This is where the fun starts.... ;)

Chapter 8 - The Confession

My face drained of colour slightly as both vampires stared at me with awe and reverence. I shakily stood to my feet. 'What?'

They both took a step back as I walked towards them and I froze. Neither of them spoke and for a while an uncomfortable silence hung in the air. Sweat poured down my back and dripped off my face as I reached for my towel.

'We need to get you a dance partner.' My brother breathed out as he shook his head in amazement.

I quirked my lips. 'Really?'

He nodded.

'Well, any ideas as to who?' I meant it sarcastically as I gestured towards the large room as if to say: 'who- in- the -right- mind- would- agree- to- come-here- at-odd-hours-without-our-parents'-permission?' But he spoke up anyway.

'Actually I know just the person,' he said as I looked at him in surprise. Quickly forgetting he was there, I suddenly switched my gaze to Carlos; needless to say that it turned into a glare.

'And what are you doing here?' I snapped. My parents had taught me better manners but I didn't necessarily have to use them. Not with Carlos.

He swallowed, trying desperately to get rid of his shocked expression. 'I, er,' he pointed to the ceiling. 'I heard you come in.' My shoulders quickly deflated as I realised what he meant. Even though I'd played the music quietly, the sound must've travelled through the ceiling and into his room.

Being a vampire meant that he would have picked it up almost immediately.

'How long have you been standing there?' I asked him. His sheepish smile told me enough. Frowning, I asked the same thing to Roland. 'And you?'

He held up his glass of water. 'I went to get a drink and then I came here when I heard you.' When I glared at him as well he held up his hands in defence. 'Hey, I wasn't standing here for as long as he was,' he said as he pointed to Carlos.

I turned away from the pair of them as I picked up my towel that I'd just dropped, and bent to switch off the CD player. 'Well I don't need an audience.' Sure enough, I heard the sound of footsteps retreating as one of them left.

Sighing irritably I turned to face the vamp that was still stood in the doorway. 'Why do you have to keep following me?' I snapped as I took in Carlos's curious expression.

A beam lit up his face. 'I don't know.' He grinned.

Sadness washed over me as I remembered his relationship with Eva. 'Leave.' I commanded him.

If he were a maid or even someone who was only slightly acquainted with our family, I'm sure he would've left immediately. But seeing as he knew us much better than that (and probably due to the fact that he was just Carlos), he chose to stay.

'Why can't you just do as I say?' I asked him in exasperation as he stepped through the door. 'I am a vampire princess after all,' I added as if that would have any effect. It didn't of course.

He sat on the floor cross-legged.

Leaving me with no other choice, I sat across from him, making sure to keep at least three metres distance from him. When he made to scoot over to me I stopped him. 'Stay where you are.' I told him sternly. He did.

Looking at me carefully, he cleared his throat before commenting. 'You're a good dancer.'

I snorted. 'Thanks.'

'...And I want you to teach me how to dance.' He finished quickly. I looked at him in surprise and carried on staring at him until I burst into laughter.

'You... can't... be serious.' I snorted in between trying to catch my breath. I sniggered when he looked at me wide-eyed and had to take another sudden breath in. This time it wasn't because I was trying to catch my breath.

'How?' I managed at last and then frowned as I remembered why I wasn't supposed to be talking to him. 'Don't you think your girlfriend would get a bit suspicious?'

Realising what I said I quickly clamped my mouth shut and he frowned. I knew what he was thinking: I'd only seen them together once and had no reason at all to think that they were anything serious. He was about to say as much when I got there first.

'After all, you said that you were going to have "future incidences" with her, so I assume it's serious?' I made it sound like a question but of course I already knew the answer. He couldn't possibly have known what else I'd seen between him and Eva that other night. He couldn't. I think I'd die if he did.

He looked down at the floor guiltily before saying, 'She won't mind.' But he didn't look too sure. Another twist flipped through my stomach as he'd just confirmed what I'd known all along.

'So you're going out with her?' I managed at last.

He didn't answer the question. 'Will you teach me?' He said instead and images of me teaching him how to dance just so that he could skilfully twirl Eva on the dance floor came to mind.

'No.' I said a little too sharply before abruptly standing up. He stood up with me.

'I could pay you,' he said a bit desperately. 'It would be like you were teaching a class.' My heart lurched as I saw how deeply his eyes implored mine. They were filled with hope. And something else.

