Trevor lead me down the hallway. My stomach clenched. I shouldn't have eaten so much. We turned the corner and a few steps later, Trevor knocked. We only had to wait for a few moments before entering. The room was nice and cozy as an examination room could get.
Dr. Daniels, as I later found out, was a tall man with a beard. He was also very gentle looking too as if he wouldn't hurt a fly.
"Please come in, Miss Borek," he said. "Have a seat."
Alexander sat on the exam table and there was a visitor chair beside it. I sat in it. There were only three of us in the room.
"It's nice to meet you," I said, "but why am I here exactly?"
"I'll get straight to the point," Dr. Daniels said. "I'll tell you the same thing I told Prince Rothchester. He's 100% human at this moment."
My heart lurched. That wasn't exactly news but the way he said it, it was very definitive.
"However," he continued. "It's temporary."
"You sure?" I asked.
"I'll have to wait for the blood results to be for certain," Dr. Daniels replied. "But in layman's terms, something has caused your cells to lose power. They've become dormant. It's also the only explanation I can think of. In the decades I've served the Royal family, I have never seen anything like this before."
"You sound so certain," I muttered.
"Comes with experience," he said. "I will need a sample of your blood to confirm my theory."
I frowned. So, he was spewing this out without a piece of actual evidence. He didn't even have the blood results yet and he talked as if he was certain. Then again, he was the one who examined Alexander when he was shot.
"What theory?" I dared ask.
"Whoever shot Prince Rothchester, did it not to kill him but to inject something in him. It'll have been the only way to pull this off. What we thought of an assassination attempt was perhaps a disguise to this."
"A drug to turn him human?" I asked.
"Yes," Dr. Daniels replied. "You were the only person in contact with him when it happened. I suspect the drug might have gotten into you. This is why I would like to take a blood sample."
It made sense, sort of. The chain of events made sense and the reason why they would turn Alexander human, also made sense. But what didn't make sense was for Dr. Daniels to be so sure without evidence. He was just jumping to conclusions.
"Miss Borek?" Dr. Daniels prompt.
"Hmm? Oh, yes. That's fine."
I glanced at Alexander as Dr. Daniels got his equipment. He hadn't spoken since I walked in. Then again, being turned into a human was a shock to anyone's system.
It was mind-boggling. Whoever shot Alexander used that as a cover-up to turn him human. This sounded like a plot to a spy movie or something. But, it made sense too. I doubt anyone had bothered to ask themselves why Alexander was shot (apart from obvious reasons) and was more focused on the fact that he did get shot. It was also probably the reason why the news wasn't covering the incident every night.
I understood not wanting anyone to panic. The most secured place was broken into and a royal family member was shot. I wondered if they had looked at an inside job. I would have to ask Alexander if he knew of anything.
"All done," Dr. Daniels said.
I blinked down at my arm. There was a band-aid on it. So, vampires were better at drawing blood. Maybe I could have my mom change my doctor.
"I'll send these off to the lab and call you with the results."
"Thanks," I said.
As he gathered his belongings, a sudden thought occurred to me. "Are you going to tell the King?" I asked.
That got Alexander's attention.
"He is the King," Dr. Daniels replied.
"Then, please wait until you get the results," I said. "You said this was temporary. Maybe it'll go away in a few days."
"Miss Borek," he began.
"Please. Only for a week. Then, you're free to tell King Rothchester."
He glanced at Alexander then, at me. "Alright," he said. "One week. No more."
"Thank you," I told him.
Trevor came back and lead Dr. Daniels out. Once alone, I stood and walked over to Alexander. I squeezed in between his legs and hugged his abdomen.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
Alexander rested his cheek on my head. "You ever wish for something you can't have and then you get it only for it to be bad?"
I frowned. "What?"
"I used to fantasize about being human," he admitted. "I didn't have to worry about hurting you. Your dad would approve of me a little more. We could be a couple without having to run from reporters. No one would judge us."
A wave of sadness washed over me. Yeah. That was something to fantasize about. But that had never crossed my mind.
"There's too much at stake now, huh?" I guessed.
"Yeah. I'm supposed to be Crown Prince of the vampires but I'm not a vampire anymore. I don't know for how long. What if I stay like this forever? My people would suffer. The public would think that we have a disease they need to cure."
My chest prickled but swelled. He was no longer the selfish prince I'd met so long ago.
"Being human would be terrible," I agreed.
"Wait, no - I didn't mean it like that."
I looked up. His face hovered over mine so I kissed his nose.
"I know," I told him. "It hurts a little but I understand what and how you meant it as."
"Now I feel bad."
"Don't. When you're vampire royalty, you can't afford to become a human."
"I guess."
"Look, if you want to be a vampire again then we need to figure out what they injected you with."
"So, you believe Dr. Daniels. That the assassination was to inject me with something?"
I shrugged. "At this point, what else could it be. It's not like vampires turning into humans is a natural phenomenon."
"That's fair.
"What else do we have to go on?" I asked. "At least with finding the assassins, we can find a cure for whatever this. And if not, we can reverse engineer it or something. They've had to have test subjects, right? How else would they be confident enough to risk getting caught?"
The wheels in my head turned. These people, whoever they were, put in a lot of work to make Alexander human. If this was made public knowledge, there be riots in the streets.
Alexander took my hand and kissed it. Startled, I frowned at him.
"What?" I asked.
"What would I do without you?"
I shook my head. "You'd be fine," I said. "Besides, we'll have to rely on everyone to go and figure this out. We're not equipped to handle something like this."
"Yeah, I'll have to tell my dad." Alexander laughed. "Honestly, he would look at me and know."
"What are you going to do?"
"Keep doing my job," Alexander answered. "We're behind schedule on the bidding event." He sighed. "I can fool the humans but I can't fool the vampire. I'll have to work from home."
"Do you have an assistant?"
"Yes and no," he said. "His name is Darius but I have him dealing with catering and the venue. Then there is Sasha, but I put her in charge of managing guests and security. George is on event planning and Ivette is handling finances -"
"Okay, so no?" I guessed.
"No," he agreed. "But somehow, all the paperwork I had to get through was already on my desk. Courtesy of Violet, I'm sure."
"I can help," I said. "Violet offered me an internship and I accepted it. I'll ask if I can help with the project even if it means filing papers or making copies."
"You sure?"
"I need an internship and I want to help you. It's a win-win for me."
"Thanks," he said.
I kissed his nose again. "You're welcome. So, when are you telling your dad?"
He sighed. "The sooner the better, I guess. So, tonight?"
"Well, in the meantime, I'll stay here and get through my classes. I'll tell my parents I came over for the internship to talk to Violet."
He frowned. "I don't want you lying to your parents. Have Joseph take you to school."
"It will take too long. Plus, don't you want to spend time together?"
Alexander frowned. "That's not fair."
I grinned. "I don't have classes in the afternoon. I can stay with you all day. Well, most of the day. What do you say?"
He sighed. "Okay. Just for today and we still need to work."
I held out my pinkie. "Sure thing."
Alexander shook his head but I spotted the smile on his lips. In truth, there wasn't much I could do. But, I'd be at his side, especially in a time like this. I didn't think it was a good idea to leave him alone.