Chapter 21

The difference between my bedroom - if you can call it that - and the guest one is massive.

I'll be sleeping on a cheap mattress and waking up to the sun reflecting on my face because of the tiny window set directly above me on the ceiling. The guest room instead has a king-sized bed with faded red LED lights around the corners of the room. Regardless of the modern lights, the antique style is still evident.

The vampire that I have to kill is leaning on the wall-sized window, looking over the dark forest. The waning moon shines on her tanned features.

I can't kill her. What can I do to avoid it?

Foxy meows in my mind and I nod, agreeing with her. She's right, it doesn't hurt to ask for help.

I look around the room, searching for any trace of hidden cameras. Doesn't look like there are, but there could be hidden microphones. With that information, I lock the door and walk toward Marisol.

Upon hearing my footsteps, she turns around and frowns. "Alexa? What's with the worried -" I silence her with an unexpected kiss.

I thought she'd push me away, but instead, her arms wrap themselves around my neck while my hands tug and sneak underneath the loose, sleeveless white blouse.

I pull away, looking at her dazed dark gaze. "Do you want me to stop?" I ask, hoping the microphones caught it.

Marisol shakes her head, a blush creeping over her cheeks. "N-no," she stutters.

I smile. She looked so tough during dinner and now she's a shy mess. I grab her cold hand, pulling her toward the bed. I push the sheets a bit away before turning back around and sliding the blouse off her body.

Marisol grabs my face with her hands and eagerly kisses me. Her lips taste of strawberry now that I think about it. My body warms up, getting a little too excited and I have to repeat to myself that I'm in a mission. No time for distractions.

I slowly turn us around, pushing her down on the bed. Her dark eyes are filled with desire as I easily unzip my long dress, letting it fall on the floor, revealing my lacy lingerie.

She bites her lip, and I'd lie if I said that I didn't find her adorable. I hover over her, letting her legs wrap around me as I pull the sheets over our head. "Marisol," I whisper into her ear, "do not scream, but I need your help because I'm supposed to kill you."

Her legs fall back to the bed. "Huh?" she whispers back.

I sigh, my forehead resting on her shoulder. "I'm supposed to kill you, but I don't want to. Isn't there a way for us to fake it?"

A hand caresses the top of my head as she sighs as well. "It's pretty gore, but I have an idea in mind. After this, you should start running away from here because I will come back and get Dante's head. Now, take out your claws and follow my lead," she explains, letting out an audible exhale.

I do as she says, elongating my fingernails, seeing her do the same with hers. "Scratch my stomach, I will scream and try to defend myself, so you will get hurt. Do not scratch on any vital parts, understand?"

I nod my head before taking a deep breath. Here goes nothing. I sit up and scratch her stomach, dark blue blood oozing out immediately. Marisol screams in pain and before I can even blink, she scratches both my arms before kicking me on the stomach with her freaking foot.

I fall on the floor from the impact, watching her wide-eyed. Her bloodied hands touch the bedside table, throwing the lamp on the floor. Her body collapses next to me, making her winces.

Should I scratch her again? It feels like she's dying.

Her painful groans ring in my ears. "The window," she whispers, releasing a breath.

The window?

Oh!

I quickly get on my feet and swallow a lump before grabbing her blonde hair and dragging her body toward the window. She screams, scratching my arm, but I don't let go until we're near enough.

In a blink of an eye, I find myself dodging a flying chair that breaks the window. I look at Marisol with a hanging mouth, noticing the amount of vampiric blood around the room. She disappears from my sight and a second later, my back slams against the door on the opposite side, and I slide down on the floor groaning.

That fucking inhuman speed.

I blink, finding her by the broken window. She mouths to me a thank you before vanishing in thin air. I have a feeling I'm supposed to pass out to make the fight seem real, so with little effort found, my eyes close, succumbing to darkness.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

The sound of a liquid being poured wakes me up. I find myself staring at the white ceiling before looking to a side, seeing a broken window, a broken lamp on the ground and dried blue blood everywhere. From the chirping sounds and the morning sun slowly peeking through the clouds, it might be 5 or 6 am by now.

