

"Whatever, let's go, Romeo. If you wanna convince my parents to let you stay, you're going to have to use some of that vampire magic." I muttered. Xavier laughed at this, as if he'd never heard a more ridiculous notion.

"We vampires do not use magic, Alexandria. We charm." He corrected. I rolled my eyes.

"And it makes a difference, why? Besides, wizards 'charm' too." I pointed out. He sighed.

"Yes, but the difference is that vampirism is a condition, either passed down or passed on through blood. Wizardry is just something that is passed down, you cannot make someone a wizard." Xavier droned. I swear he was just like Justin. I rolled my eyes again and stood up, walking out of the café. Xavier followed me, cautiously looking down alleys and shadows as we passed.

"Cut that out! I'm sure no one's following us, Xavier!" I hissed. Xavier was checking another alley when I heard a loud clash come from across the street, down a dark alley. Xavier gave me an 'I-told-you-so' look before grabbing my arm and leading me toward where the sound had come from.

We walked cautiously down the alley, Xavier never letting go of my arm. I heard the sounds of a scuffle up ahead. The clash of metal, cries of pain, and whispered insults. Xavier handed me something and drew a short dagger he had hidden in his boot. I looked down and saw that he had handed me a dagger with a purple handle with a raven on it. A family dagger. We neared the fight and Xavier let go of my arm. I could make out the shapes of two men fighting with what looked like swords. How was Xavier supposed to fight off two men with a dagger?

Xavier looked for a chance to join the fight and jumped in quickly. The first man screamed in pain as Xavier's dagger landed in his chest. Black blood came from the wound. The other man held up his hands in surrender. Xavier stepped back from them, kicking the first man in the ribs. The man fell to the ground.

"Who are you? Which clan sent you to attack a Blackwell nobleman?" Xavier asked pointedly. The man on the ground groaned. The man that Xavier had left unharmed turned to me questioningly. He turned back to Xavier and bowed politely.

"Many thanks, Prince Xavier. And who is your companion?" The man asked. Xavier waved him off and focused on the man on the ground. Xavier kicked the man in the ribs again and I heard a sickening crack.

"I will only ask you once more. Who sent you?" Xavier commanded. The man coughed up black blood and groaned in pain.

"F-Francis D-Dragomir, Sir." The man muttered. Xavier sneered at the name and looked down at the man in pity.

"I shall let you live to return this message to Mr. Dragomir. Tell him, the Ravenwood Princess has been found." Xavier growled. The man that was unharmed looked at me in awe. Guess he made the connection. The man on the ground nodded. Xavier dug his dagger into the dirt, cleaning it. When he stood back up, he returned the dagger to his boot and turned toward the opening of the alley.

"Leave him. Let us discuss this elsewhere, Alcander." Xavier said to the standing man. The man nodded and followed him out of the alley, me not far behind them. But the injured man called out to me.

"Princess!" He whispered urgently. I turned hesitantly. "Oh, Princess, do not trust these devils! They are fooling you. Vladimir Canta cannot be trusted. The Dragomir clan, along with the rest of yours, is looking for you. Remember me, Princess. My name is Nathanial Ravenwood. I am your own flesh and blood, your cousin. I would never harm you. Just, please, don't trust them." What was he saying? Was Xavier really tricking me? Lying about being my cousin? But for what?

"I don't know who you think you are, but Xavier showed me a family tree and everything. He couldn't be lying." I assured myself more than him. He shook his head sadly.

"Princess, I fear that they are manipulating you. Ask your father about Francis Dragomir. And if you don't wish to, I shall find you once more after I am healed. I shall rescue you from there devils." The man hissed. But now that I looked more closely at him, he looked like a boy.

"Alexandria?" Xavier called. I turned toward them and took one last look at the boy. He didn't look scary at all. Not in the way Xavier did. In fact, there was only honestly in his eyes. Still, I lead two vampires toward my home.