Alexander didn't call me the rest of the day. Not even a message. I woke with my cellphone in hand at 10% battery.
As I got ready, I charged it. Still no message. Did he forget or was he avoiding me?
On the way to school, I used mom's cellphone to browse the web as mine charged.
"Did you know Alexander had siblings?" I asked.
"Hmm? Well, King Rothchester has ten wives," she replied.
"That doesn't answer my question though."
Mom's ears turned pink.
"Gosh mom. I'm not asking how vampires make babies." I shook my head.
Why did her train of thought go that way? Either way, she never answered my question. Mom and said our good-bye's awkwardly. Seemed like I needed to wait to get my answers. If I thought about it, I wondered if Alexander would tell me.
At my locker, I searched online for any mention of siblings but there wasn't much coverage. Maybe that was intentional.
Someone cleared their throat behind me. I twirled around and saw Carlos. A pang of guilt hit me.
"Hey," I said, "Sorry about the other day. I was out of line."
He shrugged and casually leaned against the lockers. '"So, you don't want me to look into it?"
He got me there.
"It's not fair that I did," I said." And I don't want to get you in trouble."
Carlos shrugged. "It's my choice. plus, I feel like I owe you. Surprised you're even talking to me."
"I don't know," I said, truthfully. "It's not like I've forgotten anything but holding a grudge is not my style." I shrugged. "At least, not anymore. I'm trying to do like better."
"Well, I did look into it," he said. "Forums are crazy places. People like to talk. It's mostly humans though."
I frowned. "Oh."
"I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything."
"It's mostly for attention. There are so many weirdos out there. Trust me."
I couldn't bring myself to say anything. Camellia had been clear-though she hadn't explicitly said anything.
"Be careful," I whispered. "In all honesty, you shouldn't be doing this."
Carlos grinned. "You do care."
I rolled my eyes.
"Don't worry. I got this."
As he walked away, I caught Sonia looking at us. Our eyes met and she walked away. I sighed. I wasn't looking forward to the conversation in the future. She wouldn't stand around and do I say nothing.
Fortunately for me, she didn't speak to me in class despite the partner work. I kept thinking back to Alexander's siblings. If anyone would know it would be those three. As soon as lunch rolled around, I met the girls.
"Did you know Prince Rothchester has siblings?" I blurted out as they sat.
Sandra placed her tray down. "Yeah. Kind of," she said. "The Royal family doesn't talk about them much though."
"They don't want competition," Amber added.
"Aren't they like ambassadors?" This was Brissa.
The other two girls stopped and thought. It seemed like I was the only out of the loop. That was another thing I had to look into.
"I don't know," Sandra said. "I feel like I've heard rumors but nothing concrete."
"Same," Amber agreed.
"If you want I can ask on the Forums. A lot of fans out there are willing to share their knowledge."
"Yeah," I said. "That would be helpful. Thanks."
Then it hit me. I wanted to know everything but I wasn't getting my hands dirty. I had other people do it for me. Which begged the question, was I committed to this at all?
"Amber, can you send me the link?" I asked. '"I want to look too."
The girls shared a glance.
"Sure," Amber said with a smile.
We scarfed down our food. There never seemed to be enough time to enjoy it now-a-days. I waved at them as they went to catch their transportation to their internships.
My phone buzzed. Miss Melanie had sent me a message. I didn't have to go in today. Then another message came in. Joseph was outside. On the way out, I sent a message to Alexander.
'Yes.'
'See you soon.'
On the way over, I was a bit upset he hadn't called but he'd sent me a message. Play it cool! I told myself. You haven't seen him recently.
Trevor greeted me at the door. He took my backpack.
"Pleasure to have you with us again. His Highness is in his room."
I frowned. "Is he okay?"
"See for yourself." Then he added," Dr. Daniels was here earlier."
The test results.
"Thanks," I said and hurried to find Alexander.
Found him in his room under the covers. I kicked off my shoes and spooned him.
"I missed you," I said.
He poked his head out. Alexander turned and snuggled into my chest.
"How you doing?" I asked.
"I'm okay."
I rubbed his back. "What did Dr. Daniels say?"
Alexander groaned.
"That bad, huh?"
"I'm stuck like this until the effects wear off or he can make a 'cure' or whatever."
"Timeframe?"
He shrugged.
"Does that have anything to do with why I saw your half-brother?"
He nodded. My heart jumped.
"It's temporary."
"What if it isn't?"
"We don't know that. It's not like your dad is going to replace you."
"The King will ensure a vampire inherits the throne," he said. "His other offspring don't step from the shadows on a whim."
I thought back to Camellia. This time, I was convinced the young prince was the contingency plan.
"You're still working on the project, right? It means- "
"No," he said. "I was told I was under too much stress and to take time off."
My gut wrenched. I sat up. "What?!"
The event was little more than two months from now. It was obvious why they did it.
"They'll announce it this weekend. Apparently, I'm going to build a relationship with the community."
"Wait, let me get this straight. They don't want anyone to know you're human so they hide you instead of playing it off as a vampire ability?"
He smiled sadly. "It's the scent," he said. "Vampires would know."
"So, where does lead you? What did your dad say?"
Alexander sat up. "He hasn't been home in a few days. I'm guessing Dr. Daniels told him the results before he told me."
"Those were fast results."
In the dark, I sat there with him. What could I say? Alexander got turned into a human and everything he worked for was taken away.
"It's going-"
"Please don't say that."
"Alex- "
"Don't."
"Okay."
We stayed quiet.
"I can't protect you like this," he whispered.
"I've been looking into information on who shot you," I said.
"Rin, no. You can get hurt."
"I want to help." I grabbed his hand. "Let me protect you this time."
He leaned against me.
"Plus, you might enjoy the break. We can go to school together."
"They'll know," he reminded me. "They'll be suspicious."
"I got an idea," I said. "Plus, you can always say you're marketing building a relationship with the community."
That got him to laugh. "Maybe," he said.
"We can probably convince Violet you can-"
He shook his head. "I'm not going to beg."
"You're practically done so much. It's not fair to get dropped from the project."
"I also use to work around the clock," he admitted. "Can't do that now and we have a schedule to keep."
Made sense but it still was crappy.
"So what now?"
He smiled at me. "Now, we can spend time together."