Compeer

Chapter XVI

"Are you insane?" I shrieked, pacing up and down the room. "You're getting married? To him?" I threw my hands up in the air in aggravation. "What is wrong with you?"

Why was I even trying to convince her? Why should I even care? I shook my head bitterly, remembering the conversation the prince and I had.

"I know I am partially at fault for Noah's death," I said, sitting down in the chair across from his desk, "but so is Stephen, and so is she. Shouldn't we let two murderers live their lives together?"

"Do not say that," he murmured. "It is not your fault—it will never be your fault—and it is not your sister's fault, either."

"But he's dead, and it's their fault! He's dead, and that won't ever change!"

"Just because he is gone does not mean he is forgotten," he said.  He stood up and slowly walked around his desk, stopping in front of me. "He is as unchanging in death as he is in your heart and memories. You cannot blame yourself, and you cannot blame your sister. Though she told your parents, his death was not by her hand.  It was by Stephen's."

"That does not change what she has done!" I argued, looking up at him. "She must have known that he would die, somehow! She must have known what kind of hell she was sending him to when she decided to tell my parents!"

"You cannot blame her for what she has done. You were both young then, and she did not know better than to tell your mother and father."

"I can't forgive her," I said fiercely. "I won't!"

"You do not have to forgive her, but you have to save her," Prince Michael said almost gently. "Alexandra is your sister, no matter what your past is and what she has done. Nobody deserves to be put on the same pedestal as Stephen—not even her." He turned his head slightly, looking away from me. "Stephen has taken somebody dear from each of us, and he must be stopped, once and for all."

At loss for words, all I could do was nod. I was angry at Alexandra, but my anger for her was nothing compared to what I felt for Stephen.

"Celine and Noah will both be avenged," Prince Michael assured me, his eyes once again meeting mine.  "Stephen wants everything, and only a fool can have it all. One day he will fall—I will not stop until he does." He leaned back against his desk, pressing his fingers together in front of him.  He stared at them, his brow furrowed, as if in deep concentration. "After all, hell hath no sympathy for the damned."

"Nothing is wrong with me!" Alexandra sniffed, indignant. "I fail to see why you are so worked up about this!"

"You can't marry him!" I whirled around and faced her. "Do you understand? You cannot marry him!"

"Why not?" She stood up from her chair and put her hands on her hips challengingly. "Why not?"

"Because you just met him!" I exclaimed. "Because you don't know him!" Because he's evil!

"That is irrelevant!" she argued. "Mother hardly knew Father before they—"

"They don't love each other!"

"You are so naïve, Amanda!" she exclaimed. "This is not about love! It is never about love! I am marrying him because he is a good match. He is the prince of a very powerful kingdom. He is rich and he is handsome. We will be perfect together. Mother and father already approve of the match. It seems as if father actually knows him. I think they did business together a while back. The only problem would be that he is a vampire, and father does not particularly like them, but he seemed to be happy to make the exception."