The Burden of Innocence

CAROLINE

I shot a disgusted look at the grimy vampire casually sipping his AB negative in the kitchen, engrossed in a tattered book. His clothes were ripped and drenched in the blood of a turned vampire. The stench was unbearable, and he seemed utterly indifferent.

A strange thought crossed my mind—I’d rather see him stark naked than in those repulsive leathers. I squirmed, feeling awkward about my own thoughts.

In the distance, I could just make out the muffled sounds of my brother and his turned vampire in the bathroom. Anthony had done one thing right with this cottage—it was nearly soundproof against vampire hearing. This meant I didn’t have to endure the sounds of my brother having sex with his girlfriend, which I assumed they were doing given the length of time they’d been locked away.

I was nestled on the small couch, the windows open to reveal the dark forest outside, softly lit by the moonlight. A large glass of AB negative rested on my knee.

Anthony had left to hunt, and he wasn’t supposed to bring Alexander back with him. Alexander shouldn’t be anywhere near here. And what the hell was he doing with that turned vampire? Wasn’t she a servant?

I cleared my throat, catching Anthony’s attention. I took a gulp of my blood and turned to him, clearing my throat again.

“Do you have a question?” he asked smoothly, his green eyes locking with mine.

I nodded. “Will you back my decision to reclaim my crown now that my brother is here? Or will you hand me over to him for protection?”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise, and he exhaled sharply, looking suddenly irritated with me. “I’m sworn to protect you, Princess. He can fend for himself, I believe.”

“So you’ll stay with me? You won’t let him interfere with my plan?”

Anthony scoffed. “Is that all you’re concerned about?”

“What do you mean?”

He stood, downing his glass in one gulp, and stalked toward me. I recoiled from his imposing figure. He loomed over me.

“Sometimes, I really wonder why the fuck I’m here with you,” he muttered. “I’m not sure you’re worth it.”

“Excuse me?” I snapped, feeling the sting of his words. “I am—”

He cut me off, leaning over me, his legs on either side of mine, his arms braced against the back of the couch, framing my face.

I gasped, taken aback by his sudden closeness. His green eyes flashed red for a moment.

“You are ~the~ most selfish creature I’ve ever met,” he growled.

I blinked at him. “I am not!” I retorted. “Get off me!”

He chuckled dryly, but his eyes lacked any real amusement. He didn’t budge. “Do you even care about him, about me? We come back covered in blood—do you care where we’ve been? What happened?”

“Alex told me you were fighting the Shahalia clan,” I replied, my voice barely above a whisper. “I assumed if someone was hurt, you would have told me.”

“You just expect people to volunteer information?”

“Did someone get hurt?”

“We all fucking did,” he snapped, finally pulling away from me. But to my dismay, he plopped down next to me. The dried blood on his pants flaked off onto my skin.

I yelped and tried to get up, but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back down.

It wasn’t until I was half pinned down, my thigh pressed against his dirty pants, that I processed what he’d said. “You all got hurt?”

He turned to look at me. “Yes, and your brother killed Jahan Shahalia.”

“Oh!” I gasped. “Jahan? But that’s a capital crime! If they catch him, they could kill him!”

“If anyone catches him now, they’d be justified in killing him. The same goes for you.”

“But Jahan, he was close with my grandaunt, my grandfather too,” I murmured.

“Maybe fifty years ago,” Anthony shifted, releasing his hold on me, but I didn’t move away.

He looked worn out, his heavy body sinking into the cushions. He let his head fall back. I watched his Adam’s apple bob.

“What happened?”

His smirk didn’t annoy me as much as I thought it would. “From what I’ve gathered, the Shahalia clan had Aya. She managed to escape while your brother was looking for you. I ran into him earlier this evening when he was searching for her. I told him I was with you. He chose not to come with me—he went after her.”

I fell silent, letting his words sink in.

“Did they take her?” I pressed.

His smile was infuriating, more so than his smirk. “Good for you, putting others before yourself,” he commended, and I despised how much I relished his praise.

“Quit the flattery and answer me,” I retorted. “Why would the Shahalia clan want her?”

“Because she was with your brother. Aiding a criminal. Much like what I’m doing with you now.”

“I’m not a criminal,” I protested.

“Believe it or not, you are. And it’s absurd that you can’t see it.”

“So, they used her as bait to capture my brother?”

“No, I think they wanted both of them, for their own amusement.”

“Amusement?”

“The Shahalia clan runs a vast underground prostitution and fighting ring. Your grandfather used to take me there.”

“What?” I shrieked, jumping to my feet.

Anthony just looked at me, a lazy gaze in his eyes.

“My grandfather?”

“Quite the naughty boy,” he chuckled.