I sighed heavily. 'I can't Carlos, I'm sorry. I don't knowhow to teach anyone else how to dance - all I know is that I can do it, so I do. I'm sorry.' I said again.

He grabbed hold of my arm as I made to leave. 'Please?'

I shook my head. 'I can't.' Of course that wasn't the only reason as to why I didn't want to teach him, but I wasn't going to voice that bit out loud. Stupid Eva, I thought silently. Why couldn't he be wanting to learn how to dance for me?

'You've never tried before - you might be good.' He said as he grabbed my arm again.

'Find someone else,' I said shortly, and with that I left.

*************

It was six o'clock in the evening when Stacey rang. 'Hello?' I asked.

'Hey. I was just wondering if you fancied a chat.' She told me.

'Yeah, sure. How's your day been?' I asked her as I lounged against my cushions.

She sighed dramatically. 'Boring. My parents made me do all the housework while they went out to go shopping and then for a meal.'

I smirked. 'How terrible of them.' If I were in hitting range Stacey would've lashed out at me already. Thank God I wasn't.

'You're my best friend - you're supposed to be on my side!' She moaned; I could hear her pout.

I put the book down I'd been reading and sat up properly. 'Yeah well, I'm made to do housework all the time and guess what - my house is bigger than yours so all the more for me.'

She moaned again loudly. 'But you have vampire speed!' I laughed out loud.

'Fair enough.' I gave in.

'Anyway listen,' she spoke excitedly making me perk up. 'My cousin's having a party in a few months - I'm telling you it's going to be huge and I just wanted to know if you wanted to come?'

I laughed again at her predictability. Trust Stacey to sniff out all the parties being held three months in advance, even if it was going to be held by a family member of hers. 'What have your parents said about it?' I asked her cautiously.

She wasn't even fazed. 'Well they were told me about it of course, and they said that I could bring someone so I asked you!'

Rolling my eyes at her, I said, 'I bet they didn't tell you to ask them three months early.'

'Yeah, well I wanted to make sure you were free!' I smiled again at her tone and agreed to go. 'Yesss!' She screamed so loudly that I actually had to pull the phone away from my ear.

I turned as there was a small knock at the door. 'Um, listen I've got to go now so I'll talk soon.' I hung up before she could protest. I wasn't that much of a bad friend to her, I promise. At least not all of the time.

'Come in!' I yelled. I was surprised to see my older cousin, Lily step in. I jumped up and ran to give her a hug. 'What are you doing here?' I beamed as I clung to her tightly. She was a cousin from my mom's side and was the daughter of my aunt, Agnes.

Her eyes twinkled as she pulled me away - a look that I often saw on Stacey. 'Aunt heard from Indiana that you were a bit down so she asked me to come and cheer you up.'

I rolled my eyes at this. 'And how do you plan on doing that?'

'My best friend's holding a small ball at her's and she said I could invite you.' My stomach dropped.

'Oh.' I managed.

'And that's not all.'

I raised my eyebrows. 'Go on...'

'Gregory Hewett will be there!' My heart started to beat loudly in my chest. Lily was only a year older than me so we'd been close growing up, and that meant whatever party she went to I went to also - and let me tell you me and Gregory went way back.

I became so excited that I thought I was going to keel over. 'Is... Is he still as you know,'

'Hot?' My cousin finished for me. My heart gave another backflip at the smile she gave me. 'You bet.'

It was just the thing I needed to distract myself from Carlos and of course, the thing I needed to hear. 'When is it?' I asked her, a little bit too enthusiastically. Without warning she began searching through my wardrobe and pulled out random strips of clothes. 'Um, Lily?'

'Hmm?' She said as she pulled out a long, sleek black ball gown that I forgot I had. By now I was staring at her curiously.

'I said, when is it?' The look in her eyes was so dangerous and full of excitement that it almost had me jumping up and down on the spot.

'Tonight!'

I stilled and groaned. 'But I'm grounded, I can't go.' I swear, I had never felt so angry with my father, or even at myself for behaving so stupidly in the first place to get myself grounded.

She looked at me carefully. 'Yeah, I know. My aunt convinced him to let you out just for tonight - as long as I have you back for midnight,' she added and winked.

