Kidnapped By The Vampire Prince

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As it turned out, Sebastian wasn’t lying when he said there were ugly vampires. Ugly is a mean word, but it was hard to find a kind word to describe the less attractive vampires entering the ballroom. It was nice to know not all vampires were the perfect creatures that some people portrayed them as. Though, to my older self, they were just like Dracula. But Vincent had mentioned there were those vampires too…

Sighing, I slumped onto the banister I was waiting by. Before I could enter the ballroom, all the other guests had to arrive first. This, apparently, was so I wouldn’t attract too much attention to myself. It wasn’t working though. Every few seconds a guest from down below would glance up at me and whisper something to their date or friends. Whether they new I was human or not, I didn’t know. They could’ve just been commenting on my dress, or hair, or that I was alone. Whatever it was, it was making me uncomfortable, but I couldn’t move from the place. Solomon and Sebastian were standing at the front door, welcoming guests and keeping an eye on me.

Sebastian was looking incredibly easy on the eyes in a black tux. His hair was combed back and spiked stylishly. It made me wonder if Fiona was the one behind his new hairdo. He was definitely going to be the center of attention tonight. That meant I wasn’t going to be it, fortunately.

So far Ashton hadn’t shown his face. A part of me was wishing maybe he’d just ditch the ball and forget about me. Or maybe he’d suddenly got some weird vampire disease and died. Either way was okay with me. As long as he didn’t show up and ruin the night. I was already nervous enough as it was. Adding him to the equation made me feel like throwing up.

“Hey!”

“Fiona!” I gasped, my hand shooting up to my heart. “Geez! You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

She giggled, batting her long eyelashes at me. “Oops.”

I shook my head at her. “Shouldn’t you be in the ballroom?”

“I can’t come visit you?” she pouted, crossing her arms. “I thought you’d be lonely up here by yourself.”

“Well yeah… but isn’t it bad for your image, or whatever?”

She laughed quietly. “I don’t think we have to worry about images tonight.”

“What do you mean?”

“I said you’ll see,” she told me with a mischievous smile.

Confused, I slowly returned my attention to the vampires continuously pouring into the building. There were a lot of women in flamboyant, gaudy, poofy dresses. Not laughing at them took most of my self-discipline. Were they expecting Sebastian to fall for them while wearing that? It seemed crazy to me.

“There’s a lot of hopeful girls,” Fiona commented after a moment. “I almost feel bad for them…”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

I nudged her in the side. “Just because you captured Sebastian’s heart…”

“I’m kidding,” she laughed. “They wouldn’t have a chance anyway.”

I flinched at her harsh words. “And her true personality emerges!”

She patted me on the shoulder. “I’m joking again. There was a time I was only an admirer of Sebastian. Just like you were only an admirer of Vincent.”

“Er, I wouldn’t say admirer… Truthfully, I’m not sure why I like him.”

“What?”

“He’s mean. He’s arrogant. He’s a jerk… There’s nothing really to like about him,” I said thoughtfully, furrowing my eyebrows. “Now that I’m thinking about it, what do I like about him?”

Fiona stared at me like I was crazy. “You don’t know why you like him?”

“He doesn’t have a lot of good qualities,” I pointed out.

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“But Emily!”

“Yes?”

Gesturing wildly with her hands, she tried to form a coherent response but failed. “You can’t just date someone without liking them!” she finally burst, wide-eyed. “That’s horrible!”

I smirked. “Just joking, Fiona.”

It took a moment for my words to register. When they did, she narrowed her eyes at me. “Good one.”

“I know,” I replied, shrugging my shoulders in an off-handed way.

“Now I’m curious about it now. Why do you like Vivi? He is an arrogant jerk most of the time.”

I cupped the back of my neck, trying to keep my embarrassment under control. “Er, well… He stayed up with me during all those thunderstorms. I guess that’s what got me to start liking him. Oh, and he’s cute when he’s jealous. He does have his nice moments too. I… I don’t feel like talking about it,” I muttered, dropping my gaze to the floor.

She laughed again. “That’s all I get?”

“You should return to the ballroom.”

“Aw, come on! Don’t ruin my fun!”

I shooed her with my hands. “Seriously. I don’t want to get in trouble if Solomon looks up here and sees you.”

“Oops!” she cried, her eyes flickering to the door where Solomon was standing. “I forgot he was there! You’re right, I should probably go!”

“I’ll see you soon!” I called after her as she disappeared through the door directly behind me. “Hopefully,” I added under my breath after a second. It felt like these vampires would never stop coming in.

Suddenly there was a tension in the room. I froze, my eyes snapping to the front door, where Sebastian was standing on guard, drawn to his full height. Solomon was still retained a casual stance, but his face was completely serious. Heading through the door was a familiar silver-haired man.

Smoky grey eyes met my wide blue ones. In a flash Ashton was standing in front of me, his arm wrapping around my waist as I tumbled backward in shock, twisting my heel and almost falling over. Seconds later, Sebastian was by my side, holding onto my arm tightly. Since when were vampires so fast? None I knew ever moved that fast around me, aside from Sebastian now.

“Hello, Emily,” Ashton greeted me with a handsome smile, completely ignoring Sebastian. “You look lovely tonight!”

“As do you,” I returned confidently, swallowing my fears. I wouldn’t let him gain the upper advantage. “I didn’t expect you to show up.”

His eyes flashed with amusement. “Did you now?”

“Yeah. Since you’re here though, I hope you enjoy your night.”

“Oh, I’ll definitely enjoy the night,” he responded, grinning wickedly. “Save a dance for me.”

I forced a polite smile. “Of course.”

“Good. See you around then,” he said, retracting his arm from around my waist. “Sebastian, enjoy your last night as King.”

He narrowed his eyes. “I wouldn’t get too over your head. I won’t be renouncing the throne, Ashton.”

Ashton waved him off. “We’ll see about that. Now, if you’ll excuse me. I have pretty ladies to chat up.” After giving me a wink, he disappeared from view.

“Good job, Em,” Sebastian complimented, releasing my arm.

Wincing, I rubbed it. A bruise would definitely be forming there soon. “Good job with what?”

“Not showing your fear. You don’t want him to know he’s affected you. I hate to say it, but if he does request your hand to dance, please accept it.”

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