The thought made me shudder. My grandfather was a jerk, but he was never like that with me.

“They wanted to put Alexander in the fights?”

“I believe so.”

“And they didn’t plan to hand him over to the queen?”

“They wouldn’t have gone north if that was the plan.”

“Why? Where is the queen?” I demanded.

Anthony licked his lips, his green eyes meeting mine. “Last I heard, she’s in the south.”

“South of France?”

“More like Africa.”

“What?” I shrieked again. He winced, glancing at the hallway behind me.

Anger surged within me. I had been heading in the wrong direction all this time. And he hadn’t bothered to tell me. I would never have found her in Tours.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I growled.

“Because you never asked. You took charge, and I decided to protect you.”

I wanted to punch him. My fingers curled into a fist. He noticed and smirked.

“Sit down, Princess,” he commanded.

I shook my head defiantly.

His smirk faded, and his eyes darkened. “Sit down,” he repeated, his voice stern.

I sat, fuming.

“You were never going to help me,” I realized.

Anthony sighed. “I was never going to let you get into more trouble than you already are. I wasn’t going to let you get hurt.”

I glared at my hands in my lap. “I should have known,” I spat. “You’re useless.”

Anthony laughed, catching me off guard. I glared at him.

“I’ve kept you alive and less self-destructive than you would have been without me,” he retorted.

I rolled my eyes. “Why does everyone think I’m going to get myself hurt?” I complained. “My brother, you…”

“Probably because we know how sheltered you are. You were raised in a castle, Princess—completely isolated from the rest of the vampire world. You were always treated with the utmost care, but the world isn’t like that for everyone. And now, you’re a target.”

“I’m not sheltered,” I protested.

“You are,” he insisted. “But that’s okay. You can learn.”

I slumped into the seat. “So, what now? You’re going to drag me back to my mother?”

He chuckled. “I’ll let your brother decide,” he replied. “It will depend on him and Aya.”

I scowled. All this for nothing. My crown was still stolen from me—a usurper still on the throne.

“He will want to take me back.”

“I think so,” Anthony agreed.

I remembered earlier when Alexander had stormed in. I had never seen him so angry.

“He’ll probably lock me up in a dungeon,” I added.

Anthony chuckled, his eyes softening as he looked at me. “He’s your brother; he just wants to protect you.”

I shook my head. “No, he wants to control me. He’s selfish and mean.”

“He risked his life for you and Aya’s. That’s love, Caroline.”

I looked up at him in surprise, his green eyes warm as he looked at me.

“That’s the first time you’ve called me by my name,” I whispered.

He chuckled. “Have you been keeping track?”

“No,” I denied immediately, and he grinned at me.

I shook my head vehemently and leaned back into the sofa cushions.

“How long—I mean, how are they together? Alex and Aya?”

Anthony looked at me. “You might want to direct that question to your brother, not me.”

I scrunched up my face. “But you’re more informed than I am,” I argued.

“Perhaps,” he replied, a smirk playing on his lips. “But it’s not my tale to share.”

I shot him a glare.

“I remember her,” I confessed. “She was the one who tidied up my rooms. Alexander never seemed to notice her.”

“He did; he just didn’t make it obvious.”

“He was always so harsh, so indifferent to turned vampires. I can’t picture him with one now. Although he was harsh to everyone.”

Anthony let out a deep sigh. “People with a broken heart often act out against the ones they care about.”

I stared at him, feeling like there was so much I didn’t understand about my brother. The idea that he would follow me, hunt me down to bring me back didn’t shock me, but the fact that he would risk his life for me—that was a bit surprising.

Had he been nursing a broken heart for a century and a half? Had I been oblivious to his pain? How could I have been so blind to my own brother’s heartache?

“My brother and I—we have a rocky relationship. You saw earlier how he lashed out at me.”

“He reprimanded you,” Anthony clarified. “But yes, I saw the tension between you two.”

I pressed my lips together. “You stood up for me against him,” I recalled. “You didn’t have to do that.”

Anthony tilted his head to one side. “Actually, I think I did. You’re self-centered, you’re a handful. But you’re not dumb.”

I blinked at him. “I think that’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me!”

He let out a hearty laugh, his arm draping over my shoulders. Before I could react, he pulled me into his side, resting his chin on top of my head.

I squirmed, but he didn’t release me; he only chuckled. And I didn’t use all my strength to break free; for some reason, I didn’t really want to move away from his grubby clothes. I didn’t mind his sturdy frame against mine, his arm wrapped around my shoulder. I might have even leaned into him a bit.

A thought from our conversation slowly resurfaced. I looked up at Anthony, his chiseled jawline just inches from me.