I screamed so loudly I was scared that my eardrums would explode and they almost did when Lily joined in. As fast as a lightning bolt, I got changed into the dress and matching heels that Lily handed to me, and let her clip my hair up into an elegant knot which allowed a few strands to fall free.

'That should do it,' she said as she stepped away. 'My limousine is waiting outside so we'd better be quick.'

Without thinking twice I placed my essentials into a small purse and followed her outside into the cool night air. I squealed at the sight of the elegant black limousine which was waiting for us on the driveway, before looking up towards the night sky which was covered in countless tiny stars.

When we climbed in the scent of leather filled my nose and I waited in anticipation during the whole ride until we pulled up at the large mansion. 'Wow,' I breathed. Covered in fairy lights, the mansion and driveway looked absolutely magical. 'It's beautiful.' I said.

Saying nothing, my cousin hastily pulled me out of the limo and ran us towards the direction of the entrance. The 'ball' was a lot more ravenous than the ones of which our family hosted, and by the sounds of the loud music that was playing in almost all the rooms, I started to believe that it was more of a party.

My suspicions were confirmed when someone passed me a cup full of a mix between blood and alcohol and I took a huge sip. 'My father's going to kill both you and your aunt when he finds out!' I yelled in order to be heard over the music.

'If he finds out!' Lily yelled back and I giggled loudly.

We joined in with the dancers - all of which were vampires, meaning the way they danced was so quick they would've almost blurred to the human eye. Lifting my arms up I swayed to the side, occasionally bumping and grinding against my older cousin before deciding to take a time out.

Making sure my cousin was alright, I left the large drawing room and passed the kitchen; through the French doors that led onto a lovely patio. Outside, the air was much cooler and the garden was quietly littered with talking vamps that were either admiring the fairy lights surrounding them, or dancing slowly under the starlit sky.

It depended on how drunk they were.

Leisurely, I walked along the garden path until it obscured me from the rest of the party, and sat at a small bench facing a pond. I admired the fairy lights which reflected in the coloured water and sat there in a moment's silence, making sure to close my eyes and keep them closed.

My heart jumped a little as I recognised the scent of the vampire who'd sat next to me. 'Greg,' I breathed heavily, savouring the sweet smell of his mint and vanilla scented skin.

He responded by placing a strong hand on my knee. 'You look as beautiful as ever, Indigo-Rose.' I shivered softly at the way he said my name and turned to face him.

'Hi.' I whispered, looking up into his soft brown eyes and absently fingered his jet black hair which rested several inches above his shoulders. His sharp intake of breath did things to me down south and my skin felt like it was on fire as he kissed me softly.

I let him, and taking that as permission he snaked his arms over my shoulders and pressed my body to him firmly. 'I don't know,' he panted as his fingers snaked through my hair. 'Why we never went out.'

I smiled against his lips. 'Our fathers aren't friends,' I reminded him to which he snickered.

'I'd forgotten about that.'

I laughed and then moaned again as his hands explored the top half of my body, caressing me deliberately, before travelling south. He broke off the kiss to look at me with hunger in his eyes. 'I could have you right here.'

Shuddering, I felt my centre give a sharp squeeze before moaning with pleasure. I looked up at him under thick lashes before whispering, 'I wouldn't stop you.' Growling, he threw me onto the ground before kissing me fiercely.

He kissed my lips, cheeks and neck before sucking and nipping at the skin above my collar bone. My back arched reflexively and taking this as another sign of pleasure, he raised the bottom of my dress before beginning to caress my breasts.

'Please,' I moaned before squirming as his hands made contact with my bare thigh. We stayed like that for a few moments trapped in our own bliss before stiffening in shock when we heard someone walking towards us.

That shock dissipated into disbelief, envy and finally something resembling depression as I recognised the scents of the couple who now stood before us. I heard Eva gasp in shock as she took in Her Lady's disgraceful form and Carlos growl slightly as he kept his eyes fixed on Greg - the king's enemy's son.

As if she couldn't quite believe it, Eva spoke my name, for once forgetting to use my title. 'Indigo?' She gasped. I bared my fangs at her as I saw how she so casually had her hand placed on Carlos's arm; her dress matching the colour of the rose tucked into his left pocket.

Before Greg could react I hurriedly flipped him over and untangled myself from him whilst ungraciously pulling down my dress. 'That's "Your Lady" to you,' I snarled at her as she took a step backwards.

