After failing as a vampire hunter, 17-year-old Cleo is sent to an academy full of vampires as a false peace treaty. Her true objective is supposed to be finding the hidden heir to the dark world while befriending the current one, but the current hei...
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When I started to react, Felix pressed his finger harder against his lips, and I managed to control myself, gaze locked onto his.
Felix's eyes were gold.
Felix was royalty.
My father had been right. There was a hidden heir. Did he know it was Felix? Is that why Felix was here? Or had Felix just been caught up in this by accident?
My thoughts raced. I had so many questions. Why did he hide it? Had Claude known all along? Why didn't the queen recognize him?
I couldn't ask anything in front of this hunter. Felix must have had a plan. Why else would he reveal himself to me?
Felix pulled his finger away from his lips and silently mouthed something to me.
Trust me.
"Let's go," the hunter said to me, grabbing my upper arm and hauling me out of the cell with him.
Felix shut his eyes again as the hunter all but threw me back into my own cell. I managed to keep myself upright, but my head spun from the sudden movements. If I wasn't more careful, my concussion would kill me faster than these hunters. Which was counterproductive to escaping.
As the hunter turned away, I noticed a dagger in his pocket. I moved to grab it, but he was already out of my reach.
However. Felix noticed it, too. And as the hunter dragged him away, Felix quickly slid it out of the hunter's pocket and tossed it in between the bars of my cell. I coughed to cover up the sound of it clattering to the floor. Once I heard the unseen door close, I immediately grabbed the dagger, shoving it between the thin mattress and bed frame. Then I waited a few more moments before pressing myself against the bars, trying to see Sura. She must have had the same idea as me because she looked back at me, hands wrapped around the iron. "Do you know that vampire?" she asked.
I hesitated. "...You don't?"
She shook her head. "No."
How did that make any sense? Sura didn't know about Felix? Was Felix not her son? Was that what my father meant by hidden heir? Hidden to even the queen? She must not had seen his eyes when he showed me them just then. Did that mean he was hiding it from Sura, too? What was happening?
My head throbbed. None of that mattered at the moment, anyway. We needed to focus on escaping.
I didn't know how much time had already passed. Did anyone notice I was missing yet? I was sure Kaz did. Had he told Evander? What would happen, then? Would the peace treaty be over? Would a war break out because of this?
I gripped my chest. No. I couldn't let that happen. I had to get back before Evander realized I was missing. Hopefully, Kaz would know that the peace treaty was more important than my safety.
"Cleo," came Sura's voice again, and I snapped my attention back to her. "You should rest. I know it's hard to do that here, but you must save up your energy. You will only get food and water once a day. If they even remember to bring it. They'll want to keep you as weak as possible so you don't think of fighting back or escaping."