“What will happen to Alexander if he kills Jahan?”

“They’ll likely hunt him down. I warned him.”

“So he’ll be in even deeper trouble. Exiled for a longer period?”

“If he returns to the Mcnoxnoctix guard and they accept him, that would be the least of his punishment.”

“Then why would he risk that?”

Anthony leaned back slightly to meet my gaze. “He did it for you, Princess, and Aya. And for all the other turned vampires the Shahalia clan is using as entertainment slaves.”

I stared at him. “Jahan, he wanted to capture me too, right? To use me as a sex slave?”

Anthony’s face hardened as if the thought of me being used as a slave caused him physical pain. “Yes, Princess.”

I quickly turned my head, staring at my hands in my lap.

“I knew Jahan when we were kids. He was always so kind,” I whispered.

“A disgraced princess, humiliated, would have earned him a lot of money and allies,” Anthony responded.

“He would have degraded me. For decades.”

Anthony nodded in agreement.

He didn’t need to say it. I realized how perilous my mission was. The threat of death hadn’t scared me when I embarked on this journey, not when my crown was at stake. But considering how close I came to being captured and kept as a slave, I shuddered. If Alexander barely escaped, I would never have made it out. He would never have found me.

I bit down on my lower lip, reflecting on every time I might have taunted him, cruelly teased him about the turned vampire he brought home, and probed him about his rage. I couldn’t comprehend why he would put himself in such danger, but the woman he possibly, maybe, loved was at risk—for me. When I had been so awful to him.

My fang pierced my lip, and I sucked it in.

Anthony let out a growl. I looked up at him in surprise, a pair of crimson eyes staring back at me, focused on my cut lip.

I didn’t even have time to react before he lunged.

His arm wrapped around my waist, lifted me, and dropped me onto the sofa, his body landing on top of mine.

I gasped as the air was knocked out of me. I could feel him—everywhere.

His hands planted on either side of my head, supporting his weight, one muscular thigh between mine, his chest brushing against mine. His ruby-red eyes seemed to blaze, holding me captive in their gaze. His tongue darted out to moisten his lips, and I felt that simple action reverberate through my entire being.

I despised how much I reacted to it, how much it affected me.

My lip was already beginning to mend, a lone droplet of blood clinging to my skin as my mouth fell open.

“Stay still,” he murmured, his forehead gently resting against mine.

I remained as still as a statue. I was torn between wanting him close and wanting him far away. My mind and body were at odds.

But one thing was certain—I wouldn’t move an inch.

My eyes fluttered closed as his lips brushed against mine. I could feel the soft touch of his tongue on my lip, and then he sucked, just slightly, drawing my bottom lip into his mouth.

A low growl of approval rumbled from his chest, a deep vibration that made me want to gasp.

Then he pulled away, still hovering over me, his eyes locking onto mine. It was quick and almost innocent, but it left me fucking breathless.

“You taste incredible,” he murmured.

My eyes widened in surprise.

He smirked down at me.

“You’re going to get me dirty,” I mumbled, half-heartedly pushing at his chest.

He didn’t budge.

“I didn’t hear you complaining about it earlier,” he whispered back.

“You’re also so heavy,” I complained. “I can’t breathe. You stink!”

His laughter echoed through me in the most delightful way, and I hated it when he finally lifted himself off of me.

He rolled off the couch and went to draw his blackout curtains as the sun began to rise.

Then he turned back to me, refilled my glass from his stash.

I savored the delicious blood, watching as he served himself. He froze as the bathroom door opened, and we heard Aya scamper across to the bedroom.

Just a few minutes later, Alexander emerged, clean, with a towel wrapped around his waist. He looked worn out, and he shot us both a glare.

“Bathroom’s free,” he said, snatching my glass, downing it in one go, then winking at me before striding out.

“Jerk,” I muttered under my breath.

Anthony grinned at me and handed me his glass.

“Get into bed, Princess. I’ll clean up.”

I nodded in agreement and quickly sipped from his glass. I hesitated, almost finishing it, then handed it back to him, still half full.

The look on his face nearly took my breath away. When was the last time anyone had been grateful for something I did?

Feeling embarrassed, I rushed to the bedroom and changed before sliding into bed.

My mind was a whirlwind. Was he going to join me in bed? Was he going to hold me? Was something else going to happen? Would I let it happen?

Yes. Yes, I would.

When the bedroom door opened a crack, the faint scent of soap and clean skin wafted into the room. I lay curled up, facing the window, listening.

“Sleep, Princess,” he commanded, and I felt him grab a pillow before tossing it onto the floor.

I didn’t respond, but I felt a chill run through me when he stretched out to sleep on the floor—instead of with me.