To piss me off even more, Carlos pulled Eva behind him as if to remove her from my wrath and greeted me stiffly. 'Indigo.' I hissed so loudly that even he took a step back.

'Indigo-Rose, it's getting late we need to...' My cousin's voice trailed off as she stared at the four of us in shock. Running to her, I tugged her roughly by the arm and led her away muttering a string of curses under my breath.

'What the...' She tried to pull away from my grip. 'Slow down, girl! Why are we walking so quickly?' When I couldn't contain it any more, I suddenly stopped in my tracks and burst into tears. If possible, Lily's face looked even more shocked, before she pulled herself together and dragged us into the nearest ladies' room.

Wetting some paper towels, Lily pressed them against my face to wipe away the streaked mascara and begged me to tell her what was going on. 'Carlos saw us!' I blurted.

'I saw that,' she said patiently. 'What's with the tears?'

I told her everything, making sure to omit the maid's name and status (due to my debt) and told her everything from the first night I saw him with Eva, the dream and everything else that came into my head. When I finished she looked grim. 'Say something,' I wailed as I blew my nose into some tissue.

She shook her head and looked at me in pity. 'You've got it bad, Indigo. I think you should tell him.'

I glared at her in anger. 'I can't do that!'

She looked down at me. 'Well by the sounds of it you've behaved so... strangely around him that you've probably already given it away, and if you haven't then you will soon.'

'Well what do I do?' I asked as I pleaded into her eyes. 'You've got to help me make this go away!'

There was a moment's silence as she stared intently at the bathroom tiles. 'You remember when that vamp doctor told you how your visions worked?' She asked me slowly.

My 'visions' were what my family and I called the things that I saw through another's eyes as I slept. I nodded weakly. 'He said that I only saw things through the people I was deeply connected to.'

Lily's eyes implored mine, desperate for something to click. She had to support me with two hands when it did. 'So... the reason I saw through the girl's eyes was because I'm connected to Carlos?' Although I'd seen everything through Eva's eyes, she'd still been within a close proximity to Carlos at the time, meaning it had still managed to work.

Taking in a shaky breath, I tried my best to clear my watery eyes. I'd been crying a lot lately which was something I never did and I really needed to get a grip on myself. Now. The fact that I had seen Carlos through Eva meant one of two things: I was either in love with him (which I seriously doubted - I wasn't that fickle), or we were mates and we just hadn't realised it yet.

Yes, Vampires had something called 'mates.' Whilst they weren't soul mates (seeing as they didn't really exist in my opinion) they were close enough. Each vampire had several mates existing during one lifetime -several dozen probably that we'd no doubt ever meet. They were individuals who matched us very well and to whom we could become extremely close to if we wished.

It was rumoured that if your mate was or would be in trouble, you could even sense it - which would explain why Carlos had followed me and Stacey to the club, if he'd had no other reason for doing so.

The trouble was, despite how 'common' mates were it was most certainly uncommon to find one mate let alone two - which is what I'd expected Carlos had unknowingly done. I shook my head in amazement and tried not to feel too shell- shocked. After all this time I'd never even realised and now that he was with someone else I had little chance of getting him for myself at all.

Lily seemed to read my mind and quickly tried to reassure me. 'It's ok, you can get him back - you just need to tell him how you feel and what you suspect has happened, that's all.'

I ogled her in amazement. 'That's all? Do you evenremember what Carlos is like?' I shook my head in defeat. 'His ego is already big enough; it really doesn't need to get any bigger.' And me confessing to be his mate and having these intense feelings for him would only have made it even bigger, I realised.

My cousin tilted her head, a determined look on her face. 'Hey,' she said to me forcefully. 'You're a princessand you're a vampire, meaning you'll live a lot longer than she does if she's human. If he wants a mate, which let's admit it all of us do - then I'm sure he'd much prefer to be with one that can make him happier for longer. And if she isn't human then... well, you're a princess,' she finished.

I thought about it. 'But he might not want to separate from her!' I wailed at the thought. Judging by how intimate he'd been with Eva I knew that it was a distinct possibility. And a strong one at that.

