Chapter Ten

       Alee was asleep before I got to her. She lay on the floor, her legs were separated from each other and drool fell from her lips. She snores whenever she's asleep and her hands are always folded like a dead person in a coffin. I used a spell and carried her to her bed, pulling her blanket over her to cover her from the cold. With that, I took my black cloak and decided to visit the prince.

      His room looks the same way I had imagined it before I came. The room has a brownish yellow concept to its wall. His bed was extra large, too much for just him and the colours of the blanket matched the walls as well as two of the couches and four of the wooden chairs kept around a round wooden table that has the same colour.

      Being in his room reminded me of the last time I was here. It was foggy but my heart fluttered just remembering it and I slapped my cheeks. I shouldn't be thinking about him when I had disappointing news for him. I searched around his room but it seemed deserted of people. 

He might have gone somewhere, I thought.

       A golden coloured curtain had been attached to the bedpost holding the canopy. The nightstand, with the same colour as the wall, sat a laptop and an alarm clock. I wondered what he would have in his laptop as I sat at the foot of the bed and used the curtains to shield myself. It was a last minute plan and I don't know the prince well enough to speak to him informally.

       It killed me that I had rushed into this only thinking of warning him without a solid plan on how to do so. This goes against all my principles. I'm about making money, protecting myself and Alee. This situation gives me goosebumps and I wouldn't have imagined something as strange as this happening to me. 

Would I have done the same for Mason, I thought.

Of course, I thought, why wouldn't I?

       They are both strangers but they are important people that have to be protected. No one wants their leader or alpha to end up dead, I thought while nodding to myself. The sound of the door banging on the door frame of the room made me jump in fright. I could feel the prince from afar. He hasn't noticed me yet but his breathing has increased signaling that he knows that I am in his room.

       Taking a deep breath, I stood up while raising the curtain in the process and coming face to face with the prince. He had a frown on his face and his green eyes with a blend of somewhat yellow and somewhat gold were blazing with one emotion I can easily identify. I have seen that emotion on Alee recently.

Anger!

      He had on a black shorts. His abs were in full view and I tried to hold myself from feeling them. He has a well-defined chest and his veins were sticking out from the sides of his neck. His white hair seemed like he had run through them a lot and he's breathing heavily. I stared at him but caught myself before I could go any further. I stared back at his eyes and despite his angry demeanor, his eyes were staring at my lips. I felt self-conscious and licked them which emitted a growl from him. He snapped his eyes back to mine and growled,

“What are you doing here?”

“Good evening, your highness.” I said.

       The prince gave a strangled laugh and turned away from me. Walking into his walk-in closet, he came out with a white towel and he had put on joggers. He sat on one of the couch and dried his face with the towel. For a while, I watched him as he dried his face but then, he suddenly threw the towel at me and screamed,

“What do you want?”

       I dodged it and it fell on his bed. For a little while, I hesitated. The way he stared at me gave me goosebumps. He was different from last time and it's making it hard to talk to him.

“Your highness, I came to warn you. Some people want you dead. They hired someone to kill you. If you...” I said but he interrupted me.

“You mean, someone like you?” 

“Yes...” I said, clearing my throat in the process.

“Can you kill your mate, Minty?” he asked.

“I don't know.” I said.

      He stared at me and laughed.

“You do not know. Really?!” he screamed at me.

“You are one crazy bitch ass girl. You know that. Did that alpha boyfriend of yours put you up for this or do you want to whore yourself without me around...”

      He gave a strangled laugh and said,

“I should have known. You didn't want a mate. How foolish of me? Why did I believe that you would be willing to come to me? You are nothing but a whore who is in love with some alpha wolf that wouldn't even look at you.”

      For some reason, everything that he said made me want to shed tears. A part of me shutdown as if I was drowning in grief which shouldn't have happened. It took away my happy emotions and replaced them with solemn grief. Why would he do such a thing? Why is he willing to insult me?

“I'm sorry!” I shouted, “It's not my fault. Please, listen. You should hide. I was assigned to kill you because I have dragon fire and if I don't, my boss will kill you. Someone wants you dead. I don't know who but you have to leave.”

“Why do I even try?” the prince mumbled.

“Get out.” he said.

     At first, I wasn't sure what I heard but then, he screamed,

“Get out and don't bother coming back. I'm getting married anyways. I don't need you. Just leave the way you came. I don't ever want to see you again.”

       I gave a strangled sob and whispered the spell that would take me out of his room. It didn't work and I had to say it again before it did. Appearing in my room, I sat on the floor and sobbed. I don't know why I am crying. The prince is a nobody and yet, I am crying for a nobody. I didn't hurt him intentionally and I had warned him. What is wrong with him?

       Someone placed a blanket around my shoulder and I looked up at Alee. She had somehow gotten out of bed and is struggling to sit upright while placing a blanket on my shoulder. I held her and cried openly on her shoulder. She didn't say anything but she was patting my back.

       When I was able to restrain myself, I gathered Alee and took her to bed before lying on my own. I tried, didn't I, I thought. I will just gather enough strength that would enable me to kill him before the deadline. 

       I was Minty the next day at school. Mason's bodyguards followed me like usual but they didn't talk to me. I'm guessing that they would rather not be seen around me because of what they assume I'm pulling on Mason. I sat on my seat, with them on either sides of me, doodling on my paper while trying to pay attention to Mrs. Britney, the English teacher.