"So you think you're smart, huh?"

My breathing stops at hearing the baritone tone of Dante, making a shiver run down my spine. Should I pretend to be hurt? Amnesia, perhaps? Don't vampires have that ability? It's been years since I last read anything about them.

"Ah, I can see your brain is trying to find an excuse, don't worry, it's useless. I know you. You let her go on purpose," he says, walking to my side of the bed.

Dante puts the glass on the bedside table, the scent of whisky quickly entering my nose. His hand comes around my neck. My eyes pop out, looking up at him with my hands quickly closing around his muscular tattooed arm. "Give me one good reason about why I shouldn't kill you now," he says through gritted teeth.

My breathing speeds up in fear, but I can't let him know that. I swallow a lump, trying to calm my erratic heart. "If you wanted me dead, I would be dead by now," I whisper out when he starts squeezing my neck.

The oxygen gets cut out and my werecat instincts kick in. My little Foxy is fighting for survival, taking control of my body. My ears shift followed by my glowing eyes, pointier canines, and fingernails growth. "Scratch me and I break your neck," Dante says, coldly.

My ears flatten behind. "Good cat," he says before releasing his hold. A fit of coughs come out of me as I sit up on the bed, taking deep breaths. My hands come around my neck as my mind can't process what he was doing to me.

"You almost got me in a lot of trouble, love. I had to send my men to chase after her," he says.

My eyes stare at the burgundy sheets covering my lower body. "You killed her?" I whisper with tears blurring my vision.

"Yes."

I look toward the side of the window, seeing Dante standing in the middle while sipping his drink. "Why?" I ask, quietly.

"A regular client gave me a lot of money to do his dirty work. Vampires are ruthless when it comes to treason."

"Treason?"

Dante finishes his drink, putting it back on the bedside table. "You know Nebraska is controlled by the Amor Clan, right?"

The strongest vampire clan in the United States. I nod, frowning in confusion.

"The heir of that clan got killed by the twins."

"The motive?"

Dante shrugs his shoulders. "Who knows. I thought it wasn't real but then I received dozens of messages from different clans asking me if I 'heard the news'."

I sigh, putting my hands in my hair. I don't understand. Is his business related to killing or was this a one-time thing because of his regular client? I just want to know what he does with the werecats. Gods, I definitely lost his trust now, so I have to fix that somehow. But how?

"So I guess Xavier and I both failed the test," I say after a moment of silence.

"Just you," he says.

My eyes widen as I straighten my back to look at Dante's smirking face. "Xavier killed the twin?"

"Lion's claw right on the heart. He took it out and brought it to me while you did all of this," he says, waving his hand around the bloody room. I lean my head back on the headboard of the bed, staring at the wall-length mirror in front of me. That's new.

My hair is a knotted mess, my arms are covered in dried blood and my glowing eyes are filled with fear. Is it Foxy's fear or mine? And what the hell am I supposed to do now?

A tall frame enters in my peripheral vision, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I know you're probably thinking of what you're supposed to do now, and luckily for you, I know you don't kill so I expected something like this to happen, " he explains.

"Regardless, I can't send you out with the other werecats because I still don't trust you, but you can always work in the kitchen or be one of my maids," he offers.

I laugh, staring at his back through the mirror. "Crimson Pack, the pack who is still stuck to the past. I wonder, what do your men do?" I ask.

"Some are warriors, and guess what? Some are in the kitchen. You can read all the books the Creatures Council has, but you'll still get your facts wrong. I have female warriors, and I have male butlers. It feels satisfying proving you wrong," he says at my embarrassed blush.

My focus shifts from the mirror to his smirking face. Being in the kitchen would be useless unless I want to poison him, but I might get something if I become his maid.

"Fine then," I start, extending my hand for him to shake, "I'll be your maid."

Dante's eyes widen but quickly recover, engulfing my hand in his. "This is gonna be fun."

oh yes, it will.

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