JOVITA "Good morning, Lord Ralph," I greeted once I entered the room. Lord Ralph was hunched over some books on his table and only raised his head to look at me when I greeted him. He did not as much as hum to my greeting. He just ignored me and kept doing what he was doing. I rolled my eyes and walked toward the dark, rosy red curtains to draw them. Nothing is good about the morning, anyway. As long as these walking dead existed, the world would be gloomy, and nothing would be good. "I will draw the curtains now, Lord Ralph..." "Do whatever you fucking wish to do, and stop disturbing me. I am busy here!" he thundered, taking me unawares. Grumpy much? I was startled, and my hand flew to my chest. Why was he in such a sore mood? Humans were supposed to be the ones in this mood. They would starve for three days while his kind enjoyed it all. I looked at his hands and realized he was wearing his ring. To irritate him, I drew the curtain
RALPH My heart jumped into my stomach when I heard her voice by the door. It is not like I did not know she was the one knocking because no one else except my assistant could come to my room by this time. I realized that it was a surge of excitement. I was excited to see her. I cannot tell what was going on with me and why I was being a fool for this human who was likely my demise. I composed myself and asked her to come in. I drank in her lavender scent as she entered, but I pretended to be unfazed while all I wanted was to wrap my arms around her and inhale every bit of her. I cautioned myself immediately, and my heartbeat spiked when her cheerful voice floated toward me in greeting. I could not even find my voice because everything this woman does surprises me. I have never lusted over a woman in centuries like I did this time. I knew I would get any woman I wanted, but I had put myself in bondage I did not realize then. Everything about her was endearing. Instead
JOVITA I leaned on the wall beside the door to catch my breath after I left the room. Something is going on with me. I will need to speak to someone about this; it cannot go on any longer. This was the man I was supposed to kill and not get attracted to. I walked away when I was sure my chest was no longer pounding. I needed to speak with my uncle, so I went in search of him. He usually stays in the car or with some human men, playing chess at the local bar down the road. I pray he is in the car right now. Lord Ralph's sleek black car was parked outside, and someone was hunched beside it, but I doubted it was Uncle Kala. "Hi, uncle," I called, stepping closer. The person raised his head, and I saw Bryce. He offered me a wide grin, which I ignored and folded my arms across my chest. "Where is my uncle?" His brows furrowed, and his eyes narrowed at me. He stepped away from the car and approached me, peering at my face. I stared at him in confusion, wondering what he was looking at.
RALPH "What is wrong with her?" I asked, looking at her pale skin in the hands of the boy. All I wanted to do was yank her out of his hands, and I kept wondering why I wanted to do it. I did not like the way he held her. "Uhm... she slumped," he replied, looking uncertain. I do not know if I had been confronted with this situation before, but I definitely knew what I would have done if my world had been as orderly as it used to be. I would have asked the human male to take her body away from my car, and I would have entered my car as if nothing had happened. But I could not do that, seeing her lying in his arms. First was this feeling of something heavy sitting on my chest, and the ounce of anger I felt that he was holding her. Then I was curious as to why she was unconscious. I wanted to get her out of his arms and take her in mine; that was precisely what I would do. "She is your girlfriend, right?" Colbert asked beside me. The boy looked from me to Co
JOVITA This went wrong. My heart kept pounding in my chest. This was not what I expected. I do not even know what I expected him to do, but it definitely was not taking me in his arms and to his bed. I heard everything they talked about and how he spoke to his brother because of me. It took so much to put my acts together. The men were exuding fury, and his brother asked him not to become a hypocrite. What does that even mean? When he carried me from Bryce, I felt goosebumps blanketing my skin and prayed that he does not notice. I tried to will my heartbeat to something approximately normal and not try to think of his arms around me or his scent that invaded my senses. When they argued, I stayed still, hoping none of them noticed my unsteady heartbeat. I was a bit relieved when his brother left the room for good. He could easily detect that I was awake. I was terrified that he would find out. Lord Ralph laid me on the bed, paced his room, and ran his hand over hi
JOVITA "Okay, you have to tell me what you did," Ana said once she was in the room. I was back in my room. The doctor said I needed rest. He must have taken my racing heart for something else. Lord Ralph made sure I got enough rest today. He asked a vampire to take me back to my room and ensure I was in bed all day. I had been in me and Ana's small room since morning, and now it was evening, and Ana was here after the day's tasks. "She needs to rest today because her work starts soon. She needs all the rest she can get," he had said while wearing his jacket. I shrugged. "Nothing. I said I won't eat when everyone else was starving." "Was that all?" Ana asked, bewildered. She came and sat beside me. "Wait. Was that a stunt you pulled on him?" I hiked my shoulders again. "It was my fault that everyone was starving. I thought I could do something to make everyone eat." "Everyone is talking about how he carried you in his arms. I bet the female vam
JOVITA I stood there looking at him, unable to speak or tear my eyes away from him. His eyes were not as deep blue as they used to be, there was a tinge of red in them. "So, it is you?" he asked. Does he know? I thought he was out of the castle. Why was he back so early? He definitely knew I killed Jones. I tried to speak again, but my words got stuck in my throat. He moved closer and held my chin in his fingers. "It is you." "I... I... I... did not mean to..." I started to explain. "If you keep sleepwalking around the castle like this, you might get hurt by a vampire," he said. My heart sat back in my chest. Was this what he was talking about? I thought he knew about Jones. I almost gave myself away. "Why have you been following me?" "I was sleepwalking," I defended. "I did not mean to stalk you." He left me and took a few steps away from me, looking away, as if he did not want to see my face again. "Go back to bed, human."
JOVITA A few days passed, and I did not see Lord Ralph. I do not see him in his room when I go to his room clean or anywhere in the castle. Sometimes, I catch a glimpse of him, but it is always too late, as I only see his back. I would not say I wanted to see him, but there is this feeling I cannot explain in my chest. I kept telling myself that it was because I wanted to know how his injury was, but who was I kidding? I knew the wound had healed perfectly now. I got closer to Bryce; we talked a lot when he was washing or repairing an engine in the car. He has the powder, but I could not use it yet because Lord Ralph assigned a vampire who always watched me when I cleaned his room. Lord Ralph was not interested in the death of Jones; he only wanted to know who the human that brought the stake into his castle was. Uncle Kala advised that we lay low for some time until the vampires were done with their investigation. "Can you take a wild guess about what he kept in t