       Normally, I pay attention to her unlike most students that sleep in class because almost everyone believes that she's boring but today is not one of them. My eyes were sunken, I checked the mirror. And I had this dull face on like I didn't care what people thought. My steps were sluggish at most and I didn't care to dress properly to school today. All this sounds ridiculous but I don't understand why I feel this way. It can't be because of the prince. I have to forget about him. I just have one less alpha to worry about and I should be happy but I'm not.

       During recess, I took a walk down the school corridor. Mason's bodyguards had long since left me. I walked through every corridor in school while others were in the cafeteria. As I walked up the stairs to the next block, the new kid approached me. He walked like he owned the place. His steps were light and I imagined that he could work as an assassin. It would be easy for him to sneak up on anyone and no one would know that he was there.

       I looked up at his face and was taken aback by the expression on his face. His green eyes were blazing with anger and disgust. He looked me up and down before turning away from me. My emotions were all over the place and for some reason the way he looked at me bothered me.

       I stopped walking and grabbed his arm before he could walk past me.

“What's your problem?”

“What?” he said in a deep voice.

“What did I ever do to you? Why are you picking on me? Is it Alee?” I asked him.

      He didn't say anything. He just stared at me.

“Look, it's obvious that you don't like me. Just tell me what I did to deserve something like that.”

       For a while, everything stopped when I looked up into his eyes. I couldn't identify the emotion in his eyes and before I knew it, he pushed me up on the wall behind me and started kissing me. To my surprise, I welcomed the kiss wholeheartedly.

       At that moment, I felt so alive. His kiss was very familiar to the prince's. It made me wonder if this guy is a fae. Fae magic is known to replicate the magic of other species but even if I knew this, I couldn't stop it and for the life of me, I don't understand this happy emotion that just cropped up out of nowhere.

       He suddenly stopped kissing me and started staring at me. I stared back at him. I think we were lost in each other's eyes before the bell rang and we broke eye contact. He looked around the stairwell before looking back at me. But this time, he couldn't look me in the eyes. I licked my lips and his eyes immediately zoomed-in on them.

       For a while, he stared at them before he looked up at me. Then, in a last minute decision, he turned away from me and continued walking like we didn't just kiss on the staircase. I looked up and found Emily and Randy looking at me. I stared at them for a while before I sat on the stairs and sobbed into my jacket. I didn't go for any classes until school dismissal. Before I recited the disappearing spell, I looked around the stairwell. Emily and Randy must have gone to tell Mason whatever they had seen. I don't care about whatever they had to say. 

       Back home, the house was clean and lunch was waiting on the table. I looked at lame Alee. She stared up at me and gave me a small smile. I nodded back at her and tried to smile. I ate everything because it's Alee. Ever since mum and dad died, she has never done anything. Instead, she mopped or nodded whenever I spoke to her. She took their death hard. Maybe harder than me but it wasn't easy for her.

       The next day at school, news of the prince's death spread like wide fire. He was scorched to death by a dragon in his room and it almost burnt the whole room. His body was displayed on TV, scorched beyond recognition. Everyone sympathized with the prince while insulting the person who might have instigated the entire thing. I was shocked when I heard this. The deadline is today and I was to kill him today but Elias wants him dead immediately. I told him that I would do it. Was I alone in my decision, I thought.

      My phone rang with his name on it. I cleared my throat before I answered it.

“Lea, you devious cat. You should have given me a warning. I like the way you roll.” he said on the phone.

       For a while, I was confused. What is he talking about, I thought, but I decided to act like I knew. 

“Of course, boss. I do my things differently.”

“Tell me, how did you know to go to his room without the guards catching you. The missive strictly said garden. What happened?” he asked.

       I could hear sounds other than Elias voice. The others were listening in, I thought.

“Boss, the missive referred to the garden but he wasn't there when I got there. What do you have me do?”

“How did you get to the palace on your own?” Dean shouted through the phone.

“I can't talk, guys. I'm at school. See you guys later.” I said.

       After I had answered the call, I ran into the girl's bathroom. No one was inside. I stared at my face in the mirror. Tears were building up in my eyes. If Elias didn't kill the prince, then who did. I can't believe I hadn't considered the others. My poor judgement have led to the prince's death. As I cried, I felt someone behind me and looked up at the mirror.

       For a while, I was shocked. What was the prince doing in the girl's bathroom mirror? He was smiling at me. This action surprised me. I know the prince. He would never smile at me. Then, he hugged me from behind and kissed my earlobe.

“I knew you would be worried.” he said.

“You are supposed to be dead. Are you his ghost?” I asked, surprised by his solid body behind me.

“I know.” he said, nuzzling my neck.

“But what are you doing here?” I managed to say.

       He stopped nuzzling my neck and said,

“I've decided to believe you. There's a reason you are pretending. I shouldn't judge you without understanding what happened. So, I faked my death. I will disappear until you figure out whatever it is that's holding you back from being with me. I'm willing to wait for you.”

       For some reason, I got teary and hugged him. He tightened the hug before he kissed me. It was different. It was like a goodbye kiss and I cried the whole time. After a while, he left me. I turned back to the mirror and dried my tears. I felt better than I've felt ever since the prince insulted me but I refuse to believe that a mere human would cause this much chaos within me.