Lily gripped my shoulders tightly. 'Calm down. That's the worst case scenario.' She wrinkled her nose at something. 'And if you ever let him go to you only once he's bored with her, then I swear I'll kill you myself and end all your misery. Agreed?' I grinned. I had to love her at times.

'Agreed.'

She pulled me towards the door after wiping away the rest of my smeared make up and opened it.

'But what about Greg?' I asked remembering how I'd left him.

She waved her hands in the air. 'Water under the bridge, honey.' I giggled at her breezy attitude. 'Now come on.'

As we stepped outside the atmosphere had calmed considerably, and Ed Sheeran's, 'The A Team' was currently playing through the speakers. The lights had dimmed making everything much more intimate and I followed my cousin through the giant rooms, my heart pounding through my chest as we tried to find Carlos.

We looked everywhere including back in the garden, and he was nowhere to be seen. Lily was about to give up the hunt when I felt a prickle of dread run up my spine. 'I'm going to the toilet,' I rushed out before running away, leaving her where she stood.

'But we've just -' I didn't hear the rest as I sped up the mansion's staircase hoping against hope that my suspicions weren't correct.

I knew I wasn't in my right mind when I began to open each bedroom door frantically - something that I'd never do under normal circumstances, but I needed to find out. 'Carlos, I need to talk to you!' I half yelled-half whispered. 'Carlos!'

I kept on opening the doors until I reached the final one and without a single thought threw it open - right in time to see Carlos in the midst of his throws of passion; bringing Eva to her climax. Mouth open in shock, I stood there motionless, not knowing what else to do. It was one thing to witness something almost second hand, but it was another thing to be right in the room right with them...

'Indigo?' Carlos was glaring at me from over his shoulder and Eva was struggling to try and pull up the covers. 'What the hell are you doing here?' He roared.

With his ruffled hair and clearly defined back my already weak legs struggled to stay upright as I took in the full deliciousness of his naked body. I soon snapped back to reality. 'I, uh...' And with that I turned and fled.

Tears blinded my vision as I sped down the stairs pushing past anyone in my way, and continued to do so even as I sprinted down the driveway and into the country road ten minutes away. With the speed I was going, it was unlikely that any human would've even seen me pass but that wasn't why I was running so quickly. I had to get away from there before my delicate heart was shattered into a million pieces.

I had to leave.

**************

Carlos~

'Shit.' I muttered as I struggled to pull up my trousers. My head was a mess and my mind was racing a thousand thoughts at once. What the hell had Indigo been doing standing there? What the hell had just happened? 'Shit,' I said again as the zipper jammed.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Eva look as frightened as a mouse as she also struggled to take in what she'd just seen. I looked at her softly before cupping her by the chin. 'I'll make sure she won't tell anyone.' I promised before kissing her softly on the lips.

It was one thing to make the princess herself to promise to keep a relationship secret between a human of Eva's status and a vampire of my own, but it was quite another to get her to keep quiet about seeing a human maid of hers being present at such a party without her permission.

I was going to chase after her the minute I'd first seen her that night, but I hadn't been able to catch up to her in time and there had been too many vampires present to try and distinguish her scent from theirs. Now there was no way I could find her in time if she'd already left the party, and running a hand across my face, I grimly walked down the stairs, hoping against hope that she was still waiting there for me at the bottom.

I had no such luck.

Searching through the crowds, I tried my best to find her but couldn't and just then I spotted her cousin Lily and rushed up to her.

'Have you seen Indigo?' We both said at the same time and I cursed again.

'Please I need to see her,' I begged.

Her cousin looked just as lost as I was. Having no choice but to tell her, I said, 'She saw me with someone and I think she was shocked. I need to talk to her.' I made sure not to say anything more than that.

Her cousin looked positively startled. 'You and who?'

'Never mind, I just need to talk to her!' At that moment, a young girl whispered something into Lily's ear causing her to pale. 'What is it?' I asked her worriedly.

'Indigo was seen fleeing from the building about ten minutes ago.' She whispered.

My stomach dropped again. 'Shit.'

Whoo! The next chapter is just as intense in my opinion.. So what so you think? And if you're getting bores of the whole 'Indigo and Carlos' thing (or lack thereof) then don't worry. Because now there will be a little something to spice it up.

Or should I say a little someone... ;)

PLEASE VOTE, COMMENT AND SHARE TO HELP GET THIS STORY KNOWN!